Dr. Jason Johnson

Professor of Political Science. Politics Editor for The Root. Latest Book: Political Consultants and Campaigns: One Day to Sell

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Understanding #TrumpFlop on Obamacare in 7 Easy Memes and GIFs

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Brutal. Shameful. Embarrassing. America hasn’t seen a politician take an L this bad since Papa Pope read Fitz. In case you missed the sound of a million souls crying out in joy, then suddenly drowned out by loud laughter, the Republicans’ ill-fated attempt to scrap and replace Obamacare flopped miserably today.

P90X Ryan (aka the speaker of the House) went running to Part-Time President Trump to tell him that the American Health Care Act didn’t have enough votes to pass, and Donald Trump (or Paul Ryan) pulled the bill. So how the heck did America get here, and what happens now? We’ve laid it out for you in gifs and memes.

What Was Congress Voting on Today?

Republicans planned a vote Friday to repeal and replace Obama’s Affordable Care Act with the American Health Care Act. There are 435 members in the House of Representatives—241 Republicans—and they needed 216 to pass the bill on to the Senate. At first they had no chance, then Speaker Ryan said that they’d work all weekend. Then President Trump gave an ultimatum and said that the vote must happen by 4 p.m.

So it was already not looking good. Republicans had spent all night trying to rewrite a bill that they had seven years to come up with. All in the vain hope of getting wayward “nos” to switch to “yes.”

What Was the Holdup? 

Besides that fact that repeal and replace is bad policy? Or that only 17 percent of Americans like the replacement bill? Or that Trump’s 39 percent approval rating is scaring Republicans from having his back?

The ACA is the policy avatar of Barack Obama himself. Republicans, some fueled by racism, some by ideology, hate everything about Obama but are the first ones showing up with an empty cup when the goodies from his policies start flowing. For example, a big holdup in the repeal bill was what to do with the “essential coverage” provision of the ACA. Some conservative Republicans wanted it gone, but moderate Republicans and senators were afraid to touch it.

Below is an easy explainer of what happened, using hamburgers as health care:

Imagine that you want to buy a hamburger. At Burger King, they give you two buns with no meat. At McDonalds they give you ground beef and lettuce but no bun. At Carl’s Jr. they literally give you a pound of ham painted brown with a crown on it. They ALL claim to sell you hamburgers, and you never know how much it’s going to cost until you order, and then you’re locked in.

Everyone got so angry that the government stepped in and established O-burgerCare. Under O-burgerCare, no one can sell something called a “hamburger” unless it has two all-beef patties, two slices of bread and at least one condiment. The “essential health benefits” provision of the ACA essentially does the same thing: It sets a standard of things that MUST be included in any insurance plan so you know what you’re paying for. Do you always want lettuce or pickles? Of course not, but at least now everyone knows what they’re getting.

Conservative Republicans don’t want you to have hamburgers or health coverage, and their plan leaves 26 million people out in the cold. Speaker Ryan’s answer for those people?

What Are the Democrats Doing?

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is doing doughnuts in Ryan’s front yard, laughing, with a glass of Trump wine in her hand. Democrats warned Republicans for years that health care was serious policy, and you can’t just talk about tearing something down for seven years and not have a good plan to replace it. This is actual live footage of Democrats leaving a GOP committee meeting on the replacement bill:

Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez encouraged voters to call Congress to save Obamacare, Democrats stood their ground and activists got a big win. So far, on the Muslim ban, wiretapping and now replacing Obamacare, Trump is 0-3.

What Happens Now? 

Hard as it was for Ryan to admit it, “Obamacare is still the law of the land.” Trump, quick to brag about a loss, spoke from Trump Tower claiming that it was the Democrats’ fault and that pulling his own signature bill, which he had campaigned on for years, was somehow a victory.

Objectively this is a huge loss for Republicans, a narrow victory for Democrats and a huge victory for voters. Trump’s approval ratings will take another hit, and nobody in Congress has any reason to go out on a limb for Ryan anymore. He all but said that they won’t even try to repeal the Affordable Care Act anymore. Democrats saved Obama’s signature legislation, but they are not in a position to actually fix the things that are legitimately wrong with it.

As for the regular people, 26 million Americans will still have coverage for the foreseeable future. A bonus victory goes to Obama, who knew damn well that Trump wasn’t smart enough to undo his signature legislation.

So What Can You Do?

You realize this fight isn’t over, right? You need to call Congress on their cellphones and let them know that you need your health care. That Ryan and the crew better not try to gut Obamacare in the middle of the night when no one is watching. They know when that hotline bling, it can only mean one thing. Voters are unhappy. And if there’s one thing even Republicans worry about, it’s unhappy voters.

Don’t know your member of Congress ? Type your zip code in right here

Even if the replacement bill has been scrapped for the foreseeable future, now is the perfect time to remind your member of Congress to stop wasting time on ending health care and get back to the business of banning Muslims, hiding Russian collusion and putting white supremacists in the highest reaches of American government.

This article originally appeared online at The Root.

CNN: Jason Johnson on Donald Trump, Dave Chappelle and Stephen Bannon

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On CNN New Day with Chris Cuomo and Poppy Harlow, Morgan State University professor Jason Johnson and CNN Senior Media Correspondent Brian Stelter discuss Dave Chappelle’s comments on Saturday Night Live about President-elect Donald Trump and the appointment of Breitbart News executive Stephen Bannon as Chief White House Strategist.

2015’s Biggest Black Culture Anniversaries

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In the midst of controversy over the ill-fated Sorority Sisters reality series, VH1, the most popular network in African American homes, quietly celebrated it’s 30th birthday. The channel formerly known for music videos (and not washed-up rappers and video vixens-turned-singers) is but one of many Millennial/Gen-X staples marking a big anniversary this year. Check out some of the albums, movies, TV shows and cultural events that we will reminisce over in 2015:

Music: The almost cult-like excitement over D’Angelo’s new album Black Messiah late last year speaks to the staying power of the elusive soul man’s debut album. Those of us who came of age in the 80s and 90s have a serious emotional attachment to Brown Sugar, released in the summer of 1995 during an amazing return to live instrumentation and old school sounds that came to be known as “Neo-Soul.”

Do you remember Girl’s Tyme? The group that would come to be known as Destiny’s Child came together in 1990, and is celebrating 25 years of introducing the world to independent women, bootylicoiusness and of course, King Bey. Also turning a quarter of century this year is Salt & Pepa’s Black’s Magic album, which gave us the theme song to many an awkward Sex Ed video in the 90’s.

Other notable albums that turn 20 in 2015 include: Tupac’s Me Against the World, GZA’s Liquid Swords, Monica’s Miss Thang and Goodie Mob’s Soul Food. Meanwhile,

Outkast’s Stankonia and Erykah Badu’s opus, Mama’s Gun both turn celebrate 15 years of Southern-fried funk.

Not every musical anniversary this year is a good one. 1995 marked an incident that many denounced as the “death of Hip Hop”—the infamous 1995 Source Awards, which degenerated into fights, veiled threats by hip-hop artists and the commercially viable but ultimately deadly East Coast/West Coast Rap battle. Ironically, this 20th anniversary comes as Suge Knight has returned to the national spotlight after running over a man with his car on the set of the upcoming NWA biopic.

Speaking of NWA, it was 20 years ago this year that Easy-E announced that he was infected with AIDS and died very shortly thereafter. Two decades later, open discussions about HIV and AIDS—and the importance of condom usage—have increased significantly.

Film: Some of the best black movies of all time are due for a platinum gold re-mastered re-release at your local Target in 2015. The Color Purple, which celebrates it’s 30th birthday this year, reminded ‘mainstream’ audiences that Black people have our own stories to tell, filled with just as much drama, pathos and emotion as a dozen Meryl Streep movies. Also turning 30 this year is the Black Kung- Fu classic The Last Dragon(March 22nd, 1985), which not only inspired Busta Rhymes whole “Dangerous” video but gave us the answer to who should play Wes’s father on How to Get Away with Murder.

In the “This movie made your Momma cry because it was a little too real” category, Waiting To Exhale turns 20 this year, and the late Aaliyah’s Romeo Must Die marks its 15th anniversary.

Love him or hate him, the cultural juggernaut known as Tyler Perry had his first Hollywood film Diary of a Mad Black Woman” hit theaters 10 years ago this month.

Television: Thirty years ago, we were introduced to the baritone voice of Avery Brooks on Spencer for Hire, and while the end of Kevin Clash’s career wasn’t great, the Black puppeteer’s signature muppet Elmo turns 30 in 2015 as well.

Two classic Black shows that launched the careers of dozens of actors and producers turn 25 this year: The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and In Living Color, which started the careers of the entire Wayans clan, Jamie Foxx, Jim Carey and Jennifer Lopez.

Hard as it may be to believe but 2015 is the ten year anniversary of Everybody Hates Chris, which still ranks as one of the best Black sitcoms in history.

Sadly, it was 10 years ago this summer that Dave Chappelle abruptly ended Chappelle’s Show, leading to a decade of Black pop culture events that were never properly made fun of on cable.

Cultural Anniversaries:This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Move Bombing in West Philadelphia. It was one of the most depressing and violently racist attacks on the black community to happen after the Civil Rights Movement and in many respects West Philly has only recently begun to recover.

The Million Man March turns 20 this year and while plans for the big anniversary have not yet been announced, the positive outcomes of that march can still be seen in major cities across America.

This year also marks the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which is arguably one of the worst examples of federal government incompetence in American history.

In the world of sports, anniversaries can never be overlooked, and this year marks 15 years since Venus won her first Wimbledon tournament, and the 10-year anniversary of the NBA dress code, which has launched clothing lines galore and all sorts of memes–usually involving Dwayne Wade.

This article originally appeared online at Ebony.com.

UCLA Study Links High Fructose Corn Syrup with Memory Loss

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How many cans of soda do you drink in a week? Or better yet: how much soda do you drink at restaurants? Or how many times have you added some red flavored Faygo to your Subway fresh meal just to balance you out?  Trust me, carbonated deliciousness is so common it’s hard to keep track.  I honestly can’t remember how much soda I drink, and you probably cannot either. And do you know why?

According to a recent study at UCLA drinking too much soda destroys your memory. Maybe that’s how Tyrese forgot that he had a career.

The study by professor Professor Fernando Gomez-Pinilla at UCLA, shows that heavy doses of High Fructose Corn Syrup, a basic ingredient in just about any soda, leads to memory loss, slower brain function and pretty much overall stupidity. How did the good scientists figure this out? Using rat brains of course, which are shockingly similar to humans. One group of test rats was given a high dosage of HFCS only while the other group was given HFCS with a counter balance of Omega-3 fatty acids (often from nuts or salmon) all the while being tested through a simple maze with one exit. Six weeks later the rats were brought back to the maze to test their recall and the results were pretty stark. The rats on the Omega-3 diet ran through the test so fast the scientists thought they were recreating the Secret of Nihm. On the other hand, according to the report, the soda-jerk rats didn’t fare so well:

The DHA[Fatty acid]-deprived animals were slower, and their brains showed a decline in synaptic activity. Their brain cells had trouble signaling each other, disrupting the rats’ ability to think clearly and recall the route they’d learned six weeks earlier.

Now we humans are much smarter than rats, and clearly we make better dietary choices than rotten cheese and leftover table scraps, right? Taco Bell says “No comment”

Nevertheless, the results of the study show that high consumption of high fructose, especially without a counter balance of fatty acids can have serious health consequences. This is an especially big issue for African Americans, who by and large out-drink any other ethnic group in this country when it comes to soft drinks, sugary drinks and just about anything else colored in a way that you would almost never find in nature:

This problem is made even worse by the fact that most marketing and nutritional research shows that African Americans are more targeted by sugary sweet drinks like soda and carbonated teas than any other group in the country.

It is one thing to go the whole Michelle Obama route and point out to the county, and the Black community in general, that we need to exercise more and eat healthier. Obesity is a big problem in the United States and the Black community specifically.

But, now we’ve got another reason to get a bit healthier with our dietary choices that goes beyond fitting into a new pair of apple-bottom jeans and not breaking a sweat walking to the mailbox. All of that soda swilling is making us stupid and costing us memory as well. Trust, me, I love grape soda as much as the next person, but is fake grape sugary goodness really worth forgetting why you drove all the way over to KFC to begin with? I don’t think so.

This article originally appeared online at Politic365.com.