OPINION:
Marianne Williamson, the Democrat Party’s perhaps biggest longshot for president, nevertheless had some good debate moments that won her oodles of online attention — albeit, not all in a good way.
Calling out President Donald Trump as a “dark psychic force,” for example, probably isn’t the best phrase to utter when one is already regarded, by even those on the left, by even, say, comedian Sarah Silverman, as “granola whacky.”
Oh well. Live and learn.
The campaign season, if anything, is long.
In the meantime, Twitter had a field day with Williamson’s comment, whose point about the dirty water in Flint, Michigan, was sort of swallowed by Star Wars-type imagery. This is what Williamson said: “Flint is just the tip of the iceberg. … We have an administration that has gutted the Clean Water Act. We have communities, particularly communities of color and disadvantaged communities all over this country who are suffering from environmental injustice. … [T]his is part of the dark underbelly of American society, the racism, the bigotry, and … if you think any of this wonkiness is going to deal with this dark psychic force of the collectivized hatred that this president is bringing up in this country, then I’m afraid that the Democrats are going to see some very dark days.”
Wow. That’s good stuff.
This is how social media responded: Hashtag, DarkPsychicForce. LOL.
As Justin Little wrote on Twitter: “No candidate aside from Williamson is addressing the dark psychic force issue and she’s the only one with the courage to combat it by brewing extremely powerful potions that will protect our troops from mind-flaying and possession.”
“She summoned that applause,” tweeted one.
“#DarkPsychicForce was the X-Man movie Fox should have made,” tweeted another.
“#darkpsychicforce was the best political line of the last generation,” tweeted yet another.
Then came the memes — “Star Wars, The Rise of Marianne,” for one. “Text FORCE to 82623, get one of these buttons!!” above a photo of a “Dark Psychic Force” pin, for another. A photo of Williamson with eyes of light shooting laser beams at an unseen enemy, alongside the words, “silence, wonk,” for another.
The hilarity continues.
What’s funny is Williamson actually emerged a winner of the debates.
As Fox News reported, Los Angeles Times writer Matt Pearce commended her for being a “much more skilled communicator than most of the other politicians on the stage.” And New York Times’ journalist Katie Benner gave her high-fives for referencing Flint “to tackle the issue of racism head on.”
And then Shirley MacLaine called her the candidate of tea leaf choice and said the bottom of her china cup showed an image of Williamson atop the White House, slashing silver sword in hand.
That’s a joke, of course.
Everybody knows MacLaine reads auras, not tea leaves.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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