Memes have entered the political sphere. If you haven’t had a chance to read this article, please take a few minutes out of your day and enjoy it. If you’re lazy, it is an article wherein the Hillary Clinton campaign posts an “explainer” of the popular internet meme Pepe the Frog. In it, they cite a few meme pictures retweeted by members of the Trump campaign and assert that the meme is a symbol for white supremacy.
If you’ll humor me, read that last part again. Read it twice — read it to somebody nearby who has no idea what you’re talking about. They will ask what kind of nonsense this random college student is writing about. They’ll say that, but I’m not the one who got paid to write about Pepe the Frog for a political campaign.
This has to be play. I have to view it as hilarious because if I don’t it’s just more evidence that our current political climate is the result of some sort of sick joke. More evidence that the spectacle of politics has become increasingly more important than any real ideal any candidate or public servant could ever hold. How else could one explain the past year of the U.S. political climate? Look at this picture.
Does this cover domestic or foreign policy? Will this help impoverished or disenfranchised people? Should I vote for one party over another because they criticize the Navy SEAL copypasta (warning: vulgar) for inappropriately representing the military?
I apologize for digressing — at face value, all of this is hilarious. Upon evaluation, it’s horrifying. This dichotomy may become the new “play” of the political sphere. Politicians have tried and failed for years to get people to listen to actual policy. Creating this spectacle and uniting people with fear of others seem to be the only tactics that have had the results the parties want. Until we, the populace, prove we can handle a more responsible, mature form of political play, this may be what we get.
November can’t be over soon enough.