I would say that murdering someone is the ultimate form of rudeness. I’ve heard that Trump is going to murder all brown people in the country. I guess you are ok with this. I for one am against murder.
You’re wrong because purple wombat bicycle pumpkin.
What if you use the magic word?
As anyone who read the story, or more than just the last page of this thread knows, it wasn’t just his goal. It was the goal of the play’s creator, director, producer, and cast members to draft this statement and have it heard by Pence. He was not speaking only for himself and didn’t appoint himself to make personal comments just on his own behalf, although I’m sure he eagerly volunteered to deliver the message. It was the effort of everyone involved with the play. And I surely did not read any accusations of bigotry in the statement.
+1
This was a little rude, in the sense that Pence was called out when he clearly just wanted to be an audience member. But it goes with the territory. The statement itself was well-written and contained nothing really objectionable. Pence’s response was perfectly acceptable.
Trump’s response was consistent with Trump – that is, bombastic and ill-reasoned.
Finally, I should point out that during Bush 43’s term in office, Avenue Q’s closing number (“For Now”) which lists a bunch of things that are unpleasant but must be endured for now, and will go away eventually, included “George Bush,” on the list.
During Galinda’s song “Popular,” from Wicked, the singer cynically explains the tricks to being popular, noting that “…celebrated heads of state, especially ‘Great Communicators’ - did they have brains or knowledge? - don’t make me laugh! They were popular! Please! It’s all about popular.” (The ‘Great Communicator’ was a reference to Ronald Reagan).
Lesson: New York theatre leans more liberal than the Straight Dope. Conservatives need to understand that a night on Broadway or at the opera is not a trip into politically friendly territory. More’s the pity.
I thought McGivers hypothetical about staging cellphones ringing to stop the play deserved an equal strawman response.
That, and my praise and appreciation does go out to Channing, who DOES have an important yet thankless job.
The actor who made the speech is HIV positive.
This isn’t called for in here. Take it elsewhere, if you must.
Then the duck comes down and gives you $100.
I’ve done more than “Dinner Theatre”. Not that it’s any of your business.
I think it’s very telling that even when the story is about a production he’s not even in, Trump still has to have the brightest spotlight.
The sniping in here is getting kind of ridiculous. I agree with Oakminster, his theater experience is irrelevant to the discussion.
Under normal circumstances, it’d be uncalled for to address a member of the audience from the stage. Imagine if these things had happened:
“I see in the audience the owner of Viatello’s Pizzeria. Last time I was there, the owner yelled at me for not paying my bill, but I had actually paid it. Mr. Viatello, I hope you’ll treat customers better in the future.”
“I see in the audience a man with a blue striped tie and a long white beard. That man cut me off in traffic this past weekend, and when I honked, he flipped me off. Sir, I do hope you’ll drive more considerately.”
“We have been joined tonight by Ms. Lawrence, theater critic for the Daily News. She gave my last show a scathing review that was totally unwarranted. Ms. Lawrence, we in the theater community hope you’ll judge us with more impartiality.”
All of those would be inappropriate.
But Pence? Pence is one of the most powerful people in the world, and his actions are of significance to our whole species. He’s allied himself with someone unprecedented in American politics (with the possible exception of Andrew Jackson–except that Jackson lacked nuclear codes). While the cast’s actions might be impolite, they’re totally called for: things are too serious to mess around with at this point.
Speaking truth to power, in a respectful way, is what we all oughtta be doing now.
Yes, I know it was not him alone. If you feel it’s necessary, change “him” to “they” in my post.
Really? When he said that the cast was anxious that Pence’s administration wouldn’t protect them, was that because he thought the administration was going to be lazy, underfunded or understaffed? What would be the cause of Pence’s administration’s failure to protect them?
The fact that Pence believes that some people don’t deserve protection.
In my own defense, I thought we were in the Pit until Eyebrows of Doom got modded. It seems that’s where all Trump-related threads end up. Apologies if I contributed here in an inflammatory way.
If an NRA member told Hillary Clinton that he is concerned she will not protect his Second Amendment rights, I would not say that he called her a gun-grabber. I’d say he raised his consensus rather respectfully. I just plain disagree with your conclusion that he speech effectively called him a racist. The text says otherwise.
There’s a million possible reasons – he doesn’t think the government should protect certain groups; he doesn’t think those groups are under threat; they disagree on how they should be protected; etc. That’s not an accusation of bigotry any more than “I’m worried that you won’t help small businesses” is an accusation of communism.
Exactly. In a way their goal it’s the same as the President-elect’s usual to-do list for every day: “get them talking about what I said”. He of all people should understand.
And Pence took his opportunity to shine. Because sometimes you want a professional politician who will *not *throw a tantrum because someone calls him out on something 'cause that is in the bloody job description. The *mutually perfectly civil *statements of both the company *and *Pence is how things hould normally go, and it would have been over and done with by Sunday.
Right, well put. They may worry that priorities will be elsewhere, that effort will be diluted or directed to other issues the administration may find more pressing, that “downticket” officials and jurisdictions and the private sector may act with less federal oversight or they and the individuals will be left to “wing it” under a philosophy of laissez faire. Nothing of what was expressed conveys “bigotry” as the *necessary *basis for it.
…At the most desperate extreme, it could be just a plea to get some sort of gesture or expression of reassurance, damnit. Would be so easy…
I give up. Vhy-a duck? Vhy-a no chicken?
I see I don’t need to reply to you. Everyone else’s words were well-said.