How the fake grievance machine works
By 
Step One: Write a story about a non-existent “controversy.”
This isn’t even dog bites man: it’s more like dog barks hysterically at passing squirrel.
Poor “middle class” Kaitlyn — I suspect this may be the Republican definition of middle class, i.e., the family second home is in Galveston, not Beaver Creek, but whatever — had to settle for getting into the University of Texas-Austin, which is of course an outstanding school in every way, so as cosmic injustices go this one doesn’t really rate.
The earnest liberal response to this kind of thing is to point out there’s a huge bottleneck problem in terms of applying to the Very Most Prestigiously Prestigious Schools of Prestige, because those schools have kept their class sizes not much bigger than they were many decades ago, when the country was a lot smaller and also a lot less obsessed with the hierarchical status of whatever schools Connor and Maddie (OK Jennifer and Michael) were applying to, between bong hits and the guitar solo in Dazed and Confused, to choose a wholly fictional and hypothetical example.
But that response overlooks that, as Erik’s Twitter feed notes, the only point of these stories is to stoke white resentment and grievance, so the actual facts are irrelevant.
Hey look another squirrel!
Here’s the deal … SM’s trending because somebody reposted and recirculated his famously goofy Egyptian-themed dance that he performed on the late-night program, on which he made regular appearances in the ’70s. Yesterday marked the 44th anniversary of its debut.
While people were piling on with praise at first, it seems, one person (and perhaps more) asked a simple question … where the heck is the funny in this thing???
As one 20-or-30-something notes … “I’m sure my parents found this hilarious in the 70’s but I honestly dont get it. He’s doing a funny dance and voice but there isn’t really a *bit* that my Millenial (sic) brain can parse.” Their tweet is now taking off … in a bad way.
Tons of people are coming out in defense of Steve against this person’s perception of his comedy chops — or lack thereof, in their eyes — by rightly explaining he was a pioneer and kickstarted an entire wave of legendary standups that emerged in the late ’70s and ’80s through his wacky style … which was more showmanship than actual traditional punchlines.
The King Tut dance, they explain, is just one example … also, context matters too. There was a huge museum exhibit of the young pharaoh being dragged across the U.S. back then … and it permeated the airwaves. So, Steve’s satire here isn’t lost on those who remember.
There also appears to be another convo happening on the outskirts of this King Tut clip — namely, folks who are allegedly up in arms because of … cultural appropriation.
Frankly, we can’t find a single tweet expressing this position whatsoever — Twitter’s algorithm stinks when it comes to finding the initial outrage being cited — but in any case, some say they’re seeing that argument being floated … and there, too, Steve fans are shutting it down.
There are about a million tweets out there right now about how the Crazy Left is trying to Cancel Steve Martin because of the King Tut sketch, although the only “cancellation” happening is that some people are opining that they don’t find the sketch that funny.
Both sides!