What do you call a jerk who ruins beloved holidays and mocks people who send thoughts and prayers? A progressive.
This past weekend that progressive was John Legend, and he was angry at Republicans for having the gall to celebrate Father’s Day.
“Seriously, f*** you. Reunite the families at the border and we can talk about father’s day,” Legend tweeted Sunday, linking to a throwback photo Paul Ryan posted of him and his wife holding their first child.
This should not surprise us regarding our friends on the Left. They take offense at “Merry Christmas”; they lash out at Americans who send thoughts and prayers to victims of school shootings, and now they say that only people who agree with them on border security have the moral license to celebrate fatherhood on Father’s Day. *insert joke about how I thought Father’s Day was a celebration of the patriarchy and that’s why leftists would attack it…*
But it’s still gross. And it makes John Legend an a**h***.
I used to think Legend was a misguided, bleeding-heart liberal. Yes, he loved the Obamas and Clintons and he reflexively supports Planned Parenthood, but I saw him as more of a good-natured entertainer who was simply following the left-wing Hollywood herd.
But now, I think he’s a mean, mad progressive man, to paraphrase Michael Eric Dyson.
John Legend or anyone else — including me — who wants things at the border to change should speak up about it. But this isn’t speaking up. This is attacking any American who doesn’t agree with John Legend’s view on border control, which I’m guessing is something like “catch and release” or completely open borders. And it’s doing it on one of the few days in our calendar that calls for unity.
In terms of the nastiness Legend displayed, there is no corollary on my side of the aisle. We have our jerks, sure, but they’re not on the level of a John Legend or the countless other A-listers who routinely smear at least half the country and much of their audience.
The Left’s jerks have millions of Twitter followers, tens of millions of dollars, and all the awards. The Right’s lose all those things as soon as they slip up. Look at Roseanne. She’s no conservative, but Hollywood saw her as a proxy for Trump voters. She made a very, very big mistake, and her show vanished.
I live in Los Angeles. I have Democrat friends (one is even a Bernie bro). When I’m with them I don’t make things political. If I am at an event where Sophia Bush is, too, I don’t yell at her about how the Women’s March she supports is full of anti-Semites and terrorist sympathizers. When I’ve seen Connie Britton I haven’t given her a piece of my mind on her views on abortion.
When I lived in Oklahoma it was easier to believe that progressives were more open-minded than conservatives. I didn’t know many progressives. I knew some (although admittedly few) rigid conservatives, and living in the middle of the country my view of progressives was largely influenced by how positively Hollywood portrayed them on TV.
Having lived in New York City and now California for my entire adult life, I know that conservatives tend to be open-minded and progressives lean toward being socially neanderthal. For them it’s just politics, politics, politics — all the time politics. Oh, and if you don’t agree with them on politics, then Samantha Bee may call you a c-word if you post a photo with your baby.
Progressives have become cheerless political animals who ruin everything we love.
If an A-list conservative tweeted the exact same thing Legend did about Chuck Schumer on Father’s Day they’d rightly be called an a**h***. But when Legend does it he’s a hero.
Americans are tired of it. So are liberals like Dave Rubin, Bridget Phetasy and Bret Weinstein. I think one reason behind the rise of conversation-style podcasts like Joe Rogan’s is that Americans are more drawn to dialogue than conflict, especially when the conflict is for the purpose of venting, not problem-solving.
John Legend is one of the few people in America who could have arranged a sit-down with Paul Ryan to discuss the border. He can leverage his celebrity to advance dialogue. Instead he pursues retweets and virtue signaling.
I’m no Kim Kardashian fan, but look at how she leveraged her celebrity to meet with Donald Trump and earn a woman her freedom. She’s a frequent guest at the Legend home; maybe he should take note.
Mr. Legend, if you want to make a positive difference, use your celebrity to influence your opponents, not instigate them.
And for God’s sake, don’t do this again on the Fourth of July.