The Real Meatheads

A guy wearing a cowboy hat on CNN, made a very important point about the murder of Rob Reiner and his wife in regard to how Trump so abusively handled it, and the reactions by other, less-titled assholes, to Trump's obscene remarks. He held up a newspaper photo of Rob Reiner and noted that most Americans only knew him as "Meathead" from "All in the Family" and from him directing many wonderful films. Most of the US didn't know- or care- that he was a democrat and an activist. They liked Meathead for his movies. 

To a much lesser extent, when Charlie Kirk was murdered, most Americans had no idea who he was. That he was shot on a college campus probably had much of America shaking their head and saying, "Oh, another school shooting..."

There is nothing really odd about that. Rob Reiner was famous for that TV role and a whole bunch of great movies- not his politics. Kirk was somewhat famous, in a smaller circle, only for his politics, nothing else. Most Americans had no idea who he was. Why should they?

There is this media-driven narrative where 50% of the country is at the throats of the other 50% in a left/right battle of ideologies. That's bullshit. I only knew who Kirk was because I am involved in politics and probably too involved in the internet. Kirk was known on parts of the internet that I visited. I saw his clips where he *owned* college kids in his debates about religion and politics and I also saw the clips where he got *owned*, particularly at Cambridge in England, where he went kind of a bridge too far in his debating. His wheelhouse was arguing with young college students who were nowhere near as prepared as him. That was his job. The kids at Cambridge smoked him like a salmon. You get to Cambridge by being prepared and it showed that he didn't belong there even as a visitor. That's where he really got killed. 

So, after he passed, the right tried to sell him as the second coming- and going- of Jesus Christ. That was a very tough sell considering most Americans had no idea who he was at all.

This is because most people aren't in these Fantasy Politics Leagues that seem to dominate the internet the news media. Most everybody may be on the internet, but they are not on specifically to worship or decry Trump. And Trump, probably legitimately more than any other modern president, is known to be the POTUS because he simply will not shut the fuck up. Everyone knows who he is. One of the typical questions they ask of seniors to gauge their cognitive abilities is, "Who is the President of the United States?" Trump knows because this is asked every time he takes a routine MRI and aces it. 

With so many people clamoring to be famous these days, it's hard to keep up with who's who. I'll excuse anyone who doesn't. I admire their dedication to normalcy. Even if they didn't know Rob Reiner by name or by sight, they likely knew the body of his work in TV and films. "Oh, he made "When Harry Met Sally"? And "Stand by Me"? And "A Few Good Men"? And "The Princess Bride"? Oh, I love those movies!" And if older like me, they knew him as "Meathead" on "All in the Family". 

Conversely, the body of Charlie Kirk's work was populist, white supremist, Christian jingoism as practiced before impressionable college kids. That shit is something you can get from any knuckle-dragging bozo. He wasn't even particularly good at it. He was trying to be the best at it, but a lot of competition in that field (sadly). If only he had had more time...

Well, he didn't. Someone, for some reason, killed him. That was awful. It really was. It wasn't necessary and nobody looked at the news and figured his death was to be expected like a mob hit. Similar with Rob Reiner and his wife. Who would do such a thing and why? Then we pretty quickly found out it was one of their sons who had a history of drug abuse and mental issues. No *good* reason. Just life is hard for people like that. 

If you have to couch your empathy for other humans based upon your religious or political beliefs, you are fucked as a human being. Trump was blase about Kirk's death, shrugging it off and diverting attention from it to his destruction of The East Wing of The White House. Charlie was a guy he had said he thought of as a "son". Well, look at Don Jr., Eric and Melania's boy, Barron, and you might know he did think of him as a son. Trump was obscenely belligerent about Rob Reiner's death, essentially blaming it on his non-devotion to Trump himself. Well, that's Trump. Nobody can love him enough, I reckon. A cold-hearted shithead, dead from the head up.