West Hollywood City Council has voted to remove Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star has been vandalized, repaired and now there’s a civic battle over whether or not it should be removed.
The Travails of Donald Trump’s Hollywood Star
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication and WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a contributor to Centerclip and co-host of "The Final Countdown" talk show on Radio Sputnik. He is a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "2024: Revisited."
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It’s kind of scary and informative, isn’t it?
Donald Trump, whether you like it or not, earned that star in the exact same way all the other stars earned theirs. Quite a few people who “ought” to have stars do not. There’s no objective standard to meet for this thing. Snoopy has one. So does Kermit the Frog. Lassie has one I think, as does Rin Tin Tin, but not Toto. Ol’ Yeller? Nope! The stars are earned by a fickle process that almost certainly includes a lot of wheel-greasing, studio pressure, fan enthusiasm, etc.
A check of wikipedia reveals this little gem:
Following sexual assault allegations involving comedian Bill Cosby, actor Kevin Spacey, President Donald Trump, and producer-director Brett Ratner, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce released a statement regarding inquiries as to the removal of stars: “The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has received inquiries asking whether we are planning to remove the stars of Walk of Famers because of alleged misconduct. The answer is no…The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a registered historic landmark. Once a star has been added to the Walk, it is considered a part of the historic fabric of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Because of this, we have never removed a star from the Walk” [69].
As I said, whether I like Trump or not, he earned his star. Just like Bill Cosby did. Just like Charlie Chaplin and Paul Robeson did. Roseanne Barr earned her star, too. And Muhammad Ali (who, just like Trump, didn’t fight in Vietnam) has a star. Shall we start removing stars for all draft dodgers?
Trump makes a lot of coin about “fake news.” How can we have “true news” if history keeps altering based on what some self-appointed moral arbiters decide? The Hollywood Walk of Fame? It’s a tourist trap. This isn’t like someone’s going over the Constitution with a bottle of correction fluid. But that’s what all the crazies do, eventually, isn’t it? Rewrite history wholesale or reinterpret it through the most convoluted fashion possible to introduce challenges?
Look at the Intelligent Design crowd. They ask for intermediary forms. Okay, here’s Mesohippus and here’s Equus.
What? You want an intermediate form between those two? Okay. Here’s Merychippus and Pliohippus. Those are two intermediate forms between Mesohippus and Equus. What? Now you want something between Pliohippus and Merychippus? Let’s get right to it: no matter how many intermediary forms I present, you’re simply going to keep asking for the next fraction, aren’t you?
This is why I find the centrists so distasteful so often. Universal healthcare? Whoa, whoa. Buddy. Look, it’s nice to have fantasies, but, c’mon. Although the senators have it, and their children do too, it isn’t like, you know, ordinary people in the U.S. deserve something that is available in dozens of other countries. I mean, you don’t think you’re as good as Hillary Clinton, do you?
> This isn’t like someone’s going over the Constitution with a bottle of correction fluid.
‘course not. It’s much easier to simply ignore it.
Trump is hoping they do this. It will be the perfect distraction for the mid-term election. The story writes itself for the right wing media. Limousine liberals remove the President’s star while keeping the stars of rapists and other felons.
His team would be able to start legal action since the Walk of Fame is on the historical register. Lawsuits are a great way to keep a story in the news for months.
«Trump is hoping they do this. It will be the perfect distraction for the mid-term election.» I suspect you nailed it there, Rakle2. Next step is dear Mr Mueller leading an investigation to see whether Messrs Trump and Putin «colluded» to have this star «vandalised»…. 😉
Henri
Heh. Heh-heh. ‘Vandals’ printed up a bunch of Trump star stickers – looking just like the original star – and pasted them over other stars.
Gotta love it, that’s one point for the Trump Chumps, bringing their score up to … well, one, actually.