Sunday, November 13, 2016

Political Correctness, Ghost in the Shell, and Doctor Strange - This is Why We Lost

My last post was a bit too negative, I'll say. It's been a terrifying week here in the United States. But now that week is over, Donald Trump is president. And so far the world hasn't ended. The world still could end. There's a lot that Donald Trump represents that is truly scary. But you know that. It might be time to wonder: are you being made to be afraid? (Just a thought.) This nation needs to calm the fuck down for a moment. We can panic when Trump does something. Protesting his (semi)-legitimate election*, I mean, sorry, legitimate election is doing nothing. It's only making us angrier, more scared, and making things worse.

So instead, why don't we do something that we should have done and look inward. Hillary Clinton got the majority of the vote, the Democrats are the majority opinion in this country, yet they've lost every step of government. Why are we so ineffectual?

Well, I have a theory: the liberal media sucks. I'm barely a media person, so I can only slightly count myself in this camp. But let's be real here: we've done a bad job. I'm not saying reporting has failed. I'm not saying Breitbart and Fox News should be the new standard for reality. Yet I can say the liberal side of the equation has been focused on the wrong things. I can't tell you every answer. The media can be blamed for making Donald Trump the only Republican candidate, they can be blamed for never talking about the real issues in this election.

They thought a sex scandal from eleven years ago was what should decide the election. Not the economy, not trade, not foreign policy, but that Donald Trump isn't very polite. I'm sorry, this is delusional. We are lecturing to people. The liberal media is telling people what to think and focusing on the wrong things.

And one of those things is going to be the subject of this article right now: political correctness in film criticism and why it isn't helping.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

The End of the Real America

It is now 1:17 AM at the moment I begin writing this. I have attempted to sleep for the past two hours. I've tossed and turned for a few minutes, tried to stay my beating heart. Then I flip the TV back on. The talking heads can only show the inevitable. Hillary Clinton has lost. The final results are not in, but she has no path in Pennsylvania. It's over. Donald Trump will now be our next president. And god, I wish any of these news people could say anything positive. Because I need a sign of something good. Anything.

My only silver lining is imagining that I'm wrong about this man. That I am as wrong as pollster and every pundit. However Donald Trump offers absolutely nothing for me. I could run down his entire run of campaign promises (even the ones that contradict the other ones, even the ones that are so vague as to be utter bullshit) and not find a single one I agree with. And this man has a mandate. He was the smartest person in the room today. He has a Republican Party that controls the Congress that can only sniff which direction the mood is going. There's a Supreme Court vacancy he can fill. There's an army of state politicians who will follow him. Donald Trump has power to remake America. You were told to be terrified during the election by Hillary Clinton.

I want not to be terrified. I am terrified anyway.

 These are bad years coming forward. I want to write about reconciliation. About how maybe with united government we can have a successful nation. I want to find something good to take away from this election. I can't find one though. I am 2016's Liberal Tea Party.

The America I knew is gone. I had a Real America. A Great America. I don't know if we'll ever see it again.