Kim Kardashian Temporarily Dethroned By Americans' Interest In Democracy

Americans briefly returned to sanity Friday night, as the search term "register to vote" surpassed searches for Kim Kardashian on Google:

According to Google Trends, the search term “register to vote” is typically dominated in search volume by those looking for all the information they can stuff in their heads about Kim Kardashian. But not last night. For one brief but glorious moment, voters took to the interwebs to find out how they can make a difference in the next election — before resuming their searches for Kim Kardashian, obviously.

Amazing! Americans, for one brief, shining moment, showed greater interest in the future of their country than in the overexposed tits of a talentless "celebrity." What next? Actual voting? The mind boggles!

Thanks go out to the Financial Times' Jake Grovum, who first tweeted about this.

The Last Gasp of the (Overprivileged and Underqualified) White Man

Hmmm, looks like I've got some housekeeping to do. But anyway: 

In One Embrace, Barack and Hillary Demonstrate the Very Thing That Drives Trump Supporters Crazy

This, to my mind, is correct, and likely the very reason for the years of irrational hatred both Obama and Clinton have endured. Hell, I remember when Capt. Kirk and Lt. Uhura shared the first interracial kiss on Star Trek in the Sixties. That relatively chaste embrace got the show preempted on several Southern TV stations for several weeks!

I'm certain that more than a few cans of cheap beer were thrown at the TV in many Trump-supporting homes, RVs, and trailers. I've see that reaction personally when my Caucasian fiance and I visit certain neighborhoods, and when the black President of the United States hugged his white, female successor onstage, I'd be willing to bet some cold, hard cash that a more than a few people reached for their angina medication.

They can't stand the fact that the most powerful man in the world is black, that a high Cabinet position is occupied by a woman, that seemingly everywhere they look, a woman or person of color is in a position of authority, power, and prestige formerly and exclusively occupied by a white man. Add in a loss of economic mobility, a tablespoon of racism, and the stereotypical sexual tensions and folkloric beliefs vis à vis black men and white women that are held by your average, high school educated white man, and he'll blow a gasket.

Trump, with his cynicism and crafty understanding of lower-class whites, has been fanning these racial flames throughout his campaign. His many subtle dog whistles and overt shout-outs to the lowest elements of American society are proof of this. I call this election "The Last Gasp of the (Overprivileged and Underqualified) White Man," as we transform into a society in which race and gender ceases to be neither a guarantee of success nor a life long barrier to achievement. It's a watershed event, but unfortunately not the end of the era. However, being near the end of this period, expect those who see themselves as the losers in this struggle to fight with everything they've got.

We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

 

--"Ulysses," Alfred, Lord Tennyson