The tectonic vibe shift absolutely remaking American culture

Republicans flood social media with sharp, hysterical, and widely shared videos. They crack down on crime in the streets and enjoy rising poll numbers. Democrats, by contrast, gasp for air, wag fingers, and whine. This isn’t just another swing in the cycle of political fortunes. Something deeper has shifted.

American politics has undergone a profound change. Consider a simple benchmark: Tuesday will mark 32 years and seven months since Bill Clinton — young, charismatic, and eager to project cool — walked onstage to play his saxophone with Fleetwood Mac. For the first time since John F. Kennedy, Democrats looked hip. Republicans, meanwhile, were stuck defending the status quo, explaining Reaganomics, pushing back against rock stars, and getting mocked on “Saturday Night Live.”

The problem for conservatives for years was that they made conservative content, as opposed to content imbued with their worldview and values.

They say when you’re explaining, you’re losing, and from Whitewater to Iraq to health care and “corporations are people too,” Washington Republicans would spend most of the next three decades explaining.

“Prosperity is actually rising, even if it’s all plastic and we’re buying it from abroad!”

“That woman sleeping in her car with her baby actually lives more comfortably than princes of medieval Europe!”

“The only way to have freedom here at home is to have elections 6,200 miles away in that country between Jordan and Iran!”

“You guys, Walmart is a force for good. Convenience! Cheap prices. Little shops in town couldn’t even pay benefits to their teen employees.”

Take a look at this video Immigrations and Customs Enforcement released last week. It might not be your kind of music, but would an administration that gave a darn about Democrats’ shrieks post glossy videos of its new enforcement SUVs with a song about how much money they've got now and how they don’t “pull up with no knife cause I bring guns to fights”?

Is it appropriate? Who cares? It’s a good beat, and more — it’s the kind of thing that early in my journalistic career Republicans would have “pounced” on from Democrats. Ben Shapiro lecturing about lewdness and violence; “Crossfire” era, bow-tied Tucker Carlson irritated and confused, while a hammered James Carville cackles at him and Jon Stewart pretends he’s cooler than Steve Earle.

“Obama is not acting presidential!”

“How dare they take a vacation; do you know how much that costs taxpayers?”

No longer. Today, Tucker is greeted like a rock star by young people when he walks into a room or waves from Kid Rock’s balcony at his Nashville bar. RFK Jr. in his 1960s ties is evangelizing the country on how to live healthier, happier lives, while the corporatists sputter. Guys like Shane Gillis, once fired from “SNL,” are giggling mirthfully at guys like Stephen Colbert, who is the first of the completely uncool late-night scolds to watch his iconic platform disappear beneath the waves.

President Donald Trump, the undeniable leader of this tectonic vibe-shift, is tooling on Democrat reporters for fun, cracking jokes at world leaders, dancing to 1970s jams, and hosting UFC fights on the White House lawn.

Across town, Democrat congressmen are sweating in front of Union Station looking for reporters and recording breathless videos about how "crime rates are “ackchyually” great and that lurking menace you've felt on city streets isn’t real at all. What about the open-air gun market I walked through on Independence Avenue? Or that woman who was murdered in front of her house? Or the adorable little 15-month-old infant shot to death buckled into his daddy’s car?

“Statistics say it’s safe! Thirty-year low!”

Shut up. No one’s buying it any more. And the rejection is making matters worse for Democrats, who truly, deeply cannot handle being made fun of.

The problem for conservatives for years was that they made conservative content, as opposed to content imbued with their worldview and values. No one wants to laugh at “the conservative comedian” or tune into “the conservative Millennial." Could you possibly be less cool? The conservative movie space was more of the same. “The movie liberals don’t want you to see!” Who cares? People want entertainment.

Liberals knew this, for a time. They made movies that were good — and also imbued with liberal teachings. We might have grumbled, but it was the best show in town. When they made liberal movies instead of movies that were liberal, they ended up with flops. Even peak Matt Damon couldn’t get people to watch his dumb movie about fracking.

That’s all Democrats produce now. From late-night TV to award shows, politics drowns out entertainment. The more audiences tune out, the more they lecture. “Why aren’t you listening? Fascism!” they cry. But Harvey Weinstein is gone, and no one’s buying the act any more.

Politics are fleeting; Republican dominance in Washington could be ended in just over a year. But culture is less fleeting. This shift is real, and it isn’t going anywhere.

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