He’s trying to project strength

The Times does a story on Trump’s temper tantrum about the “Hamilton” rebellion.

The clash between the “Hamilton” actors and Mr. Trump captured the sharply divergent feelings of many American voters 11 days after the election: a showdown between the values of multiculturalism on the left, including the racially diverse “Hamilton” cast and the world of entertainment, and the conservative principles of the incoming Trump administration, which was backed strongly by working-class white voters and traditional Republicans.

Actually no. It’s not “the conservative principles” that have so many of us fighting back. It’s the noisy racism, the venom, the bullying, the sneering, the insults. It’s the calling a senator “Pocahontas” and the many years as a birther and the refusal to acknowledge that the Central Park 5 were innocent. It’s shit like that. It’s the open racism. That’s not any kind of principle, including conservative. Many conservatives are also racists, yes, but that doesn’t make racism a principle. I think the cast was appealing to Pence to get Trump to be less horrible.

His maneuver, in two posts to Twitter on Saturday morning, stunned the cast members and, judging by social media, jolted many Americans who are worried about the President-elect’s tolerance for dissent after a campaign in which he was criticized for inflaming racial tensions.

I’m not worried about Trump’s total lack of tolerance for dissent. That’s one thing I think he has no power to put into practice. He can’t make us shut up. Ironically, making himself president means anyone can say almost anything about him with impunity, since he’s about as public a figure as we can have in this country. The idea of suing us for libel is laughable. I’m disgusted by his intolerance of dissent, but not worried about it.

The values and politics championed by the cast are in sharp relief to remarks and actions by Mr. Trump, who has called for deporting undocumented immigrants, declined to forcefully denounce expressions of bigotry among his allies, and so far has appointed only white men to major cabinet positions. He has also pledged to change libel laws and sue news media organizations whose coverage he does not like, and has demonized street protesters who have criticized him.

He can pledge until his comb-over flies upward, but it won’t do him any good. He can’t change the libel laws, and if he sues media organizations he will lose bigly.

Mr. Trump lashed out at the show, the most acclaimed Broadway production in years, at a time of demonstrations against his coming presidency. Those include frequent street protests outside Trump Tower along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, which is less than a mile from the theater showing “Hamilton.” The president-elect has both castigated the protesters and, after being chided for those remarks, praised them for their passion. Advisers, however, say he has been frustrated by the suspicion and hostility that the demonstrators and other Americans continue to hold about his election.

Good. Good good good. I want him to be frustrated. I want him to be miserable with it. Yes, I’m that vindictive.

Some Republican strategists said they were not surprised that Mr. Trump chose to attack “Hamilton,” noting that the president-elect believed deeply in trying to project strength in the face of any kind of opposition.

That is to say, noting that the president-elect is a bully and an asshole.

“Even though many are unhappy with his election and might show disrespect, his victory is legitimate and he will demand respect for his presidency and those that he chose to serve with him,” said Ed Rollins, a veteran adviser to Ronald Reagan and many other Republicans. “This is how he will govern with strength.”

He can demand all he likes, but we don’t have to obey him. That’s not how this works. He’s not god, he’s not The King, he’s not an absolute dictator, and he can’t make us submit to him. I’m not going to respect his presidency. He attained it by relentlessly lying, just for one thing – why should I respect the outcome?

Nope. He’s going to wreck the country, but he can’t make us shut up. Get used to it, Donnie from Queens.

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