# Hey meryl streep, you are a play-actor, nothing more **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 9, 2017, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718 "2017-01-09T14:46:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 27
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/521 "2017-01-14T00:42:19Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > And now you have one for a President. > > Man, that must suck. Hey, don’t take what I said personally, I was talking to Doorknob. It was intended as a simple statement of fact. Not as a slam on his lack of intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/522 "2017-01-14T00:44:36Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > I get the feeling that some who don’t like the speech somehow think that the Trump administration won’t affect her, that it’s somehow an abstraction to her because of her wealth and/or fame. I think that’s ludicrous. > > I mean, would the detractors here dismiss George Takei talking about gay rights, or equal treatment of minorities by the government? Has he denounced Roman Polanski? If not, then nothing else he says matters. At least, that what I’m reading in many of the boneheads’ comments here. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/523 "2017-01-14T18:37:59Z")
For that matter, has \*Trump \*ever denounced Polanski? Surely this is critical information the Electoral College should have had before casting their votes! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/524 "2017-01-14T18:57:22Z")
[Nicole Kidman says it’s time to support Trump](http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2017/01/13/nicole-kidman-support-trump/96557180/) but what does she know? She’s just an actor, right? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/525 "2017-01-14T19:03:54Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > For that matter, has \*Trump \*ever denounced Polanski? Surely this is critical information the Electoral College should have had before casting their votes! Polanski is probably a hero of his. He _established_ the right to abuse young women if you’re a star. It’s okay, “I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.” ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/526 "2017-01-14T19:24:19Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > For people who go around calling other folks “snowflakes”, these trumplodytes are _amazingly_ thin-skinned. They sure are. They’re all for the “end of PC” as long as only they are flinging shit. But they can’t take it when it flies in their direction. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/527 "2017-01-15T04:59:48Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > For people who go around calling other folks “snowflakes”, these trumplodytes are _amazingly_ thin-skinned. > [@SteveG1](#): > > They sure are. They’re all for the “end of PC” as long as only they are flinging shit. But they can’t take it when it flies in their direction. That’s a curious thing to say, because [if you were to check reality](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=13829237), you will see that here the only people calling others special snowflakes are not the “Trumplodytes”. Like here: > [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Who the fuck are you, Todd Akin? Yes. “Locker room talk”. Bragging about sexual assault in explicit terms is _locker room talk_. Can we abort you? I realize this would be a bit late in the term, but you clearly have the critical thinking skills of a blastocyst. > > But you, you special fucking snowflake, can see into his heart. You can see past the veils he sets up, to see that he only _pretends_ to be an idiotic bigot all the time. Nice. What a lovely line of argumentation. “Never mind what the _president-elect of the United States of America_ actually says, we know his heart!” If someone had offered a bullshit line like that about Clinton in response to her wall street speeches, I somehow doubt you would have taken them seriously. But no, really, you’re just mirroring the party line. [Really](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/conway-trump-heart). And here: > [@Chisquirrel](#): > > Ravenman isn’t mocking your use of the English language because you butchered it, or used the incorrect words. He’s mocking the fact that the idea you conveyed made you appear to be a fucking moron, which - in an attempt to give you the benefit of the doubt - he concluded you didn’t understand the words you were using. > Or you can go with your special snowflake interpretation, I guess. It’s not for being thin skinned that I point out that the people throwing the worst abuse here are firmly in the anti-Trump camp (I’ve been called and shrugged off much worse things than retarded or mentally deficient) it’s because if your moral standing depends on projecting your sins onto the out-group then, sorry to say, you don’t have a moral standing. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/528 "2017-01-15T05:20:40Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > (I’ve been called and shrugged off much worse things than retarded or mentally deficient) Oh. Can you…share? > [@Ale](#): > > sins Less televangelist words please - worse than any insults. > [@Ale](#): > > …you don’t have a moral standing. Still perfectly intact if everything they said was justified. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/529 "2017-01-15T05:26:17Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Once again, that’s not at all persuasive as evidence that Trump wasn’t mocking Kovaleski’s physical disability. I cannot believe that anyone is disputing this. I mean I can believe that there are many different ways to view most things. But to say that Trump wasn’t mocking him…I mean if you were in an acting class (ya know, play acting), and they asked you to mock a person with a disability…not only that, but to mock someone in the most _obvious, grade-school level stereotypical way you could imagine_ mocking someone, you would do it exactly as Trump did it. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/530 "2017-01-15T07:42:51Z")
First of all: Hats off to the rational thinkers in the thread, who have remained civil despite the astounding stupidity of a few Dopoers. Trump defenders’ case can be best summarized with: “No! Trump doesn’t behave like a nasty 3rd-grade bully. He’s better than that. He behaves like a nasty _4th_-grade bully!” I wonder if those defending Trump can comment on his actions and Cabinet selections. Does he deserve a Nobel Peace Prize? Are we looking forward to 4 years of come-uppance for intellectuals and liberals? ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/531 "2017-01-16T03:31:47Z")
> [@koufax](#): > > STOP? No, this isn’t Nazi Germany, I will express my opinion and listen to yours. > > I posted a video that seems to say that he mocks everybody like that who is caught off guard, but you go ahead and believe what you want to believe. > > But don’t ever tell me or ANYBODY to stop, Herr Hitler Trump tweet, verbatim… “Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to “leak” into the public. One last shot at me. **Are we living in Nazi Germany?** ” Are you Trump, trolling us? You whine just as fucking bad as he does. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/532 "2017-01-16T04:33:48Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > I cannot believe that anyone is disputing this. I mean I can believe that there are many different ways to view most things. But to say that Trump wasn’t mocking him…I mean if you were in an acting class (ya know, play acting), and they asked you to mock a person with a disability…not only that, but to mock someone in the most _obvious, grade-school level stereotypical way you could imagine_ mocking someone, you would do it exactly as Trump did it. Trump tells more lies (I mean blatantly, incontestably false statements that are easily proven false, not “you didn’t build that”-type statements that are false only if you deliberately ignore the context) in five minutes than most public figures do in their careers. His followers have to ignore reality. They have no choice. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/533 "2017-01-16T05:12:45Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Trump tells more lies (I mean blatantly, incontestably false statements that are easily proven false, not “you didn’t build that”-type statements that are false only if you deliberately ignore the context) in five minutes than most public figures do in their careers. AFAICT, besides being a liar in the generally accepted sense of the term (i.e., someone who deliberately states something they know to be false for the sake of some desired advantage), Trump also appears to be a fantasist, someone who accidentally imagines or misremembers things that are different from the truth (which we all do from time to time) _ **and then implicitly believes them to the point of refusing to accept any factual correction of them** _. I mean, it’s inconceivable that a normally rational person could have engaged in the exchange I quoted above: > [@](#): > > VIDEO CLIP OF TRUMP: “Hey, I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down. And I watched in Jersey City, New Jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down. Thousands of people were cheering.” > > STEPHANOPOULOS: “You know, the police say that didn’t happen and all those rumors have been on the Internet for some time. So did you misspeak yesterday?” > > TRUMP: “It did happen. I saw it.” > > STEPHANOPOULOS: “You saw that…” > > TRUMP: “It was on television. I saw it.” > > STEPHANOPOULOS: “…with your own eyes?” > > TRUMP: “George, it did happen.” > > STEPHANOPOULOS: “Police say it didn’t happen.” > > TRUMP: “There were people that were cheering on the other side of New Jersey, where you have large Arab populations. They were cheering as the World Trade Center came down. I know it might be not politically correct for you to talk about it, but there were people cheering as that building came down — as those buildings came down. And that tells you something. It was well covered at the time, George. Now, I know they don’t like to talk about it, but it was well covered at the time. There were people over in New Jersey that were watching it, a heavy Arab population, that were cheering as the buildings came down. Not good.” Not only did Trump thoughtlessly assert his original false notion of the “thousands of New Jersey Arabs” cheering for the fall of the Towers—a notion that any reasonably conscientious politician would have fact-checked before foolishly running his mouth about it—but then he _refused to listen to any factual rebuttal of it_. Most politicians, even if they were dumb enough to make the original statements in the first place, could have weaseled out of them in the interview with some misleading bafflegab like _“Well George, I think you’ll find that when it came to celebrations of the attacks in the US, the police did investigate some allegations, some quite serious allegations, now I might have accidentally misspoken about the “thousands” number, which in fact referred to celebrations that occurred in other countries, and it’s very troubling that we’ve had that kind of international animosity and disrespect aimed at us, but even right here in our own country we did have serious investigations about people celebrating the attacks, and I don’t think we ought to make light of that.”_ (Sheesh. Excuse me while I go wash my hands after typing that weaselwash.) But did Trump weaselwash his way out of his original stupid mistake, the way any sensible politician would? Nope, he kept on doubling down and doubling down, closing off escape hatches all along the way, to make himself look as stupid **and** as stubborn as possible. That’s not the behavior of an ordinary political liar. That’s the behavior of a fantasist who sincerely believes and stands ready to back up anything Donald Trump says (because Trump has a very good brain and has said a lot of things), and who refuses to admit the possibility that Donald Trump could be wrong about something (because Trump is always right, you’ll see, you’ll see, he’s always right). ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/534 "2017-01-16T05:17:38Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > That’s not the behavior of an ordinary political liar. That’s the behavior of a fantasist who sincerely believes and stands ready to back up anything Donald Trump says (because Trump has a very good brain and has said a lot of things), and who refuses to admit the possibility that Donald Trump could be wrong about something (because Trump is always right, you’ll see, you’ll see, he’s always right). The problem was his supporters started backing up his horseshit by claiming they had also seen thousands celebrating the Towers falling. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/535 "2017-01-16T05:32:18Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > The problem was his supporters started backing up his horseshit by claiming they had also seen thousands celebrating the Towers falling. Meh, he could have spun away from that in the way I illustrated. Trump supporters are fine with changing the subject to avoid confronting a truth that embarrasses them. Look at the posters in this very thread who are eager to rail about Roman Polanski, or the genuineness of Streep’s professed emotions, or the intrinsic trustworthiness of professional actors, or the disappointment of Clinton supporters, or various indiscretions or crimes committed by past Presidents, or the regrettable state of American political discourse overall, just to lead the conversation away from the central issue that _ **Trump deliberately made fun of and disparaged an unoffending reporter in an attempt to discredit that reporter’s correction of Trump’s false assertion that the reporter had written something that supported Trump’s original and reiterated idiotic false claim about thousands of cheering Arabs in New Jersey on 9/11** _. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/536 "2017-01-16T08:40:56Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > AFAICT, besides being a liar in the generally accepted sense of the term (i.e., someone who deliberately states something they know to be false for the sake of some desired advantage), Trump also appears to be a fantasist, someone who accidentally imagines or misremembers things that are different from the truth (which we all do from time to time) _ **and then implicitly believes them to the point of refusing to accept any factual correction of them** _. > > I mean, it’s inconceivable that a normally rational person could have engaged in the exchange I quoted above: > > Not only did Trump thoughtlessly assert his original false notion of the “thousands of New Jersey Arabs” cheering for the fall of the Towers—a notion that any reasonably conscientious politician would have fact-checked before foolishly running his mouth about it—but then he _refused to listen to any factual rebuttal of it_. I’m actually surprised that Trump didn’t double down with “Well, they must’ve been cheering _on the inside_”. That’s pretty much the level of his kindergarten stunts. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/537 "2017-01-16T17:53:33Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Only one President ever could. 😉 FDR is out. I guess that leaves George Washington. > **[George Washington’s Birthday: He Spent it Dancing - Carl Anthony Online](https://carlanthonyonline.com/2012/02/17/george-washington-loved-to-dance-it-up-on-his-birthday/)** > > It wasn't the Twist like Jackie Kennedy loved doing, or the Dougie as Michelle Obama has illustrated. It wasn't the foxtrot that the very large William Howard Taft moved to like a graceful battleship, nor even the frug as President Lyndon B. Johnson... ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/538 "2017-01-16T18:04:43Z")
Meryl Streep wandered outside of the Hollyweird bubble, and discovered that many voters don’t put much faith in the ramblings of play actors. Sure, there are people who will buy a car, or visit a casino, based on the recommendation of a play actor, but even then the voters know that they are simply reading the lines written for them. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/539 "2017-01-16T18:08:51Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Meryl Streep wandered outside of the Hollyweird bubble, and discovered that many voters don’t put much faith in the ramblings of play actors. Sure, there are people who will buy a car, or visit a casino, based on the recommendation of a play actor, but even then the voters know that they are simply reading the lines written for them. Why do I get the feeling that you embarrassed yourself greatly in the past when you were in a school play? I am getting a heavy “sour grapes” vibe from your posts. Did you play a tree in gradeschool and “water” yourself because of stage-fright or something? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2017, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718/540 "2017-01-16T18:14:36Z")
Not to mention that if we include Trump, 2 of the last 4 republican presidents made their careers as entertainers and celebrities. It looks to me like the voters love listening to play-actors. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-meryl-streep-you-are-a-play-actor-nothing-more/776718.md?page=28)