Change Happens Slowly

That's what Obama said on WTF, when Marc Maron asked him about health care, single-payer, Barack said it would take decades to get to the destination, just like it did with gay marriage and legal pot, and I added those last two, but I never thought they'd happen in my lifetime, but they did.

One of our clearest thinkers on political matters is Frank Rich. And he can write too, what a package. Rich used to be the NYT theatre critic and the producers hated him, because he wasn't always positive, we live in a country where if you put in the effort you believe you're entitled to the prize, but this is not true, the public knows better, it doesn't care that you spent a million on your record, just whether they like it, and critics used to point the way but now those who are left are have soft voices so we go to aggregator sites like Rotten Tomatoes to find out what the public thinks and the producers hate us for that, you see they love that steel wool in between them and us, that sausage factory that can create a turntable hit, that can manipulate results, but those days are through. And Frank Rich's days at the NYT are done too, because he just couldn't fit in with their restrictions. He wanted to write longer less frequently and they said no. That's the problem with organizations, you're just a worker bee, no matter how talented, so Rich left so he could work on "Veep" and he writes for "New York," which I get, but has much less prominence than the NYT but when he appears Frank is still just as brilliant, as he was back in June, when he talked about the theoretical end of Trump's presidency in this article:

"Just Wait, Watergate didn't become Watergate overnight, either": http://nym.ag/2tKPIb8

It took decades for the Republicans to gain control. The pushback is not gonna deliver results overnight. And spare me the vitriol, don't give me the knee-jerk response, if you think the proletariat is gonna put up with givebacks to rich donors while their coffers are drained you're delusional, you've got a short term perspective. When you push too far, you get results in the other direction.

But it takes time.

No one wants to wait. Everybody wants it now. Especially in an era of on demand entertainment. Delayed gratification is anathema.

But, as horrible as it might seem, things might work out.

How many more natural disasters will we endure before we take action on climate change? Hell, California is still burning and it's lights out in Puerto Rico, which was part of the United States last time I checked. And I wouldn't be surprised if California makes an effort to secede. Want to eliminate the right to write off state income taxes and we'll prevent you from having the benefits of our products, virtual or real.

Leverage. Talk to anybody in business, that's what it's all about. And you get that via hearts and minds. It's the essence of entertainment, do you have fans or not. And you can try and gang up against the masses but that didn't work too well with Napster.

But the acts are ignorant and greedy and no change will come from them, they don't have the mindshare of television, never mind the politicians.

So stay the course.

If you're a Republican and you believe in no safety net and no regulations I hope you don't get sick and become bankrupted when your apartment grows mold and collapses. You'll be just like Puerto Rico, waiting for help that doesn't come.

And with such a corrupt government, are your interests really protected?

And what I'm saying here is you can't take your eyes off the front page, you can't stop following the narrative, but we've got people on this. These news organizations. Why do you think Trump, et al, are so busy denigrating them? The story of the internet is consolidation, and payment, and if you think all these diverse voices spreading disinformation are gonna continue to dominate you're delusional, if anything there are gonna be fewer choices.

Fox News may have a hold on TV, but TV is dying, as are films, which is why Murdoch sold most of his TV and movie company to Disney. Like I said, things change. Barry Diller did the undoable, building a fourth TV network a few decades back, now networks are verging on irrelevancy.

But the point is there's a backlash. Facts are coming back. It's just happening slowly.

So pay attention, work for change.

But know it's coming.

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