Freak Out Friday – July 7, 2017

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

Well, Trump has been fairly quiet this week, but some things have been occurring around him that are, honestly, pretty dámņëd funny.

1). When in the course of human stupidity…. Some years ago, a reporter sent around the script of “Casablanca” to a bevy of agents and producers to get their opinions without the title attached (I think he used the original title of “Everybody Comes to Ricks.”). While a handful recognized it for what it was, many were disparaging of it, relentlessly criticizing the script for the greatest film ever made and saying it simply wouldn’t be successful. Well, this week we had the chance to see American cluelessness at its most divine. NPR, as it does every year, had famous people assemble on July 4th to read the Declaration of Independence. They also tweeted it, line by line. And ignorant Trump supporters (or as we should more properly call them, Trump supporters) attacked. Without recognizing what they were reading, they declared that NPR was calling Trump a tyrant and demanding revolution. It was a delightful orgy of bone chilling ignorance watching dedicated Americans taking the words of Thomas Jefferson, written two and a half centuries ago, as an assault on Trump. Bad enough that William Shakespeare is being condemned for writing a play five hundred years ago that is being interpreted as a Trump attack, but our own country’s Declaration? Seriously, what the hëll?

2). No room at the inn.. Donald Trump can’t get a hotel room at the G20 summit. Let me repeat that: the President of the United States can’t get a room. For some reason–either deliberate or incompetence–his staff failed to get him a reservation at his preferred hotel, and by the time they realized it, every other hotel was booked. Put aside that he’s the president; a guy whose business is running hotels couldn’t find a place to stay. How freaking hilarious is that?

Did he do anything right?. Any week where he does nothing is a good week.

PAD

16 comments on “Freak Out Friday – July 7, 2017”

  1. “Did he do anything right?. Any week where he does nothing is a good week.”

    That is so true. The scary thing is trying to imagine what he’ll do when he has to deal with a real crisis that is not of his own making. That’s when the real shitshow gets underway.

  2. You missed the one where he came down the steps from Air Force One and couldn’t find the presidential limo *that was right at the bottom of the stairs* as he wandered aimlessly across the tarmac.

    1. Heh. I checked that link.
       
      I note that the Hosenoses have had their attack video pulled so we can’t see how stupid it makes them look.

  4. No room at the inn ? I guess he can still find a room at Sankt Pauli. But I’ve heard that there, they rent the rooms by the hour. 😉

  5. But, the Trump supporters are correct. The Declaration of Independence is an attack on tyrants and bullies as national leaders. Sounds like Donnie to me.

    And, seriously, nothing about Trump apologist Chris Christie?

  7. My late wife had a co-worker (now also deceased) who had been a student from the Democratic Republic of Germany who came here for college and never went back, acquiring her U. S. citizenship as quickly as possible after getting here.
    .
    She, too, once came in mid-recitation of the Declaration of Independence on the radio, and was amazed to think (at first) that it sounded like a statement against George W. Bush.
    .
    She did realize after a minute or two what it really was.
    .
    Though perplexed for a minute, this woman hailing from East Germany recognized the Declaration of Independence for what it was, and recognized George W. Bush for who he was.
    .
    Tom Keller above is right. It is a defiance to tyrants and bullies. No wonder Trumpists took it as meant about him — it is.

  8. Little thing about the site : I keep being redirected to sites who tell me I have won something or who want me to take a survey. Very annoying. Something should be done about that.

  9. Well, in a way, those words ARE an attack on Trump – they are an attack, echoing down the corridors of history, on EVERY tyrant and despot…

  10. Oy. Trump Jr, in addition to basically admitting to treason this week, just posted ANOTHER CNN attack video.

    It’s like he and his dad are competing to see which of them is the least likable member of their family.

  11. A bit of a correction to your anecdote: while the core of the story is accurate, the “Casablanca experiment” was by aspiring screenwriter Chuck Ross back in 1982. He retyped the screenplay and sent it to the 217 literary agencies listed by the WGA to see if it would get representation– of which, 90 returned it unread; 33 recognized the script; while 38 claimed to have read it, but rejected it for various reasons, including saying it had “too much dialogue” and had a weak plot.

    Amusingly, 3 wanted to rep the script.

    He wrote up his experiences for Film Comment magazine, to make the oft-expressed point (as elucidated by William Goldman) that, in Hollywood, “Nobody knows anything.”

    Ross republished the article here: http://www.tvweek.com/open-mic/2012/11/the-most-outrageous-experiment-even-conducted-in-the-movie-industry-do-those-working-in-the-movies-k/

  12. Peter David: “… Bad enough that William Shakespeare is being condemned for writing a play five hundred years ago that is being interpreted as a Trump attack…”
    .
    Is he? I thought the recent condemnation was directed at those who decided to dress the actor playing Caesar to look like Trump. Did any of those critics actually criticized Shakespeare himself?

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