I really enjoyed “Stranger Things”.  The moment I saw the retro look of the promotional materials, I knew I had to check it out, and I did. I ended up binge-watching the entire show, and after it was done, I got in touch with friends and family and urged them to watch it. Most of them enjoyed it for the same reason I did. That reason was this: It was a time capsule. The show actually did a great job of recreating the 80’s that I grew up in, and it paid obvious homage to the unappreciated greats of that decade.

I also enjoyed the performance of David Harbour as Sheriff Hopper, and even made comment on how he had been underrated in many previous roles. Well……call me shocked……David Harbour showed his ass at the SAG awards, along with many other idiots, in a display of conformity and groupthink that I have come to find extremely depressing. How is it that so many entertainers, college kids, and upper-class elitists think they are being “edgy” and “activist” and “speaking truth to power” when they all say and think the exact same thing? It’s weird.

How is it courageous to stand up in a room of folks who are exactly like you, think exactly like you, have the same politics as you, and are all in a protected class like you…….and then yell about how rebellious and virtuous you are…….all to  thunderous applause from your clone-like audience?

I have yet to find any examples of American citizens losing any of their rights in the last two weeks, and no one has been able to provide me with any, either. Maybe it’s because many of these Hollywood and media types don’t seem to grasp the simple fact that it is American citizens who are afforded the protections of our Constitution, not every person on the face of the earth who can cross our border. They must not know that if you make citizenship meaningless, then the protections you are afforded as one are meaningless also.

Every person on the stage at the pat-ourselves-on-the-back SAG awards has a right to their opinion, and the freedom to express it, so don’t misunderstand me. I have been a singer-songwriter much longer than I’ve been writing this column, and I have much experience with the entertainment community. I can proudly say that not one person who I have performed for was subjected to my political opinion, and I’d bet that those same people who have enjoyed my music don’t even know my politics. I have always understood that when you are entertaining people, or trying to convey the emotion of your art to them, there is no place for sermonizing on your politics.

Ashton Kutcher told me he didn’t want folks stuck in an airport for a couple of hours while we find out who the hell they are………while literally pounding his chest for “my America”. Well…….in MY America, we find out who is coming here and why before we open the door and start giving them welfare checks. In MY America we should stop borrowing money from the communist slave-state of China in order to heal, house, feed, and educate any fool who can get themselves here. In MY America music, art, and entertainment are where we can all come together to forget the real world for a few minutes or a few hours.

Maybe it’s not a good idea to threaten to “punch in the face” the very people who’s  patronage you are dependent on. Playing make-believe doesn’t mean you’re a smart guy, in fact it most likely means you are personally vacuous enough to take on a personality that someone else has written for you.  The problem is that when the audience can’t see your character because all they see is your ignorant politics, then you will cease to have one. For a crowd that self-celebrates it’s inclusivity and diversity, there doesn’t seem to be much of either…………but maybe Ashton Kutcher, David Harbour, and their pals are smarter than I am.

“The number of lines in your forehead tells how many lives you’ve lived.”- Ashton Kutcher