Electoral-vote.com

When Someone Shows You Who They Are...

...believe them the first time. That is what Maya Angelou supposedly said, though note that all sources for that quote are secondhand. In any event, it's a good observation, whether Angelou came up with it herself or not.

Truth be told, we already knew what kind of person Donald Trump is. We've been writing about Trump the politician for a decade now, and he's shown over and over and over that he's boorish, and petty, and self-important, and mean-spirited, and utterly lacking in class (despite the liberal use of gilded decorations that are supposed to make us think otherwise). There's the Barack Obama birth certificate conspiracies, and the mockery of the disabled reporter, and "grab 'em by the pu**y," and the various snubs of John McCain's memory, and the nasty nicknames for various political opponents, and the palling around with Jeffrey Epstein, and the Mohammad bin Salman ballwashing, and... well, it goes on and on. And note, this is not a list of things that are illegal or are bad governance (though some of them are arguably that, as well). It's just a few of the high-profile examples in which Trump showed the world that he's a godawful excuse for a human being.

Once in a while, though—and it's very rare these days, after 10 years of developing Trumpian armor—he manages to surprise us with his utter and complete lack of grace. So it was yesterday. Among the first tasks of the day for (Z) are to check e-mail and cell phone messages. And both personal and Electoral-Vote.com channels were flooded with messages about the unbelievably classless message that Trump sent out on his a-pathetic-place-for-pathetic-people social media platform. In case you haven't seen it already, here it is:

A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, 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, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!

Honestly—and we were not the only ones who reacted this way—we initially thought it was a fake from some sort of parodist. But it's not. And in case there was any doubt, Trump doubled down during a press conference yesterday, telling reporters: "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."

Just in case you might think we were having a bad day, or something along those lines, here are a few messages from readers who were also disgusted by Trump's response:

D.E. in Lancaster, PA, writes: I've tried several times to write a measured response to Trump's obscene comments on the horrible and senseless murders of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, but failed with each attempt. All I can muster is: Is it too much to ask that we have a human being with a some sense of empathy for our president, or, if that's a hill too steep for him to shuffle up, for someone to shut him the fu** up? That's my Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Winter Solstice wish. Just take him away some place where he can yell till his little chest cavity's content, but where we don't have to hear his filth, ever again.

That and I just donated to Indivisible to hopefully aid in their organization of the next No Kings Rally.

To the incredibly talented and generous Rob Reiner, your life and works impacted mine in so many ways, and to his lovely wife, Michele: "Zichrono/Zichrona Livracha." To the surviving children, even to his troubled son who is charged with these horrible murders: "Min haShamayin Tenuhamu."

T.J.R. in Metuchen, NJ, writes: I try hard to be fair. I try very hard to be fair and charitable. I try to appreciate every human being's value. I try hard to value other's opinions, even though I disagree with them. People have different experiences than I do. I understand that. And these experiences may have led them to opinions different than my own. I get that. I truly do.

But Donald Trump's comment on Rob Reiner's death has crossed a boundary I didn't believe could ever—ever—be broached. And I call him by his name so there can be no doubt who I mean.

He has crossed any bound of simple human decency. Crossed where 99.99999999% of humanity would never dare cross, simply because they are, in essence, humane.

I constantly tell my partner that nothing Trump does shocks me. She is perpetually aghast by his actions, but I keep saying, "It's Trump. What can you expect?" This has surpassed that. This is more reprehensible than I even thought him capable of.

Although I am not a believer in God or heaven and hell, on this, in this instance, I sincerely hope I am wrong. When Donald Trump passes, may he burn in eternal torment in hell's damnation.

I also just pray that his followers see the reprehensibility of his words. And look within themselves and realize they are chaining their souls to a false idol.

A.B. in Wendell, NC, writes: This. Is. Not. Normal.

This is how the current occupant of The White House reacts to the tragic death of Rob Reiner and his wife? "[Reiner] was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump."

No, Donald. The only person with a raging obsession of Donald J. Trump is YOU, as witnessed by the fact that you have to make EVERYTHING about YOU.

The facts are not all known yet, but it would seem that Reiner's son Nick is responsible... and that points to family dynamics as a more likely cause. This is a tragedy for all involved. For ONCE IN YOUR LIFE can you be respectful, and not make it about YOU?

D.S. in Layton, UT writes: Fu**ing a**hole.

So, yeah, it wasn't just us who felt that way.

Oh, and Trump condemnation was all over the Internet yesterday, from all sides of the political spectrum. He was slammed by an entire panel on Fox, shortly after the aforementioned press conference; while at least a dozen other Foxers blasted Trump on social media. Quite a number of evangelical leaders also spoke up. For example, Russell Moore, editor in chief of Christianity Today, wrote: "How this vile, disgusting, and immoral behavior has become normalized in the United States is something our descendants will study in school, to the shame of our generation."

And now, because we are academics who try to see the meaning behind things, here are the things we take from this ugly incident:

Ego: It's already been said above, but let's say it again: Trump is an egoist well beyond the point of mere dysfunction. When the National Guard soldier died, he made it about him, and said he might attend her funeral because he won West Virginia by such a large margin. When Charlie Kirk died, Trump gave a eulogy, and made it all about himself. And now, Rob Reiner is dead, and once again, Trump is the star of the story, at least in his own mind. What an unbelievable narcissist. And then for him to claim that Reiner's criticism of Trump was "bad for our country"? Seriously? First of all, Mr. President, you don't give a damn about "our country." You sort of care about 35% of "our country," sometimes. And besides that, criticism of our leaders is GOOD for our country, and shows democracy is still working and authoritarianism hasn't taken over, quite yet.

Although we guess that explains entirely why Trump sees Reiner's criticism as bad for "our country." After all, if l'état, c'est moi, then anything bad for moi is bad for l'état.
Hypocrisy: We've said it before, and we'll undoubtedly say it again, but Trump also showed, yet again, what an unbelievable hypocrite he is. Remember what Jimmy Kimmel said after Charlie Kirk's murder: "We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it." There is not a word in there about Charlie Kirk himself, and yet Trump and the rest of MAGA absolutely DEMANDED that Kimmel be fired (and, ideally, drawn and quartered). Is there any world in which the things Trump said about Reiner are not orders of magnitude worse? And yet, Trump isn't going to resign, nor is anyone MAGA going to call for him to do so.

Incidentally, when Kirk died, Reiner was on Piers Morgan's show. And the remarks he offered were the epitome of class and decency, such that the clip of that appearance went viral yesterday.
All for One, One for All?: One of the most insidious tricks in modern politics, practiced with particular enthusiasm on the right, is to make all members of a particular political faction responsible for the words and actions of individual members. That trick was most certainly on display yesterday. Trump apologists (with Greg Gutfeld and Kurt Schlicter the loudest, perhaps) said, in so many words: "Well, it was OK when leftists said mean things about Charlie Kirk? Why the double standard?" Even many Trump critics, on the right, said something along the lines of: "Just because the left said nasty things about Charlie Kirk doesn't mean that Trump should behave the same."

Is it true that some number of left-wing people, mostly on social media, said reprehensible things about Kirk and his death? Yes, it is. But do you know what every single one of those people has in common? None of them are the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. A few hotheads who pop off do not speak for their whole party, or their whole segment of the political spectrum, and it's dishonest to pretend otherwise. On the other hand, the president, pretty much by definition, DOES speak for his whole party. And even a partial apology on his behalf is entirely inappropriate.

Oh, and for the record, every single leader of the Democratic Party said the appropriate things when Kirk was murdered. Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)—they all showed how to behave with class. That is because they are grown-ups, and they know there's a time to put politics and personal grievances aside.
It's His Party, and He'll Cry if He Wants To: Notice that we have yet to talk about actual Republican officeholders who were critical of Trump's vile words. That is because there weren't many of them. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) both condemned his words in no uncertain terms, but they are both Trump foes. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), who happens to be running in a district that is very Jewish, also had measured but critical words for the President. Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK) posted that the tragedy should not be about politics. And that's the end of the list. Trump's grip on the Republican Party might be weakening, but it's not yet "weak." Even if Republicans are sometimes willing to push back on policy these days, they are still sticking their heads in the sand when it comes to boorish behavior, no matter how boorish it might be.
Bad Instincts: Actually, we're not sure if Trump just doesn't care about politics anymore, or if he's just losing his fastball. Whatever the case may be, his vile words about Reiner were colossally stupid from a political perspective. We will bet every dollar we have that Trump did not win over a single voter with yesterday's performance. Any person who thinks it's a good thing to crow when a "lib" dies was already voting for Trump. Meanwhile, it is utterly classless demonstrations like this that prove to be the breaking point for a former Trump voter here, and another former Trump voter there. It is clear, at this point, that Trumpism and MAGA will die from a thousand cuts, and he inflicted a couple dozen of those cuts on himself yesterday, while gaining nothing.
Oscar: As long as we're here anyhow, we'll give you a bonus takeaway. Beyond his very important work as an actor, Reiner directed some of the most enduring films of our times. A Few Good Men. This Is Spinal Tap. The Princess Bride. Stand By Me. The American President. When Harry Met Sally. Misery. Not only is that an unbelievable body of work, but it's remarkably diverse in terms of genres and subject matter. And how many Oscars did Reiner receive? Zero. In fact, he was never even nominated for directing (and was only ever nominated once in any category, for producing A Few Good Men).

We are not going to tell you the Oscars mean nothing. They do reward a certain kind of artist and a certain kind of art; in the case of directors, they go to people whose directing style reminds you "There's an auteur at work here; watch and be dazzled!" The Oscars do not go to directors whose work is so smooth and so seamless, you forget they are there. In the end, if we were filmmakers, we would rather have Reiner's résumé than that of something like 98% of Best Director winners. Heck, we'd be happy with just The Princess Bride and This Is Spinal Tap.

And that's the biggest news of the day. Sigh. (Z)

This item appeared on www.electoral-vote.com. Read it Monday through Friday for political and election news, Saturday for answers to reader's questions, and Sunday for letters from readers.

www.electoral-vote.com State polls All Senate candidates