Dear Everybody:
The big news today was about the death of Rob Reiner and his wife:
--Late last night the news broke (I KNEW I shouldn’t read my phone right before going to bed!) that Rob Reiner and his wife had been found murdered in their home. They had been stabbed to death.
--The killer was apparently their 23-year-old son, who has struggled with drug addiction and homelessness. The daughter, who found the bodies of her parents (and how exactly do you recover from something like that?) immediately said, "You need to talk to him. He’s dangerous," and he was taken into custody shortly thereafter, on $4 million dollars bail.
--Rob Reiner was beloved not only for his movies--THE SURE THING, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, STAND BY ME, A FEW GOOD MEN, WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, THIS IS SPINAL TAP--and for his acting--he played "Meathead" on ALL IN THE FAMILY when he was just a kid himself and then went on to have funny roles in many other movies, like SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE and BYE BYE LOVE--but for his political activism. He was outspoken in saying how bad he thought Trump was and in fighting for people’s rights and democracy. When he died, he was working on a documentary about Trump and Putin.
Tributes have been pouring in from everywhere:
--Barack Obama: "Michelle and I are heartbroken by the tragic passing of Rob Reiner and his beloved wife Michele. Rob’s achievements in film and television gave us some of our most cherished stories onscreen. But beneath all of the stories he produced was a deep belief in the goodness of the people and a lifelong commitment to putting that belief into action. Together, he and his wife lived lives defined by purpose. They will be remembered for the values they championed and the countless people they inspired. We send our deepest condolences to all who loved them."
--Governor Newsom called Reiner "a big-hearted genius," and said, "His boundless empathy made his stories timeless, teaching generations how to see goodness and righteousness in others--and encouraging us to dream bigger."
--Kamala Harris: "Rob Reiner’s work has impacted generations of Americans. The characters, dialogue, and visuals he brought to life in film and television are woven throughout our country. Rob loved our country, cared deeply about the future of our nation, and fought for America’s democracy. Rob and his wife Michele loved each other very much. They were dear friends, and Doug and I are devastated to learn of their passing. Our thoughts are with their loved ones during this tragic time."
--John Cusack, who starred in THE SURE THING: "Shocked by the death of Rob Reiner--a great man."
--Randi Mayam Singer: "Rob Reiner was the consummate storyteller. Over and over he revealed us to ourselves: what it is to be young and have friends, to fall in love, to feel misery and vengeance, to feel alike. And the laughs. So many laughs. The loss of Rob Reiner is...inconceivable."
Trump, of course, couldn’t stand that everybody loved Rob Reiner:
--He posted: "A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!"
--The official White House account immediately put his post up on their site. (Which, as taxpayers, we pay for.)
--Ron Filipkowski: "The Scumbag in Chief."
--Charlie Sykes; "This morning we got this sick shit from the President."
--Palmer Report: "Rob Reiner was the best of us. Trump just reminded us why he’s the worst of us."
--Huffington Post ran the headline, "Trump Blames Rob Reiner for His Own Death in Truth Social Post."
--Rick Wilson: "Remember when people were canceled for not expressing the proper Official Emotions of Grief for Charlie Kirk? Yeah, me, too. In related news, Trump’s grave will reek of ammonia for all eternity."
--Aaron Rupar: "This is one of the most psychotic things Trump has ever posted."
--The Bulwark’s Tim Miller: "Live your life in such a way that America’s worst president sends a deranged and disgusting post about you when you die."
The internet didn’t hold back:
--OutlawPete9: "That was written by the President of the United States. While challenging to do, that was the most despicable thing he has ever written."
--Granola Girl: "This is the most disgusting person in the world. Never any words left to describe him. There’s a special spot for him at the bottom of hell."
--rogue-ace: "This is one of the most disgusting, vile, and reprehensible things I’ve ever seen."
--Jim of Pennsyltucky: "There is nothing Donald Trump’s sick ego and narcissism won’t claim. Now he is claiming Rob Reiner and his wife were murdered because of their view of Donald Trump. By the way, Julius Caesar wrote in third person, too."
--barely-sane: "Rob Reiner was a giant, Trump a public louse. Of course Trump is envious, jealous, and spiteful. His egg-shell ego is threatened by anyone superior to him. Reiner was a creative genius, a humanist, and a brilliant humorist."
--Papa Hub: "this is absolutely fucking horrendous."
--john onymous: "Wow. Just wow. Every time I see some unhinged post of his and think, ‘This MUST be it, it MUSTtake the cake, it would be impossible to top it in this or any conceivable universe..." he goes and proves me wrong. On an almost daily basis lately. Time to send in the nice men with the straitjacket."
--bentleypal: "There has never been a more toxic, odious, disgusting figure in public life. Ever."
--Stanton: "It’s exactly like Trump fans smearing their excrement on the walls of Congress."
--Petey Wheatstraw: "I remember the Republicans losing their shit when people told the truth about Charlie Kirk. Now we have crickets from the Republicans and the Democrats."
--gchaucer2: "OMFG. I hope to live long enough to post all the reactions to the psychoperv’s demise."
Even some Republicans and some of his MAGA followers were upset with Trump’s post:
--Marjorie Taylor Greene: "This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies. Many families deal with a family member with drug addiction and mental health issues. It’s incredibly difficult and should be met with empathy, especially when it ends with murder."
--Piers Morgan: "This is a dreadful thing to say about a man who just got murdered by his troubled son. Delete it, Mr. President."
--MAGA influencer Robby Starbuck: "What happened last night to Rob Reiner and his wife was a savage butchering of two human lives. I don’t care what their politics were or how they felt about Trump, no law-abiding human deserves this. We should pray for and send condolences to his loved ones and NOT make this political."
--Gracelover: "I respect you so much, but this was heartless and uncalled for."
--Mike D.: "This is absolutely insane to write."
--Lighthauser, who describes himself as MAGA: "Very tacky, Mr. President."
--GOP Rep Thomas Massie: "Regardless of how you felt about Rob Reiner, this inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered. I guess my elected GOP colleagues will just ignore it because they’re afraid? I challenge anyone to defend this."
--"The 25th Amendment" is trending on Twitter.
In news about the Brown University shooting:
--Kash Patel, ever eager to show he’s in charge, posted the following: "An update on the FBI response at Brown University: FBI Boston established a command post to intake, develop, and analyze leads, and run them to ground. We activated the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team, to provide critical geo-location capabilities. As a result, early this morning FBI Boston’s Safe Streets Task Force, with assistance from the US Marshals HQ and the Coventry, Rhode Island Police Department, detained a person of interest in a hotel room in Coventry, Rhode Island, based off a lead by the Providence Rhode Island Police Department."
--The only problem? It was the wrong guy. Apparently the gun he was carrying didn’t match the ballistics from the shooting, and late last night the police department held a press conference at which they said that the guy Kash Patel had said was the shooter wasn’t, and that they had released him. "He has been cleared, and the investigation is now focused in another direction."
--This meant that all day yesterday and during last night’s vigil for the victims, the shooter was at large and could have committed another mass shooting. Plus, he’s STILL at large.
--When the Rhode Island police were asked about this at the press conference, they said; "There was a tip that came in just like we were taking any other tips and that one came in specifically identifying a person of interest, which was this individual. And so we are detectives, just like the others, but this specific one, it was actually picked up by the...by the FBI, and they followed through with it, and they ended up coming and locating this individual of interest."
--Juliette Kayyam: "I have never seen a local jurisdiction essentially throw the FBI under the bus, not just saying, look, that lead that led us to the person of interest essentially was run by the FBI. They said so explicitly."
--Billy Binion: "Just insane. This man’s face and name have already been plastered all over the internet, but police are saying the evidence ‘now points in a different direction.' I can’t imagine. A reminder to wait for the facts to come out."
--Lisa Mikholajczyk: "Most incompetent FBI chief ever."
--Patriotic American: "We are being led by a group of clowns. The incompetence is staggering. Meanwhile, this young man’s name and face is all over the place."
--Douglas M. Charles: "Yet another blunder by the clown in charge of the FBI. It’s stunning, really, watching real time the most unqualified (and obviously so) FBI director in its 100+ year history."
--Daily Kos: "Patel’s obsession with posting on social media to make himself look cool has not only caused embarrassment and potentially dangerous mistakes, but it’s led FBI officials to privately mock Patel behind his back and call him unfit for the important job he holds." (Note: If you will recall, they blabbed about having the suspect in custody in the Charlie Kirk case and then it turned out THAT was the wrong guy, too.)
--The police are asking for help from the students and the public in trying to identify the shooter. They’ve released a bunch of videos showing the person they think is him, though he is wearing a face mask in the videos. The suspect is a man with stocky build who is approximately five foot eight.
--Trump, of course, refused to accept the blame for what Kash Patel did. When asked about the mess-up at a press conference today, he said, "So far, we’ve done a very good job of doing it, with Charlie, with the various times this has happened. They’ve pretty much done it in record time. You’ll really have to ask the school about that. This was a school problem."
In The Kids are Alright news:
--High school students at Iowa City West High School formed a book club to read and discuss books banned by the state.
In resistance news:
--A concerned citizen named Brent Lambi has taken out a full-page ad in major newspapers for the Sunday edition that explains why Trump’s so-called "war on drugs" is a sham. He talks about all the pardons Trump has given drug kingpins (in detail) and concludes, "President Trump’s record on drugs is not simply contradictory--it illustrates a profound problem: weaponized justice that punishes some harshly and forgives others without explained criteria. In a just society, due process means something for everyone--not just those with political clout. The war on drugs isn’t about justice anymore--it’s about politics. And that’s the real failure we should be talking about."
--In Portland, priests and other clergy are showing up daily to support immigrants and protest ICE.
In other news:
--The Pentagon admitted they’re not 100% sure who’s on the boats they’re blowing up.
--In Budapest, crowds chanted, "Resign, resign!" outside Victor Orban’s office in a giant weekend protest led by opposition Peter Magyar.
--CBS, under its new pro-Trump management, spent all last week promoting Ericka Kirk, interviewing her, doing a town hall with her, etc., but the sponsors apparently weren’t as enamored with her as CBS was, and the network had trouble finding companies that would sponsor her town hall. They had to resort to the small-time ads you find on right-wing shows, which don’t pay nearly as much.
In good news:
--The Fed has reappointed all 12 of its members in a preemptive move to stop Trump from packing the Fed’s board.
--Former library director Terri Lesley won a $700,000 settlement after being fired for resisting censorship of library materials.
--The League of Women Voters and others have sued Trump to overturn a new rule banning any group other than the federal government from assisting newly naturalized citizens with registering to vote.
In Christmas news:
--Charles Dickens wrote his classic "A Christmas Carol" in just six weeks. He had no idea how iconic it would become, though it was instantly popular. Its first print run of 6000 copies sold out in five days. (You can find out the whole story about how it was written in the movie, THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS.) It went on to be made into movies starring Alistair Simms, Reginald Owen, Patrick Stewart, and George C. Scott, and in adaptations like Bill Murray’s hilarious SCROOGED and Ryan Reynolds’ and Wil Farrell’s inspired SPIRITED. People have big arguments about what the best version is, which is ridiculous. It’s clearly A MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL, with Gonzo as Charles Dickens, Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit, Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge, and Rizzo the Rat as...a rat who is "here for the food."
Best comments of the day, from the late, great Rob Reiner:
--"If Donald Trump was innocent, he would not be obstructing justice."
--"The Republican Party is no longer a political party. It is a criminal enterprise."
--"Make no mistake. We have a year before this country becomes a full-on autocracy and democracy completely leaves us...we’re sliding downhill in a very, very fast way, and we have to find a way to stop it."
--"Donald Trump is a traitor to the US."
Keep calm and carry on,
Connie Willis