That's Rep. Patrick McHenry, who is now chief of the House Committee overseeing banks. Now that his side is in power in the House, he apparently sees his role not as fighting wokeness in the industries he helps regulate, but in institutionalizing it. You might be one of those people who wonders, "How come when we vote Republican, things don't seem to change?" I know I am. Here's another one for the files:

Democrats may have lost control of the House of Representatives, but it appears Republicans are embracing their legacy of so-called diversity and inclusion.

Republican congressman Patrick McHenry (N.C.), now the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, announced earlier this month that there would be six subcommittees—and all of them will count advancing "diversity and inclusion" as one of their top priorities, according to the committee's announcement.

The Subcommittee on Capital Markets, led by Republican Ann Wagner of Missouri, for example, will identify "best practices and policies that continue to strengthen diversity and inclusion in the capital markets industry." And the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, led by Republican Bill Huizenga of Michigan, is tasked with making sure there is "agency and programmatic commitment to diversity and inclusion policies." No other specific oversight focuses were listed.

Diversity and inclusion, two members of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion triumvirate now commonly referred to as DEI, have become an obsession for Democrats and left-wing activists in recent years. Republicans won a narrow majority in the midterm elections at least in part due to promises that they would end the Democrats' DEI craze. It was a common barb from the Republican National Committee, for example, that "Democrats prioritize wokeness over solving real problems."

I don't get it. Honestly, I do not. What do Republicans believe? Are they so afraid of being called bigots by the media that they allow programs built on left-wing bigotries -- bigotries that harm those most likely to vote Republican! -- that they won't even defend people who vote for them and principles that they purport to stand for?

Could it be that they will always, always defer to the cultural preoccupations of their class? And could it be that conservatives end up having to vote for these creeps anyway because it will be worse with the Democrats?

You get normie Republican types lamenting the loss of trust in institutions, and not being able to figure out where that comes from. Well, look around! Things like this teach conservative voters that in the end, even the people they vote for will carry out the agenda of Woke Capitalism. I tell you, if Ron DeSantis will demonstrate with deeds that he will stop this crap, and that he won't be intimidated by Big Business or fear of the media, he can ride that all the way to the White House. And if and when he gets there, may he call GOP lawmakers to Camp David one weekend, and insert spines in the blank spaces filled now by grape jelly.