The Brutal Responses to the Submarine Deaths, Kevin Spacey Thinks You'll Forget He Diddled Kids, A Very Dumb Reason to "Cancel" Juneteenth (The Five for 06/23/23)
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And now, let’s dive into Culture & Commentary.
[one]
A call to “cancel” Juneteenth already? Sheesh.
From The Daily Wire:
Whatever Juneteenth once stood for as a state holiday is dead and gone. Today, leftists use the new federal holiday as merely the latest tool to advance “equity” — aka race-based discrimination — and further entrench Critical Race Theory into American society.
That Democrats are using something positive and noncontroversial — the celebration of emancipation and an end to slavery — to push its anti-American agenda is unsurprising. The Left always takes that which is proper and twists it for their own end. What is alarming is how many Republicans are oblivious to this tactic.
Meads then goes on to call out a tweet from Cori Bush as evidence, in which she uses Juneteenth to call for defunding the police and legalizing all drugs.
First off, I share no love or common cause with Bush. In fact, I filed a police report against a man claiming to be Bush’s uncle on the day of the 2022 primaries after the man made openly antisemitic comments at me.
He attempted to give me a flyer, and I explained that I don’t touch the papers of antisemites, because my wife and daughters are part Jewish. Bush accepted money from an antisemitic donor who has called for violence against Jews). The man followed up with an open threat. (The police are not in the business of confirming blood relations—but regardless, the evidence is locked down that Bush hates Jews).
Whether or not Cori Bush uses Juneteenth to push her political agenda…means next to nothing. People use (and misuse) symbols in all kinds of ways.
Take, for example, the “Hard Hat Riot” in 1970, where New York construction workers marched on City Hall, and clashed with anti-Vietnam-War hippies in a pretty violent scrouge. The construction workers carried American flags.
…and fought with people who burned them.
So, which side rightly used the American flag in their conflict?
Neither. The flag was born of an idea of independence, and made to mean something in the blood of the American Revolution. Both sides simply co-opted the stars and stripes to make their side of the riot seem holy.
The same is true with Juneteenth. It’s an important holiday about the freeing of the slaves in America. Full stop.
And if people try to bend that holiday towards…a Conservative or Liberal political agenda? You’re an adult….ignore it.
If Conservatives start “cancelling” holidays based on the opinions of their political opposition…you know what’s next?
Memorial Day. It could easily be used by Cori Bush for the same talking points.
On May 1, 1865, freed slaves in Charleston, South Carolina held a parade 10,000 strong to commemorate the 257 dead Union soldiers who had been tossed into a mass grave at the Washington Race Course. The newly freed men and women undertook the unpleasant task of digging up the mass grave, burying every soldier properly, and adorning the graves with flowers.
And if someone tries to co-opt Memorial Day, are we supposed to abandon a holiday honoring those who died in war?
I think not.
[two]
Now that we’ve covered Conservatives stepping on the legacy out freed slaves, it’s now time to slap those on the left side of the aisle.
They dare not use that label.
I guess they did.
A real estate agent in Texas made a pretty gross branding move when catering to LGBT people looking to move out of Texas.
From The Hill:
The lifelong Texan committed in January to begin looking for somewhere else to move. He explained how two factors ultimately solidified that decision, pointing to the growing number of LGBTQ+ restrictions introduced this legislative session as well as the frequency of deadly mass shootings happening in the state. He noted his home in Carrollton is 20 minutes from the Allen Premium Outlets, where a gunman killed eight people in May. Plus, the governor recently signed a bill into law that would ban transgender minors from receiving certain health care options to help in their transition.
“I don’t feel like Texas is my home anymore,” Lewis said simply.
He ended up selling his home through a real estate service launched last summer by the Dallas-based broker, Bob McCranie, who sought to help LGBTQ+ people list their homes in Texas and then connect them with an agent in another state or even a different country where they’d like to go next. McCranie initially called it “Flee Texas,” but soon changed the name to reflect a broader group of people expressing interest in the service.
“What we discovered was we got so much response from other states that we decided to expand and become ‘Flee Red States,'” McCranie said Tuesday. “We’ve helped 27 groups of people so far get out.”
Let’s quickly compare/contrast with the residents of New Philadelphia, IL, a village founded in my home of Pike County, IL. It was the first settlement in America built by a freed slave (which happened before the Civil War).
Just over the border form the slave state of Missouri, New Philadelphia served as an important stop on the REAL Underground Railroad. It differs from the Texas’ Realtor’s sales/branding strategy due to the following:
A. In the Actual Underground Railroad, you fled in the dead of night, on foot, with little to no provisions. If you got caught, you lost your freedom, and may be maimed (severe beatings leaving permanent damage) or execution.
B. In the “Rainbow Underground Railroad,” your real estate commands top dollar (it is Texas, with a rapidly increasing population), while you cruise up the interstate looking for a new place to live, stopping at Five Guys for lunch, and an outlet mall to stretch your legs a bit.
That’s not to minimize the fact that anti-LGBT violence is a real thing both here and globally (and on the rise in Europe and Uganda, among other places).
But words matter, and there was only one Underground Railroad.
A real estate agent cashing in by mis-using that term cheapens the bravery and sacrifice of the legacies of former slaves…and the American (and Canadian and Mexican) citizens who helped them get to freedom.
From a business perspective, specializing in LGBT people leaving Texas is…a heck of a marketing hook.
But for God’s sake, couldn’t this be done without trampling on the history of the formerly enslaved?
[three]
The number of alleged victims harassed or sexually abused by Kevin Spacey is now up to fifteen. It’s likely that Spacey was forced to address Rapp’s accusations because Rapp is now a major actor on Star Trek: Discovery.
The whole apology is…disgusting and self serving. “Sorry for the feelings he describes” is just a way to shift blame to the victim. Spacey then goes back into “by the way, I’m gay.”
Dude, NOBODY cares that you're gay in regards to this matter. The concern is that you tried to rape a 14-year-old and don’t seem to have a shred of regret. The attempt to change the subject is further evidence he’s completely unrepentant.
Spacey told the German publication Zeitmagazin:
“It’s a time in which a lot of people are very afraid that if they support me, they will be canceled.”
“In 10 years, it won’t mean anything. My work will live longer than I will, and that’s what will be remembered,” Spacey said.
Not if there’s any justice in this world.
Spacey claims Hollywood is ready to work with him if he beats more than a dozen sex abuse charges in the U.K.
Maybe that’s true. Hollywood is often narcissistic, self-serving place. But I won’t watch 10 more seconds of a man who abused over a dozen minors.
[four]
I’ll admit I watched the submarine coverage this week to the point of mild depresion. But the reactions, from shameless self promotion (“download my podcast”) to the person who thinks that “five wealthy white men” died in that tube (uhhh…somebody go explain to this idiot what a “Pakistani” is).
Elsewhere, the editor for The Nation used the occasion to make a death threat towards a Supreme Court Justice.
We’ve reached the point where we thought five people dying of oxygen starvation, hypothermia or drowning after four days alone in a watery, freezing tomb, and posted memes. Or self-promoted. Or engaged in murder fantasy.
This is a reminder of just how far gone the modernism worldview is (from the Renaissance to WWI, the predominant worldview was that things were getting better, and people would become more kind/fulfilled/innovative year after year, ever marching towards true Utopia).
I’m no expert on where things are going, but this is a definite moment when things shifted, compared to our collective values in the recent past. Just look at how the public reacted to the Challenger Space Shuttle explosion in 1986. I was only four, but from what I understand, as a nation.
We wept.
We prayed.
We lamented.
But so many voices online do not share that compassion. There’s a crowd that’s actually happy these people died.
God have mercy upon those who were lost.
God have mercy upon us, who must live among the monsters who no longer believe in mercy.
During the last survey for The Five (about a year ago), the readership was split 60/40 Conservative/Liberal, and a decent mix of Christian/Atheist/Agnostic/Muslim/Hindu, so I get that no everyone will agree with the next statement.
Without the person of Jesus transforming me, the same monster could overtake me as well, rooting for the deaths of innocents.
We may not all agree on the solution, but leaning into cruelty this much as a nation over tragedy is a real issue. We need more men and women like country singer Zach Bryan’s dad*, a former Navy man who simply put himself in the shoes of the victims.
*Side note: Dewayne Bryan was super active in a Zach Bryan Facebook group, and I reached out to say hello. Turns out it really is Zach’s dad…who’s just a proud parent on the internet (of a platinum-selling son, ha);.
[five]
We always end on a pop culture roundup…because in the face of a world that can break and divide us…music, movies, TV, sports and culture give us moments to connect and unite.
It’s questionable whether Gal Gadot will return to her role as Wonder Woman, but her next franchise may be kicking off via Netflix on August 11th with Heart of Stone. Gadot, a real-life former sniper in the Israeli military, looks to be able to play a credible spy.
Wooooah. All you have to do is write “From the team behind Friday Night Lights” to get my blood boiling.
Swagger mostly flew under the radar for season 1, but there’s more buzz heading into this season, which is executive produced by current NBA star Kevin Durant.
Season 1 was a single point shy of Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Season 2 kicks off today on Apple TV+.
NEW MUSIC
I’m guessing a decent percentage of the readership of The Five are already familiar with NEEDTOBREATHE. If you haven’t heard of the South Carolina based rock outfit…their newest single is as good of a starting place as any (then go dive into the back catalog).
Apple Music | YouTube Music
Killer Mike is best known for the duo Run the Jewels returns with his first solo record in over a decade, this time with heavy sonic influences from the music of the black church, as the rapper dives deep into an exploration of faith intermingled with big questions and grief of burying his mother and grandmother. “Motherless” is a top 5 song of 2023 (so far) for me.
Until the next one,
-sth