The Politics Thread

[DRW50]

 

Unfortunately I felt like most of the media coverage of Kamala ended up being stolen by Chris Cuomo being a moron, although I would have enjoyed seeing Maya Rudolph again, if she was available. 

 

I know SNL isn't really a big priority compared to real world problems but after the terrible job they did with Obama I hope they will eventually learn their lesson. So far the best I can say is they no longer use brownface, which is...a low bar.

[DramatistDreamer]

Low bar is where we're at, in so many respects these days. 

 

They didn't even try where Obama was concerned.  They threw up their hands and claimed nothing about him was funny.  Meanwhile Key & Peele took their time and concocted Obama's Anger Translator sketches, which were ground in Obama's character and were actually funny and prescient.  SNL suffers from lack in their writer's room, I'm at the point where I doubt their writers even take the subway, they seem so far removed from reality.

[Khan]

 

SNL faces the same "problem" with Kamala, perhaps, that they faced with Obama.  Unless they can fall back on tired stereotypes, they're at a loss as to how to satirize Black politicians.

 

 

Exactly.

Edited October 13, 2019 by Khan

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Yeah, I get that sense too. 

SNL's writing of black characters has been overly broad for about 25 years and running now.  It'll be interesting to see if A Black Lady Sketch Show finds a comedic persona for Kamala.  They're the only sketch show that I can see with the ability to do this.

[Khan]

 

SNL has never done right by its' Black cast members.  Not even Eddie Murphy -- which makes his ascendancy during his time on the show all the more remarkable.

[DramatistDreamer]

Oh, my list of grievances for how SNL marginalized their Black talent is long but that would be for another thread.

Suffice it to say, judging from how he did characterizations for the multiple characters in many of his movie, Murphy likely added a lot more to characters like Gumby and Mr. Robinson, etc. than was originally on the page. 

[DramatistDreamer]

What policy though?

 

[Khan]

I've always said ISIS was another Vietnam waiting to happen.  We couldn't keep Saigon from falling into the Communists' hands, and we couldn't keep ISIS from resurging either.

[Cat]

 I think we can, though. Much of the Middle East is deeply invested in keeping ISIS away. The Kurds, definitely. The Shiites, too. Even the Russians dont want ISIS on their doorstep. It was utterly possible to manage the ISIS situation in the Middle East. Their local support had fallen away as news of their viciousness and war crimes spread (unlike the Viet Cong in South Vietnam who were ultimately seen as unifiers of that war-torn country). This resurgence is entirely down to one person's tweet. With devastating consequences.A part of me wishes that the US military would have refused to follow orders in this instance (even though that sets a terrible precedent and I know they cannot defy the Commander in Chief) because what has happened is such a dangerous, foolish, corrupt decision. It is pure folly.

Edited October 13, 2019 by Cat

[DramatistDreamer]

Things have descended into chaos at lightning speed.

 

[DramatistDreamer]

[Khan]

I have a feeling that if we don't remove Trump from office (either through impeachment, or the 2020 election), the rest of the world is gonna stand up and DEMAND we do it.

[DRW50]

 

I think they will probably just cut the US further out of discussions and decisions, as they are also doing with the UK, another country they know they can no longer trust. I feel like we've reached a turning point no matter who is elected in 2020, probably reached it back in 2002 and the Obama years were just him doing his best to try to keep the tattered threads that were still there. 

 

 

Eddie was able to bring in a friend of his who was a writer, and managed to have a good working relationship with the producer, who was not Lorne Michaels. I think some elements have improved (the writing staff is much more diverse, even if the faces onscreen still aren't what they should be), but nothing will really improve until Lorne is gone, and beyond that, until major changes are made at NBC itself. 

 

If Kamala is still in the race when Black Lady Sketch Show comes back I do look forward to their take on her. 

[DRW50]

 

And meanwhile you have tiny men like Shapiro all but ignoring this tragedy to talk about how he'll wave a gun at Beto if he ever tries to take his freedom to be a homophobe. 

 

These far right bigots love to talk about freedom and rights, but it's only ever for themselves. This poor woman literally paid with her life for trying to bring freedom to countless people, and we will hear crickets. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

As a candidate, as a Senator, as one of the highest ranked black women politicians, she'll still be relevant regardless.