A Day of Giving Thanks Because That Still Matters

It’s not the best of seasons, this. With the sudden realization that Republicans have held power in Congress in this country almost non-stop since JFK died — if they don’t get their guy elected to the White House they still run the government through subversion, distraction and obstruction. Still, it’s never been quite so bad as it is right now. It was not a coup. It was not a revolution. The people who obstructed President Obama for eight years are still in power, they just have more of it. Democrats had a tiny window of opportunity to thwart that power but you saw how that went. The GOP knows we Americans are easily manipulated by hysteria and outrage and that we don’t turn out to vote. It’s our own fault, we absurdly stupid Democrats.

The First Americans are fighting to preserve and maintain access to clean water, millions of Americans are now vulnerable not just to hate crimes but many millions are about to be robbed of their human rights across the board.  The truth is that it could not be worse in America and since America is an empire that impacts the entire world, it could not be worse for the world. Putin now has someone who will look the other way so that he can do whatever he likes. He knew Hillary would have fought him. Trump is turning China and Mexico into our instant enemies. The American empire had its day. We have now hastened its fall.

There are few constants to give us refuge, but the Oscar race, such as it is, goes on.  That of course is the reason our readers come to the site, creating a community of good friends for more than a decade, and I would just like to take a moment to thank you all for putting up with my political freak out this year. Our angry rants and desperate pleas for votes. Thank you all for reading and commenting and participating here and on Twitter. Thank you for all your insightful comments and positive feedback. Even on occasion the opposing views and terribly harsh remarks can be engaging to read.

Thanks to Jazz Tangcay, our newest MVP who does interviews, goes to parties, drags us kicking and screaming into the modern era. She greets every day with enthusiasm, has her attention focused on breaking news, trailers, posters, reviews. She always knows how to lift our spirits — Ryan’s, Marshall’s and mine — when we plummet into despair. And she always has our back. Thank you, dear sweet Jazz.

Thanks to Marshall Flores who is also always there on Twitter swatting back the baskets of deplorables on the left and the right and here on the site working tirelessly in ways most readers do not see — research, deep background, proofreading, and predictions. He has also joined our podcast with a voice that was made for it.

And of course to Ryan Adams for always being at the ready to help clean up my prolific but messy writing and for really making a home for readers of the site to feel welcome and appreciated. Ryan is the heart of this site and it probably would not exist were it not for him. This year he helped rewrite many of the stories I posted on Medium about this horrible horrible deplorable election and so in many ways I felt like we were in it together.

None of us has yet recovered, really, from the disaster that was 2016. Now we must look out for each other. We must be more kind to each other. We must go underground and help build a resistance. We can never stop trying, once and for all, to make our government one for the people and by the people — and not the handful of megalomaniacs who have been running the show for too long. Unfortunately, the Democrats blew it and let the GOP once again take control of stacking the Supreme Court, filling its vacancies with right-wing justices who will have the power to undo so much of the progress we’ve made in the past half century.

It is a big deal, my friends. It’s a very very big deal. So let’s stand up for the protesters at Standing Rock. Let’s stand up for Black Lives Matter, for transgender rights and the LGBT movement. Let’s stand up for women and beat back misogyny, which really did tarnish this election on both sides. Let’s stand up to support those in our government who will continue to fight for us. Let’s defend all our friends and neighbors from harassment and abuse, especially and urgently those whose very lives are threatened by terrifying forces that the Trump regime has emboldened.  The America that Obama helped us build was a kind of renaissance under the steady hand of a brilliant man. But that’s over. Now we must do our best to see that his achievements are not wiped clean away. Now we have to look out for ourselves.

Thanks to Clarence, Megan, Jalal and Joey at AwardsDaily TV for keeping things humming along and doing such a great job. Thanks again to the lovely Dora for the FYC gallery again this year. Thanks to Erik at AwardsWatch and Clayton and Mark at Awards Circuit, Kris Tapley at Variety, David Poland at Movie City News, Anne Thompson at Indiewire, Tom O’Neil at Gold Derby, Pete Hammond at Deadline, Scott Feinberg at Hollywood Reporter, Greg Ellwood at The Playlist, Michael and Kris Patterson at Michael’s Telluride Blog, Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere, and my good pal Susan Wloszczyna who got really drunk with me one recent night in Savannah.  Tomris and Eric Laffly, Robin Write at Write out of LA, Jason and Kristie McKiernan at Next Projection. Our contributors Paddy Mulholland, Ryan C. Showers, Stephen Holt, and Jordan Ruimy, and many publicists I know and count as friends but who would probably hate it if I named them here.

So I hope you all have a day of thanks and giving thanks. With love and gratitude…