BREYER WON’T RETIRE: Having learned nothing from the tragic(ally predictable) death of Notorious RBG, SCOTUS Justice Stephen Breyer is staying philosophical about his retirement plans, opting to stick around and maybe die/quit after the midterms in 2022, when the GOP will almost certainly retake Congress and block any appointee made by Biden. McConnell has literally said that he will do this.

Breyer is supposedly trying to prove that the Highest Court (but mostly that Breyer himself) is morally and ethically pure; transcending petty politics and favoring justice above all things.

In reality, the Supreme Court has always had a streak that is deeply political, reactionary and brutal; using legalese pablum to reinforce the status quo. Whether it’s ruling that the government can’t arbitrate on slavery, permitting the forced sterilization of the mentally ill, saying that police are under no Constitutional obligation to protect citizens, allowing billionaires to spend unlimited money on campaigns, or conceding that corporations have no responsibility for slavery or human rights abuses that occur within their supply chains.

Is it possible that Breyer is just another stubborn, egotistical old Boomer who is enamored of himself and his importance that he doesn’t care what happens to America after he dies? (haha, no. Born in 1938, he’s too old to be a Boomer) Or, does he merely fear the purposelessness, malaise and quick death which could take him upon losing his relevance as one of the most powerful people in the world?

Someone ask him. He won’t answer my messages, because he doesn’t have e-mail.

AN OLDIE, BUT A GOODIE, ABOUT SOME OLD GOODIES: An article from last year about the top 50 archeological finds of all time. We must be skeptical about such rankings, dear reader, but it’s a good primer of who’s who and what’s what among the world’s most famous has-beens.

Scraping the bottom of the barrel at #50,
Thingvellir ain’t what it used to be.

OBAMA HAD HIS 60th BIRTHDAY PARTY DURING COVID LOCKDOWN a couple of months ago, opting to invite movie stars and musicians at expense of many of the friends and advisors who started him in his career and got him elected President. This is only fair. Obama refused to duly punish the global elite for their role in the Great Recession, and his reward has been to join their ranks. But his middle-class origins handicap his ambitions, compelling him to enjoy his status in the most shallow way possible: Hanging out with celebrities that have the illusion of power with little of the substance. He will not be invited to the Pagan Masked Ball of global elites, that’s for sure.

“Here, it doesn’t matter if you forgot your vaccination passport, Mr. Obama. Or, if you never had a vaccination passport at all!”

BETTER TO BURN OUT, AND GO AWAY: On the downward slope of a movie star’s career, you can expect smaller projects in less dignified circumstances; perhaps an eventual relegation to prestige cable, network TV, comic-con conventions or straight-to-rental projects. When the zeitgeist has moved on from rock stars, there might be a greatest hits album, a never-ending campaign of small venues, or maybe a comeback tour for hardcore fans that fails capture the luster of youth. For novelists, there’s almost always a creative writing professorship at a small liberal arts college; all the better to sexually harass students younger than their own children.

Alas, comedians, particularly those of the Gen X variety, have chosen a different method to rage against the dying of the light. They wage war against being ‘Cancelled’ (i.e. facing any sort of criticism) and make common cause with some of the most vocal, reactionary culture warriors out there; from cynical malefactors to masters of self-humiliation to Joe Rogan to just unbelievable assholes. You see, the problem is not that the popularity of all artists ebb and flow as public tastes change. The comedian’s decline can be linked to specific social failings that have deep implications for the world at large. The fool is the last truth-teller, our most valued voice. Just ask King Lear.

It’s like if the members of Ratt said that hair metal isn’t so big in 2021 because America has become a society of cowards. And maybe they’d be right (?), but we certainly wouldn’t be expected to take them quite so seriously.

Of course, not ALL Gen-X comedians have taken up the war against Cancel Culture as they age out of relevance. Just people like Denis Leary, Adam Carolla, Dave Chapelle, Jerry Seinfeld, Louis C.K., Chris Rock, Bill Maher, and, you know, most of the big names of their generation.

Alas, for the American generation that has had the least demanded of them (even the Boomers had Vietnam), they are the hardest-hit casualties of the Culture Wars. Their careers ended; their merch dumped into clothing drives; made into non-persons. Unable to even get a 15-minute set at the Chuckle Hutch in Kalamazoo.

If we’re to learn the error of our ways,
they need to go away first.

It’s a hard thing to age gracefully, but some don’t get to do it at all.

https://tinyletter.com/The_Oculus_Online

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