In the wake of a truly lost weekend where most of the voices–including mine–reflected a cacophony of shock, despair and futile soul-searching, the current leader of the free world took it upon himself to offer his version of healing–the kind that comes to mind while literally taking a sh-t on a overly gilded toilet in a bathroom ostensibly designed for Abraham Lincoln, assuming he actually lived in the times of the Roman gladiators:
A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, passed away together with his wife, Michelle, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind-crippling disease known as Trump derangement syndrome. He was known to have driven people crazy by his raging obsession with Donald, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump administration surpassed all goals and with the golden age of America upon us, et cetera.
Maybe it’s possible like it sometimes happens to me he was just in the midst of a rage-tweet–excusez-moi, Truth (gag) exacerbated by an unforeseen bout of constipation. Those of you who occasionally see my snarky responses to over-the-top tone-deaf opinions know who you are; for the most part, I generally apologize or take them down once my meds kick in.
But when given the chance to man-splain during one of his “transparent” office sessions the consoler-in-chief actually went even farther down in the depths of demented depravity, as DEADLINE’s Dominic Patten described in what could only be classified as 100 per cent SMH mode:
Trump doubled down Monday on the killing of Reiner(.)…”Well, I wasn’t a fan of his at all,” Trump said in the Oval Office today, after slagging the Oscar-nominated Reiner online earlier…given a chance to walk back his remarks of earlier, Trump instead decided to go even further in lashing out at Reiner.
“He was a deranged person, as far as Trump is concerned,” Trump added, speaking of himself in the third person, referring to Reiner, a well-known supporter of the Democrats and progressive causes.
Trump added: “He said .. .that I was a friend of Russia, controlled by Russia. He knows the Russia hoax, he was one of the people behind it. I think he hurt himself career-wise, he became like a deranged person, Trump Derangement Syndrome.” “So I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all in any way, shape or form. I thought he was very bad for our country.”
It goes without saying that I was hoping even more fervently his next dump would be the kind of explosive diarrhea I occasionally deal with when my roommate forgets to tell me that the “mildly seasoned” popcorn he offered me was done so with ghost peppers. Judging by the multitude of reactions I saw from folks who like me had nothing but wonderful memories and personal dealings with Reiner–my brief dalliance came during the short time where Turner acquired Castle Rock and he’d show up in our Century City offices for brainstorming meetings to try and educate our outdated executives on what we should actually be doing with our non-cable productions, I was hardly alone with such wishes, nor was I at the extreme end of such reaction. But for a change, we were joined by some unexpected members of our echo chamber. ABC NEWS teamed up Lauren Peller and Hannah Demissie to share some initial ones:
Trump’s social media post prompted rare backlash from several Republican lawmakers. New York Rep. Mike Lawler, a GOP moderate, called the entirety of the president’s post “wrong.” “Regardless of one’s political views, no one should be subjected to violence, let alone at the hands of their own son. It’s a horrible tragedy that should engender sympathy and compassion from everyone in our country, period,” he said in a post on X. Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie called the post “inappropriate.” “Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered,” Massie said in a post on X. “I guess my elected GOP colleagues, the VP, and White House staff will just ignore it because they’re afraid? I challenge anyone to defend it.”
Former Trump ally, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, said the death of Reiner and is wife is a “tragedy” and that their “remaining children are left in serious mourning and heartbreak.” “This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies,” Greene wrote on X. When asked about Trump’s post, Speaker Mike Johnson did not directly criticize the president but offered prayers to the Reiner family. Johnson said the murders is “not only an unspeakable family tragedy” but a “reminder of the senseless violence and evil that is so rampant in our society.” “At this time, my thoughts go to Scripture,” he added.
THE WESTERN JOURNAL’s Michael Schwarz added some ponderable reflection from yet another usually unapologetic MAGA-ot:
In His infinite wisdom, God uses tragedies to show us the direction our hearts should always take. Left to follow our own impulses, human hearts easily succumb to anger, resentment, and every other malignancy that plagues us. Hence, in our dealings with others, we must always nudge our hearts toward love, charity, humility, and, when possible, friendship. Late Sunday on the social media platform X, actor James Woods reminded us of these divine truths with a heartfelt expression of grief over the apparent murders of 78-year-old Hollywood legend Rob Reiner and his 68-year-old wife, Michele Singer Reiner.
“Rob and I remained good friends ever since we made GHOSTS OF MISSISSIPPI. The studio didn’t think I was old enough to do the part, but Rob fought for me,” Woods wrote, recalling the origins of a personal friendship. Then, the conservative actor noted that politics never separated him from his liberal friend, Reiner. “Political differences never stood in the way of our love and respect for each other,” Woods added. “I am devastated by this terrible event.”
Not since the time he was stabbed by a deranged Quahog news anchor on a memorable FAMILY GUY episode have I reacted so favorably to anything Woods has said or done. I’m not a fan of his in any way, shape or form and I don’t think he’s all that good for our country, either, but at least he’s still breathing and could defend himself if he chose to. When the likes of Woods and Greene, not to mention Johnson’s invoking of what he considers to be “Scripture” are the voices of reason, one has to literally grasp at straws for strands of sensibility.
Still, it’s not the only sign we’ve gotten of late that there may somehow be some cracks in Trump’s iron-fisted mind control over his party. Last week a few brave souls in the home state of Mike Pence followed his lead for having at least something resembling a backbone. Per the INDIANAPOLIS STAR’s Kayla Dwyer and Marissa Meador:
In the wake of Indiana Republicans’ resounding rebuke of President Donald Trump’s redistricting plea, two very distinct philosophies of the reasons why are emerging.
Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith articulated one in a lengthy X post the morning after: In abandoning fealty to Trump, they’ve chosen dishonor. “One of the traits I have the least tolerance for is disloyalty,” he wrote. “The war didn’t start today. But today made it unmistakably clear who’s willing to stand… and who isn’t.”
And on the other side of that war there is state Sen. Spencer Deery, R-West Lafayette, an early objector to mid-decade redistricting, who hours after the vote posted a photo on Facebook of him literally kicking up his feet. The sock shown in the picture has a relevant Thomas Jefferson quote: “A little rebellion now and then is a good thing.” “Seemed like an appropriate day to wear them,” he wrote.
It’s micromovements like these that at least respond in some small way to the call to action that Mary L. Trump–one of his harshest critics but someone who unfortunately shares some of his DNA and therefore a lot more qualified than most to weigh in on the issue of derangement–put forth in her blog last night:
There are many, many people in this country for whom there seems to be no line. They love how cruel Donald is to immigrants; they love that he keeps attacking trans people; they love that he indiscriminately blows people up in the Caribbean Sea, so they put up with his petty vindictiveness, his obscene attacks on private citizens, and his inhumane cruelties.
It’s time that we start interrogating these people. Why are they ok with Donald’s depravities, corruption, and grifting? Why do they stand by, for example, while Robert Kennedy is allowed to withhold safe and effective vaccines, endangering our children’s lives?
Seventy-eight million people decided to give a corrupt, depraved, and sick human being almost unlimited power; the kind of deranged person who makes things worse for a family suffering an unimaginable and horrific loss. I wish we could ignore Donald, but we can’t. But we must also focus our attention on the people who continue to enable, empower, and embolden him like JD Vance, Stephen Miller, and every Republican in Congress, all of whom are complicit in the atrocities committed on a daily basis by Donald and the Trump regime.
We haven’t heard squat from those odious simps; their silence is deafening. But at least they’re practicing what I was implored to do by even my tortured mother time and time again–if you’ve nothing nice to say, don’t say anything. Not that she practiced what she preached, and clearly I’m guilty of same. But I don’t think I’ve quite sunk to the depths that Fat Orange Jesus has, nor have most of us that haven’t yet made a Faustian pact for a cabinet position.
It’s horrific that of all things it took two tragic deaths to build on what a handful of Hoosiers had the huevos to do. I actually saw a longtime friend of mine who typically posts blind support for takedowns of “libtards” offer a surprising takedown of “his president” while I was choosing for a change to scroll and not post while moving my own bowels last night. It may be nothing more than a momentary blip on the radar of polarization that consumes us. But like anyone in search of salvation I’ll take what I need and leave the rest.
Until next time…