The legions of Trump-loving right-wingers spend half their days complaining about how everybody is too afraid to be racist anymore and that their free speech is under attack by liberals.
The other half of the time, they’re throwing tantrums and calling for boycotts over any perceived slight to their beloved dictator.
The latest thing to trigger a petulant outpouring of complaints is a New York City production of Shakespeare in the Park, because it “appeared to show the President’s assassination.”
The play in question? Julius Caesar, which – spoiler alert – always ends with the murder of Rome’s first dictator on the floor of the Senate.
Desperate for some kind of news that doesn’t have anything to do with Trump and Russia, FOX News began stirring up the deplorables with this misleading and inciting headline.
NYC Play Appears to Depict Assassination of @POTUS https://t.co/jEjnDtT7dw
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 11, 2017
Arrest them all for treason, incitement of violence, terroristic threats against our @POTUS #secretService @SecretService
— We The People (@TrumpSheri) June 11, 2017
It appears that most Trump fans are not familiar with the works of Shakespeare or Roman history in general, and did not know that Julius Caesar is not exactly an endorsement of political assassination.
Angry right-wingers immediately went to their favorite new talking point – “what if this had been about President Obama!” as if all of a sudden they are deeply concerned about respecting a president who right-wingers threatened to kill with terrifying regularity:
I'm sure a classic play that pictured stabbing murder of someone made up to look and talk like Obama would incite no controversy whatsoever.
— Kyle Smith (@rkylesmith) June 11, 2017
But it turns out, the same play was put on during the Obama Administration, with an African-American playing the role of Caesar, and in a stunning turn of events conservatives had no problem seeing a black man stabbed to death, even calling it “riveting.”
There was little controversy from the left, because liberals can distinguish between art and reality.
None of this stopped conservatives from barraging the sponsors of the play with complaints until weak-willed Delta finally caved.
…Shakespeare in the Park does not reflect Delta Air Lines’ values. Their artistic and creative direction crossed… 2/4
— Delta (@Delta) June 11, 2017
It speaks volumes about Trump and his presidency that FOX News and their viewers saw a play set in contemporary costumes about the assassination of a dictator and automatically assumed that it was about Trump.
Liberal viewers, on the other hand, had a very different reaction:
It is immensely frustrating to see the ignorance of the right-wing besmirch such a beautiful expression of culture like Shakespeare In The Park. Perhaps if they bothered to familiarize themselves with the story of Julius Caesar before throwing a tantrum they would understand the disturbing parallels between two republics in danger.
What's Your Reaction?
