Does it really matter whether it's a dirk or a poignard if you're being stabbed in the stomach by it in elections?

I mean, should Republicans just go, "yeah, actually, Karen is just a name," and expect that that whole issue will just vanish in a puff of smoke?

Yes, Rufo has taken the label of CRT and applied it to all lines of thought loosely derived from CRT, and to various other stuff, and to complete falsehoods.

But the gambit was successful. The blade is sharp, if the Virginia governor's race was any indication.

Instead of either wearing the armor of, "No, we believe in Liberal values of individualism and rationality, not the group-centric, narrative-centric stuff you're hearing called 'CRT'", or deftly wielding the buckler of "Yes, we do think it's important to teach 3rd graders about systemic racism because they are old enough to understand how it might work and that it is wrong, and yes, this important insight did come out of Critical Race Theory scholarship," the strategy seems to be to choke up blood while stammering, "But it's a dirk, I tell you, a dirk! There are no poignards here!"

This is why the Democratic party must address CRT (Rufo edition) head on, addressing it by name. Rufo's effort has gained control of the narrative sufficiently so that NPR is mentioning CRT multiple times a day (while disclaiming every time that it's "not CRT"), and Republican legislatures are passing laws banning the teaching of stuff that sounds like what Rufo is saying is being taught.

But...gasp...it's...not a poignard....