After the election result came in I did think about writing something. It seemed like every other bugger was doing it. Then I wondered if that in itself was a symptom of the problem. I'm an entertainer. I entertain people with filthy sexy stories of succubus porn. You shouldn't give a shit what entertainers think about politics.
Then I saw this video and it sums up what I think far more eloquently than anything I could have wrote:
It's a comedy skit and Jonathan Pie is a satirical creation, but Britain has a long and distinguished history of letting their comics sneak out uncomfortable political truths and this is spot on. Hats off to Tom Walker and Andrew Doyle for six minutes of glorious sweary brilliance.
It's what I've been saying for a while now. Continually throw rocks at people in the middle ground and eventually they'll move over to the side not currently throwing rocks at their head. And when elections are won by which side can most successfully overlap the middle ground...
I'm not going to lie. I did derive some pleasure in watching some of the more horrible holier-than-thou types in the media (social and mainstream) go from smug confidence, to panic and then finally to full-fledged meltdown over the course of Tuesday night. They'd earned that. Less pleasant was seeing a lot of folks on my personal facebook, mostly decent lefties of the non-sanctimonious variety, be genuinely fearful about what the future holds. I feel for them.
One thing I did think genuinely odious in the aftermath of the election was the number of "If you voted Trump don't read/watch/play my books/films/games" comments from people that really should know better. Fuck that shit for the condescending bilge it is. Every person's circumstances are different and I'm never going to begrudge you for voting for the candidate you think is personally better for you, even if it wouldn't be my choice.
I don't mind if you voted Trump.
I don't mind if you voted Clinton.
I don't mind if you voted third party.
Heck, I don't even mind if you didn't vote at all. (To be honest, if faced with the choice between Trump and Clinton I'd have probably thought "sod it all!" and buggered off down the pub for a pint.)
Neither do I mind if you don't give a shit whether I mind one way or another. As I said before, you shouldn't give a shit what entertainers think about politics.
I'm not you. They're not you.
It was your vote. Don't let any fucker try and guilt-trip you over how you used it. They haven't lived your life.
And now... I guess we're in the Chinese definition of "interesting times". On the plus side, the media were so horribly wrong about everything there's a good chance they were horribly wrong about Trump being the second coming of Hitler as well. I think a lot of the energetic centipedes on reddit that voted for Trump, the human-shaped Fuck You! sign to the liberal media establishment, will be a little disappointed when Trump, the man, doesn't live up to their expectations, but that's a lesson we all learn about politics eventually.
In the meantime, there are some scared people out there and not all of them are obnoxious SJW shits. If you were one of those that rode the big orange wrecking ball to see it smash SOCJUS political correctness to bits, remember and reassure the vulnerable. Have their backs against the lunatic fringe of the other side when it slithers out of the rocks to take advantage of the current pendulum swing, and it will. The right side of history is now you. Be better.
As for me, I'll continue writing.
The new novel is progressing, if a little slower than I'd like. There is a new batch of H-space monster girl bestiary stories on the way.
I'm an entertainer. Time to get back to entertaining.
