I've been watching this year's election cycle in much the same manner I watch a car wreck: slightly detached, hoping everybody will be OK, but preparing to triage the survivors.
And, like a car wreck, with 100 percent certainty that there's going to be a lot of lawyers in our future.
Really, I've tried to keep a sense of humor about the whole thing, a little perspective. I mean, the country has survived a sitting vice president killing a man in a duel. It has survived a Civil War; the collapse of a political party known as the Whigs, which gave way to another party led by an obscure historical figure named Abraham Lincoln. It survived God knows how many alcoholics in the White House, not the least of which was Ulysses S. Grant, and it survived a number of catastrophic events in the 20th century. I believe it will survive a Trump-Hillary general election.
But, that said, it still baffles me how we arrived at this juncture, as a nation. With 300 million people, you'd think we could find a couple people whose defining characteristic wasn't self interest.
And then, it hit me! It's all because of Marvel Comics and movies.
Ask most women who the most interesting, most attractive member of the cast of the recent Marvel Studio movies is and I'll bet dollars to doughnuts the top answer is split between any one of the main stars, and Loki, the God of Mischief, the bad guy, played with relish by Tom Hiddleston. See, Loki makes being the overlooked, underappreciated, smartest-kid-in-the-room-just-trying-to-get-Daddy's-attention seem like the most fun in the world. Er, Asgard. Er, universe. Plus, thanks to the casting choice, there's the whole extremely-attractive-with-a-British-accent thing working for him.
In other words, Loki makes egotistical, self-interested, slightly insane and extremely dangerous COOL. Which explains how Trump got here.
But what about Hillary? She's not a superhero, or a god, or a billionaire philanthropist genius playboy. So how did she get this close to the presidency? There's this: she's powerful, she's Machiavellian, her behind-the-scenes maneuvers gave her an insurmountable advantage before the first real vote was ever cast, her presence has been looming over American politics for 16 years now, and she has resources to spare (some, obtained in ethically questionable ways)... She's Thanos!
Don't know who Thanos is? Understandable. I had to ask my son a couple times even what the guy's name is for the purposes of this column. I just remember a gigantic, menacing, puppet master lurking in the shadows of three of the Marvel movies, pulling strings and waiting to claim dominion over the galaxy. And, yes, his schemes went awry once (though I don't believe it had anything to do with a philandering husband), and we certainly haven't seen the full extent of his role. He will come to the forefront very soon.
Politics always follows culture.
The more interesting our villains become, the easier it is for the culture to overlook peoples' flaws, however significant, and consider their merits, however insane that may be. So, if you, like me, lament the condition of our body politic, I say blame Stan Lee and the Marvel Universe.
It's certainly easier, and a lot more fun, than blaming ourselves.
Side note regarding last week's column: Now we all know why I don't make a living running the sports book out of Las Vegas. Turns out a team playing with great joy is sufficient to overcome the will of one great player (especially if that player, inexplicably, doesn't touch the ball in the last four minutes). But, you should learn this: Whenever I make a prediction, put money on the other team. Not that I encourage gambling...
from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.comhttp://arvadapress.com/stories/Blame-presidential-politics-on-Marvel-Comics,215875?branding=15
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