I don't know the author of this but it's spot on.
" Trump Supporter: I can see why you think Trump is a despicable human being . . . how could you think otherwise when the news and Hollywood are so against him?
Me: If you take one thing away from this exchange, let it be this: When it comes to Donald Trump, the LAST thing any of us need is an interpreter, a conduit, or a âportrayalâ â whether from the media or Hollywood or anywhere else â to tell us what we just witnessed. No American figure in recent memory is more comfortable laying his complete, unvarnished essence right out there at the podium for us to see and hear first-hand. We know heâs a bigot, an ignoramus, a con man, and a narcissist not because the press or Hollywood tells us, but because HE tells us.
When we read his midnight tweets hurling schoolyard put-downs at one individual or another who didnât kiss his ass to the degree he expects, or when he spends his first year in office holding monthly rallies for the sole purpose of gloating over his electoral victory, or when we see footage of cabinet meetings that begin with each person at the table taking their mandatory turn heaping praise on him, we donât need Rachel Maddow to convince us that heâs got a glass ego and a need for adulation.
When he argues, publicly and openly, that reporters should be fired for writing negative stories about him or that judges have no business overturning his executive orders, we donât need George Clooney to alert us that the President doesnât understand the basic concept of democratic government.
When he refers to the âPresidentâ of Puerto Rico, describes health insurance as if it works the same way as life insurance, wonders aloud what âcommunity collegeâ means (and guesses wrong), and claims the White House doesnât have a real name, we donât rely on Sean Penn to find out that Trump doesnât place any real weight on knowing what the hell heâs talking about.
When we see the revolting spectacles of him urging a convention of Boy Scouts to boo his predecessor, inviting a rock star who advocated that same Presidentâs assassination to the White House as a guest, and labeling the White House too much of a âdumpâ for his familyâs luxurious tastes, we donât need to read a Eugene Robinson column to know that he doesnât maintain the traditional dignity and respect for the office of the Presidency.
When he goes golfing on Martin Luther King Day, brushes off a question about meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus by jeering at the reporter, âI dunno . . . are YOU gonna set it up?â (Hey, theyâre black and sheâs black, right?), or pardoning a sheriff found guilty of multiple counts of racist patterns of law enforcement, we donât need to watch âThe Viewâ so that Whoopi Goldberg or Joy Behar can inform us of where his loyalties lie in terms of race.
When we see him â again, ON CAMERA â assuring his audiences that âIâll pay your legal feesâ if they rough up protesters too viciously, encouraging cops to be MORE violent in making arrests, gloating over âcrowd sizeâ at flood-relief appearances, and mentioning that âsome of my friends come here to get rich!â as his rationale for praising certain African leaders on how well theyâre running their countries, it doesnât take a Michael Moore documentary for any cognizant viewer to know that . . . well, that weâre dealing with a real slime.
When Hillary Clinton pointed out, in the first debate, that Trump (1) had openly CELEBRATED the Mortgage Crisis of 2008, in which thousands of people lost their homes, as a great opportunity for the investor class, and (2) had a long record of stiffing contractors for the services they provided his businesses, and rather than expressing remorse, he brushed the revelations off with âItâs called businessâ and âMaybe I just didnât like their work,â we didnât need to watch Jimmy Kimmel that night to know beyond any doubt that we were dealing with a sociopath â with someone whoâs not the least bit troubled by the suffering of others.
So Iâd strongly suggest dropping any invocation of Hollywood or the media in relation to the revulsion Trump inspires in any thinking, feeling person. Their commentary on his idiocy and inhumanity might offer a touch of reaffirmation or galvanization, but in the long run, itâs superfluous.
Suppose you had the misfortune to attend a seriously crappy concert. You might look forward to reading the local music criticâs review of it the next day, because, yâknow . . . you might get a slight charge out of seeing someone else articulate just HOW disastrous the show was. But having attended the debacle yourself, itâs not like you depended on that recap to KNOW it sucked. Thatâs how it works with Trump."