All of this reflects a deep confusion about how liberal cultural power actually works. It’s the steady circulation of ideas and money and people through cultural institutions that really matter, not the famous faces popping off on Oscar telecasts. But the same confusion is on display among liberal culture makers themselves, who have reacted to Trump’s defeat by leaning into their most self-defeating instincts. Of course, the next day Trump didn’t pardon the woman Kim was championing; he pardoned D’Souza. He’s like the late-night liberals, all base-pleasing tactics and no strategy, content to wage a pop culture war that’s stuck, for now, in stalemate.

Source: New York Times June 02, 2018 18:22 UTC