DISCLAIMER: I am a big lover of movies, less so of films. Movies have explosions, kung-fu, gun-fu, any and all manner of action set pieces, as well as superfluous profanity, nekkid people left and right and world building that is often mind blowing. Films are about the sad clown of life and our bleak existence on this God forsaken planet. In other words, blockbuster kick butt movies = good. Depressing pretentious art-house clap-trap = bad.
2016 was yet another great year for movies. There were so many good ones that I had a tougher time than usual winnowing them down to a mere top ten. Keep in mind that I don't get out too often and that I only venture into the theater or plop my butt down on my couch for a movie that I'm already enthusiastic about. I don't waste my time on movies or films that have subjects or flavors that I'm not interested in in the first place, which means I don't see a ton of movies during the year. Here first are the honorable mentions in no particular order.
LA-LA LAND
Just saw this yesterday and enjoyed it very much. I watched a screener under less than ideal conditions, a brightly lit room with people talking and no subtitles - but still really dug what was going on. I can see how this movie (which is also very much a film) has polarized people. Some think it is the second coming, others are befuddled by all the hype. I fall somewhere in the middle, leaning more towards a pretty big thumbs up for this very bittersweet and heartfelt tribute to older movies, Los Angeles (my home for 20 years) and grown up romance without the vulgar trappings that typically accompany the romantic genre today. Emma Stone is remarkable and luminescent in this movie; a bona fide star and a triple threat. Gosling has never been one of my favorites, but he is perfectly cast in this role, and unless there are mind blowing special effects at play - he sure knows how to play piano!
STAR TREK: BEYOND
A lot of fun. A big action romp with some really nice set pieces that actually holds up to repeat viewings. I bought this movie out of habit on Amazon video and I'm surprised that I've watched it four times already. It's not as strong as the last two modern Trek offerings, but there's a lot to like about it. So sad every time the young Checkov kid is on screen.
SUICIDE SQUAD
Lots of hate out there for this one, and all DC movies for that matter (but that's a whole other blog post). I for one let go of trying to compare it to the almighty MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) and just enjoyed myself in this often incoherent but also often pretty cool romp through the dark underbelly of baddies and their world. Loved Margot Robbie and am intrigued by Leto's Joker. Viola Davis for me makes this movie - talk about a bad ass! The extended cut adds next to nothing, but I'm still glad I bought it.
PETE'S DRAGON
The best kind of remake in that it isn't a remake at all - but rather follows the barest storyline of the original. It's not a musical, it doesn't take place is Passamashloddy and is in fact very unlike it's predecessor which is a lovely but flawed and frothy musical. Instead it is a lovely, non-musical number laden and emotional story set in today's times in a town just outside of the wilderness. Sometimes it's eco preaching is a little clumsy, but there's so much heart from the characters that it's easy to overlook.
ALLIED
Disappointed that my favorite director didn't make it automatically into my top ten as he always does, but still I enjoyed Zemeckis' foray into World War II melodrama. The action sequences were crackling good, especially the assassination sequence and the editing tight. I for sure got choked up towards the end at the heartbreaking conclusion - despite the heavy amounts of extreme drama slathered and caked onto every frame. It very much reminded me of a Ron Howard movie like Backdraft - where the dialogue isn't quite good enough to overcome the cheese, but it still mostly works.
FINDING DORI
One of three tremendous animated films this year. I didn't think I wanted or needed to see a movie focused on Dori, but I'm glad to admit I was wrong. This one is very endearing and heart warming and at times a bit heart wrenching. Some great Pixar-esque sequences and solid production value in every frame, bolstered by the usual stellar R&D, make this one a winner.
SAUSAGE PARTY
This one is not one of the three tremendous animated films, but it's still a hoot. Much of it is uneven and a lot of the time the vulgarity seems forced and a bit mean, but it's still mostly enjoyable - albeit on a very lowbrow level. The opening Saving Private Ryan sequence and the 'climax' sequence at the end of the film are definite high points. Looking forward to seeing this again.
SULLY
This one would be in my top ten were it not for a bit of dramatic license taken by the filmmakers. In every way this movie is top notch, - acting, script, production value and effects. Tom Hanks is superb yet again and the story line is gripping. Unfortunately I found out after reading up on the incident a bit that the storyline is somewhat of a fabrication. The FAA in real life were not the mustache twirling villains that director Clint Eastwood made them out to be in the movie. I wish they had adhered closer to the truth, which is that the FAA were basically just doing their jobs and didn't have an agenda beyond that. The end of the movie does soften this falsehood a bit, but not enough in my opinion. But I can set this aside and still enjoy the movie because there is so much good stuff to chew on. Especially uplifting is the actual sequence of the crash itself. Eastwood does a masterful job of showcasing not just Sully and his crew, but all of the first responders that helped turn what could've been a deadly disaster into an inspiring story with a happy ending.
FANTASTIC BEASTS & WHERE TO FIND THEM
Liked an awful lot about this very dense and beautifully made film. I didn't care for the fact that the lead mumbled all of his lines - but I did love the two supporting characters of Queenie and the Baker dude. And the creatures of course were fantastic. I really hope they do keep making these, it was very much a journey worth taking, especially the bittersweet ending - so good!
ZOOTOPIA
Again, another near top ten miss. Very hard this year to pick only ten! This one is delightful in it's execution - the world building is phenomenal and the sequences are all chosen and cut expertly. Disney does it again, again by putting story first. I love the rabbit's train ride into the city oh so much, Shakira's music works surprisingly well in this sequence and it all works together to bring the goosebumps. The rest of the story works well, though very derivative of all those cop buddy movies that we've seen many times. Also, while I do appreciate and agree the message of the film of tolerance and setting aside old prejudices, it does come dangerously close to being a bit too on the nose and preachy. Thankfully it doesn't cross the line, as there is enough humor and entertainment to keep us free from the feeling of being lectured and instead fully invested with the characters. Well done Disney!
13 HOURS
A very important story that I am so grateful made it to the silver screen. Michael Bay is in his element here and does an expert job of bringing the events of Benghazi to life. It's a shame that many liberals will avoid this one, thinking it to be a jingoistic treatise on bashing Hilary Clinton - it's really not that. Well, maybe a little, but they don't mention her or the Obama administration at all. Bay really goes out of his way to keep politics out of it, for the most part. To a stalwart conservative like me it's sometimes hard to step back and see this story for what it is - a very human one that doesn't shy away from showing all that is wrong with radical Islamists. The action sequences are superb and intense, the performances are great - grounded and understated the way real military people are. Loved this. It just misses my top ten because it does suffer a tiny bit from the same thing that most war movies do - it's tough to identify who is who in many of the action sequences. I'm sure it will get better upon repeated viewing, which is something I intend to do for sure.
And so onto the top ten...
10 - PATRIOT'S DAY
Yes, this one is a film, and it's also very important historically - but what propels this one past the above movies is the incredible story telling and editing; turning what could potentially be a Lifetime Channel flick of the week into an engrossing cinematic experience. Peter Berg is the master of bringing real life into the movie realm with seamless and powerful fluidity. As with Deepwater Horizon, you really feel that you are at the event as it unfolds. But far more than just a disaster movie, this story embodies what makes America great - among the very worst of humanity, which took years of diabolical planning, the very best of humanity materializes instantly. The entire spectrum of first responders are given tribute here, led by Mark Wahlberg as a composite character of very real law enforcement officers that helped at the scene and also brought the animals that perpetrated such horror to justice.
9 - HACKSAW RIDGE
Mel Gibson may be a bat-shit crazy Jew hating bastard, but man the guy knows how to direct a movie! This one is great - an inspiring and often brutal portrayal of war alongside a young man who refuses to touch a gun. Telling true stories can be a tough job for movies, there's a great risk of simply making a Lifetime television drama, but everything in this story works and still feels very cinematic. Eager to see this one again.
8 - JUNGLE BOOK
Eye popping special effects that work because they are grounded with heart and Disney's full commitment to the commandment of putting story first. Incredible that this entire movie was shot entirely in a big metal warehouse in downtown Los Angeles. It entirely deserves it's VFX Oscar, even up against some very stiff competition - but as I said, it's a great movie because we are invested in the story and especially the lead character, and pretty much the only human in the entire movie. The young boy who plays Mowgli is mesmerizing and perfectly cast. Can't wait to see what he does next as he grows up.
7 - X-MEN APOCALYPSE
I am a bit mystified at the critics response to this one and I am absolutely perplexed at my nerd peers online who bashed it as well. I LOVE this superhero movie very much and it is my favorite of the modern X-Men trilogy which also includes First Class and Days of Future Past. It has tons of emotion, I found my eyes welling up more than a few times. I 'rolled a tear' as the manly men say because the relentless action was all grounded in these characters that we've grown to love - even the characters that are being played by new actors for the very first time. Sophia Turner and her young cohorts all brought urgency and depth to their roles, rooted in the previous movies and the source material as well. Bravo everyone involved. I could watch this one again and again, and I kind of already have.
6 - DEADPOOL
Where to begin with how much I love this movie? Yeah, it's nasty at times and crude and all that - but it's also genuinely hilarious and absolutely righteous in it's commitment to telling a story of vengeance and love in peril. Despite all the fourth wall breaking and snark, Deadpool still manages to drill down on truth and outshine every single other comic book movie outside of the MCU with the exception of Nolan's Dark Knight. It has heart, it has passion and pathos - and some truly great action set pieces. I wish there had been one or two more - the middle of the film slows down a little bit too much for my tastes, but the journey overall is more than well worth it. Plus it's funny as fuck, if I may borrow some of the movie's vernacular.
5 - CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
For sure this has the single greatest superhero action sequence on film to date. 20+ minutes of pure comic book nerd-gasmic bliss. This sequence alone would be enough to land this movie a spot on my top ten, but even better than that (as crazy good as it is with Spider-Man, Giant-Man et al kicking butt in every which way) is that this movie at it's heart has a fantastic story with a gut wrenching reveal at the end that finds our heroes NOT patching everything up and fighting the bad guy at the end. I told my 11 year old daughter, who didn't want to see it because it has Cap and Iron Man fighting, not to worry - that they would "Join up together at the end". Boy was I wrong and boy was she annoyed with me. But I have to say, it is super great and powerful for defying expectations. DC and Warner Brothers take note, this is how super heroes fighting each other is done.
4 - DOCTOR STRANGE
I go back and forth between which MCU masterpiece I like more this year - Civil War or this one. Right now I just bought Dr. Strange on digital and watched it the other night, so I am still giddy in love with it enough to push it just a notch above Avengers 2.5, aka Civil War. If you had told my 13 year old self that someday they would make a Dr. Strange movie that was fun but not cheesy in a bad way and yet still managed to bring Steve Ditko's panels to life in front of me in an incredibly faithful way - I never would've believed you. This one taps right into the core of my comic book nerd being. For about 4 years I was a voracious reader of six comic books, actually a lot more thanks to my friend Dan, but these are the ones I bought myself and never missed - Frank Miller's Daredevil, John Byrne's Fantastic Four, Chris Claremont's X-Men, The Hulk, The Avengers and The Defenders. The last one on the list was a unique super hero team that occasionally included Daredevil, so that's why I bought it, but the leader was Dr. Strange. And there was always stuff that looked like the final confrontation in the film - the intergalactic/cosmic/magic-infused/psychedelic world of the good Doctor was always a place I was happy to go. And now I get to see it in the flesh, created by the real wizards at Marvel and Disney. I am in awe of how great this movie is, again - story at Disney is KING and it shows, Not one film frame nor one line of dialogue is wasted, it's all in service of the story, and we as grown up nerds are all the better for it.
3 - ROGUE ONE
So pleased that I can heartily recommend this movie, I was pretty scared that they were going to drop the ball on this, a story that we didn't necessarily need. Click here for my complete review of this outstanding entry into the Star Wars canon.
2 - ARRIVAL
I could write at length about how magnificent this one is - and maybe I will in the future, but for now let me just say that you are best served by going into this movie cold without any knowledge of what it's about beyond simply Aliens arriving on earth. That's how I saw it and I'm very grateful I did. I was horrified that the clips they showed during the Oscars gave so much away about the aliens themselves, how crummy for people who haven't seen the movie. There is a great takeaway from this film - and without getting into details, it's this: In our lives we sometimes have great tragedies, if we were given a chance to foresee these tragedies, would we choose a different path? The answer is at once incredibly moving and gratifying and will bring you to tears. Seriously bro, if you don't 'roll a tear' on this one, you are dead inside.
1 - MOANA
Speaking of 'rolling a tear' - I did that the most this year watching an animated movie about a tropical princess. The music, the sights, the sounds, the emotion of Moana is for me rather overwhelming. As a huge fan of musicals I was simply blown away at how good the music and the musicianship was in this movie. I found out later that it was written in large part by the dude responsible for Hamilton, the $2000 a seat musical on broadway that you can't get tickets for anyway because everyone is so in love with it. Well now I get the hype for this Lin-Manuel dude - he is an incredible talent, because the songs here propel an already emotional story into the stratosphere of greatness. I, like most parents these days, am pretty worn out on animated films - as good as most of them are, it's tough to sit through half a dozen or more every year. Now that my kid is a bit older we don't rush out and see each and every one, but we did for a time.
I was mildly intrigued to see this one, but in no great rush. My 12 year old daughter actually cajoled me into seeing it with her even though she had already seen it once. She said "I think you'll really like it dad, it's really good, better than I thought it would be." Okay, I'm sold. So we went, and I was very very moved. So much so that I was embarrassed to be crying so much in front of my kid. They were manly tears yes, but still there was quite a lot of them.
I've been wondering why I am so moved by this movie, I've come up with a couple of reasons. One, it taps right into the culture of the tropics, in this case the Pacific Island culture; and as a kid I grew up for the first ten years of my life in Key West Florida where I saw the world through a westernized version of this culture. My dad owned a Polynesian restaurant, so the imagery, music, sounds and smells of the islands are very much seared into my consciousness. So when it came to life in such a vibrant manner on the screen, the animation is cutting edge and hyper real - expertly capturing all the iconography, textures and flavors of Polynesia - it was a bit of a sensory overload for me. Memories, both conscious and subconscious came flooding back. And because the story (reason number 2) is framed with a dead grandmother as one of the main catalysts for our heroes journey - for me it's a double whammy of emotion, as my grandmother passed away only a few years back and she was very much in love with Key West and all of it's best trappings; the tropical breezes, palm trees, the water and so on. When Moana is able to reconnect with her grandmother's spirit it made me think how much I would want to be able to do that with my grandmom, and my dad for that matter.
The third reason I think that I love this movie so much is that the heroine is a super strong female and very much a role model for my kid - I would hope that she could be strong and brave like Moana and yet still have the feminine characteristics of empathy and nurturing that are also on display in the movie. Moana is for sure my favorite 'princess' character in that she specifically rejects the label and yet still embodies all the best traits of a young woman and a royal leader. She also finds a great mentor in 'Maui' who is actually The Rock and hilarious and talented and very much a father figure who still has to learn from his progeny and find redemption.
The story, and I know I sound like a broken record here, is given the top priority and it shows. This, in tandem with the correct deference and adherence to the genuine Pacific Island culture, creates a potent and powerful 90 minutes, suitable for the entire family and yet meaningful on a very adult level, especially to this white boy who grew up in the sub-tropics. I am very grateful that Disney made this film, took the time to travel to Samoa and the surrounding islands and created something that will last for generations and bring the beautiful Pacific Island culture to the world. And I can't wait to watch it again and again and again.
And so that's it for what I loved - now here as always, a short list of disappointments.
BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN
When I see a movie that is total crap, I don't worry about it, I forget about it and move on with my life. Unfortunately, this movie is not total crap - it has just enough good stuff (and occasionally great stuff) in it to be upsetting, because the bulk of it is simply mediocre and the story choices are all wrong. Martha! Warner Brothers just doesn't get it; guys, you have to do the work! The reason the MCU is so powerful is because they have invested the TIME in these characters. You don't start off with a movie like the Avengers - you have to have half a dozen or so solo movies before the spectacular team up. The MCU has been percolating since 2008! When the next Avengers movie comes out that means it will have been around for a decade! A freaking decade! That means the characters have earned our love and respect. You don't just plop Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman in front of us and expect us to be in love with them, especially when it's the first time we're even seeing these versions of Batman and Wonder Woman! Yo! WB! Do the work! Maybe pay attention to your television division that is doing a FAR better job at bringing DC characters to life.
GHOSTBUSTERS
Again, I have no interest in dumping all over a movie for being crap. This movie was not crap, a lot of it was fun and worked - but it was wholly unnecessary because it is preceded by a beloved film that really shouldn't be remade. If they were going to do it, they should've made it a sequel and paid correct respect to the original guys - rather than casting them in bit gimmick parts. Killing off Bill Murray? Really? Nope. Not good enough. A lot of odd story choices as well, Chris Hemsworth gets all the possessed people all set up to do a dance number, and then... doesn't do a dance number. (They do show it in the credits). Strange and awkward. And honestly, I can't even really remember the plot, other than it being derivative of the original movie. Sorry, but this is ultimately a forgettable fail. If you're going to make a movie with a message - that girls can be Ghostbusters too - that's fine, but you have to do the work and make it a GOOD movie FIRST, not the other way around. Look at Moana if you want an example of a strong positive role model for girls, because it wasn't conceived with that as the primary goal; it was conceived out of the desire to make GREAT entertainment, that it had a strong female protagonist was a great component - NOT the central reason for making the movie in the first place. Remember - story good FIRST. Entertaining FIRST. All the other stuff that you want to get across, no matter how noble it may be - SECOND.
WARCRAFT
Had zero interest in seeing this anyways but we found ourselves Netflixing it the other night. Such a shame to see all that creativity mired down in a story that is so piss poor by today's standards. I love fantasy movies like Lord of the Rings, this one is just weak sauce without the time and work that needs to be done on projects like this. Too much lip service to World of Warcraft fans, not enough focus on good story telling for general audiences. Sad.
JASON BOURNE
How could they mess this up? The other Bourne movies are pretty great, this one, not so much. Too much long lens hand held shaky work. Shoot a spectacular chase down the strip in Las Vegas and then cut it together so rapid fire that you can't follow it. Weak. The first half of the movie works, but then it goes off the rails after they kill off a main protagonist and then don't pay it off. Do the work guys! We are invested in these characters - if you're going to kill one of them, it better be damn well worth it in some way, not seemingly random as it was.
INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGANCE
I have a soft spot in my heart for the original, for even as I am able to recognize that it does have problems, it is an iconic part of movie blockbuster history. Plus my wife has a big old close up in it. It was her first job in LA, an extra in Independence Day, and she got picked for a close up that not only made it into the film but the official trailer as well. See if you can spot her, she's in LA just before the bad shit goes down, getting out of her car with her kid and looking up in awe. Anyways, this sequel is pretty out of touch with what made the original enjoyable - it's set in a futuristic world that is supposed to be today and yet is pretty much unrecognizable. Thor's brother plays the lead and I'm sorry, but he's bland and forgettable. The other lead is a black guy who I guess is Will Smith's son though he looks nothing like him and even worse he doesn't really do anything in the movie - somehow Thor's brother is the main protagonist. What? Why? Pointless.
*****************
And so that's it - I laughed, I cried (especially in Moana) I kissed my $14.50 goodbye. All in all I am very grateful that I got to see so many great movies, and even the ones I was 'disappointed in' had flashes of brilliance. I love movies, and I want to love movies - so I'm pretty easy to please, not really a critic at all - but that's okay. Already very much in love with the first movie I saw in a theater this year - Lego Batman is extraordinarily good! Run don't walk, especially if you liked the first Lego movie. It's pretty frickin' awesome!
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Monday, February 06, 2017
In good company...
Interesting to me how avowed atheist and brainiac/intellectual juggernaut Sam Harris is pretty much 100% in alignment with my assessment of the election. I don't often share a video and let it just speak for itself, but this one is six minutes of time well spent.
Wednesday, February 01, 2017
Star Wars: the modern era.
A year ago I foretold of a Star Wars episode 7 review and then promptly never got around to it. I'm planning on posting my top ten movies for 2016 soon, but before I get going there's a handful of must-sees that I haven't seen yet. So in the meantime, I thought I would weigh in on all things Star Wars in the here and now.
The question that popped into my brain right after I saw Rogue One was - "Which one was better, Ep VII or this one?" I figured I needed to see Rogue One a second and maybe third time before I confirmed my initial reaction, so I did.
The very first time I saw it I thought Rogue One was rather slow and confusing but had a fantastic final act. On the second viewing I was much less confused and totally dialed into the subtext of the first two thirds of the movie - in other words I liked it a lot more. I did see it a third time, and by the time the credits rolled I was very much in love with the movie.
Rogue One is a perfect stand alone Star Wars movie, in that there will never be a sequel or prequel with it's characters (well, they may somehow talk themselves into a prequel, but that would be very ill advised) and yet this is still very much a story that will resonate for a long time.
I am never one to be enamored by prequels or origin or any kind of 'how did this go down originally?' type movie, especially when it comes to big film franchises. I have no burning desire to see Fantastic Beasts, though I imagine I will someday, and I find the whole idea of digging out nuggets from great movie franchises and exploiting them by spelling out every detail to be rather obnoxious and speaks to a great lack of imagination on the part of Hollywood.
I don't need to see Han Solo make the Kessel Run in 12 Parsecs. I don't need to know that Darth Vader used to enter pod races when he was 10. (Sorry George!) Dense and layered backstories are a big part of what make franchise films great, because they are left unexplored and provide us the audience with only a blueprint, our imaginations fill in the rest.
So I was very skeptical when I heard that one of these backstory lines in Ep IV, "Many Bothans paid with their lives for these plans." was going to be turned into a full feature film. Don't need to see that, don't need to relive the dirty dozen in space thanks. I was fairly irritated, because what I love about the original Star Wars saga films is that there are literally thousands of little details, from lines of dialogue to set designs and costume choices, that weave a marvelous backstory just enough that our imaginations can take them and run with them. I don't need to see the Bothans infiltrate the Death Star and die whilst fighting old school Stormtroopers and a CG Grand Moff Tarkin.
But when the first images emerged, and then the trailer, I had to admit that I was cautiously intrigued. The trailer especially just screamed a faithfulness to the very first Star Wars movie. I was a bit concerned though that the female lead seemed an obvious candidate to be Rey's mum, but thankfully as we know they didn't go that lazy and sloppy route.
In fact, much to my surprise and delight, they didn't make nearly any conventional choices at all in the final film. I say final film because I understand, and can gather pretty readily by the sheer number of shots that are in the trailer and not the movie, that a lot was changed after principal photography - no doubt for the better as the final product is outstanding.
Pretty much every choice down the line was excellent; from the gritty production design, faithful to the worn-in ethos of Eps IV-VI, to the grim but determined nature of the heroes. I even applaud that they did in fact go with a CG Tarkin, something that I had guessed at and dreaded when I first heard about this project - but somehow even that worked out just fine. More on him later.
But of all the choices, the one that I'm glad they didn't fail to make, was the most obvious one. Everyone does indeed die. Spoiler alert ha ha. This one fundamental choice, the most obvious one, yet the most likely one for a studio to fail to grasp, somehow came down on the correct side. It in turn gives the entire movie a weight that would otherwise be absent. Bravo Gareth Edwards and bravo Disney.
So, the characters that I loved. Gyn Erso, from a scared little girl to an almost but not quite broken adult scrounging and scraping to stay alive. She embodies a weary hope that eventually rises to the surface and shines as bright as the Death Star blast that ends her life. Most of all I'm ecstatic that she has nothing to do with Rey, which would've been the easiest and laziest thing in the world.
The Samurai guy and his machine laser gun buddy. A classic pairing of two battle veterans who somehow sense that this is the last round up.
K2SO, much needed levity and a delightfully sour disposition makes him the anti-cute droid. When K2 got blasted in the end, I knew we were on the right path and everyone else was likely to get it too. I could also feel the collective gasp around the theater.
The characters that have grown on me - Cassian the French guy who it turns out is actually hispanic. Had no idea. I thought his character was a bit thin at first, I also rolled my eyes a bit at his line "We've all done things for the Rebel Alliance that we are ashamed of..." Really? Why? The cause is just, don't be a Debbie Downer dude. But okay, I can concede that war is never pretty and neither side is ever entirely clean. The line works in the end because he does restrain Gyn from finishing off Krennic. A great moment that gets more and more powerful with each viewing, just as the character and the actors performance grows more and more nuanced.
Speaking of Krennic, I grew to love this also-ran of a bad guy. You can tell he wants to be a big bad ass so much, and yet just can't seem to catch a break. Or at least that's what he thinks. One of my favorite scenes in the whole movie is his showdown with Tarkin - the only reason that scene works is because of the actor's conviction. Good stuff.
As for my favorite scenes - they are in no particular order...
Darth Vader kicking ass at the end. Well duh. Yes, this is the best moment, but it also has very little to do with the bulk of the film, in fact my big disappointment with Vader in this film is that he doesn't really need to be in it. Still, the nostalgia juices flow heavily at the sight of this classic bad guy who demonstrates in the modern parlance of special effects wizardry just how bad ass he really was.
Gyn seeing the hologram message from her father. Felicity Jones' performance in this scene really tugs at the heart strings, even more so than when she actually catches up with him. She is utterly heartbroken and in her face you can see that her short life has been nothing but a long stretch of bleakness from the moment that her mother was gunned down in front of her.
The deaths of the secondary characters. Loved how Brody the defector bought it. So simple, so devastating. Also dug how blind dude and machine gunner met their makers, great choices in editing - both pacing and selection of takes.
The space battle above planet Sandals. Very nostalgia stimulating - beautifully done. Actually glad I saw this in 3D. The planetside battle is also impressive, nice tactical touches keep it grounded.
The death of Gyn and French dude who was really hispanic. Probably the most powerful and affecting moment in the movie. The filmmakers went for it and I'm so grateful they did. My 12 year old was initially appalled, her mind was a bit blown - but I think she pretty quickly grasped that this was the way it had to be. Very strong stuff. I could watch those moments, when first one then the other realizes that this is to be their fate and then they embrace - over and over. Get the chills just thinking about it.
And as for my favorite set - it had to be the Cairo like city on yet another desert planet, beautifully detailed and gritty. A lot of labor and a lot of love went into the building of that environment. Great action sequence in there as well.
So yes, I loved Rogue One. It certainly wasn't perfect - a few nitpicks...
The death of Gyn's mom and her father's abduction seemed really forced and badly thought out. It made no sense that she would try to bum rush Krennic when he's surrounded by death troopers. I did appreciate the little girl's performance. I also loved the production design and how everyone was soaked. Well done.
Gyn and her father's reunion didn't play as powerfully as I thought it would - it's good, but Gyn's reaction to her father's hologram beats his actual death by a lot in terms of raw emotion.
I'm not going to bash the idea of a CG Tarkin or a CG Leia or recreations of other long gone characters and long dead actors - I'm on board with it. But I wish that Tarkin had been a little bit more shadowed so that his CG-ness wasn't so jarring. Same with Leia. Still, my wife had zero idea that Tarkin wasn't real, so what do I know.
In the end - I really love this movie, and I'm very grateful that a studio like Disney which has perfected the art of the story and truly does put story first, is at the helm of this franchise.
So, how do I think this measures up against Episode VII? Well first - I need to tell you what I think of 2015's Star Wars release.
You've probably already gathered that I love it, as it was my number 2 film of that year - but read on to delve into the what and why.
First and foremost, a new Star Wars saga film was going to live and die by it's leads, and thankfully two of the three are transcendent and the third one (the villain) shows a lot of promise.
Rey is a revelation of strength and luminescent beauty. I am very glad as a father of a daughter who was 11 when the movie came out that Star Wars under Disney has chosen to showcase a young woman as THE hero of this trilogy.
Rey is powerful, she is strong, she is at times believably fearful and reluctant - but most of all she is hopeful. Like Gyn Erso, she has led a very bleak existence. Whatever happiness she might have known as a little girl evaporated in the cloud of dust that a ship left in it's wake depositing her on the God forsaken rock known as Jakku.
From that moment on it is very clear to us, and this is what I love about the best kinds of story telling in movies - that even though we haven't seen it, she has absolutely had a hell of a difficult time growing up in a very harsh and often dangerous environment. And yet, there she sits, optomistically chowing down on her hard earned slop before clumsily donning a rebel helmet like a little kid. I love this entire sequence, because it says so much about who she is and how she has grown up in just a handful of shots. How many dangerous situations has she been in? Probably a lot. As adults we wonder how often she found herself under threat of assault of all different kinds, even the worst imaginable. Probably a lot. And here she is, seemingly unscathed in body and for sure undiminished in spirit.
She has had nothing but danger around her for most of her life, but she is resourceful and powerful. She is full of hope despite everything around her that says she should be full of despair. She is absolutely radiant on the screen and in the fully realized fictional world she inhabits. She is completely larger than life and we are all the better for it.
But like Luke before her, she is frozen in fear of the unknown - and yet she feels the pull of destiny, and so do we. I love Rey so much, and I am full of admiration for the young woman that is Daisy Ridley who brought her to life.
And then there's Finn.
Finn is a bit of a fuck up. But that's why I love him. While Rey is the larger than life Jedi to be, Finn is every bit the every man and very much one of us.
He falls down and is clumsy in almost every respect - he's afraid, he's unsure, and he is in way over his head. And yet, like Rey, it is his hope that is his salvation. In one moment in the first scene of the film, he makes a spectacular choice that makes him an absolute hero. He looks at the First Order and says 'no'. No to killing for them, no to despair. In this way, with everything stacked against him, being stolen from his family, being indoctrinated to the nth degree, being presented with only one despicable option - he somehow looks inward and comes up with the right answer. No. Not this. Not me.
In this way Finn is my favorite. He is rightly in awe of Rey. I mean, just look at her. She has it all and doesn't even know it. She's stunningly beautiful and inspiring in every way. Finn doesn't know a nut from a bolt, quite literally in one scene. And yet, as overwhelmed as he is, he never gives up and he never loses sight over what is right. True, he does buck at one moment - when he almost leaves the planet with Cantina 2 on it, but Rey also has her moment of weakness there, in a spectacular flashback/dream/vision sequence when she touches the light saber and ends up forsaking it.
But in the end Finn, and Rey as well, choose to fight. And they are each inspiring in their own way.
Kylo - what can I say. Did not expect the choices in story or in Adam Driver's performance, but I am thoroughly intrigued by the character and I hope that Ren lives up to his promise in the guaranteed to be much darker Episode VII.
There is a lot of baggage in the Star Wars fan community when it comes to what happened after the Original Trilogy. I am only on the periphery of this community, but I know enough to know that the subject of Han and Leia's kids has been brought up in many permutations in the books, in the comics and in the minds of fans since 1982 when the last OT film came out. So J.J. and Larry, and Disney of course, decided to go with one kid (for now) and yes, he has fallen into the dark side.
Thankfully we are spared the details of how this happened and we can gather enough on our own to fill in the blanks. This mostly works - but it is hard to shake the specter of fan-fiction that hangs over this choice. This is a development that has been discussed by writers and fans for over 30 years; to have a dorky looking guy be Han and Leia's kid and have him already turned evil when the story starts - it's a tough sell, but I think they've pulled it off so far. The success of this choice I think is largely contingent on more revelations in the next movie.
So what scenes are my absolute favorites? Let's go down the list shall we...
The aforementioned montage of Rey at home, making dinner, eating and chilling out in a rebel helmet. Just love how her entire backstory is captured in just these few shots, and the music is sublime. Probably my third favorite moment in the entire film.
The reveal of the Millennium Falcon and the chase that follows. Got a huge cheer in the theater and rightfully so, yes we are all suckers for the power of nostalgia - and the images of the old ship coming to life and staggering out of the junk yard touches the heart of every fan boy and girl. The following chase through derelict Star Destroyers is expertly staged and utterly exhilarating, in no small part thanks to the enthusiasm and commitment of Ridley and Boyega.
Rey strapped to a chair and being interrogated by Kylo. I am in awe of the sound design of this sequence - combined with potent performances and frame perfect editing, this scene is absolutely tremendous in it's power and implications. The sequence of events here, Kylo's attempt at a brutal violation followed by Rey's resistance and eventually turning the tables on her captor is a bold feminist statement that plays on a very adult level. This show is still family entertainment, but if you're paying attention to how this is set up, the consequences could be every bit as dire as the most gruesome Game of Thrones scene. Mercifully, good is triumphant - and the force awakens. This really is the entire heart of the movie here, Rey not only repels her potential assaulter but she has a revelation and uses it to great effect to make it clear that what happened on the Cantina 2 planet, being frozen and then knocked out, will never happen again.
The death of Han Solo, or rather what happens immediately after. Look, I was not surprised whatsoever that Han died. I, and any other Star Wars fan that was half paying attention, knew this was his last round up. I can say, the sequence was done exceptionally well - and yes, despite being prepared for it, the lightsaber entering Han's chest was still shocking and a jolt to the heart. But for me what elevates this scene, isn't the dialogue between father and son and the result (though this is all done very well) it's Rey's reaction. Daisy's expression of horror and grief segue's perfectly into blind rage and she pulls the trigger of her blaster through her tears. Stunningly powerful, more so even than Han's actual death and again testifies to the strength of this film - it rests entirely on the shoulders of Finn and Rey.
The final battle in the forest - specifically two moments. First, when the lightsaber finally lands in Rey's hands. Probably the number one moment in the film - the culmination and the promise being fulfilled of a new hero for a new generation. I cannot emphasize how happy I am that J.J. Abrahams made sure to shoot and edit moments like this correctly - to give the right amount of time on a camera move and to make sure that the correct musical cue came with it. This is a seemingly obvious choice of obvious tools, but I am shocked at how many filmmakers over the years absolutely miss it.
George Lucas lost a HUGE golden opportunity in Ep I when he didn't give Obi-Wan the correct emotional beat before leaping out of the pit and slaying Darth Maul. J.J. get's it right with Rey, twice. First when she catches the saber and turns it on, and just as impressively when she closes her eyes and calls on the force before putting down Kylo Ren. Moments of stunning beauty and clarity, all made possible by performance, directing, music and editing.
So in the end, if forced to choose between 2015 and 2016's Star Wars offerings, I have to go with 2015. Rogue One is magnificent and gets better with every viewing, but Episode VII is the Star Wars saga that I grew up with and it's imbued with a legacy and faith that R1 only hints at. I am grateful that I got to go on Gyn Erso's journey, bittersweet as it was - but I am even more grateful that I know Rey and Finn and will get to see what happens next.
The question that popped into my brain right after I saw Rogue One was - "Which one was better, Ep VII or this one?" I figured I needed to see Rogue One a second and maybe third time before I confirmed my initial reaction, so I did.
The very first time I saw it I thought Rogue One was rather slow and confusing but had a fantastic final act. On the second viewing I was much less confused and totally dialed into the subtext of the first two thirds of the movie - in other words I liked it a lot more. I did see it a third time, and by the time the credits rolled I was very much in love with the movie.
Rogue One is a perfect stand alone Star Wars movie, in that there will never be a sequel or prequel with it's characters (well, they may somehow talk themselves into a prequel, but that would be very ill advised) and yet this is still very much a story that will resonate for a long time.
I am never one to be enamored by prequels or origin or any kind of 'how did this go down originally?' type movie, especially when it comes to big film franchises. I have no burning desire to see Fantastic Beasts, though I imagine I will someday, and I find the whole idea of digging out nuggets from great movie franchises and exploiting them by spelling out every detail to be rather obnoxious and speaks to a great lack of imagination on the part of Hollywood.
I don't need to see Han Solo make the Kessel Run in 12 Parsecs. I don't need to know that Darth Vader used to enter pod races when he was 10. (Sorry George!) Dense and layered backstories are a big part of what make franchise films great, because they are left unexplored and provide us the audience with only a blueprint, our imaginations fill in the rest.
So I was very skeptical when I heard that one of these backstory lines in Ep IV, "Many Bothans paid with their lives for these plans." was going to be turned into a full feature film. Don't need to see that, don't need to relive the dirty dozen in space thanks. I was fairly irritated, because what I love about the original Star Wars saga films is that there are literally thousands of little details, from lines of dialogue to set designs and costume choices, that weave a marvelous backstory just enough that our imaginations can take them and run with them. I don't need to see the Bothans infiltrate the Death Star and die whilst fighting old school Stormtroopers and a CG Grand Moff Tarkin.
But when the first images emerged, and then the trailer, I had to admit that I was cautiously intrigued. The trailer especially just screamed a faithfulness to the very first Star Wars movie. I was a bit concerned though that the female lead seemed an obvious candidate to be Rey's mum, but thankfully as we know they didn't go that lazy and sloppy route.
In fact, much to my surprise and delight, they didn't make nearly any conventional choices at all in the final film. I say final film because I understand, and can gather pretty readily by the sheer number of shots that are in the trailer and not the movie, that a lot was changed after principal photography - no doubt for the better as the final product is outstanding.
Pretty much every choice down the line was excellent; from the gritty production design, faithful to the worn-in ethos of Eps IV-VI, to the grim but determined nature of the heroes. I even applaud that they did in fact go with a CG Tarkin, something that I had guessed at and dreaded when I first heard about this project - but somehow even that worked out just fine. More on him later.
But of all the choices, the one that I'm glad they didn't fail to make, was the most obvious one. Everyone does indeed die. Spoiler alert ha ha. This one fundamental choice, the most obvious one, yet the most likely one for a studio to fail to grasp, somehow came down on the correct side. It in turn gives the entire movie a weight that would otherwise be absent. Bravo Gareth Edwards and bravo Disney.
So, the characters that I loved. Gyn Erso, from a scared little girl to an almost but not quite broken adult scrounging and scraping to stay alive. She embodies a weary hope that eventually rises to the surface and shines as bright as the Death Star blast that ends her life. Most of all I'm ecstatic that she has nothing to do with Rey, which would've been the easiest and laziest thing in the world.
The Samurai guy and his machine laser gun buddy. A classic pairing of two battle veterans who somehow sense that this is the last round up.
K2SO, much needed levity and a delightfully sour disposition makes him the anti-cute droid. When K2 got blasted in the end, I knew we were on the right path and everyone else was likely to get it too. I could also feel the collective gasp around the theater.
The characters that have grown on me - Cassian the French guy who it turns out is actually hispanic. Had no idea. I thought his character was a bit thin at first, I also rolled my eyes a bit at his line "We've all done things for the Rebel Alliance that we are ashamed of..." Really? Why? The cause is just, don't be a Debbie Downer dude. But okay, I can concede that war is never pretty and neither side is ever entirely clean. The line works in the end because he does restrain Gyn from finishing off Krennic. A great moment that gets more and more powerful with each viewing, just as the character and the actors performance grows more and more nuanced.
Speaking of Krennic, I grew to love this also-ran of a bad guy. You can tell he wants to be a big bad ass so much, and yet just can't seem to catch a break. Or at least that's what he thinks. One of my favorite scenes in the whole movie is his showdown with Tarkin - the only reason that scene works is because of the actor's conviction. Good stuff.
As for my favorite scenes - they are in no particular order...
Darth Vader kicking ass at the end. Well duh. Yes, this is the best moment, but it also has very little to do with the bulk of the film, in fact my big disappointment with Vader in this film is that he doesn't really need to be in it. Still, the nostalgia juices flow heavily at the sight of this classic bad guy who demonstrates in the modern parlance of special effects wizardry just how bad ass he really was.
Gyn seeing the hologram message from her father. Felicity Jones' performance in this scene really tugs at the heart strings, even more so than when she actually catches up with him. She is utterly heartbroken and in her face you can see that her short life has been nothing but a long stretch of bleakness from the moment that her mother was gunned down in front of her.
The deaths of the secondary characters. Loved how Brody the defector bought it. So simple, so devastating. Also dug how blind dude and machine gunner met their makers, great choices in editing - both pacing and selection of takes.
The space battle above planet Sandals. Very nostalgia stimulating - beautifully done. Actually glad I saw this in 3D. The planetside battle is also impressive, nice tactical touches keep it grounded.
The death of Gyn and French dude who was really hispanic. Probably the most powerful and affecting moment in the movie. The filmmakers went for it and I'm so grateful they did. My 12 year old was initially appalled, her mind was a bit blown - but I think she pretty quickly grasped that this was the way it had to be. Very strong stuff. I could watch those moments, when first one then the other realizes that this is to be their fate and then they embrace - over and over. Get the chills just thinking about it.
And as for my favorite set - it had to be the Cairo like city on yet another desert planet, beautifully detailed and gritty. A lot of labor and a lot of love went into the building of that environment. Great action sequence in there as well.
So yes, I loved Rogue One. It certainly wasn't perfect - a few nitpicks...
The death of Gyn's mom and her father's abduction seemed really forced and badly thought out. It made no sense that she would try to bum rush Krennic when he's surrounded by death troopers. I did appreciate the little girl's performance. I also loved the production design and how everyone was soaked. Well done.
Gyn and her father's reunion didn't play as powerfully as I thought it would - it's good, but Gyn's reaction to her father's hologram beats his actual death by a lot in terms of raw emotion.
I'm not going to bash the idea of a CG Tarkin or a CG Leia or recreations of other long gone characters and long dead actors - I'm on board with it. But I wish that Tarkin had been a little bit more shadowed so that his CG-ness wasn't so jarring. Same with Leia. Still, my wife had zero idea that Tarkin wasn't real, so what do I know.
In the end - I really love this movie, and I'm very grateful that a studio like Disney which has perfected the art of the story and truly does put story first, is at the helm of this franchise.
So, how do I think this measures up against Episode VII? Well first - I need to tell you what I think of 2015's Star Wars release.
You've probably already gathered that I love it, as it was my number 2 film of that year - but read on to delve into the what and why.
First and foremost, a new Star Wars saga film was going to live and die by it's leads, and thankfully two of the three are transcendent and the third one (the villain) shows a lot of promise.
Rey is a revelation of strength and luminescent beauty. I am very glad as a father of a daughter who was 11 when the movie came out that Star Wars under Disney has chosen to showcase a young woman as THE hero of this trilogy.
Rey is powerful, she is strong, she is at times believably fearful and reluctant - but most of all she is hopeful. Like Gyn Erso, she has led a very bleak existence. Whatever happiness she might have known as a little girl evaporated in the cloud of dust that a ship left in it's wake depositing her on the God forsaken rock known as Jakku.
From that moment on it is very clear to us, and this is what I love about the best kinds of story telling in movies - that even though we haven't seen it, she has absolutely had a hell of a difficult time growing up in a very harsh and often dangerous environment. And yet, there she sits, optomistically chowing down on her hard earned slop before clumsily donning a rebel helmet like a little kid. I love this entire sequence, because it says so much about who she is and how she has grown up in just a handful of shots. How many dangerous situations has she been in? Probably a lot. As adults we wonder how often she found herself under threat of assault of all different kinds, even the worst imaginable. Probably a lot. And here she is, seemingly unscathed in body and for sure undiminished in spirit.
She has had nothing but danger around her for most of her life, but she is resourceful and powerful. She is full of hope despite everything around her that says she should be full of despair. She is absolutely radiant on the screen and in the fully realized fictional world she inhabits. She is completely larger than life and we are all the better for it.
But like Luke before her, she is frozen in fear of the unknown - and yet she feels the pull of destiny, and so do we. I love Rey so much, and I am full of admiration for the young woman that is Daisy Ridley who brought her to life.
And then there's Finn.
Finn is a bit of a fuck up. But that's why I love him. While Rey is the larger than life Jedi to be, Finn is every bit the every man and very much one of us.
He falls down and is clumsy in almost every respect - he's afraid, he's unsure, and he is in way over his head. And yet, like Rey, it is his hope that is his salvation. In one moment in the first scene of the film, he makes a spectacular choice that makes him an absolute hero. He looks at the First Order and says 'no'. No to killing for them, no to despair. In this way, with everything stacked against him, being stolen from his family, being indoctrinated to the nth degree, being presented with only one despicable option - he somehow looks inward and comes up with the right answer. No. Not this. Not me.
In this way Finn is my favorite. He is rightly in awe of Rey. I mean, just look at her. She has it all and doesn't even know it. She's stunningly beautiful and inspiring in every way. Finn doesn't know a nut from a bolt, quite literally in one scene. And yet, as overwhelmed as he is, he never gives up and he never loses sight over what is right. True, he does buck at one moment - when he almost leaves the planet with Cantina 2 on it, but Rey also has her moment of weakness there, in a spectacular flashback/dream/vision sequence when she touches the light saber and ends up forsaking it.
But in the end Finn, and Rey as well, choose to fight. And they are each inspiring in their own way.
Kylo - what can I say. Did not expect the choices in story or in Adam Driver's performance, but I am thoroughly intrigued by the character and I hope that Ren lives up to his promise in the guaranteed to be much darker Episode VII.
There is a lot of baggage in the Star Wars fan community when it comes to what happened after the Original Trilogy. I am only on the periphery of this community, but I know enough to know that the subject of Han and Leia's kids has been brought up in many permutations in the books, in the comics and in the minds of fans since 1982 when the last OT film came out. So J.J. and Larry, and Disney of course, decided to go with one kid (for now) and yes, he has fallen into the dark side.
Thankfully we are spared the details of how this happened and we can gather enough on our own to fill in the blanks. This mostly works - but it is hard to shake the specter of fan-fiction that hangs over this choice. This is a development that has been discussed by writers and fans for over 30 years; to have a dorky looking guy be Han and Leia's kid and have him already turned evil when the story starts - it's a tough sell, but I think they've pulled it off so far. The success of this choice I think is largely contingent on more revelations in the next movie.
So what scenes are my absolute favorites? Let's go down the list shall we...
The aforementioned montage of Rey at home, making dinner, eating and chilling out in a rebel helmet. Just love how her entire backstory is captured in just these few shots, and the music is sublime. Probably my third favorite moment in the entire film.
The reveal of the Millennium Falcon and the chase that follows. Got a huge cheer in the theater and rightfully so, yes we are all suckers for the power of nostalgia - and the images of the old ship coming to life and staggering out of the junk yard touches the heart of every fan boy and girl. The following chase through derelict Star Destroyers is expertly staged and utterly exhilarating, in no small part thanks to the enthusiasm and commitment of Ridley and Boyega.
Rey strapped to a chair and being interrogated by Kylo. I am in awe of the sound design of this sequence - combined with potent performances and frame perfect editing, this scene is absolutely tremendous in it's power and implications. The sequence of events here, Kylo's attempt at a brutal violation followed by Rey's resistance and eventually turning the tables on her captor is a bold feminist statement that plays on a very adult level. This show is still family entertainment, but if you're paying attention to how this is set up, the consequences could be every bit as dire as the most gruesome Game of Thrones scene. Mercifully, good is triumphant - and the force awakens. This really is the entire heart of the movie here, Rey not only repels her potential assaulter but she has a revelation and uses it to great effect to make it clear that what happened on the Cantina 2 planet, being frozen and then knocked out, will never happen again.
The death of Han Solo, or rather what happens immediately after. Look, I was not surprised whatsoever that Han died. I, and any other Star Wars fan that was half paying attention, knew this was his last round up. I can say, the sequence was done exceptionally well - and yes, despite being prepared for it, the lightsaber entering Han's chest was still shocking and a jolt to the heart. But for me what elevates this scene, isn't the dialogue between father and son and the result (though this is all done very well) it's Rey's reaction. Daisy's expression of horror and grief segue's perfectly into blind rage and she pulls the trigger of her blaster through her tears. Stunningly powerful, more so even than Han's actual death and again testifies to the strength of this film - it rests entirely on the shoulders of Finn and Rey.
The final battle in the forest - specifically two moments. First, when the lightsaber finally lands in Rey's hands. Probably the number one moment in the film - the culmination and the promise being fulfilled of a new hero for a new generation. I cannot emphasize how happy I am that J.J. Abrahams made sure to shoot and edit moments like this correctly - to give the right amount of time on a camera move and to make sure that the correct musical cue came with it. This is a seemingly obvious choice of obvious tools, but I am shocked at how many filmmakers over the years absolutely miss it.
George Lucas lost a HUGE golden opportunity in Ep I when he didn't give Obi-Wan the correct emotional beat before leaping out of the pit and slaying Darth Maul. J.J. get's it right with Rey, twice. First when she catches the saber and turns it on, and just as impressively when she closes her eyes and calls on the force before putting down Kylo Ren. Moments of stunning beauty and clarity, all made possible by performance, directing, music and editing.
So in the end, if forced to choose between 2015 and 2016's Star Wars offerings, I have to go with 2015. Rogue One is magnificent and gets better with every viewing, but Episode VII is the Star Wars saga that I grew up with and it's imbued with a legacy and faith that R1 only hints at. I am grateful that I got to go on Gyn Erso's journey, bittersweet as it was - but I am even more grateful that I know Rey and Finn and will get to see what happens next.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Didn't vote for him...
... but at this point I wish I had. Trump has been out of the gate pretty amazing - doing exactly what he said he would. I loved his inauguration speech, although it seemed at the time a bit ridiculous that we have been put in a place where the President of the United States has to re-assert what should be a fundamental understanding - that we are indeed a shining beacon of hope and a symbol of freedom to the rest of the world.
Right now I am thoroughly enjoying the cascading liberal tears, a giant big blubbery mess across social media and the entertainment world. I feel like Cartman in Southpark who also enjoyed feasting on the tears of his opponents. "Mmmmm Scott... your tears are so delicious!" This has indeed been a couple of weeks of schadenfreude of the highest order.
Of course it would be more enjoyable if the progressive press had once ounce of self awareness or nuance when it comes to the president and his agenda. They all seem absolutely shocked, shocked I tell you, that the president is applying the same boundless energy and determination to his office as he did to his business.
Well I say they can sit and spin. We had to endure not only Obama for eight years, but his knob gobbling press corp. Now liberals, the sheltered elites in their coastal enclaves of iPhones and mocha lattes, can suck on some good old fashioned clarity of purpose for a change. This is turning out to be quite enjoyable.
And if they think it's going to change any time soon - they've got another thing coming. Trump is feeding right into the hopes and dreams of the right of center God fearing patriots like me. That's right - we are the best, and we are going to secure the border and we are not going to tolerate state sponsored terrorism. We are going to put American jobs and interests first, and we are not going to cow tow to any more politically correct nonsense.
It's over. And keep doubling down on your racialist dim-witted view of the world and see how far it gets you. Recently Hot Air showed this map - the county by county results across the country in the last election. It really says it all.
Yeah, enjoy that? This doesn't even take into account Governors and State Legislatures which are now fast approaching 100% That's right - 44 states now have either a GOP Governor or Legislature or both (25) Crazy. But completely predictable.
So in 2008 we protested Obama - Tea Party activists from all walks of life marched on Washington, taking time out of their work week to show pride and patriotism and left the mall far cleaner than they found it. They obeyed laws so traffic could flow free, they arrived with a clear agenda that could be summed up in one phrase - Lower taxes, smaller government. It was a beautiful thing.
Today, coddled pudding brained elites show up for a hang out at airports, sipping on their overpriced caffeinated beverages and harassing travelers, blocking roads and snarling commerce. And what are they protesting exactly? Ask a dozen marchers and you will get a dozen different answers. And then it's back to work during the week. All the while supported by an increasingly obsolete press that is just as scatter brained and frantic as they are. Yes, they get a pass for their antics and disruptions - tea partiers were called terrorists from the get go.
Well, that's all fine and dandy, but really who's laughing now? Um, I am. This administration is only going to get better and better as the left spirals into a spectacular death throes. Your world view is obsolete, your 70 year old failed war on poverty, your racialist identity politics, soon will be thrown on the garbage pile of history. The rest of us will stand with pride behind a man who appeared at first to be the most unlikely of catalysts for a conservative revolution.
Thanks to the never ending petulant temper tantrums of the left, never-Trumpers like me are now giving the man a chance, and so far, boy has he ever delivered.
Right now I am thoroughly enjoying the cascading liberal tears, a giant big blubbery mess across social media and the entertainment world. I feel like Cartman in Southpark who also enjoyed feasting on the tears of his opponents. "Mmmmm Scott... your tears are so delicious!" This has indeed been a couple of weeks of schadenfreude of the highest order.
Of course it would be more enjoyable if the progressive press had once ounce of self awareness or nuance when it comes to the president and his agenda. They all seem absolutely shocked, shocked I tell you, that the president is applying the same boundless energy and determination to his office as he did to his business.
Well I say they can sit and spin. We had to endure not only Obama for eight years, but his knob gobbling press corp. Now liberals, the sheltered elites in their coastal enclaves of iPhones and mocha lattes, can suck on some good old fashioned clarity of purpose for a change. This is turning out to be quite enjoyable.
And if they think it's going to change any time soon - they've got another thing coming. Trump is feeding right into the hopes and dreams of the right of center God fearing patriots like me. That's right - we are the best, and we are going to secure the border and we are not going to tolerate state sponsored terrorism. We are going to put American jobs and interests first, and we are not going to cow tow to any more politically correct nonsense.
It's over. And keep doubling down on your racialist dim-witted view of the world and see how far it gets you. Recently Hot Air showed this map - the county by county results across the country in the last election. It really says it all.
Yeah, enjoy that? This doesn't even take into account Governors and State Legislatures which are now fast approaching 100% That's right - 44 states now have either a GOP Governor or Legislature or both (25) Crazy. But completely predictable.
So in 2008 we protested Obama - Tea Party activists from all walks of life marched on Washington, taking time out of their work week to show pride and patriotism and left the mall far cleaner than they found it. They obeyed laws so traffic could flow free, they arrived with a clear agenda that could be summed up in one phrase - Lower taxes, smaller government. It was a beautiful thing.
Today, coddled pudding brained elites show up for a hang out at airports, sipping on their overpriced caffeinated beverages and harassing travelers, blocking roads and snarling commerce. And what are they protesting exactly? Ask a dozen marchers and you will get a dozen different answers. And then it's back to work during the week. All the while supported by an increasingly obsolete press that is just as scatter brained and frantic as they are. Yes, they get a pass for their antics and disruptions - tea partiers were called terrorists from the get go.
Well, that's all fine and dandy, but really who's laughing now? Um, I am. This administration is only going to get better and better as the left spirals into a spectacular death throes. Your world view is obsolete, your 70 year old failed war on poverty, your racialist identity politics, soon will be thrown on the garbage pile of history. The rest of us will stand with pride behind a man who appeared at first to be the most unlikely of catalysts for a conservative revolution.
Thanks to the never ending petulant temper tantrums of the left, never-Trumpers like me are now giving the man a chance, and so far, boy has he ever delivered.
Monday, January 09, 2017
Why do we care?
Why do conservatives care at all when Hollywood nitwits like Meryl Streep and others gather together to congratulate each other for being so great and then use the platform to wag their fingers at those they disagree with?
There is a reason that 33 states have Republican governors and 32 have GOP majority legislatures, and I detailed that reason two posts below; and this simple truth should make us question why it is that what someone who acts for a living (and is very successful at it) gives a lecture on politics, we should even bother to be annoyed.
Well we should, at least a little bit.
I realize that these days everyone's outraged all the time, but it's okay to be put off by Ms. Streep's sanctimonious proclamations and here's why.
No one wants to be lectured on politics, least of all when they are in a venue that is supposed to be primarily a-political. Allahpundit on Hot Air put it brilliantly, and I'm paraphrasing - Imagine you walked into a bank to do business and the teller took time out from the transaction to lecture you on politics and they happened to be political views that you disagreed with. You would be significantly put off. The simple incongruity of the time and place would be enough to say 'Huh?" regardless of which side the bank teller was coming from.
Now I get it that movies are very often overtly political, and I'm absolutely fine with that. Art is often political in nature; but in my mind the best kind of entertainment and incidentally the most likely to change minds isn't a preachy screed ("Ms. Sloane" anyone?) but rather a story geared towards a general audience, in this case Americans.
We go to the movies to get away from our problems, to escape into a story and be entertained, enlightened and/or sometimes educated. The latter two only work if the first point is present. Movies must be entertaining to be relevant in my opinion. If they are righteous and indignant about a political point of view, they become something else. They could very well be good and important, but really that's what documentaries are for.
Political films are not necessarily bad, but easy enough to avoid if you don't care to endure them. It is usually very clear in marketing what agenda a film may have, and if it isn't we are lucky enough to be in an age of information where we can readily learn what's going on before we plop down our hard earned cash to see a flick.
So movies represent our culture as Americans, the best of them can be a shining example that all Americans can look to for inspiration and passion that stirs the heart. In this way, Hollywood is all of us. It is one face, a very prominent face, to the world. And we recognize these movies by having elaborate and very expensive television productions to hand out awards.
When someone in their moment of being adulated seizes the opportunity to shame others for their political or moral views, only the people who agree with them get anything out of it, and that is typically little more than smelling their own farts. The rest of us are put off, just as everyone would be if they didn't agree. So in this way the celebrity is actually hurting, not helping their cause.
Artists should have learned in 2016 that making one of those absurd videos with famous people in front of a blank background repeating the same words and sentences do great damage to what they are trying to push.
Here's the thing famous people, Americans are not impressed with what you have to say on politics because you are no more qualified than any of us to give an opinion. And in many cases (Lena Dunham anyone?) it's painfully obvious that you are actually far less qualified than most of us.
So take a tip limousine liberal celebrities, if you want more and more Republican governors, state legislatures and the 8 full years with Trump, by all means keep right on what you're doing. Keep making asinine and repetitive videos, keep getting up on soap boxes on awards shows to show us how ignorant you are. It will keep this country red for a long, long time.
There is a reason that 33 states have Republican governors and 32 have GOP majority legislatures, and I detailed that reason two posts below; and this simple truth should make us question why it is that what someone who acts for a living (and is very successful at it) gives a lecture on politics, we should even bother to be annoyed.
Well we should, at least a little bit.
I realize that these days everyone's outraged all the time, but it's okay to be put off by Ms. Streep's sanctimonious proclamations and here's why.
No one wants to be lectured on politics, least of all when they are in a venue that is supposed to be primarily a-political. Allahpundit on Hot Air put it brilliantly, and I'm paraphrasing - Imagine you walked into a bank to do business and the teller took time out from the transaction to lecture you on politics and they happened to be political views that you disagreed with. You would be significantly put off. The simple incongruity of the time and place would be enough to say 'Huh?" regardless of which side the bank teller was coming from.
Now I get it that movies are very often overtly political, and I'm absolutely fine with that. Art is often political in nature; but in my mind the best kind of entertainment and incidentally the most likely to change minds isn't a preachy screed ("Ms. Sloane" anyone?) but rather a story geared towards a general audience, in this case Americans.
We go to the movies to get away from our problems, to escape into a story and be entertained, enlightened and/or sometimes educated. The latter two only work if the first point is present. Movies must be entertaining to be relevant in my opinion. If they are righteous and indignant about a political point of view, they become something else. They could very well be good and important, but really that's what documentaries are for.
Political films are not necessarily bad, but easy enough to avoid if you don't care to endure them. It is usually very clear in marketing what agenda a film may have, and if it isn't we are lucky enough to be in an age of information where we can readily learn what's going on before we plop down our hard earned cash to see a flick.
So movies represent our culture as Americans, the best of them can be a shining example that all Americans can look to for inspiration and passion that stirs the heart. In this way, Hollywood is all of us. It is one face, a very prominent face, to the world. And we recognize these movies by having elaborate and very expensive television productions to hand out awards.
When someone in their moment of being adulated seizes the opportunity to shame others for their political or moral views, only the people who agree with them get anything out of it, and that is typically little more than smelling their own farts. The rest of us are put off, just as everyone would be if they didn't agree. So in this way the celebrity is actually hurting, not helping their cause.
Artists should have learned in 2016 that making one of those absurd videos with famous people in front of a blank background repeating the same words and sentences do great damage to what they are trying to push.
Here's the thing famous people, Americans are not impressed with what you have to say on politics because you are no more qualified than any of us to give an opinion. And in many cases (Lena Dunham anyone?) it's painfully obvious that you are actually far less qualified than most of us.
So take a tip limousine liberal celebrities, if you want more and more Republican governors, state legislatures and the 8 full years with Trump, by all means keep right on what you're doing. Keep making asinine and repetitive videos, keep getting up on soap boxes on awards shows to show us how ignorant you are. It will keep this country red for a long, long time.
Thursday, December 08, 2016
Dear Facebook....
Hello one and all - this is my New Year's resolution. It's rather involved - mostly for myself so I can lay down some rules and stick to them - but the upshot is that politics and I are done forever on Facebook.
-
My family and friends - you may have noticed my radio silence since election day; Facebook has been so full of anger and fear that I figured it was best just to stay out of everything. But now even as folks are cooling off I don't feel compelled to jump back into the fray anytime soon. I am still through and through a political junkie, and read and watch everything I can about what's going on in the world - but this place, which used to be a forum for expressing what I think about current events, has worn out it's usefulness for that as far as I'm concerned. Too much anger, too much bitterness, and it simply isn't worth it.
Furthermore, it has taken me a long time to recognize what many of you knew from the beginning - that people we care about and even love very often have a very different world views, and this is absolutely okay and we really have no business foisting politically charged opinions and news articles on each other for two reasons - 1) Nothing we say or share is going to change each other's opinions or overall political bent. And 2) the golden rule very much applies here. No one wants to hear that the guy or gal they voted for is a bum. I have finally realized it's time to start treating others the way I want to be treated. I don't want to hear about how great Bernie Sanders is, and I know you don't want to hear about how great General Mad Dog Mattis is.
Those of you who do post political stuff, I will never un-friend you, and I will likely not un-follow you (unless you are a crazy 5 political post a day kind of person, and yes I've unfollowed a few of those over the years) but I will hide most political posts I strongly disagree with and then select 'hide all' from whatever source you are sharing. I already have hidden everything from Huffpo, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones, and other various left leaning news sources. I simply don't need my blood pressure tested any more, I hope you'll understand.
If you post something reasonable, either liberal or conservative, I will definitely read and enjoy - but I will not be commenting whatsoever beyond a simple 'like', and even then I will refrain if it is anywhere near a hot button issue (yes, that would be Trump, abortion, guns, etc.)
So Facebook, I bid you farewell and so long forever on posting anything besides family stuff, work stuff and anything that has the same or less meaning than a silly cat video.
If you know anyone who has de-friended me on Facebook, especially any of my good friends or family members (and there are a few of them out there) it would be great if you could let them know about my resolution and also let them know that I bear no ill will to anyone who chose to free themselves from my political rants and would love to reconnect with them on the internets.
And as for the small but hearty bunch of you who have not only endured but actually enjoyed my political posits, I do regret that our rather enjoyable exchanges must end here. I must say I am grateful to all of you who hung with me and gave as good as you got and never let it get personal. Nick and Nick, Eric and others, you guys are a credit to your political stripe and give me hope that voices of reason still exist on the left. (Yes, that was my final passive aggressive parting shot for politics on Facebook!)
If any of you find yourself in need of a Chris-fix you can always come here, and I'm sure this place will become a lot more active now that I have no political outlet on Facebook - Right now just below, there is a particularly tasty post about Trump. Good times for those of you who are into that sort of thing.
ADDENDUM for the blog:
I don't want anyone to mistake my withdrawal from politics on Facebook as an indication of surrender or succumbing to the monstrous double standard that exists regarding discourse in our country. I am well aware that if you are liberal, you can basically say whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want - and there will almost certainly be ZERO repercussions from anyone. Conservatives are generally far too polite and secure in their own opinions that they don't typically go after someone's character when they express a liberal view; whereas if it's a conservative that dares to opine - watch out.
We conservatives have to walk a very narrow path of righteousness and we are held to the strictest standards of decorum whenever we work up the courage to voice our views. If in doing so we ever dare to employ a weapon of the left - an ad hominem attack, a straw man, or any kind of personal jibe no matter how innocuous - swift and severe condemnation will arrive almost instantly from the left and even from the right. Conservatives have to be the grown ups and follow the rules, always. If we don't, we are racist extremists. Liberals can dally with every weapon in the box. Personal insults? Sure, why not. Hypocritical racist and anti-woman statements? Absolutely, if it's in service of the greater good. If you're a liberal - use whatever means necessary to get your point across, because feelings.
I am very well aware of this fundamental truth in America, especially on the internet. But I am at peace with it. I literally guffawed when Hilary Clinton (or was it Michelle Obama) said "When they go low, we go high". Is that right lady? Is that how you are seeing things. Ok.
I am at peace with this double standard, I am okay with liberal hypocrisy - because I know in general, on most political issues, the right is right. Logic typically trumps emotion, facts on the whole outweigh hyperbole and knee-jerk assumptions. The left is at a severe disadvantage on most of their core issues - it seems only fair that they are allotted the gift of free reign to shit all over anyone who emerges as a voice of reason; it's really the only defense they have.
So knowing this will never change, or at least not change as long as liberals think that the government should be our mommy and daddy, I am happy to let go of my sense of justice when it comes to the rules of the game. The left will always be given the edge on tactics, because their big guns shrivel up when compared to the guns on the right. For a long time, I fought the good fight on Facebook because my intuitive perception of fair play, borne out by hundreds of hours as a baseball umpire, prevented me from letting things go.
I now know better. All the logic in the world will never prevent liberals from calling me a bigot. My fight against this has been righteous, but on whole it has been a waste of time. This tiger isn't changing it's stripes and I am best served by understanding and accepting this.
-
My family and friends - you may have noticed my radio silence since election day; Facebook has been so full of anger and fear that I figured it was best just to stay out of everything. But now even as folks are cooling off I don't feel compelled to jump back into the fray anytime soon. I am still through and through a political junkie, and read and watch everything I can about what's going on in the world - but this place, which used to be a forum for expressing what I think about current events, has worn out it's usefulness for that as far as I'm concerned. Too much anger, too much bitterness, and it simply isn't worth it.
Furthermore, it has taken me a long time to recognize what many of you knew from the beginning - that people we care about and even love very often have a very different world views, and this is absolutely okay and we really have no business foisting politically charged opinions and news articles on each other for two reasons - 1) Nothing we say or share is going to change each other's opinions or overall political bent. And 2) the golden rule very much applies here. No one wants to hear that the guy or gal they voted for is a bum. I have finally realized it's time to start treating others the way I want to be treated. I don't want to hear about how great Bernie Sanders is, and I know you don't want to hear about how great General Mad Dog Mattis is.
Those of you who do post political stuff, I will never un-friend you, and I will likely not un-follow you (unless you are a crazy 5 political post a day kind of person, and yes I've unfollowed a few of those over the years) but I will hide most political posts I strongly disagree with and then select 'hide all' from whatever source you are sharing. I already have hidden everything from Huffpo, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones, and other various left leaning news sources. I simply don't need my blood pressure tested any more, I hope you'll understand.
If you post something reasonable, either liberal or conservative, I will definitely read and enjoy - but I will not be commenting whatsoever beyond a simple 'like', and even then I will refrain if it is anywhere near a hot button issue (yes, that would be Trump, abortion, guns, etc.)
So Facebook, I bid you farewell and so long forever on posting anything besides family stuff, work stuff and anything that has the same or less meaning than a silly cat video.
If you know anyone who has de-friended me on Facebook, especially any of my good friends or family members (and there are a few of them out there) it would be great if you could let them know about my resolution and also let them know that I bear no ill will to anyone who chose to free themselves from my political rants and would love to reconnect with them on the internets.
And as for the small but hearty bunch of you who have not only endured but actually enjoyed my political posits, I do regret that our rather enjoyable exchanges must end here. I must say I am grateful to all of you who hung with me and gave as good as you got and never let it get personal. Nick and Nick, Eric and others, you guys are a credit to your political stripe and give me hope that voices of reason still exist on the left. (Yes, that was my final passive aggressive parting shot for politics on Facebook!)
If any of you find yourself in need of a Chris-fix you can always come here, and I'm sure this place will become a lot more active now that I have no political outlet on Facebook - Right now just below, there is a particularly tasty post about Trump. Good times for those of you who are into that sort of thing.
ADDENDUM for the blog:
I don't want anyone to mistake my withdrawal from politics on Facebook as an indication of surrender or succumbing to the monstrous double standard that exists regarding discourse in our country. I am well aware that if you are liberal, you can basically say whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want - and there will almost certainly be ZERO repercussions from anyone. Conservatives are generally far too polite and secure in their own opinions that they don't typically go after someone's character when they express a liberal view; whereas if it's a conservative that dares to opine - watch out.
We conservatives have to walk a very narrow path of righteousness and we are held to the strictest standards of decorum whenever we work up the courage to voice our views. If in doing so we ever dare to employ a weapon of the left - an ad hominem attack, a straw man, or any kind of personal jibe no matter how innocuous - swift and severe condemnation will arrive almost instantly from the left and even from the right. Conservatives have to be the grown ups and follow the rules, always. If we don't, we are racist extremists. Liberals can dally with every weapon in the box. Personal insults? Sure, why not. Hypocritical racist and anti-woman statements? Absolutely, if it's in service of the greater good. If you're a liberal - use whatever means necessary to get your point across, because feelings.
I am very well aware of this fundamental truth in America, especially on the internet. But I am at peace with it. I literally guffawed when Hilary Clinton (or was it Michelle Obama) said "When they go low, we go high". Is that right lady? Is that how you are seeing things. Ok.
I am at peace with this double standard, I am okay with liberal hypocrisy - because I know in general, on most political issues, the right is right. Logic typically trumps emotion, facts on the whole outweigh hyperbole and knee-jerk assumptions. The left is at a severe disadvantage on most of their core issues - it seems only fair that they are allotted the gift of free reign to shit all over anyone who emerges as a voice of reason; it's really the only defense they have.
So knowing this will never change, or at least not change as long as liberals think that the government should be our mommy and daddy, I am happy to let go of my sense of justice when it comes to the rules of the game. The left will always be given the edge on tactics, because their big guns shrivel up when compared to the guns on the right. For a long time, I fought the good fight on Facebook because my intuitive perception of fair play, borne out by hundreds of hours as a baseball umpire, prevented me from letting things go.
I now know better. All the logic in the world will never prevent liberals from calling me a bigot. My fight against this has been righteous, but on whole it has been a waste of time. This tiger isn't changing it's stripes and I am best served by understanding and accepting this.
Monday, November 14, 2016
There you go.
Well, there you go. There it is.
Wish I could say I was happy to be 100% correct about predicting this outcome, but alas, I am not enamored with the Trump and have grave concerns about him being entirely unfit for office. But we will see. Unlike some of my fellow Americans, I have no desire to march in protest against the democratic process. Call me old fashioned I guess.
But I do feel obliged to take a moment to reveal to everyone the reason a reality star beat out a 30 year career politician who seemed as destined for the oval office as anyone who has ever run before. There's actually only one.
People were fed up with being called racist.
And, yep, that's pretty much it.
I don't know when exactly it became a fundamental truth for the left, the idea that if someone disagrees with you - simply attack their character until they are shamed into silence; but it has become so within the last decade. And people everywhere simply have had enough, including large blocks of voters who put Obama into office twice.
But while I was the one who knew with certainty that Hillary could not beat Donald Trump, my dear friend from childhood Daniel, liberal/pragmatist writer extraordinaire, was a clarion call among liberals in pointing out the cause - reapeatedly warning fellow progressives of their ever growing propensity to shoot first and ask questions never. This post should be bronzed as the ultimate ignored warning sign for liberals who were first in line of those responsible for bringing the Donald to Pennsylvania Avenue.
He tried to tell them, tried to warn them - this election would boil down to one issue; and he was absolutely correct. In his blog, and in published articles across the internet, he laid out how the culture of political correctness has grown out of control and taken over what used to be discussion and dialogue and replaced it with shrill character assassination.
Still, in his heart I don't know if he ever really believed that Trump would beat Hillary. This is probably because he hasn't been on the receiving end of multiple personal attacks the way many of us have.
I have been called racist, a bigot, a homophobe and much worse. Mostly by people I don't know, but also by a few that I do. It hurts to be sure, but it also makes me angry. I wasn't angry enough to pull the lever for Trump; but I came damn close, much to my own surprise.
It comes as no shock to me whatsoever, that people far to the left of me who voted for Obama both times, would also feel under attack. Every time one of them dared to mention that maybe Obama wasn't perfect, down would come the ubiquitous hammer of shame.
It's because he's black.
It's because you are privileged.
The mostly white (but also black and latino) rust belt voters who brought Obama to the White House did so with a large hope in their hearts of making real progress against the racial divisions that have plagued our country's recent history. Now they look back over the last 8 years, and that hope has been smashed against the rocks of identity politics, as we are more racially polarized than ever.
So I voted for Obama, my healthcare premiums tripled, I got mad, and I got called stupid and a bigot.
Gee, wonder who that guy's going to vote for?
Right now I have imposed a 2 week moratorium on myself for posting anything political on Facebook, as my fragile liberal friends and their friends are pretty distraught over the election results. I figure they don't need my finger wagging, as I hold them largely responsible for Trump's ascendance I and I could pretty easily cut them down without even resorting to character attacks.
I also am refraining because I am weary of being attacked. Of course they are free to say whatever they want with zero repercussions, but that has been the case for a long time now.
But I am grateful I have this space here to express myself without having to jump into the mud with the angry left. Hopefully they will cool off a bit in the coming weeks, and the final stage of grief will take hold and we can get on with getting on.
Some of my less close liberal friends, I confess, I have had to unfollow.
I can't abide the notion that the electoral college is illegitimate. (It is embedded in the constitution for very good reasons, click here for a great video that sums it up.)
I can't stomach the stupid safety pin, my friend Allen guesses it must be for the cry-babies diapers, I have to say I got a chuckle out of that.
I am dismayed by people's desire to march in protest over the greatest and most open election system that is still the envy of the world. Yo, dingbats - the time to protest was with your votes! A hell of a lot less of you turned out this time, and that's a big part of why your guy (gal) lost.
And most of all, I am heartbroken by the hashtag slogan - #notmypresident.
Donald J. Trump is the president. He is MY president. I will support him best I can out of respect for the office and love for my country. I would have been thrilled to meet shake hands with George W. Bush or Barak Obama and now I would be thrilled to do the same with Donald Trump.
As much as I cannot stand the policies of Obama, and the destruction (albeit superficial and temporary) that his administration wrought on our country - both through policy and the disease of identity politics; I will always hold hope and admiration in my heart for the promise that his tenure could have been. I will also hold on to the good things about him, as a family man and as a man that many will admire for years to come. I see much of that admiration as misguided, but I acknowledge that it isn't really helpful for me to angrily interject my own political opinions into someone else's happiness.
I really hope that some on the left can step back and for once try to find some empathy for their fellow Americans, instead of their modus operandi of attack, attack, attack.
We've got four more years of this guy. That's just the way it is. The sooner folks get on board, the sooner they can start being part of the solution instead of part of the problem.
I had to do it with Obama. You have to do it with this guy, that you are largely responsible for.
Let go of anger, let go of hate - and let's go forward.
Wish I could say I was happy to be 100% correct about predicting this outcome, but alas, I am not enamored with the Trump and have grave concerns about him being entirely unfit for office. But we will see. Unlike some of my fellow Americans, I have no desire to march in protest against the democratic process. Call me old fashioned I guess.
But I do feel obliged to take a moment to reveal to everyone the reason a reality star beat out a 30 year career politician who seemed as destined for the oval office as anyone who has ever run before. There's actually only one.
People were fed up with being called racist.
And, yep, that's pretty much it.
I don't know when exactly it became a fundamental truth for the left, the idea that if someone disagrees with you - simply attack their character until they are shamed into silence; but it has become so within the last decade. And people everywhere simply have had enough, including large blocks of voters who put Obama into office twice.
But while I was the one who knew with certainty that Hillary could not beat Donald Trump, my dear friend from childhood Daniel, liberal/pragmatist writer extraordinaire, was a clarion call among liberals in pointing out the cause - reapeatedly warning fellow progressives of their ever growing propensity to shoot first and ask questions never. This post should be bronzed as the ultimate ignored warning sign for liberals who were first in line of those responsible for bringing the Donald to Pennsylvania Avenue.
He tried to tell them, tried to warn them - this election would boil down to one issue; and he was absolutely correct. In his blog, and in published articles across the internet, he laid out how the culture of political correctness has grown out of control and taken over what used to be discussion and dialogue and replaced it with shrill character assassination.
Still, in his heart I don't know if he ever really believed that Trump would beat Hillary. This is probably because he hasn't been on the receiving end of multiple personal attacks the way many of us have.
I have been called racist, a bigot, a homophobe and much worse. Mostly by people I don't know, but also by a few that I do. It hurts to be sure, but it also makes me angry. I wasn't angry enough to pull the lever for Trump; but I came damn close, much to my own surprise.
It comes as no shock to me whatsoever, that people far to the left of me who voted for Obama both times, would also feel under attack. Every time one of them dared to mention that maybe Obama wasn't perfect, down would come the ubiquitous hammer of shame.
It's because he's black.
It's because you are privileged.
The mostly white (but also black and latino) rust belt voters who brought Obama to the White House did so with a large hope in their hearts of making real progress against the racial divisions that have plagued our country's recent history. Now they look back over the last 8 years, and that hope has been smashed against the rocks of identity politics, as we are more racially polarized than ever.
So I voted for Obama, my healthcare premiums tripled, I got mad, and I got called stupid and a bigot.
Gee, wonder who that guy's going to vote for?
Right now I have imposed a 2 week moratorium on myself for posting anything political on Facebook, as my fragile liberal friends and their friends are pretty distraught over the election results. I figure they don't need my finger wagging, as I hold them largely responsible for Trump's ascendance I and I could pretty easily cut them down without even resorting to character attacks.
I also am refraining because I am weary of being attacked. Of course they are free to say whatever they want with zero repercussions, but that has been the case for a long time now.
But I am grateful I have this space here to express myself without having to jump into the mud with the angry left. Hopefully they will cool off a bit in the coming weeks, and the final stage of grief will take hold and we can get on with getting on.
I can't abide the notion that the electoral college is illegitimate. (It is embedded in the constitution for very good reasons, click here for a great video that sums it up.)
I can't stomach the stupid safety pin, my friend Allen guesses it must be for the cry-babies diapers, I have to say I got a chuckle out of that.
I am dismayed by people's desire to march in protest over the greatest and most open election system that is still the envy of the world. Yo, dingbats - the time to protest was with your votes! A hell of a lot less of you turned out this time, and that's a big part of why your guy (gal) lost.
And most of all, I am heartbroken by the hashtag slogan - #notmypresident.
Donald J. Trump is the president. He is MY president. I will support him best I can out of respect for the office and love for my country. I would have been thrilled to meet shake hands with George W. Bush or Barak Obama and now I would be thrilled to do the same with Donald Trump.
As much as I cannot stand the policies of Obama, and the destruction (albeit superficial and temporary) that his administration wrought on our country - both through policy and the disease of identity politics; I will always hold hope and admiration in my heart for the promise that his tenure could have been. I will also hold on to the good things about him, as a family man and as a man that many will admire for years to come. I see much of that admiration as misguided, but I acknowledge that it isn't really helpful for me to angrily interject my own political opinions into someone else's happiness.
I really hope that some on the left can step back and for once try to find some empathy for their fellow Americans, instead of their modus operandi of attack, attack, attack.
We've got four more years of this guy. That's just the way it is. The sooner folks get on board, the sooner they can start being part of the solution instead of part of the problem.
I had to do it with Obama. You have to do it with this guy, that you are largely responsible for.
Let go of anger, let go of hate - and let's go forward.
Monday, October 24, 2016
Better post it here...
As is often the case, I defer to someone who is beyond help on Facebook and post my response here.
I posted a lovely video that shows kids on a military base stopping in the middle of their play on a playground to stand at attention as they hear 'Taps' being played in the distance. My caption - "Kids get it, the NFL? Not so much."
I got a bunch of likes from liberals and conservatives and then I got this comment -
"To be fair, adults have a mind of their own. And if it is done in protest of something like promoting awareness of the large amount of police shootings or school shootings or just the general way that the government has ruined this country; I'm all for it. This just a video of children doing as they were told. No disrespect to the troops, they are just doing what they are told."
Sigh. Here's my response, it's a bit of a smackdown so I'll spare him the embarrassment of putting it up on Facebook.
******
I posted a lovely video that shows kids on a military base stopping in the middle of their play on a playground to stand at attention as they hear 'Taps' being played in the distance. My caption - "Kids get it, the NFL? Not so much."
I got a bunch of likes from liberals and conservatives and then I got this comment -
"To be fair, adults have a mind of their own. And if it is done in protest of something like promoting awareness of the large amount of police shootings or school shootings or just the general way that the government has ruined this country; I'm all for it. This just a video of children doing as they were told. No disrespect to the troops, they are just doing what they are told."
Sigh. Here's my response, it's a bit of a smackdown so I'll spare him the embarrassment of putting it up on Facebook.
******
That's what makes our country so great, people certainly have the right to protest in the way that they see fit. We also have a choice in what values we impart to our children; it's no surprise that kids whose parents literally risk their lives for our freedom would stop and pay respect to that sacrifice - while other kids who have parents who live under the blanket of freedom and have no idea where it comes from, might choose to take knee and stick it to the man because they saw a story on the news or maybe even had a bad experience with a cop.
I would venture to say it's the latter group that is parroting adult behavior, while the former understands in a very real way that mommy and daddy may not come home from overseas or from their day at work if they are a first responder.
Certainly our country has problems - but if people want to actually attempt to fix them they must go beyond provoking and angering with minimal effort and do the actual work. Taking a knee during the national anthem in front of a Vet who literally has had his legs blown off defending the right to kneel in the first place is a lazy and divisive act that will do very little in the way of making things better. It certainly is an option, ironically of course thanks entirely to the very Vets and soldiers they are disrespecting, but it seems like a strange way to work towards change.
And let's not kid ourselves, those who refuse to stand are in no way shape or form revealing anything new to those who put on a uniform and serve our country. They are not drawing attention to anything except their own sheltered and privileged existence.
Those in the military and our first responders know all too well what they are fighting for, freedom - which includes the freedom to be ignorant and self-centered in the face of people who are willing to give their lives for them. Refusing to stand for the anthem is boring, uncreative and the height of laziness and privilege - a minimal effort which will end with a minimal result. Much more difficult is to pick up the mantle of change with constructive effort and an offering of respect.
It is important for us to remember, that the vast majority of Americans are not disaffected and angry - the vast majority are patriotic to a fault and in awe of our military and first responders. If the ones who are not want to make progress with those who are, they need to check themselves and come correct with measured words and a constructive plan. If they come from a place of ignorance and fear, they will achieve very little other than generating anger from most of their fellow Americans and in the end will be turned off and tuned out - like the NFL has been. Ratings are at a 20 year low and still falling.
A multi-millionaire backup quarterback, who was raised by white parents and had every opportunity in the world handed to him, has chosen to lash out like a petulant child, rather than effect real change; because effecting change is hard and requires (gasp) actual work and sacrifice.
Children on a playground who live every day with the possibility of their mother or father getting killed so that this multi-millionaire asshole can act like a little bitch on national television, get it way more than he ever will. These kids have a real chance at making the world a better place, because they understand hard work and sacrifice. Kapernick and the NFL? Not so much.
Thursday, September 22, 2016
I got nothing.
Good people of Charlotte North Carolina, I've got nothing for you. Really.
A black guy with a gun won't drop it when commanded to do so, a black cop shoots him, and the whole city explodes. Makes absolutely zero sense. How can we still be so divided? Black president and two black Attorney Generals. Black mayors everywhere, the majority of leadership in most big cities - people of color, the majority of police forces in Baltimore, Detroit, Philadelphia, New Orleans, all people of color.
I've got nothing for you guys, really.
Clearly, there's a problem. But what's the problem? Is the problem that rioting is enjoyable? Sure seems like it to me. People in the streets laughing and looting and burning, hurling rocks and spitting at police officers. Who exactly are they trying to convince that their cause is just? Looks like nobody to me, looks like they're having a great time.
I am not voting for Trump, but the basket of deplorables is not the people voting for him. The basket of deplorables lit up my television last night.
Much more understandable if people were to riot, is the people of Tulsa Oklahoma. And yet, they are calm and are staying in their homes. If ever there was a reason for civil unrest and for anger it was this incident. A man, most likely high on PCP which was found in his car, refuses to comply and walks away from the police. The itchy trigger finger of an inexperienced female officer twitches and the man falls, dead.
The officer has been charged, and rightly so it seems, with manslaughter of the first degree. All the
facts are not out yet, but it appears that this shooting was unjustified. But apparently facts don't
matter to the people of Charlotte. Feelings prevail, anger triumphs, America loses.
I am a lover of cold, indifferent math. Numbers simply don't lie, and the numbers say whites are more often killed by police than blacks, by a lot. If you Google this, you will be inundated by a slew of liberal websites that twist the facts and neglect to point out the fact that the numerical majority of crimes in this country are committed by black people despite making up only 16% of the population entire. And yet whites are twice as likely to be killed by cops. If you want some semblance of the truth, click here.
But facts don't matter. Only feelings matter. Only color of skin matters. The great unifying spirit of Lincoln and King, is being tossed aside in favor of identity politics and division. Social justice warriors don't want dialogue, they want utterly unconditional transformation and the destruction of American society.
Not this white boy, sorry. Fuck right off with that shit.
I refuse to give into despair. I refuse to secede any ground to anger and hate. I refuse to see anyone as a race before I see them as a person. I do not discount someone's opinion simply because of the way they look. That is what the left does. Not this conservative, no way no how.
EDIT: ADDENDUM
The bigger issue at play here, is that there's a much bigger issue at play here. The majority of the protestors in Charlotte the other night who were arrested for breaking stuff and acting a fool, were from out of state. Over 70% according to the Charlotte PD.
This pretty much says it all. People aren't marching because they want relations to improve between blacks and cops, they are marching because they hate this country and they want to tear down the system whole cloth.
Of course there are some of them who do want dialogue and change - but I'd wager dollars to cop donuts that most, especially those in the George Soros funded astro-turf group - the ones who literally get paid to be there and then get to burn cop cars for fun as well - do not give a rats ass about making things better within the system we have.
Well verily to thee I say unto that, once more - fuck that shit.
Our country isn't perfect by any means, but it is the best thing going by far. I'm not on board with transforming America into a progressive cesspool of taxing people into poverty and putting people into jobs that they aren't qualified for.
I believe in freedom, and that includes the free market and the freedom to bear arms. I will not concede one inch to bully SJW's who hate America. If you want to deal with the real and challenging issue of cops interacting with people of color, that's fine. In fact that's great. We can always learn more and make changes for the better.
But if you want to fundamentally change our way of life, no. If you want to soak the 'rich' and regulate society into nanny hell oblivion, no. If you want to just watch things burn, hell to the no.
Most Americans were disgusted with shitty backup quarterback Kapernack's disrespect of our military, and most are now disgusted with the rioting in Charlotte. Want to actually affect positive change? Throw away your radical activism and the violence that inevitably goes along with it and get some understanding of God fearing American patriots. There are way more of us than there are of you.
Sit down, discuss and listen. Recognize that getting rid of some things; the 2nd amendment, vigorous law enforcement for all potential criminals, long sentences for repeat offenders, is entirely off the table. Understand that we possess the American values of hard work, honesty, compassion and humbling ourselves before God. And those values are also non-negotiable.
But don't burn cop cars and call it righteous, don't scream to the heavens that a man was unarmed when he damn well was. I am on board with positive change, but to get there radical activists are going to have to let go of their progressive atheism-infused doctrine and grow up.
A black guy with a gun won't drop it when commanded to do so, a black cop shoots him, and the whole city explodes. Makes absolutely zero sense. How can we still be so divided? Black president and two black Attorney Generals. Black mayors everywhere, the majority of leadership in most big cities - people of color, the majority of police forces in Baltimore, Detroit, Philadelphia, New Orleans, all people of color.
I've got nothing for you guys, really.
Clearly, there's a problem. But what's the problem? Is the problem that rioting is enjoyable? Sure seems like it to me. People in the streets laughing and looting and burning, hurling rocks and spitting at police officers. Who exactly are they trying to convince that their cause is just? Looks like nobody to me, looks like they're having a great time.
I am not voting for Trump, but the basket of deplorables is not the people voting for him. The basket of deplorables lit up my television last night.
Much more understandable if people were to riot, is the people of Tulsa Oklahoma. And yet, they are calm and are staying in their homes. If ever there was a reason for civil unrest and for anger it was this incident. A man, most likely high on PCP which was found in his car, refuses to comply and walks away from the police. The itchy trigger finger of an inexperienced female officer twitches and the man falls, dead.
The officer has been charged, and rightly so it seems, with manslaughter of the first degree. All the
facts are not out yet, but it appears that this shooting was unjustified. But apparently facts don't
matter to the people of Charlotte. Feelings prevail, anger triumphs, America loses.
I am a lover of cold, indifferent math. Numbers simply don't lie, and the numbers say whites are more often killed by police than blacks, by a lot. If you Google this, you will be inundated by a slew of liberal websites that twist the facts and neglect to point out the fact that the numerical majority of crimes in this country are committed by black people despite making up only 16% of the population entire. And yet whites are twice as likely to be killed by cops. If you want some semblance of the truth, click here.
But facts don't matter. Only feelings matter. Only color of skin matters. The great unifying spirit of Lincoln and King, is being tossed aside in favor of identity politics and division. Social justice warriors don't want dialogue, they want utterly unconditional transformation and the destruction of American society.
Not this white boy, sorry. Fuck right off with that shit.
I refuse to give into despair. I refuse to secede any ground to anger and hate. I refuse to see anyone as a race before I see them as a person. I do not discount someone's opinion simply because of the way they look. That is what the left does. Not this conservative, no way no how.
EDIT: ADDENDUM
The bigger issue at play here, is that there's a much bigger issue at play here. The majority of the protestors in Charlotte the other night who were arrested for breaking stuff and acting a fool, were from out of state. Over 70% according to the Charlotte PD.
This pretty much says it all. People aren't marching because they want relations to improve between blacks and cops, they are marching because they hate this country and they want to tear down the system whole cloth.
Of course there are some of them who do want dialogue and change - but I'd wager dollars to cop donuts that most, especially those in the George Soros funded astro-turf group - the ones who literally get paid to be there and then get to burn cop cars for fun as well - do not give a rats ass about making things better within the system we have.
Well verily to thee I say unto that, once more - fuck that shit.
Our country isn't perfect by any means, but it is the best thing going by far. I'm not on board with transforming America into a progressive cesspool of taxing people into poverty and putting people into jobs that they aren't qualified for.
I believe in freedom, and that includes the free market and the freedom to bear arms. I will not concede one inch to bully SJW's who hate America. If you want to deal with the real and challenging issue of cops interacting with people of color, that's fine. In fact that's great. We can always learn more and make changes for the better.
But if you want to fundamentally change our way of life, no. If you want to soak the 'rich' and regulate society into nanny hell oblivion, no. If you want to just watch things burn, hell to the no.
Most Americans were disgusted with shitty backup quarterback Kapernack's disrespect of our military, and most are now disgusted with the rioting in Charlotte. Want to actually affect positive change? Throw away your radical activism and the violence that inevitably goes along with it and get some understanding of God fearing American patriots. There are way more of us than there are of you.
Sit down, discuss and listen. Recognize that getting rid of some things; the 2nd amendment, vigorous law enforcement for all potential criminals, long sentences for repeat offenders, is entirely off the table. Understand that we possess the American values of hard work, honesty, compassion and humbling ourselves before God. And those values are also non-negotiable.
But don't burn cop cars and call it righteous, don't scream to the heavens that a man was unarmed when he damn well was. I am on board with positive change, but to get there radical activists are going to have to let go of their progressive atheism-infused doctrine and grow up.
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Perpetual victimhood.
Recently a family friend who is active on Facebook posted an article about a horrible situation.
Click here to read. It's not a very pleasant story but no one gets physically hurt in the end.
This was my response. Apologies for blogger.com making it stupidly difficult to make cut and pasted text look normal.
Jenny, this story really struck a chord with me, as I and most everyone I know has had similar (if not as severe) experiences with homelessness over the last decade. If you'll permit me, I'd like to offer my views on the subject, which as you can probably guess, come from a conservative viewpoint. Please feel free to delete this if you are in sharp disagreement. I plan to put it on my personal blog, but I don't want to impose on your wall if it is too confrontational.
Well this is horrible. And it two big issues to light. First and foremost it calls attention to our collective decision as Americans to allow the mentally ill to live among us. By permitting a "street culture" many people view this as compassion, the reality is that it's just the opposite.
All major cities in this country run by progressives are now overwhelmed by unmedicated and dangerous inviduals like this. San Francisco is right now a toilet. Santa Monica, a place i used to enjoy very much is an absolute no go zone. Westwood in L.A. is an open air asylum. New York city, now under liberal leadership after two decades of conservative mayors has seen it's crime rate skyrocket as homelessness is once again permitted to reign.
There is no excuse for the apathy and the misguided notion that we can give people like this the same rights and freedoms that rational people enjoy.
It seems there is an utter lack of common sense in liberal leadership, fueled by a lethal mixture of political correctness and fear. Fear of being seen as uncaring or cold. The truth is, we need to be grown ups about this issue - tough love is 100% more caring and compassionate than permitting this incredibly obvious danger of homelessness to exist on our streets. This problem will only grow, with more and more violence and mayhem until we decide to wipe it out, by taking the hard step of recognizing that it cannot be tolerated.
Incarceration is not the answer, but humane containment and treatment must be made mandatory. This is going to be very difficult for some people to swallow, but I am not on board with subjecting myself or my family to people like this on a regular basis. To do so is not only the epitome of idiocy but it is also the cruelest thing we can do. Ignoring the mentally ill is absolutely inhumane, as is giving them self-determination. I am not sure what the precise machinations of ending homelessness should be, but it must include humane, mandatory and long lasting, if not permanent, separation of people like this from our communities.
The other issue that this incident brings into sharp relief is the over reliance of people on the state to protect them. Now I confess, I am a bit skeptical of this woman's description of the officer in question. I am familiar with the Portland PD and this is not in any way shape or form their M.O. They have a very tough job dealing with the mentally ill, as city leadership refuses to deal with the homeless in any appreciable way other than soup kitchens and various hand-outs. Basically the cops hands are tied in terms of removing people like this man from the streets.
But if we are to take this woman's word, that this officer indeed acted this way, then she has a ton of resources at her disposal to go after him, and I hope she does. His behavior is atypical and entirely unacceptable.
Beyond this, and getting back to the fairy tale that people have in their heads that the state will always be there for them, I would like to posit that this is Exhibit A as to why most, though not all, communities with open carry laws have substantially lower crime rates. When citizens are allowed to defend themselves as they deem necessary, there are far fewer incidents of this nature. Statistically, this truth is hard to measure, because often the mere revelation of the presence of a firearm will diffuse a situation and nothing is reported to police. But beyond that, I would also posit that the right to carry removes most of the fear from a potential victim, and puts it where it belongs - on the potential perpetrator.
For a period of three years at my job, I worked directly with law enforcement in communities across the country. From Detroit, to Memphis, to Orlando. Different officers had different views on the subject of concealed carry, but they all agreed on one thing - you cannot rely on police to stop a crime, only to help with the aftermath.
If we look to our leadership to provide absolute protection, we are doomed to be disappointed. They are simply human beings with limited time and resources, especially when a problem as large as homelessness is ineffectively placated, and - as this story illustrates, they are also human beings who can be flawed and even occasionally as malicious as the bad guys.
When I see a story like this, it makes me more determined than ever to not be a victim - and it strengthens my belief in the absolutle sacredness of the sovereignty of the individual. We cannot submit our fate to the state, we must be pro-active in our defense of ourselves and our family. All of the manipulated statistics in the world cannot alter the peace of mind that self-determination brings.
I know of two women, one of which is a long time friend, who at different points in their lives were stalked. Both of these women are good, honest liberals, who found themselves confronted with real world evil, and both had to come around to the realization that the only way to fight back was the purchase of a firearm.
My friend never had to bring her gun into use, thank God, but when she was carrying she felt a great weight lifted off her shoulders because she had at least taken some control of the situation and didn't have to rely on help coming that she knew would likely be too late. Her stalker eventually moved on, probably to another target, but she knows that should he return or someone else of evil intent should enter her life, that she has recourse beyond the flimsy hope of police intervention.
The second woman, who was a friend of a friend, but shared her story with the television show I was editing at the time, actually was confronted by her stalker to the point where she had to draw down on him. The revelation of the firearm quickly doused the flames of her potential attackers anger, and she never saw or heard from him again. As is often the case, even though the incident was reported to the police, this is not a statistic which is kept on record in any appreciable way, and it is something that happens far more frequently than the comparatively rare incident of an attacker taking and using a victims gun on the victim - which is 100% always recorded as a statistic and used as loudly as possible by anti-gun groups.
My point here is not to covert you or anyone to my view, which is that the right to bear arms is an essential component of liberty - but illuminate the fundamental truth that there can be recourse to this kind of attack.
Portland of course, like most liberal cities including Los Angeles, makes it incredibly difficult to carry a concealed weapon. So this woman, faced with the two pronged absurdity of living in a city that permits sick people to freely interact with healthy people and then doesn't allow people to defend themselves against this, is put into a place of mandatory victimhood, and has no recourse or exit from this horrible circumstance.
It is a sad and inexcusable situation, and it happens every day in this country, and will continue to happen until we wake up and understand that treating sick people like they are perfectly healthy is not rational. Nor is denying law abiding citizens the right to protect themselves.
Click here to read. It's not a very pleasant story but no one gets physically hurt in the end.
This was my response. Apologies for blogger.com making it stupidly difficult to make cut and pasted text look normal.
Jenny, this story really struck a chord with me, as I and most everyone I know has had similar (if not as severe) experiences with homelessness over the last decade. If you'll permit me, I'd like to offer my views on the subject, which as you can probably guess, come from a conservative viewpoint. Please feel free to delete this if you are in sharp disagreement. I plan to put it on my personal blog, but I don't want to impose on your wall if it is too confrontational.
Well this is horrible. And it two big issues to light. First and foremost it calls attention to our collective decision as Americans to allow the mentally ill to live among us. By permitting a "street culture" many people view this as compassion, the reality is that it's just the opposite.
All major cities in this country run by progressives are now overwhelmed by unmedicated and dangerous inviduals like this. San Francisco is right now a toilet. Santa Monica, a place i used to enjoy very much is an absolute no go zone. Westwood in L.A. is an open air asylum. New York city, now under liberal leadership after two decades of conservative mayors has seen it's crime rate skyrocket as homelessness is once again permitted to reign.
There is no excuse for the apathy and the misguided notion that we can give people like this the same rights and freedoms that rational people enjoy.
It seems there is an utter lack of common sense in liberal leadership, fueled by a lethal mixture of political correctness and fear. Fear of being seen as uncaring or cold. The truth is, we need to be grown ups about this issue - tough love is 100% more caring and compassionate than permitting this incredibly obvious danger of homelessness to exist on our streets. This problem will only grow, with more and more violence and mayhem until we decide to wipe it out, by taking the hard step of recognizing that it cannot be tolerated.
Incarceration is not the answer, but humane containment and treatment must be made mandatory. This is going to be very difficult for some people to swallow, but I am not on board with subjecting myself or my family to people like this on a regular basis. To do so is not only the epitome of idiocy but it is also the cruelest thing we can do. Ignoring the mentally ill is absolutely inhumane, as is giving them self-determination. I am not sure what the precise machinations of ending homelessness should be, but it must include humane, mandatory and long lasting, if not permanent, separation of people like this from our communities.
The other issue that this incident brings into sharp relief is the over reliance of people on the state to protect them. Now I confess, I am a bit skeptical of this woman's description of the officer in question. I am familiar with the Portland PD and this is not in any way shape or form their M.O. They have a very tough job dealing with the mentally ill, as city leadership refuses to deal with the homeless in any appreciable way other than soup kitchens and various hand-outs. Basically the cops hands are tied in terms of removing people like this man from the streets.
But if we are to take this woman's word, that this officer indeed acted this way, then she has a ton of resources at her disposal to go after him, and I hope she does. His behavior is atypical and entirely unacceptable.
Beyond this, and getting back to the fairy tale that people have in their heads that the state will always be there for them, I would like to posit that this is Exhibit A as to why most, though not all, communities with open carry laws have substantially lower crime rates. When citizens are allowed to defend themselves as they deem necessary, there are far fewer incidents of this nature. Statistically, this truth is hard to measure, because often the mere revelation of the presence of a firearm will diffuse a situation and nothing is reported to police. But beyond that, I would also posit that the right to carry removes most of the fear from a potential victim, and puts it where it belongs - on the potential perpetrator.
For a period of three years at my job, I worked directly with law enforcement in communities across the country. From Detroit, to Memphis, to Orlando. Different officers had different views on the subject of concealed carry, but they all agreed on one thing - you cannot rely on police to stop a crime, only to help with the aftermath.
If we look to our leadership to provide absolute protection, we are doomed to be disappointed. They are simply human beings with limited time and resources, especially when a problem as large as homelessness is ineffectively placated, and - as this story illustrates, they are also human beings who can be flawed and even occasionally as malicious as the bad guys.
When I see a story like this, it makes me more determined than ever to not be a victim - and it strengthens my belief in the absolutle sacredness of the sovereignty of the individual. We cannot submit our fate to the state, we must be pro-active in our defense of ourselves and our family. All of the manipulated statistics in the world cannot alter the peace of mind that self-determination brings.
I know of two women, one of which is a long time friend, who at different points in their lives were stalked. Both of these women are good, honest liberals, who found themselves confronted with real world evil, and both had to come around to the realization that the only way to fight back was the purchase of a firearm.
My friend never had to bring her gun into use, thank God, but when she was carrying she felt a great weight lifted off her shoulders because she had at least taken some control of the situation and didn't have to rely on help coming that she knew would likely be too late. Her stalker eventually moved on, probably to another target, but she knows that should he return or someone else of evil intent should enter her life, that she has recourse beyond the flimsy hope of police intervention.
The second woman, who was a friend of a friend, but shared her story with the television show I was editing at the time, actually was confronted by her stalker to the point where she had to draw down on him. The revelation of the firearm quickly doused the flames of her potential attackers anger, and she never saw or heard from him again. As is often the case, even though the incident was reported to the police, this is not a statistic which is kept on record in any appreciable way, and it is something that happens far more frequently than the comparatively rare incident of an attacker taking and using a victims gun on the victim - which is 100% always recorded as a statistic and used as loudly as possible by anti-gun groups.
My point here is not to covert you or anyone to my view, which is that the right to bear arms is an essential component of liberty - but illuminate the fundamental truth that there can be recourse to this kind of attack.
Portland of course, like most liberal cities including Los Angeles, makes it incredibly difficult to carry a concealed weapon. So this woman, faced with the two pronged absurdity of living in a city that permits sick people to freely interact with healthy people and then doesn't allow people to defend themselves against this, is put into a place of mandatory victimhood, and has no recourse or exit from this horrible circumstance.
It is a sad and inexcusable situation, and it happens every day in this country, and will continue to happen until we wake up and understand that treating sick people like they are perfectly healthy is not rational. Nor is denying law abiding citizens the right to protect themselves.
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