Yesterday the ABC network – cancelled The Roseanne Barr Show due to Barr placing an inflammatory Tweet on Twitter for public consumption.
In response to a Tweet about former President Barack Obama’s aide, Valerie Jarrett, Barr made the following statement:
“Muslim Brotherhood and Planet of the Apes had a baby = vj.”
As a result, the entire news cycle seemed to be subsumed in coverage over the network’s supposedly courageous decision to cancel the show, coupled with a healthy dose of Barr experiencing cognitive dissonance as she apologized for the offensive Tweet, only later to double down with the racist Tweet by bringing up past statements made by liberal comedian Bill Maher arguing how that was apparently okay, but her Tweet not.
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The new Tweet was apparently floated out there by the conservative ‘values’ party only to be retweeted by Barr, with the actress being confronted for her lacking sincerity.
In other words: Barr is really not sorry for her original Tweet, which got her show cancelled, as she originally had told her audience, and coworkers. Nor did she leave Twitter as she threatened she would do.
And this incident tells each of us where we find ourselves as a society and nation.
Here is a question I did not hear much analysis on: Why in the heck did ABC decide it was okay to put Barr back on television? Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?
This is not the first time Barr has been disgusting and appalling. While it is true that conservatives and Mr. Trump readily embraced the return of Barr’s show, with Trump praising Barr at several of his rallies, isn’t it odd how the President that is so overly concerned about our National Anthem has apparently forgotten this gem by his illustrious actress?
Watch the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgSIFG_SceA
Apart from Barr not singing a single note on key, there was the “crotch-grab” and the spitting after her so-called rendition of the Anthem, prompting then President H. W. Bush to opine on the incident. Said, Mr. Bush:
“Bush, talking to reporters aboard Air Force One during a flight Friday to his summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine, said: ‘It was disgraceful.’
‘That is the way I feel about it,’ Bush said, ‘and I think a lot of San Diego fans said the same thing.'”
The first takeaway? This is not your Daddy’s Republican party. It is abundantly clear that the current Republican Party is nothing like the Republicans of the Bush Senior era.
Second? It is clear that Mr. Trump really does not have a “love” for the National Anthem as he so portends, for if he did, he would not have embraced Barr upon her return to television, going so far as to call her to congratulate her on her ratings, bragging “how the show was discussing them” meaning, those attending his rally.
In fact, it could be argued quite persuasively that Mr. Trump has “used” the National Anthem as a form of faux patriotism when black athletes decided to protest the Anthem, over real or perceived social injustices by police.
But there is this old saying;
“Birds of a feather flock together.”
And it seems to me that Barr and Trump have quite a bit in common. Consider the following:
Back in 2013, Barr sent out this Tweet regarding Susan Rice:
“Susan Rice is a man with big swinging ape balls.”
There’s that word again; ape. You really cannot be any more racist than this, can you? Well, let’s see?
Trump disparaged Mexican immigrants when kicking off his campaign. According to the New York Times who has not gotten one significant story wrong about Mr. Trump reported that he said during a meeting in June that Haitians “all have AIDS.” The White House vehemently denied the report. Furthermore, Mr. Trump allegedly stated that “Nigerian immigrants would never go back to their huts.”
Oh, and then there was that time Trump called Afghanistan a “terrorist haven.” How many of you recall that statement?
Want an example closer to home? You’ve got it! How about how it has been alleged that Mr. Trump refused to rent his properties to black people? Is that close enough?
Or, what about Mr. Trump lying to the American people, telling the public while former President Barack Obama was in office that Mr. Obama was not born in this country and that he had evidence to prove it.
By the way: Where is that evidence, and more importantly, where is his darned apology to Mr. Obama? Oh, I forgot: He was still pushing the birther claim in 2017.
And lest any of you think this behavior really isn’t prejudiced or racist, how about the gem where Trump argued “laziness is a trait in Blacks?”
Really folks: it could not be clearer that Mr. Trump views Blacks as inferior.
Meanwhile, while Mr. Trump has held these positions, and many more, Barr has also been placing racist Tweets out for public consumption, only to end up deleting them.
She, like Trump, has embraced her share of conspiracy theories too. For example, Barr claimed Chelsea Clinton was married to a nephew of George Soros, who wanted to “overthrow the constitutional republic.” Sure she apologized, but we now know what her apologies are worth, don’t we?
And then there are the plethora of other conspiracies Barr has weighed in on ranging from Pizzagate, Spygate, and the death of Seth Rich.
My point, folks? Everything rises and falls on leadership and right now this nation suffers from a lack of leadership in the highest office of our land. This is why we ought not be surprised when we see folks like Barr or others make outlandish claims, or engage in racist or bigoted behavior. After all, the president of this nation does the exact same thing.
ABC was under no obligation to hire Barr given her checkered past. And neither was this electorate obligated to hire Mr. Trump for the highest office in our land when he espoused such racist and bigoted commentary while campaigning. The problem?
In both instances, both individuals were hired for their respective roles.
Which leads to my third and final takeaway: We need not follow these two angry old White people who are losing their privilege. As Americans we are far better than this. The popular vote proves it too.
Video on Trump’s Conspiracies:
A social psychologist by day, political analyst and journalist by night, Dr. Mark Bear has built an established audience by printing facts, without click-bait, sensationalism, or hyperbole. He is married to his wife of 34 years, and both he and his wife, Susan, have a Schnauzer named Shadow. Follow along by connecting with Doc on Facebook or Twitter under the handle Dr. Progressive!
