Monday, January 23, 2017

"The Largest Protest in U.S. History!"

One of the odd things going on in America: Liberals & Progressives actually are winning, & in many cases have won, the Culture Wars. We have been winning since the 60's. Civil Rights. Women's Rights. Gay Rights. Planned Parenthood. Obamacare. De-Crimilization of Marijuana. Medical Marijuana. Medicaid. Medicare. Social Security. Multi-culturalism. We are a more diverse and inclusive society. Of course, there's lots of work to do. And we are always fighting those who want to go backwards.

And there are a few issues like Gun Control that we just haven't been able to make any reasonable or sensible progress.

Still. Look at Pop Culture. The Hippies won! The mainstream culture enthusiastically embraced the sex, drugs & r&r ethic. Maybe a little slower to embrace the peace, love & understanding side of the equation, but that's coming along too. No doubt. Of course, at the same time our Politics is now being dominated by the Right Wing Conservatives. State Houses. House of Representatives. Senate. White House.

Some of this is because the GOP does not play fair. They just win. They use anti-democratic means like "gerrymandering," and "voter suppression." We are the only modern Democracy in the world that has an established party that is always trying to make it harder for people to vote. So it's now the Tyranny of the (old & white) Minority in America.

We have party at war with the real America. The Liberal/Progressive America is young & brown & black & female & gay & multi-cultural. The demographics of the country are moving towards a more Progressive/Liberal future. And the Conservative/Retrograde GOP is fighting tooth and nail to stem the tide.

It won't work. But nothing ever comes easy. Sometimes the forces of progress have been complacent. Or unfocused. No more. Saturdays Women's March was the largest protest in U.S. History. Let that swim around in your head for a minute. The largest protest in U.S. History! A sleeping giant has awoken. As Matt Yglesias over at Vox puts it: The Opposition Finally Takes Trump Seriously. Check out this handy little graphic:


One other great thing. I believe the Trump Era will be great for Pop Culture. More good music, literature, political writing. The Culture War will heat up to a fever pitch and Progressives/Liberals will get busy. That's a good thing.

Suddenly, for instance, Saturday Night Live is relevant (you just know Trump is watching and seething), and funny again. Who would have predicted!?Alec Baldwin has a great few years ahead of him doing his pitch-perfect Trump.  And be sure to check out the "cold opening" from last Saturday's show. 

Putin: "I promise we will take care of America it's the most expensive thing we've ever bought." Brilliant. Satire is best when you take reality and nudge it slightly forward. Trump is writing the scripts, the comedy comes from the performance. BTW - Trump is not Putin. America is not Russia. We are in good hands, because we have each other, a big, bursting, overflowing coalition of humans.