Who says Hollywood, the media and our august institutions of higher learning are filled with liberal bias? In fact, they’re falling all over themselves to benefit in ratings and money by treating Donald Trump loyalists as “celebrities” and fascinating figures of public interest, rather than disgraced citizens who sold their soul for access to power. Imagine if Colbert or Kimmel or Fallon had a talk show in the 1940s: “And our next guest...Joseph Goebbels!”
Surely the low point of the Emmys was the offensive choice to treat White House lackey, repeated liar and Trump apologist Sean Spicer as an honored guest and “good sport” who can make fun of himself (and incidentally rehabilitate his image post-White House). See, Spicer can joke about his Orwellian perversion of the truth in support of a President who is defying the Constitution, surrounding himself with flunkies who have repeatedly lied to Congress and the American people about their contacts with our enemy Russia (which attacked the US during our election) and embracing dictators and murderers around the world. It’s hilarious!
The Emmys are hardly alone. Sean Spicer was a “get” for Jimmy Kimmel. Anthony “The Mooch” Scaramucci was a big “get” for Emmy host Stephen Colbert, who tried to grill the Mooch as if Colbert was Ted Koppel. But Colbert couldn’t even manage to maintain his dignity as the “exclusive” interview was upstaged by numerous other “exclusive” interviews Scaramucci gave before that much-hyped appearance. Played for a fool, Colbert caved and let Scaramucci use his platform to act like a great guy and defend his tattered reputation.
And Harvard — Harvard! — decided Sean Spicer and Corey Lewandowski would be awesome “gets” for their campus, nice little coups to give that august institution a little buzz. (I’ll set aside their invite and immediate dis-invite of Chelsea Manning, though Paste eviscerated that morally vacuous stance quite nicely.) Spicer and Lewandowski will be Harvard Fellows, which certainly sounds like an honor. But Harvard hastily insists it’s no big deal. In that case, can I become a Harvard Fellow? I’ll give a talk on why Harvard should rethink its selection of Harvard Fellows — when you’re competing with Jimmy Kimmel for guests, you’re doing something horribly wrong.
Hollywood, the media and indeed the entire world was astonished when President Donald Trump failed to denounce neo-Nazis, the KKK and the people who love them. Trump has repeatedly insisted that some of the folk attending their violent, murderous, anti-Semitic, swastika-waving rally were good people. When comparing Nazis and the people who oppose them, Trump to this day thinks there are bad people on both sides. How hard is it to condemn Nazis and the people who support them?
Well, how hard is it to condemn a neo-Nazi sympathizer and the people who support them?
Every single Trump supporter mentioned above is being offered book deals. As are Jared and Ivanka and Melania and eventually Jeff Sessions and Betsy DeVos and Gary “I didn’t quit but I sure thought about it!” Cohn and everyone else you can name connected to the White House, whether they are still there (for the moment) or were fired or escaped or simply moved on. Every single one of them will be courted by talk shows and magazines and websites and apparently our greatest colleges and universities for speaking engagements and lectures and eventually high-paying jobs. And unless they’re caught on tape joking about and extolling the virtues of pedophilia like the “outrageous” Milo Yiannopoulos, these deals will get done.
Here’s something else they have in common: none of them have condemned Trump. Not really, or more often not a bit.
New Yorkers are literally standing ready to picket outside Trump Tower anytime this President dares to show his face in the town that has known him for decades as a clown and con artist. Why is Hollywood and the media and even Harvard so eager to offer his lackeys applause and honorariums?
So here’s a thought. Until these morally bankrupt people denounce Trump’s shredding of the Constitution, his embrace of dictatorships, his belittling of our traditional allies and his love for white supremacists and the racist policies those groups applaud, until they at least begin to make amends for their misdeeds, don’t make nice.
Don’t book them on your talk show, even if you convince yourself you’re going to to be “tough” on them. Don’t give them a book deal. Don’t invite Jared and Ivanka to your charity event or bris and don’t expect anyone else to join it if you do. Don’t even offer them a reservation at your restaurant. (Ever.) Don’t normalize their moral bankruptcy by bankrupting your soul one sketch, one exclusive interview, one dollar, one “get” at a time. Because you’re not getting them; they’re getting you.
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Michael Giltz was an early contributor to the political website Americablog and has written for everyone from The Weekly Standard to Disney’s Adventures. He has appeared on national TV and radio as an expert on politics, gay issues and pop culture. Giltz is the founder and CEO of the website BookFilter, a book lover’s best friend. Trying to decide what to read next?Head to BookFilter! Need a smart and easy gift? Head to BookFilter? Wondering what new titles came out this week in your favorite categories, like cookbooks and mystery and more? Head to BookFilter! It’s a website that lets you browse for books online the way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of the way. It’s like a fall book preview or holiday gift guide — but every week in every category. He’s also the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It’s available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes.