The Obamas move upstream

Barack Obama wasn’t much of a president. His signature accomplishment may turn out to be paving the way for Donald Trump.

Obama isn’t the genius his boosters (with his encouragement) made him out to be, either. I don’t consider him a first rate or deep thinker. If you disagree, identify one of his deep thoughts. Claiming to be on “the right side of history” doesn’t count. Neither does “let’s funnel lots of money to Iran so the regime will improve its behavior.”

But Obama isn’t without genius. He is a genius at understanding how to use entertainment and pop culture to promote his agenda.

This genius is on display in the agreement Barack and Michelle Obama have reached with Netflix to produce content. According to the Washington Post:

Among the content the Obamas will produce as part of the multi-year agreement are films and series, with scripted series, docu-series, documentaries and feature films all possibilities, Netflix said. Unscripted series — Hollywood’s euphemism for reality TV — are also on the table. It is unclear whether the couple will appear in any of the movies or shows themselves.

The Obamas’ goal, they say, is to promote “empathy and understanding.” In other words, to produce left-liberal propaganda.

The name of the production company the Obama have formed — “Higher Ground” — says it all. The Obamas view themselves as our betters. They think their hack left-wing views put them on higher ground than those who don’t buy in (that’s a big reason why they helped pave the way for Trump). The Obamas might as well have called their company “Right Side of History.”

I’m told that Netflix is the single most significant and powerful driving force in entertainment today. Thus, the Netflix-Obama alliance is a very big deal.

Netflix went hard after the Obamas. It put Susan Rice (yes, her) on its board as part of the courtship.

Now that Netflix’s hard left stance is so evident, conservatives should think hard about whether to subscribe to it. I don’t know much about this market, but I’m told there are competitors. If so, conservatives should consider switching to them, assuming the competitors aren’t also aligned with the left.

Ideally, wealthy conservatives would invest in competitors to Netflix. Fox News found a great niche in the television news industry. Perhaps a corresponding niche exists in the streamed content industry (or whatever industry Netflix is in).

Andrew Breitbart famously said that politics is downstream from culture. Conservatives have always been slow to grasp this, but Barack Obama figured it out early.

Now, he and Michelle have moved upstream. The move will likely prove consequential.

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