but I’m not sure I can connect the defacement of a little trashcan with some broad rejection of the liberal status quo.

Well, it’s a metaphor, you see. It’s a comparison, not a direct connection.

we’re talking about a culture that delighted in breaking this stupid thing that wasn’t hurting anybody, and then that culture elected Trump.

Well, that’s just a very first order way of looking at it. I’m not saying “the US is filled with meanies, it killed a robot, of course it elected Trump!”, I’m saying: “Hitchbot was shattered and a collective fantasy was ended. This mirrors how Trump was elected, which shattered liberal fantasies about the US, the west, and the state of politics around the world in general.”

Yes, it’s funny that this happened in the US, and even funnier that it was in Philly. That has nothing to do with the metaphor. Hitchbot could have died anywhere, people would have mourned it, and it would still be an appropriate analogy. Try process that 🙂

But I realized it was just… fucking… music… I could ignore it

I feel another microcosm brewing…