Meryl Streep, Donald Trump, And The Death Of Decency In America

The other night, Meryl’s speech was masterful. Of course. Then in the morning, Trump’s tweet was petty. Of course. I could have easily predicted this. Hell, some people on Twitter DID…down to the word he would use to insult her. Overrated — Typical.

Meryl didn’t call him any rude names, which is more than I can say when the haters come at me on Twitter. She didn’t even say HIS name. She didn’t need to. She got her message across effectively and poignantly without even ending her speech with “Sad!”

And in the morning, Trump responded the only way he knows how — with lackluster insults, pointing fingers and denying any of his own wrongdoings.

That’s not someone I can look up to as a leader.

It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of Trump. I’ve always thought he was a hacky businessman, I thought he was a hacky reality star, and so far, I think he’s going to be a hacky President.

But that doesn’t matter. He IS going to be President. All of this speaks to a larger issue.

Decency is dying in America and everyone is so busy shouting, “Republican! Democrat!” that no one is defending decency.

This political race has turned people so ugly that multiple people on Twitter called me an idiot because I supported Meryl’s speech where she advocated for…disabled people?

Since when is THAT a political policy? Why isn’t everyone on board with that? I’ve never heard Paul Ryan say, “Hey guys, on our way to defunding Planned Parenthood, can we make a stop to make fun of a couple of handicaps?”

Why isn’t EVERYONE mad about that? Because Trump SAID he didn’t do it? But…he DID do it. I mean, there’s a photo and a video and I don’t know how much more evidence we need than that.

Now, some of you can maybe look past that and say, “Ok, well he didn’t mean it” or whatever. (I can’t do that, and I know multiple people with disabled siblings who can’t look past it either).

BUT besides that fact, not meaning something and not doing something are NOT the same thing.

I didn’t mean it when I called my boyfriend an asshole because I was on my period and he ate my last piece of chocolate without asking…but I DID it. So then, what did I do next? Apologize for my irrational behavior. OBVIOUSLY. That’s what you do when you make a mistake.

Do you know how insane I would have looked if my boyfriend came up to me later and I said, “No, I didn’t do that. Uh, nope…never did it. In fact — I don’t even know you. I’ve never seen you before, soooo how could I have done that?”

Humans make millions of mistakes. Politicians are humans. I don’t judge the mark of a good person by whether or not they make mistakes. I judge them by how they handle their mistakes. And instead of acting like a grown up and apologizing, Trump denied the existence of his mistake(s).

I have a problem with the hypocrisy that is running rampant. After Meryl’s speech, Trump supporters jumped online to say that “Actors should stick to acting.”

OK, sure. Umm, our President-Elect has a “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” credit on IMDB. He plugged his reality show at the end of his press conference. But sure, “stick to acting.” Do you tell a plumber to “stick to plumbing?” No, you don’t. Because a plumber doesn’t have a public platform. Stick to acting…as if by being a celebrity, you are supposed to forfeit your right to have an opinion about the country you live in.

And then there’s the amendments. Do you know how long I’ve listened to Republicans defend that damn 2nd Amendment? We can’t propose ANY new gun control regulations because “we have the right to bear arms because it is our constitutional right!”

Ok, so WHERE is the outrage when Trump attacks the “dishonest media” over and over just because he doesn’t like what they are saying? Where was the outrage when Trump said, “…We have to talk to them about, maybe in certain areas, closing that Internet up in some way. Somebody will say, ‘freedom of speech, freedom of speech.’ These are foolish people.”
THAT IS A DIRECT QUOTE.

The Constitution can’t be the holy grail of documents when it conveniences you, and when it doesn’t, then you are foolish for buying into it.

You can’t pick and choose when you get offended by stuff.

If Bill Clinton had said he was going to shut down the internet after the Monica Lewinsky scandal, people would have been up in arms. But if it’s your guy, it’s ok?

There’s a pretty definitive line in the sand between politics and basic human decency, in my opinion. Why are so many people struggling to find that line?

Politics is me saying “My first pick for the person who’s supposed to bring jobs back to America wouldn’t be the guy whose tagline for years was ‘You’re fired!’”

Decency is me saying “I’m going to have a hard time respecting a man who is an alleged rapist…whether he is my neighbor or my President.”

I don’t have blind loyalty to a party like that. I don’t like Trump as a political figure OR as a person. If Hillary had built a campaign off of name calling and then mocked a disabled person, she wouldn’t have gotten my vote.

If Obama had a child rape charge out against him, he wouldn’t have gotten my vote. And I could have been 100% on board with Bernie’s policies, but if one day he was like, “Let’s all stab kittens in the heart,” I would have been like, WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK, BERN?

But for some reason, Trump can do no wrong in the eyes of many Republican voters. None of my friends who voted for him have stood up and said, “Yeah, that’s not cool, he should apologize,” or anything of the sort. It’s shocking to me.

If you are supporting Trump for his policies, then I hope he lives up to your expectations. I really do.

But I also think it is imperative that you stand up for what is right and what is wrong.

Mocking disabled people is wrong. Grabbing women by the pussy and showing zero regard for consent, is wrong. You can say, “I like that Trump is pro-life” and ALSO say, “I don’t like that Trump has a child rape lawsuit hanging over his head. I don’t like that Trump bullies the disabled.” And until you stand up for the latter, I am going to have a hard time respecting you for the former.

But you know what? He’s going to be President. Ok, it’s been decided. There’s no more comparing him to anyone. It’s not Trump vs. Hillary anymore. Now you can judge him based on his actions alone.

What happens after January 20th when HE is the one in charge and there’s no one for him to call “overrated” or “a failure?” He will be alone, on the biggest political stage, and he has the choice to either FINALLY rise to the occasion, or make a mockery out of everyone who had faith in him.

From now on, everything Donald Trump says and does — gets judged against Donald Trump.

There’s no one competing with him for the job. There’s no one to compare him to.

And that’s his worst fear and his biggest weakness.

Here’s to the next four years ahead. If we have any chance of closing the divide between parties and people, we must LISTEN. Listen to the people who have felt personally victimized by Donald Trump. Stand up for them.