If you have been watching the news or on any form of social media you are probably aware that Rob Reiner and his wife, Michelle, were recently murdered. The presumed killer is, tragically, their own son who has long struggled with addiction and mental illness. There is no doubt that this is a horrific event that has been made very public due to the fame of the victims. Let me first state that addiction along with all other mental disorders are illnesses. Unfortunately mental disorders are misdiagnosed, misunderstood, and horrifically stigmatized by the general public.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has written (and reiterated in interviews) that Rob Reiner was a horrible person that deserved to be murdered because of his liberal views.
Since then there has been a tsunami of admonitions of Trump for his crass and insensitive remarks. Also, there has been an effusive outpouring of live for Rob and Michelle Reiner, who friends, neighbors, and acquaintances have described as kind, generous, and compassionate. Then there are the scores of people who laughed, cried, experienced every emotion from sadness to joy due to Reiner's art.
Am I surprised that a despicable, narcissistic person said something ugly and hateful about someone who dared to criticize him? Absolutely not. If anything the last decade has proven that Trump is not only a racist, a pedophile, and a rapist he also has the emotional bandwidth of a toddler having a tantrum over not being given a second cookie.
What truly matters right now, though, is legacy which Trump with his demolition and renaming of buildings and covering everything in cheap gult seems overly concerned about. Rob Reiner is a beloved human being who will forever be remembered for the positive impact he had on individuals and the world. People will continue to watch The Princess Bride, A Few Good Men, Spinal Tap, old clips of All in the Family and they will laugh, cry, and ultimately feeling love for the artist and creator who made think and experience things outside of themselves.
Trump will leave no such legacy. He is nothing but everything ugly in America scraped into a greasy wad and stuck to the bottom of someone's shoe. A century from now people will watch A Princess Bride and laugh and feel joy and Trump will just be a repulsive blot on American history that serves as a warning to future generations.
