Thanks again, folks, for your kind generosity. It’s a wonderful affirmation of what we do here and I could not be more grateful.
Former right winger Charlie Sykes wrote in his newsletter today:
You are not alone if your reaction to what’s happening feels something like airsickness, a nausea-inducing conflict between what we know and what we see. The effect is both vertiginous and crazy-making. This isn’t “Trump Derangement Syndrome”. It’s a desperate effort to hang onto reality.¹
I think that describes it well. The daily news seems almost hallucinogenic and you have to constantly ask yourself, “Is this really happening? Am I losing my mind?”
It is really happening. And it’s so outrageous that I honestly wonder how it can get any worse. Are they really going to push this envelope, because if they do we will be going into a darker territory than I think even those of us who always knew it could be bad ever contemplated.
But I’m finding hope in certain places. Obviously, there are the protests and elections which have been huge and decisive. I wrote earlier about James Fallows’ interesting piece about how the non-profit foundations are fighting back. And I think art is finally starting to catch up. In repressive times, it’s often when it flourishes, telling stories and providing images that speak to our reality in ways that reach past the politics and hit a kind of emotional chord that can actually enlighten and change minds.
I started thinking about this when Rob and Michelle Reiner were tragically murdered. The outpouring of grief transcended our divisions (well, except for the monster in the White House) and made people revisit his work, which was nothing if not rooted in all-American values we used to take for granted. It showed that we have something in common, a rare thing these days. (No wonder Trump was so mad.)
Then last night I watched “One Battle After Another”, now streaming on HBO, which I’d seen a few months ago on the big screen. This is the kind of subversive art that truly speaks to our moment, as a surreal take in the mode of Dr. Strangelove. It captures the zeitgeist and the aesthetic of our time in a way I haven’t seen before and I’m hopeful it isn’t the last film or series to capture it.
It’s a dark film but it isn’t depressing and I think it’s because it expresses what Walter Chaw at FCC says in this great review of the film. (Sorry if this is a spoiler for you but I don’t think it is.)
One Battle After Another is a celebration of the power we derive from our diversity, the indomitability of our spirit, and our essential rejection of authoritarianism, which was the driving force behind our revolution against a colonial monarchy and its mad king. It’s not a hagiography for Americans–who can, after all, be messy and violent–but for the idea of a country that used to do things besides try to turn a quick buck. The picture’s ending, like Vineland‘s, is upbeat. Even more upbeat than the book’s, arguably, because it ties a few additional threads and allows for a reunion that’s emotionally resonant. More than upbeat, it’s inspirational: a call to action, an invitation to the dance. Anderson says fighting fascism isn’t civil disobedience, it’s American. There is, in fact, nothing more American, so let’s go.
That’s right. The story of our country is one battle after another.
Let’s go.
If you have the means and the desire to help us keep this one little corner of the resistance going, I’d be most grateful for your support. This next year is going to be a doozy.
Cheers,
digby
Happy Hollandaise!