Look What You Made Me Do
That could be our country’s slogan, yes? Forget the Age of Aquarius, that’s so 20th century, we are now in the Age of the Victim. From pop stars to sports stars to that guy in the White House, there is no shortage of people who are willing, nay, eager to point out to us all just how poorly they are treated.
When did we become a nation of thin-skinned skinheads?
Speaking of skinheads, I appreciate their skinheadedness. Makes it easier to spot the white supremacist neo-Nazis amongst us. Of course, some of those white supremacist neo-Nazis are fine people, as we have been told.
But I digress.
Here are lyrics from Taylor Swift’s latest:
I don’t like your kingdom keys
They once belonged to me
You asked me for a place to sleep
Locked me out and threw a feast (what?)
The world moves on, another day, another drama, drama
But not for me, not for me, all I think about is karma
And then the world moves on, but one thing’s for sure
Maybe I got mine, but you’ll all get yours
Ooh, look what you made me do
Look what you made me do
I don’t know about you (well I do, but that’s another column) but I find it somewhat unseemly for a multi-billionaire pop star to rake in more multi-billions by whining about every perceived slight in her multi-billion dollar career.
Speaking of unseemly, not a day goes by without a whining tweet from the impostor in chief railing about:
a) A perceived slight from the media
b) A perceived slight from fellow Republicans
c) A perceived slight from the science community
d) A brag about his “landslide victory” way back in pre-apocalyptic 2016
Take a moment to ponder this: have we ever had a leader, a great leader, a true leader, who incessantly whines about being picked on?
Nixon? I said great leader.
FDR? You think he would ever have uttered these words: “We have nothing to fear but the fear of being picked on by bloggers!”
Kennedy? Did you ever see a quote from him such as: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather ask why people keep picking on my good looks!”
Obama? Certainly the most verbally abused president I have witnessed, he somehow kept his cool, confidence and his steady demeanor. There were thousands of times when he must have longed to say: “Get your heads out of your a__, get your mind out of Kenya, and let’s get working on health care!” But he didn’t.
By the way, did you see the news that people who curse a lot tend to be smarter, funnier, healthier, and more honest than those who don’t? *&%#’in right!
With an instant tweet, anyone can register his or her dismay and offense at any (and frequently all) public and private slights. And where has that gotten us? I believe it we have become lazier, grumpier, quicker to judge, and it has made our pointing finger of blame much easier to whip out.
Enough is enough.
Perhaps Ms. Swift could look inside herself and acknowledge that all these personal and professional slights did not rise out of a vacuum. Indeed, perhaps when we can take those baby steps into grownupness (pretty sure it’s a word), it becomes easier to deal with adversity and spend one’s energy moving forward and building on the good stuff, while jettisoning the knee jerk reaction to label everyone a knee jerk.
Geez, I can’t believe I had to spend all those words writing about people who display a compulsive lack of accountability.
Look what they made me do.
