Fantasy Is Not Reality

I'm listening to Michael Savage right now (why do I do this to myself?) and he is talking about the lack of values in the West. Well, you might ask, what does this have to do with movies, TV shows; i.e., the usual stuff I write about.

It's an issue for this site, because he brought up Harvey Weinstein, the movies he produces, and his stance on the Second Amendment. Basically, Weinstein is anti-Second Amendment. He has said that there should be no guns in America. He has also produced numerous violent films (e.g., True Romance, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, the Halloween remake) many of which feature guns. Lots of guns. Savage - and others - have said Weinstein's stance is hypocritical because of the the movies he produces.

Do these critics understand the difference between reality and fantasy? There is no inconsistency between Weinstein's politics (which I disagree with, incidentally) and the movies he helps make. The violence in film is not real. People who criticize pop culture - whether it is conservatives go after Weinstein, liberals going after video games, etc - have their own problems differentiating between what is real and what is not.

If a person is inspired by a movie or game to commit some act of violence, there is already something wrong with them. They are just looking for a catalyst. In the case of Savage vs Weinstein, there is no inconsistency in producing films that involve the use of guns and being opposed to guns in real life.

Current Events - Jonathan Gruber

I try to avoid politics on this site. However, the statements that one of the Affordable Care Act's architects made in 2012 and 2013 that are now coming out are so offensive, they can't be ignored. These remarks show just what kind of bottom-feeders run the government and make up the "elite" in this country.

Basically, Gruber confirms what many opponents of the the ACA have said for years; that the process of developing the law was focused on hiding the politically unpalatable parts (for example, taxing "evil insurance companies" knowing full-well that they would pass the costs on to consumers, but using this to "hide" the tax on the average citizen), saying that the lack of "transparency" was critical to the law's passage. He also displayed contempt not for the foes of the ACA, but for the Democrat Party's base. When Gruber talks about the "stupidity" of the voters, he's referring to people who support the law.

In the wake of the election drubbing, one of the memes pushed was how dumb Americans who failed to support the Democrats are, that everyone should realize that the President and his agenda are the best thing to ever happen to America. Now, we see that the people who designed the ACA were counting on their own base being made up of morons, in order to gain support for the law. So, apparently, if you oppose the President/Democrat Party you're an idiot and if you support them, you're an idiot.

Well, Obama did promise to bring Americans together. In his own mind, he apparently has; he thinks we are all equally dumb.

Leftist groups like ThinkProgress are trying to discredit Gruber, although if you run a search on that site, you see they had no problem citing his research in years past as being favorable to their pro-Obamacare position. I guess they were stupid then, but not now? Wait, they still support Obamacare. So, are they just stupid in another way? I'm so confused....

Here are some of the statements that have led to this kerfuffle.

Sources:

• Snopes
• Breitbart
• National Review
• New York Times
• Washington Post