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In my opinion, Meryl Streep was right and I am glad she stood her ground and voiced her opinion. People think that celebrities shouldn't get involved in politics and that they need to just focus on their careers. But my question is didn't a celebrity win an election? and also didn't a reality show win the election? President Trump's job isn't to act out like a child every time somebody says something about him. That is life people are going to talk about you. People talked about President Obama and they are still talking about him but you don't hear about him having countless rants on twitter because he has more valuable things to do with his time than spend worrying about what everyone thinks about him. This isn't a good look for America and it's sad that it came to this point.

@Pioneer1 Liberal and Conservative philosophies actually embody a broad spectrum that runs the gamut from moderate to extreme views. Most people are probably somewhere around the middle. I think you are resorting to stereotypes in your characterizations of Liberals and Progressives. And smoking weed nowadays has nothing to do with one's politics. Hollywood is representative of people who identify themselves as those who support liberal causes.They may not be activists but they give lip service, show concern for the underdog of their choice and contribute money to help those toiling in the trenches. Yes, this is superficial but the vast majority of movie stars backed the liberal standard bearer Hillary Clinton much to the chagrin of those who huddled under the conservative banner sulking about being ridiculed and having political correctness thrust upon them. Women and Blacks, however, are never going to completely prevail in making their cases because, as in every industry, money is the bottom line. And white men of any leaning have no interest in sharing their power. @TroyBeing an audience for the pop culture sideshow is amusing if nothing else and at this point, my sense of humor is what sustains me. I regularly watch Family Feud hosted by Steve Harvey, just to laugh at how stupid the average person can be. I find myself not taking anything very serious any more. I didn't even bother to watch Obama's farewell speech last night. Bye, Barack. I'm just here chuckling to and at myself, shaking my head at the absurdity that has come to define America.

Cynique I'm completely aware of how the social media-fueled pop culture dominates our society. I'm also aware if how our celebrity obsessed, shallow culture distorts current events. I do my best to opt out of this simply because I also recognize how destructive it as been to both our culture and even our political process. I think we can both agree that a country feed on tweets, and reaction to those tweets, is the very thing that put Trump, a profoundly unqualified candidate, into the white house. So no, I don't think my lack of focus on pop culture limits my perspective I think it broadens it. Indeed those old youtube videos, and the new ones, are perhaps the best thing on the internet. I would trade all the rest of social media for youtube. But again, that is just me... the book slinging raceman--an extreme outlier ;-) And sure at the rate we are going all politicians will be on par with celebrities; indeed we are seeing them become one and the same. Pioneer, those terms, left, conservative, right, and progressive are virtually meaningless. Black in the south, for example, tend to be very conservative, because of their Christian sensibilities, but they vote overwhelming democrat--why? Many poor white people voted for Trump--obviously against their best interests--why? As an aside, a Whole Foods will be opening in Harlem this year, on 125th St and Malcolm X Blvd. I can't afford to shop at Whole Foods. So I have no idea what those people think of themselves--other than wealthy. Interestingly, I leave my neighborhood (Harlem) to go white neighborhoods to shop where the deals are better. Man, even cocktails in many Harlem Restaurants cost $16 or more. There are better deals on drinks in midtown Manhattan--seriously!

I don't believe Hollywood is THAT liberal. It's ran by rich, powerful, egotistical White people (regardless of their religious affiliation). Most of the negative racial stereotypes that saturate this society is fueled by Hollywood. Infact, I think we need to establish clearly what it means to be a "liberal" I'm seeing too many wealthy, snobbish, people with elitest mentalities who are just as closed minded and almost as racist as any redneck except for their one or two little nitches of concern like being pro-environment, or the right for a woman to have an abortion being thrown into the "liberal" category . Liberal used to mean being open minded and believing in fairness to women and Black people. Now any fool who smokes weed on a consistent basis is considered a leftist. Things have gotten so confusing and convoluted in this nation that entire neighborhoods of poor and working class people....if it's mostly White....are identifying themselves as "conservative" when they have absolutely nothing in common with the rich businessmen who operate through the Republican Party. Meanwhile most wealthy suburbs are full of White people who are vegan, do yoga, and are environmentally conscience and call themselves "liberal" but STILL hold to traditional values like marriage, stay-at-home parenting, and even have negative views about Black people and really don't want them living next door to them. Really........ Take a stroll through your average Whole Foods store and most of the people who shop there will be labled as "liberal" even though most tend to be wealthy, snobbish, and not fond of Black people. I think we should either have clear definition of what liberalism is so that it can't keep switching around and getting convoluted generation after generation. And don't get me started on the term "Progressive"........ If people want to see a REAL Progressive in action, they should study the Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Not these elitist snobs in suits and ties who are just as conservative as their Republican counterpart but may not be quite as ruthless.

Yes, black people won performance awards and the black movie "Moonlight" won for best picture of the year and, yes, you are guilty of dismissing and ignoring the pop culture that wields a lot of influence on current events as opposed to the YouTube videos from years back that you prefer, not to mention that even PBS would acknowledge the significant role that pop culture plays in society where celebs often have as much of substance to say as wind bag politicians. But continue to wear the blinders that hinder a broad scope of awareness. The whole point of my post was to say that little things can count when you don't have big guns. Tweeter-addict Trump is such a petty, thin-skinned creep that no matter how much power he commands, ridiculing him still gets under his skin, still drives him to respond with the stupid answers that expose to the world what a pouting liar he is. He is affected more by the criticism of his enemies than the approval of his fan base and that is not to be taken lightly. .