1/20/17: The Inauguration of A Real Life Robert Baratheon?
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This election was a doozy.. Unique in virtually every way. It flamboyantly flaunted the newest and greatest of all the advancements in technology and entertainment, as well as new developments in social justice and equality.
On one hand, the convergence era of media and it's readily accessible stories prompted at the click of a button on your smartphone or tablet served as a lifeline to your election news. News app with ever-flashing notifications to inform you that the controversial reality TV star turned politician has ruffled new feathers in his latest tweet. On the other hand, civil rights activist and feminist fueled by the life blood of The Civil Rights Movement and women's suffrage introduced a renewed fight for equal rights and equal pay, and seeking vindication for decades of dedication and sacrifice by electing this country's first female president.
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If you haven't seen how this movie ends here's a "SPOILER ALERT". Hillary Clinton fell short in total defiance the polls for a brutal upset to her Republican counterpart Donald J. Trump. Venture back a year when many suggested that Trump could never win a general election and I reminded you all of how history works. The actions of today are just the aftermath to yesterday's actions. These reactions are simply exaggerated responses, rather than measured ones. People don't ever truly seem to learn from history, they just overreact to its most recent revelation. But why? Why don't we as people learn to measure our responses and actually apply the popular proverb, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"?
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The why is easy. A measured response to a crisis is how you govern, not how you win elections. To govern you must be firm and steady, to win you must be exuberant and arousing. Governing requires knowledge and experience, winning requires popularity and influence. Finally, to govern you must evaluate you failures and successes and give yourself an honest appraisal with you trustworthy advisors, then attempt to correct those mistakes and improve upon already successful policies. To win you must set a clear distinction betwixt yourself and the current failures. If no such failures exist, you must create them through propaganda and scandal. President Obama created almost 16 million new jobs, shrunk unemployment and provided insurance to over 20 million people. To defeat that legacy, Trump told his supporters unemployment was up, jobs were down, and that all the Affordable Care Act did was hike their insurance premiums. It worked! His ability to stand in opposition to President Obama made him the perfect adversary to the current president's ideologically accorded would-be predecessor Hillary Clinton.
In the end, Hillary Clinton was too flawed a candidate to win the presidency. Her biggest flaw is that their was no distinction between her and the current president besides her gender and cultural background (which many suggest that both of those distinctions hurt her at the polls). She represented a continuation of not just his policy, but everything the Alt-Right of the Republican Party didn't want to see represented. For many Americans before the inauguration of President Barack Obama, this was a country built for white men, with a constitution written by and in support of their power.
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This is the sentiment expressed when Joe Walsh warned President Obama from his Twitter, "Real America is coming after you". Unfortunately even in 2017, too many Americans feel that a United States led by a man of color is not the United States at all. When interviewing a Hillary Clinton supporter Darian Carpenter he said, "If this election were a show on TV, I would've told you it was too unrealistic!" Obviously, the field of possibilities have been widened by a country mile.
via Fantasy Flight Games
The HBO hit Game of Thrones is categorized as a Fantasy/Serial drama. I would argue that it is also a Political Thriller. In the popular shows first season there was a character named Robert Baratheon, who served as king of the fantasy kingdom Westeros. When the show begins King Robert had already taken the Iron Throne of Westeros in a rebellion against the throne, but in the book series that inspired the award winning show, A Song of Fire and Ice, he is described as being one of the fiercest warriors ever known. In a country where men fought with swords, he vanquished the battlefield with his infamous warhammer. Essentially, through unconventional means and with sheer will he conquered the Seven Kingdoms of the continent because he understood winning in combat. Unfortunately, Robert Baratheon's strength in battle were perfect for winning a kingdom, but not for governing one. His skillset favored conflict over conscious decision making. The history of Westeros remembers him as a great warrior, but a drunken failure of a king.
Now as we enter 2017, we approach the inauguration of our new president. Ultimately the civil and equal rights progression was upset by the convergence of media. A political dynasty was dethroned by a "King of Controversy". And a reality tv star outlasted a former First Lady and Secretary of State. Starting January 20, 2017 our 45th President Donald J. Trump will begin the process of learning a lesson learned by the former "King of Westeros", which is that winning and governing require a drastically different skillset.