2017 InMemoriam: World
Watching the Trump Presidency unfold in real time has to be one of the most cruel social experiments of our lifetime.
As 2016 came to a close I decided that I may never again in my life trust Nate Silver with literally anything. It was a solemn moment of a Trump victory for the most of us. What followed was by no means less eventful. Still, some of the change was entirely positive, from sexual assault revelations that shook the most powerful men in Hollywood to Alabama voting Democrat for the first time in a long time. The World in 2017 is a weird place.
The Trump Presidency
The moments are endless. We can talk about the on-going Russia investigation. We can discuss the fact that if you told Trump that oxygen was made legal by the Obama-administration he would most likely try and sanction its use (I know it’s stupid, he doesn’t). Or that we’re all going to die because the Commander in Chief is having a dick measuring contest with Kim Jo
ng Un. We can talk about anything.
Unfortunately, you can fill an entire trilogy of books with Trump in 2017, most of which would read like political satire to the unsuspecting future generations. There’s just so much here to dissect and try not to go crazy analyzing.
The reality is, 2017 will forever be defined by most unpredictable and previously unimaginable first-year in office for possibly the most insecure man on this planet. Since the election, the president has beefed with corporate brands, the NFL, North Korea, Mexico, NBA, anyone who’s not white, healthcare and the news. The U.S. politics became must see TV as evidenced by a surging spike in ratings for Late Night television shows. Trump’s antics breathed new air into the news industry, inadvertently reigniting people’s trust in the medium.
As it turns out, putting a reality TV star in office, one that has operated at a deficit at nearly every business venture he touched, and had zero idea about the intricacies of the political process wasn’t a good idea.
On the flipside, the Trump presidency has the potential to topple the Republican Party from within, the process that may have started in Alabama. This would be a much needed progress for a group of white elitists who have this year reaffirmed themselves as pineless, principles cowards willing to take it up the ass for political gain from literally everyone. The U.S. democracy only works when two reasonable, structured political parties exist to check each other. Sadly, the republicans are none of that.
Also, we have three more years of this.
Sexual Assault in Hollywood
It is time. It has been time for quite some time. The Harvey Weinstein allegations and eventual takedown have been the catalyst for what I hope is major change in Hollywood and in our society. The elite have often turned a blind eye to these moments or at the very least made a conscious decision to pretend like they were isolated incidents not indicative of an industry of powerful men preying on women at their weakest (see the Cosby trials). No more.
Harvey Weinstein is no longer at the helm of his company. Kevin Spacey was pulled from two of his projects, one of which was reshot a mere month before release to remove the actors. As more and more women and men come forward with these allegations about men in power, my only hope is that this is indeed a trend and not a pandering moment of 2017 before we go back to the status quo.
This begs the question, are we going to drag all men? Well, if they are guilty of sexual misconduct, then yes, yes we will. That should be the new norm. Actually, that should have been the norm from the start.
Alabama Elects a Democrat
Not electing a child molester is a low bar. It’s an extremely low bar. Yet, as 2017 comes to a close we decided to dug this bar up from 10 feet underground and step over yet. Despite almost tripping we made it over. Republicans losing a vote in what can very well be their stronghold state is a big deal. It can be indicative of very real change and very real repercussion from the Trump presidency.
It could also be nothing. Powerful structure have a tendency to brush away important moments like their nothing. We can move on into 2018 and forget all about this, or we can very much see real change. The thing about bullshitters, the longer they have to bullshit the less solid the foundation for their bullshit becomes, and the Trump moment, well, it’s very much thin at this moment. The Roy Moore loss in Alabama could be the first of many for the party that’s become the defender of the rich, the despicable and that that preys on weaker Americans. One can only hope.
