Fran Drescher, SAG-AFTRA president, appears to taking her signature role as The Nanny to heart. Actress Fran Drescher used the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards to call for a host of initiatives from eliminating all single-use plastics to boycotting any states that do not meet SAG’s view of supporting “freedom, diversity, inclusion and democracy.” That latter proposal follows cities like San Francisco imposing similar boycotts. It also follows calls from Rep. Marjorie Greene (R., Ga.) for a “national divorce,” including limiting the rights of people to move from northern states to southern states for their lower crime and lower taxes. It is the ultimate expression of our age of rage where we seek separation rather than interaction with those who hold different views and values.
Drescher’s call for boycotting conservative states is nothing new. While the left has denounced Greene’s talk of a divorce, it has called for such separation for years. San Francisco is just one example. San Francisco has issued a blacklist of 22 states that its municipal employees are banned from traveling to as part of their jobs and barred employees from entering into “any new contracts with companies headquartered” in any of those states
I have long opposed such laws and even proposed an alliance to oppose such laws through reciprocity policies. In the meantime, cities like San Francisco are having doubts about the rising costs from its boycott.
Drescher wants to follow the same ill-conceived approach to Hollywood studios, barring filming in states that do not satisfy SAGs values. She does not list those values, but the question is whether SAG could resist pressure to include a long list of issues once it starts to blacklist states. If SAG includes abortion rights, what about trans gender rights, election reforms, criminal justice reform, climate change, or anti-racism as causes? Once you start to assemble a list of required values, it is very difficult to exclude other values.
The alternative is, of course, to allow citizens to determine their own laws and values. Hollywood could then focus on making movies.
I have similar objections to Greene’s proposed “divorce.” A suspension of voting rights for new citizens would raise serious constitutional questions and would likely not pass judicial review. However, it is also a fundamentally unsound and offensive presupposition.
There is understandable bitterness among voters in states like Florida, Texas, and Idaho who see Californians and Northerners flocking to their states for their lower crime, lower taxes, and affordable living. They are fleeing cities like New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. Yet, many then proceed to replicate the same political agendas of the cities that they just abandoned. That is called irony but it is also called democracy.
This a country based on freedom of travel where there have been historically great shifts in population through the decades, including the “Great Migration” of African Americans from the South to the North from the 1910 to the 1970s.
The new migration may indeed turn red states purple or even blue. Moreover, there are good-faith objections to the push by many Democrats to limit free speech and fears that the party is now engaging in a new type of McCarthyism against its opponents. However, denying fellow citizens the right to vote in state elections is akin to the Vietnam policy of destroying a village to save it. You cannot protect our core values by denying them to others. That is the tough thing about democracy. You have to convince, not coerce, people.
There are even calls for secession from blue states. One appears to be gaining steam as parts of Oregon seek to join a “Greater Idaho.” Likewise, there has long been a movement in California to split off into a separate state with more conservative counties creating a “New California” state.
What is most striking about Drescher’s call is that it would double down on a strategy that is already undermining Hollywood and woke companies like Disney. Drescher is now suggesting that directors and producers should be denied the right to choose the best states to capture the essence of a movie. It is akin to telling an artist that they are free to paint so long as they do use particular backgrounds or images. It is a denial of artistic expression of these filmmakers as well as punishment of voters for not replicating the values of Hollywood in these areas.
While Hollywood routinely ignores them, roughly half of this country are conservative and a huge percentage are religious. That includes over 74 million who voted for Donald Trump. Hollywood can continue to create movies for the liberal voters and even bar filming in conservative states. However, it could find itself with a smaller and smaller audience — and profits. While there are many contributing factors, Hollywood may already be seeing a backlash to its social and political agenda in films. “Lightyear” was thrilling for folks in Hollywood but a bomb at the box office.
For years, liberals (including many writers and editors) have called for blacklisting authors and artists. They would now blacklist whole states. That could make the situation worse for creators, viewers, and shareholders in the coming years. Groucho Marx once remarked that “in Hollywood, brides keep the bouquets and throw away the groom.” It may now be ready to keep the films and throw away the fans.
This nonsense happens when money is too plentiful, where entities lose their perspective. They prefer throwing money around rather than fixing problems and using common sense.
These failures occur in countries and municipalities, as well as in people. It is best to keep them hungry to function at a higher level.
Democrats throw money around. This problem occurs in San Francisco and our failing cities with much crime and murder. Does it help the people? No.
Guyventner, you’re right. 100%of the electorate voting is a mathematical impossiblity.
As much as a state can leave the union, I.hope that never happens. Somehow we have to keep this country together.
Independent Bob,
I agree in sentiment.
However, I fear we are getting to a point where the whole thing collapses.
“Fran Drescher . . . used the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards to call for a host of initiatives . . .” “San Francisco has issued a blacklist of 22 states that its municipal employees are banned from traveling to . . .”
Why is it those with the least to offer, grossly overestimate their value to others?
Pity that the entertainment addicted cannot vote with their feet and their credit cards and eschew contemporary music, motion picture venues, on line streaming and re-runs. Where is HUAC in the memory of these folk?
It happened once before and it cost must blood and treasure, and the essence of our federal constitution, to restore the union, and then only after the ultimate defeat and subjugation of the losing side… shall we do this one more time?
No, there is no reason it not happen amicably as it happened in at least 10 countries last century. It was only bloody last time because the Northern leaders violated the Constitution and there was no West
Surely you jest with an offer of amicable discourse on the part of the hate-filled prog/left mobs. We have seen their actions in Portland and other cities, we have heard their hateful rhetoric pouring out of the mouths of academia, the media and the government. How could you think there would ever be a reconciliation at this point. No, the prog/left has pushed this past the tipping point and the remainder of the nation is beginning to rally, not for settlement, but for a cleansing of the wickedness that has infested our society and culture.
AOC is just whistling dixie and MTG has declared war on The Union . .. we all have something different in common.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world has grown up. To a great extent, I believe our (& I use that term loosely.) Foreign Policy reflects our domestic tranquility. Our FP, sadly, can be best described as a Raging Bull in A Fine China Shop. Wilder than a Yankee doodle dandy at a stock car race. Go Branden!
*Don’t worry about us Americans, we’ll be o.k. .. Hell is other people.
No Exit!
Alma Carman,
I dunno.
I think it would be even bloodier, with more atrocities committed. We already have some calling for re-education camps based on who you voted for, or calls for taking children away from their parents if the parents did not get vaccinated. And these were not one of kooks, but professors, journalists, and even a few politicians. There were even some in the medical field who would refuse treatment of a patient if they did not get vaccinated.
It is a terrifying thought.
“And these were not one of kooks, but professors, journalists, and even a few politicians.” I am sure they are not mutually exclusive. I have heard many a kooky thing spew out of the mouth of professors, journalists and politicians. In fact, find me a prog/leftist that isn’t a kook.
Fran Drescher is dutifully promoting the Woke Left agenda by trashing conservatives. Certainly nothing new there. Ironically, California is so far in debt from terrible fiscal mismanagement by Democrats that they can’t afford to secede even if they wanted to. They need massive (and continual) infusion of federal funds from the rest of us to finance their state’s bad decisions. We need to take away their credit card. Thank you, Jonathan, for an excellent article.
SkyRaider1717,
I think that is why they are proposing reparations in the millions of dollars, paid for by the federal government.
Then, they can tax those monies to dig themselves out of debt.
It’s all very entertaining, and grist for the pundit’s bi-weekly mill, but what Zany Marj (and others on the other side, like AOC) is proposing is precisely the opposite of what the country needs. In our zeal to demonstrate our tribal bona fides, we’ve lost sight of what matters: the country. The entire country. We badly need to recover a sense of common purpose. If we fail to do that, we will lose everything. What we have in common as Americans unites us; our differences divide us. It should be an easy choice.
It should be an easy choice, but there has been a disproportionate emphasis on what divides us in recent years. Do you recall that we had a president who said that he wanted to fundamentally change America?
Until we see mobs gas lighting innocent families and children Federal agencies labeling Americans as terrorists, and / or individuals wearing masks, hoods, throwing Molotov cocktails displaying anarchist behaviors including ransacking, looting, destruction of public spaces…. oh wait
Yes, in fact, we do hear the people sing. Bring it!
It would appear that there is a race between how fast idiotic progressive policies can ruin NY and CA to the point where it gets so bad they collapse and get rebuilt with sanity vs. how fast can the progressives spread their cancerous policies to states like FL and TX destroying them and everyone else.
“Yet, many then proceed to replicate the same political agendas of the cities that they just abandoned. That is called irony but it is also called democracy.”
I don’t think it is “irony” at all. It is called irreversible stupidity.
Jim22,
I have seen a few suggest the whole driving force behind the chaos and insanity that has gripped part of the nation and a certain political party is to get it to collapse and then rebuild in their own image.
Of course with them at the top, dictating to the rest of us how to live.
I would hardly base a war of succession on the thoughts of Fran Drescher or Marjorie Green. I would say they are both more marked for their loud mouths than than their thought processes. Except for the obvious exceptions, Hollywood and Politicians are not known for their soaring intellect. Occasionally one comes down the pike that shows real intelligence and political savvy. The political extremes are usually the loudest but have the least support.
Fran needs to look at Hollywood and how it is imploding as the numbers of films that make money plummet. Eventually Hollywood will go broke as the last major studio will have moved to Georgia. Strange how that little peach keeps showing up at the bottom of the the credits of more and more films. Marjorie Green is just loud. I think of her as the right doppelgänger of Ocasio-Cortez. I don’t pay much attention to either.
Seems more and more people in New York, California, and Illinois are pushing back on their politicians. New Yorkers have become quite loud and upset about their governor’s willingness to push overruling of local zoning laws to degentrify the suburbs. Long Island democrats fear for their seats. San Francisco is looking to overturn their boycott and the liberal District Attorneys are finding more criticism and pushback about their policies. And Illinois is going thru a heated Chicago Mayors race due to Lightfoot’s incompetence (She now claims most of her opponents are racist and sexist). Even the New Orleans Democratic mayor is looking at a recall (murder rate through the roof). Travis County, Texas (Austin, very, very blue) has had a breath taking exodus from their police force and if the chaos worsens Gov Abbot won’t hesitate to intervene.
People are not only taking their votes from these states but their MONEY also (taxes).
It may be messy but I think there will be a slow return to sanity, some places faster than others. New York, California, and Illinois cannot suffer such losses in money and people and be able to sustain themselves.
Fran and Marjorie who? That’s about as much attention I will spend on those two idiots.
Why don’t we carve the U.S. into 50 unique sovereign jurisdictions. We can call them “states”. Each state gets to elect is own legislature and its own leader, who we can call a “governor”.
Then each “state” can govern itself based on the values, interests and needs of the people who elected them.
Then we can overlay those 50 “states” with a tiny federal government whose only legitimate purpose is to secure the borders and provide a national defense for the “states.”
Radical.
“They are fleeing cities like New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. Yet, many then proceed to replicate the same political agendas of the cities that they just abandoned. That is called irony but it is also called democracy.”
No, that is called a cancer.
While I agree with Professor Turley’s analysis, the question becomes why not allow the Progressives to live with the consequences of their decisions? If Conservatives in major cities want to move to escape, while Progressives are willing to live in the high tax, “hell holes” that their policies create, I say . . . GOD BLESS (they’re going to need it)!
The urban (D)isasters are nearly always bailed out directly and indirectly by the Federal government. Even the RINOS do it.
Interesting frannie limited her schpiel to single-use plastics and not all single-use non-biodegradables, like silicon, for example.
another progressive clown going off the rails for our entertainment. Laugh at the progressive clowns.
Res ipsa loquitur regular commenter Antonio (SP?) has been calling for a divorce, well, I think more than a year.
I recall when Trump was elected, in CA, there was talk about a “divorce.”
People are going to vote with their feet and wallet. Denying someone the right to vote is a bit on the wacky side. But leaving a city like San Fran, or Chicago due to high taxes, high cost of living and high crime and then voting for the same policies that they left for? That is wacky too.
I have said before, we are seeing the formation of two different societies where the two shall never meet.
What is wrong with requiring seven years’ residency before being allowed to vote in a new jurisdiction?
For anyone on the Left to be calling for a secession, proves that they have no clue about the economy or resources. Q: What are NY and CA without the taxes, agriculture, mineral resources and WATER of the Upstate and NoCal regions? A: Broke, crime ridden, hungry and thirsty.
Democrats GET NOTHING! Cut federal government…Elections 1 day, in person, with ID….I don’t care if you vote, I care if you cheat. Today Democrats CHEAT….places like Philly which use to have 10% voting now have 100% voting…that is CHEATING
During the 2020 election I sent a newspaper photo to my brother (who lives in Europe) of the vote counters in Philly – all wearing Biden/Harris T-shirts. That says enough.