pop culture
The headline rundown: Modern popular culture topics in the realm of politics, legislation and activism.
Is It Iron Man's Fault That Donald Trump Is President?
America has done the unprecedented and elected a man to the highest position of political power who has no government or civil service experience. If you were to go to a doctor to perform some kind of invasive surgery, you’d want the best person for the job. At the very least, you’d want a surgeon. You’d want that guy or gal who’s spent ten years in med school, another five in residency, and another five performing a number of successful procedures. Even if that surgeon had a terrible bedside manner or acted as arrogant and douchey as Doctor Strange, that’s the person you would want fiddling around inside you when the anesthesia hits.
By Isaac Shapiro8 years ago in The Swamp
#WomenBoycottTwitter: Did It Make A Difference, Or Did Women Silence Their Voice?
Anytime people are banding together to fight a common cause for the greater good, I'm intrigued. The #WomenBoycottTwitter movement, which occurred Friday Oct. 13, definitely has me intrigued, but it's also got me concerned.
By Christina St-Jean8 years ago in The Swamp
Is It a Threat? Is It a Joke? Scaramucci Says He'll Bring a "Professionally Monogrammed Front Stabbing Knife" for Stephen Colbert
Anthony Scaramucci, aka "The Mooch", aka the White House Communications Director with the shortest lived tenure, seems like he might be going off the rails.
By Christina St-Jean9 years ago in The Swamp
The Lobbyist As Anti-Hero
There's a line in an early episode of Aaron Sorkin's The West Wing where White House chief of staff Leo McGarry (played by the late John Spencer) tells the staff that "There are two things in the world you never want to let people see how you make 'em: laws and sausages." Yet the process by which a bill becomes law has proven to be rich ground for writers and filmmakers from Advise & Consent to Aaron Sorkin efforts like The American President and the aforementioned West Wing. More recently, filmmaker John Madden has turned to the lobbying efforts that help make bills law for his film Miss Sloane, starring Jessica Chastain in the title role.
By Matthew Kresal9 years ago in The Swamp
#CNNblackmail: The New Meme War (Trump Tweet)
#CNNblackmail is currently trending, and in this article, we will break down how it all started, the response and the beginning of a new meme war. Whatever your political allegiance this story touches on an issue that goes beyond partisan politics and enters into the realm of the foundational aspects of our privacy, freedoms, and society.
By Fred Akali9 years ago in The Swamp
Aslan's Deception
Clearly, as Reza Aslan so eloquently demonstrated, obscurantism is the new black. With an all but creepy smile, Aslan has been lionized, sniffing things like Islam does not need a reformation. Really? Then how does he answer to the experiences of Ayaan Hirsi Ali in Somalia, who against her own will, suffered female genital mutilation? Painfully, Hirsi Ali recounts the details of this event for all to witness:
By Roger Smith9 years ago in The Swamp
Yes, This Is Tone Policing
The logic goes something like this: critiquing the tone of someone’s argument is a tool of oppression. Accusations of “Tone Policing” are designed to limit the scope of a political debate to the content of one’s rhetoric, not its mode of delivery.
By Dan Johnson9 years ago in The Swamp
MSNBC Leans to the Right, a Little
What do Bret Stephens and Greta Van Susteren have in common? (a) Both are conservative journalists recently in the pay and orbit of conservative media; (b) both have history with MSNBC. There the similarities end, since one's just started at MSNBC, while the other just left. This latest TV minute, the square dance of talking heads has got people’s attention and sent fearful progressives rushing to social media to express their concerns.
By Michael Eric Ross9 years ago in The Swamp
Dear Donald... If You're Going to Start a War, Let's Stay Off of Twitter
Dear Trump, I am not sure what you think being the president is, but it is not a game so it should not be treated as one. If you are going to treat it as one, then I will not refer to you as Mr. President, or any name for that matter. Your role as president is not the same as your role in The Apprentice, where you can just do and say whatever you feel. This is real life, and there are real consequences to every single thing that you say, and in your case everything that you tweet. With foreign countries respect of the United States lowering daily, the possibilities of war are rising. Whether it is the fact that these countries do not like Trump, or that he offends their countries, cultures, and religions, the name Donald Trump is not very popular in other places (hard to believe in the most sarcastic voice possible).
By Corey Gittleman9 years ago in The Swamp
American Ostrich
Americanus Ignoramus. Successor to the now extinct American Eagle. Symbolic emblem for a nation of 350 million people unwilling to face increasingly unpleasant realities. Icon of a country spoiled by prosperity to a point that they are no longer willing to administer their own affairs with any semblance of maturity.
By Dan Johnson9 years ago in The Swamp
