President Barack Obama brought forth a nostalgic juxtaposition in his

hour-long farewell to the head of the White House. His words were a

combination of a thank you card, motivational speech, State of the Union,

and an embedded instructor’s manual for leaders of the next generation. He

confidently denounced every bit of hatred and alienation encouraged by his

opposition without mention of names. However, maintained his dignity and

respect for his most vocal naysayers. The 44 th President of the United States

brought forth comforting optimism through historical

context, but with a wealth of wisdom that challenged the comfort

zone of every American.

Yes, we did.

Standing with pride in the accomplishments of his administration,

POTUS reflected on historical moves such as the 2009 General Motors

Investment/Bail-Out, the Affordable Care Act, Marriage Equality, ending

the threat that was Osama Bin Laden, and strengthening US-Cuban relations.

He did not attribute those accomplishments to himself nor any particular

politician, “but that’s what we did. That’s what you did. You were the

change. The answer to people’s hopes and, because of you, by almost every

measure, America is a better, stronger place than it was when we started.”

Obama was determined to affirm the collective power of “ordinary people”

throughout his address.

But for all the real progress that we’ve made, we know it’s not enough.

Though surreal in its essence, the address was not short on its

sobering moments. The simple mention of the upcoming administration

sparked uniform booing towards the 2017 president-elect. Obama quickly

denounced the booing, and acknowledged “the peaceful transfer of power

from one freely-elected President to the next.” He spoke on the struggle of

economic justice, tying it to the frustrations of poor Americans, especially in

rural areas. Nevertheless he made it clear that we cannot use the case of poor

whites to push the fallacy of a “post-racial” society despite significant strides

in civil rights. Within the same moment, he asserted his support of all

marginalized people, including Muslims and immigrants. He encompassed

these ideas as he emphasized the importance of education, science, and fact-

based independent press sources. President Obama made a nationwide case

for the intellect in a society that is facing a pattern of glorified falsehoods.

Having given praises to his family, Vice President Joe Biden, and his

staff…President Obama turned to empower the American people…

I am asking you to believe. Not in my ability to bring about change — but in

yours.

I am asking you to hold fast to that faith written into our founding

documents; that idea whispered by slaves and abolitionists; that spirit sung

by immigrants and homesteaders and those who marched for justice; that

creed reaffirmed by those who planted flags from foreign battlefields to the

surface of the moon; a creed at the core of every American whose story is

not yet written:

Yes, we can.

Watch the full address here…

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He accuses the people supporting Donald Trump of being racists and that media promotes the message for ratings. When called out on it by one of the commentators, he back tracked a bit and said it was some of the people and not all.  Reiner conveniently overlooked the fact that Hillary Clinton has called young black people “super-predators” and that she, just a few days ago, said that Donald Trump “fell off the reservation”.  She recently  laughed along with NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio’s racist joke about being late because he was on “colored people time”. He was quick enough to talk about people in the KKK allegedly supporting Trump but he conveniently forgot how she was a good friend of Senator Robert Byrd, a leader in the KKK, who was eulogized at his funeral by none other than President Barack Obama himself.

Do Democrats like Reiner even know the history of the Democrat Party? That during the Civil War, every Democrat state sided with the South. That the Democrats created the KKK. That  Democrats voted to repeal the 1st Amendment and they voted against the 13th, 14th, & 15th Amendments? That they were against the Civil Rights acts in the 1960s and that they were behind the Jim Crow laws; yet Democrat political activist Rob “Meathead” Reiner could not recall any of that. He could only remember that some guy showed up at a Trump rally with a tattoo bearing a swastika. He did not have a picture nor a clip of that man in his allegation.

Rob Reiner’s father is Carl Reiner. Carl Reiner was one of the biggest names in television for decades. As an actor/writer/director/producer he found success on television like “The Dick Van Dyke” show and  in comedy films such as “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!” and  the Steve Martin vehicle “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid”. If it wasn’t for ratings his father would not have had a job nor the $ucce$$ he had. Rob Reiner followed in his dad’s footsteps, becoming an actor, a writer, a director, and a  producer. His films include the hits, “Stand By Me”, “When Harry Met Sally”, “A Few Good Men”, “Misery”, “The Princess Bride”, and “This is Spinal Tap”. Prior to these films, he himself was on a huge hit show for years called “All in The Family”.

On “All in The Family” he played Michael Stivic, the liberal son-in-law of  Carroll O’Connor’s bigoted yet lovable curmudgeon Archie Bunker, the lead character of the show who went on to have his own show called “Archie’s Place”. The irony of Rob Reiner’s accusation is that for years he was on a show that would not be on the air today because of its controversial episodes and dialogue. The show would be deemed racist today because it explored racism, used the “N” word often, and brought attention to other social, political, and economic issues. That’s what being politically incorrect does. It brings attention to issues and it creates dialogue to address these issues. Shutting people up with political correctness and shaming them with guilt that they are not guilty of is not the way to solve things. By the way, it was a high rated that won a lot of Emmys and spawned spin-offs like the aforementioned “Archie’s Place”, “Maude” and “The Jeffersons” (another hit show that was just as funny as its parent show and just as politically incorrect).

From 1971-1981 Rob Reiner was married to Penny Marshall, sister of another big name in television Garry Marshall . In that time period, Garry Marshall  was the show-runner of such shows as “The Odd Couple”, “Happy Days”, and a few spin-offs from “Happy Days” like “Laverne & Shirley”, “Joanie Loves Chachi” and “Mork & Mindy”. Ms. Marshall portrayed sportswriter Oscar Madison’s secretary on “The Odd Couple” and in one episode, Rob Reiner played her boyfriend. She played Laverne DeFazio on “Happy Days” and played her again in “Laverne & Shirley”. Most of these shows explored social issues and would probably be accused of political incorrectness today. All of these shows were hit shows (except for “Joanie Loves Chachi”). Ratings made them hits, ratings made a lot of people money, from the people on the show to the television networks and the advertisers.

Ratings do that. That’s how revenue is generated. No ratings? No show! No audience? No show. No show? NO MONEY. Even the news stations know that, which is why news programs around the world sensationalize news items and the people viewing it fall for it, hook, line, and sinker.

Last month was the first time in 14 years that CNN beat FOX overall. Why; because Donald Trump refused to go on Fox after the way some of its employees (i.e. Megyn Kelly) treated him. Trump boycotted Fox and went on CNN. CNN even did a special on him recently that aired prior to the Republican Debate that same night. Why? RATING$. Although CNN finally beat FOX (again, because of Trump) Fox Business News was the highest rated, beating MSNBC and other channels. People turn in when Trump is on more so than when Hillary Clinton is on or when President Obama is on. Hillary doesn’t get that attention THE Donald does. The media knows it.  He gets the views. FOX has learned its lesson. They are negotiating with the Trump camp to have Megyn Kelly interview the eventual Republican candidate for president in a FOX special. Donald Trump sells out arenas, where Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters show up to cause trouble. None of Reiner’s alleged “Trump racist supporters” have done that at a Hillary or a Sanders rally. Hillary Clinton barely gets people to show up for her at airports as it is.

 
So yes MEATHEAD–it’s all about the ratings!

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American comic book characters are known worldwide. People in foreign lands watch these fictional heroes on the big screens in their countries and buy American comic books translated into their respective languages and formatted to their specifications. I myself have a collection of X-Men, Spiderman, Superman, and Captain America comic books from other countries written in their foreign language.

The idea of heroes and freedom is universal. When you have tasted freedom, it’s hard to let it go and give it up; and many who have never had it, are willing to fight for it. American ideals and the imagery of the fictional American heroes materialize in organized public demonstrations worldwide where thousands of people protest against oppressive governments. It doesn’t matter if it’s an Asian nation or and Arab nation. You’ll see somebody dressed as Superman or Captain America…the symbols speak volumes in any language. No translation is necessary.

DC and Marvel, and their parent companies Warner Brothers and Disney respectively, are making money in the overseas market. The companies cannot afford to completely overhaul their established characters because some risks may work in some markets while not in others.  Not every country is as accepting or open minded as others. There are cultural biases. Singapore is very liberal when it comes to homosexuality; to people in Singapore, the two gay characters who got married in Archie Comics two years ago would be no big deal to them but in other countries where homosexuality is grounds for death, it IS a big deal. Even interracial dating or pre-marital affairs can get you into trouble with some cultures.  This is true in countries whose politics and religion are one and the same and any affront to their traditions and/or religion could cost you your life.

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