The internet has been swamped with frenzied articles, posts, and social media wars over Roseanne Barr’s racist tweets and ABC’s subsequent cancellation of her recently rebooted show. People are squabbling over her right to free speech, the network’s right to cancel the show, and the hypocrisy of right-wingers backing Roseanne’s right to free speech while they deny the right of NFL players to allegedly disrespect their special national song and piece of cloth.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government’s inane and depraved brutality and incompetence continue unabated, regardless of how triggered its subjects are over a famous pill popper.
Here is a sampling of things that are of more consequence to humanity than a crazy celebrity’s incoherent ramblings and a Hollywood entertainment company’s reaction to them:
1. In between complaining about how Disney’s Bob Iger treated him, President Trump slapped a 25 percent tariff on goods coming into the country from China, a move that ultimately burdens working Americans. It covers $50 billion worth of goods.
2. The Department of Homeland Security has doubled down on its plans to monitor journalists, an example of threatening free speech that follows previous government efforts to keep tabs on the press and reports critical of the state. DHS insists there is no reason to worry.