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About that Meryl Streep Takedown
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Acclaimed actor Meryl Streep lit up social media during Sunday’s Golden Globe awards in an explicitly political speech, where she harshly criticized President-elect Donald Trump without ever mentioning him by name.But it’s tempting to ask what measurable good a wealthy Hollywood star can do by calling out Trump’s most deplorable character traits ---- his bullying and penchant for dissembling ---- on a Hollywood awards telecast stuffed full of fellow wealthy actors who, to borrow from the late John Lennon, merely rattled their jewelry in approval.If you missed it, in a damning and widely replayed indictment, Streep took direct aim at one of Trump’s lowest moments on the campaign trail: His open mocking of a disabled New York Times reporter. It was a performance by the president-elect, Streep said, that “sank hooks into my heart.”“It wasn’t a movie it was real life,” Streep said, echoing the still-lingering disbelief of many that the tangerine-hued former reality television star will soon make the crossover from the small screen to the planet’s largest stage, leaving a trail of insults, disdain and disrespect for ... well ... nearly everyone whose last name is not either Trump or Putin, after him.“Disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence,” Streep said, as she picked up a lifetime achievement award. “When the truly powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose.”She went on to add that “Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if you kick us all out, you’ll have nothing to watch except for football and mixed martial arts, which are not arts.”She closed with a shout-out to the press to hold Trump accountable for his dissembling.Okay, so points for style on the latter.