“The series is set in a futuristic dystopia ruled by an oligarchy of television networks. Even the government functions primarily as a puppet state of the network executives, serving mainly to pass laws — such as banning "off" switches on televisions — that protect and consolidate the networks' power” ...Wikipedia
So, this morning before I switched over to my FSTV via ROKU I was channel surfing looking for a weather report. (I am new to FIOS and don’t remember all the channel numbers so I could not remember where “accuweather” lives...we do not get the Weather Channel). Anyway I am passing thru MSNBC when I hear jerk Halperin talking about how poor Donald Trump is not being treated fairly by the press. This fascinated me, because obviously Halperin, a jerk of the royal order who got his own show on MSNBC AFTER calling our president a “d*ck” on the air, now has his own “talking head” show. So he and a**h*t Scarborough are all about how “America First” is so Jacksonian. Yes, I too know Jackson was supposedly anti aristrocracy. Of course he was also a racist jerk. Now that I think of it, maybe Trump is Jacksonian, though I do not believe he is anti aristicracy but he is definitely a racist, sexist sleaze.
Mika of course stares at the camera and occasionally parrots Joe or Mark. I am sitting there thinking, “Seriously, these rich white men, long time republicans are spinning, on air, for an openly racist, sexist bully, who mocks other people…..” Are you f**king kidding me? I tweeted some things to both men just to get it out of my system, switched the channel and then, after getting the weather, turned off the tv.
I then went back into my room to fix my hair and face (as much as possible for a 70 year old) to get ready to meet up with a childhood friend. Suddenly, I was startled by voices from the living room. I live alone so this freaked me out. It was the television. It was on again. Immediately my mind jumped back the old TV series, Max Headroom. The networks consolidated and the government was a puppet of the networks. “OFF” buttons for televisions were deemed illegal in the series. The network shows were “reality” tv, showing mobs of people being urged to hate each other, fight each other. “NEWS” was via a talking head “Max Headroom”….a projection of the head of a real reporter.
Freaked out to say the least. Then television mystery solved. New Lazy Boy rocker chair, remote stuck in side...when I got up remote was stuck and swaying and apparently on button got enough pressure in rocks to turn on. At least that is what I think happened. But that is not the mystery that bothers me.
How the h*ll did we get here? I was a child of the 1950’s and came of age in the 1960’s. In the 1950’s I was terrified of “commies” and the atomic bomb. Hiding under my desk, practicing “Duck and Cover”, praying the USSR would not put a knife to my parents neck demanding I deny Jesus less the kill my parents, are things I remember. Then, in 8th or 9th grade, I discovered MAD Magazine, I started listening to “beatnik music”, watched “The Twilight Zone” and I started thinking. Still in catholic school, I was subjected to the worst kind of sexism, as in priests telling us females at a retreat, that all sins of the flesh were DOUBLED for girls because “we could control but boys could not.” He touch your breast and it was DOUBLE sin on you. French Kissing...DOUBLE HELL for you.
I went to college, began to find myself, began joining protests...against the war, against segregation, against sexism. I thought we were changing the world. Then Ronald Reagan got elected. I cried. I did not get it. I still do not get it. So many of my generation SAW and KNEW what assh*t peers we had in Cheney, W, Romney and Trump. We were protesting the war while they were “for the war” but not going; living off their daddy’s money, getting drunk, stoned and high but never getting in trouble cause “daddy”. How can so many of my peers be so damned blinded by FOX news. Even worse how can our children, the 40 somethings, be so clueless. So many of them came of age under Reagan and STILL believe the Saint Ronny Reagan memes. Seriously, I know they too can read, research, and find the truth. But they CHOOSE NOT TO DO SO. WHY???? What the h*ll is happening??
I continued to protest after college. Then I moved west and learned that the cowboys of my dreams, Little Joe, Hoss, the kind of men looking out for the weak, the downtrodden, saving the day, were actually a myth. I was in one of the most conservative cities in the country, Colorado Springs, and was awakened back into activism. Nothing like being surrounded by right wing religious nuts while teaching in public school to make you aware of how easily people can be spun into the crazy zone. Was challenged on books in my classroom, on teaching evolution, on not TEACHING Christianity, cause I was teaching about the pagan Maya of the Yucatan. Seriously a woman was so angry at an art project that was a part of unit on the Maya Civilization. We were learning about the Maya writing and number system. Looking at all the hieroglyphs in the civilization, I thought it would be fun to design a glyph for something about ourselves…..using plaster of Paris and paper clips. Seriously this woman demanded her child make a “Jesus” glyph. Sigh!
I was on strike twice, as a teacher, both times to keep the right to collectively bargain. I held hands with thousands as we surrounded Rocky Flats to close it down. I was now a teacher, no longer a kid, but I supported those students setting up tent cities to protest apartheid. I joined the Peace and Justice groups in our area. I chose to never date a republican, a voter for Reagan (few and far between and thus I did not marry). I was not pleased with Bill Clinton as our choice but voted for him because something had to slow down the move to the right. I became active in local politics. More recently, despite my gray head, and knees that are no longer good for marching, I went to demonstrations to show support the teachers of WI, to show support for OCCUPY. That was five years ago. Now, here I am…..seven decades of life and asking,
“What the hell happened?”
I voted for Bernie Tuesday. I will continue to support him. I will NOT, NOT EVER, demonize Hillary Clinton. I watch Amy Goodman for news, listen to Thom Hartman for talk. I cannot and will not participate in a circular firing squad. I am not that much older than Susan Sarandon but unlike her, I am NOT OK with Trump in office to spark a revolution. I cannot afford to move my grandchildren out of the country if things get really sour, if their parents lose health care, if violence occurs. I want Bernie, but I will take Hillary because she is a ZILLION times better than a TRUMP or a CRUZ.
That was driven home today in spades as MSM talking heads are now saying, a thrice divorced, obnoxious, sexist, racist bully was being treated “unfairly” by the press. The same press that mocks Hillary Clinton’s voice, that pushed the meme of Hillary’s criminality, the same press that hires a man who on air called President Obama a “d*ck” is now spinning for Trump.
Seriously, am I dreaming? Have I been transported to “20 minutes into the future”??? Not sure why I even wrote this diary but it was NOT to fight with other progressives. We all must deal with our own conscious choices and the consequences of our choices. I am truly frightened for the future even though I know most of it will not affect me because I will probably be gone before the worst hits. But I do care about the kids, not just those in my own family. I worry that the networks have so much control over what people hear and see, it will be more and more difficult to convince people that the common good is more important than the bottom line.