Hot wax: DJT at Madame Tussaud’s. Photo, Pacific Coast News
You know Paul Rudnick from his work on movies like Addams Family Values, The First Wives Club, In & Out, and his latest play Big Night which deals with among other things, the aftermath of a tragedy similar to recent mass shooting in Florida that killed 17. I’ve been following his posts on Facebook and his astute observations have turned to politics and Trump’s toxic influence on America. Here’s his latest…
“Trump spent 11 minutes yesterday meeting a handful of people in Parkland. He offered a grinning thumbs-up to commemorate a tragedy and then hurried to Mar-a-Lago for a disco-themed party.
He spent this morning tweeting furiously to defend himself from the completely justified hatred of heroes like Emma Gonzalez, a 15-year-old Parkland survivor who gave a passionate and inspiring speech, calling out Trump for repealing the law which had made it more difficult for the mentally ill to purchase assault weapons.
Mike Pence has spent his last few days attacking brave and outspoken Olympic athletes like Adam Rippon, and lying about his own extensive history of viciously opposing all gay civil rights legislation and promoting conversion therapy.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders has now stridently defended sexual predators, wifebeaters and bigots like Trump, Roy Moore and Rob Porter.
Just thinking about Trump’s assault on America can make it hard to breathe. One solution is to focus on the Resistance, on the overwhelming number of women now running for office, on the continued diligence and indictments of the Mueller investigation, and on the thrilling and important voices of people like Gonzalez, Rippon and his fellow gay Olympian Gus Kenworthy. The enormous success of Black Panther also feels like a repudiation of Trump and his Klan cronies. Any decent leader would be celebrating this movie, created by so many superb African American artists, but Trump hasn’t mentioned it – as always, he’s too scared.
It took Trump a week, following the Rob Porter resignation, to vaguely condemn domestic violence. Trump has also had to ignore the global #MeToo movement, since his hatred and abuse of women is well documented.
There’s a Trump supporter I see almost every day, an affable guy who likes to crow about the economy. When he’s confronted with any unpleasant facts, about Trump’s tax plan benefiting primarily the mega-rich, or about the tiny amounts of money actually involved in those Home Depot and Walmart pay raises, he shuts down and mutters,
‘Well, I don’t know about that.’
Steve Bannon, of all people, has predicted that women’s anger may be Trump’s undoing. Fire and Fury remains at the top of the bestseller lists. Douchebaggy pundits still counsel reaching out, and listening to Trump voters, but that time is long past.
When I see that Trump supporter, I have to remind myself not to spit.”
–Paul Rudnick
