I posted Part 1 back in April but if you haven’t seen it, START HERE.
As I am writing this, George Floyd’s family is memorializing him in Minneapolis. The White House is building a wall around itself; cops in Brooklyn were shoving people off of their bikes and taking them; cops in Denver fired tear gas into a car with a pregnant woman as it was stopped at a traffic light; things are still very very brittle.
In this video @DenverPolice appear to shoot pepper balls at a car to move traffic. The man gets out to tell police that his girlfriend is pregnant in the car, and they keep shooting.
He isn’t a threat, or even a protestor. We need police reform now. pic.twitter.com/PXEwLUwApK
— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) June 4, 2020
People stuck in traffic are witnessing NYPD beat up folks on their way home. pic.twitter.com/AkUGPQQOIf
— Josh Fox BlackLivesMatter (@joshfoxfilm) June 4, 2020
Trump began his term promising to build a wall to protect America from the world.
He ends it building a wall to protect himself from Americans. pic.twitter.com/mzvfIBVOSg— Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) June 4, 2020
And the red lights are flashing. Jim Mattis, President Toilet Heaps’ former Defense Secretary, wrote to The Atlantic, warning that his former boss wants to divide the American people and poses a threat to the Constitution:
“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us,” Mattis writes. “We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.”
He goes on to contrast the American ethos of unity with Nazi ideology. “Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that ‘The Nazi slogan for destroying us … was “Divide and Conquer.” Our American answer is “In Union there is Strength.”’ We must summon that unity to surmount this crisis—confident that we are better than our politics.”
While I know many of my fellow liberals are irritated that it took this long for Mattis to speak out against this administration, I find it to be that much more terrifying that he actually did, and it brings it home that I was not wrong to be terrified on Monday.
Military men and women, especially those in the highest ranks, are expected to remain apolitical, and for good reason: the American public must believe that the military will protect and stand for them regardless of their political beliefs. And presidents must believe that the military will carry out their lawful orders regardless of the military members’ individual political beliefs. It is vitally important to the stability of this nation that the trust between the military and is citizens not be broken.
And though there have been countless moments in the past few years in which Mattis could have and maybe should have spoken out, it makes sense that it is this moment he would finally do so, the moment when the President of the United States crossed what is a sacred rubicon for many military men and women by turning the military against its civilians who are exercising their Constitutional rights.
Mattis is not the only career military person to speak out. Retired Marine Corps General John Allen wrote in Foreign Policy that the president may be bringing about the “beginning of the end of the American experiment … The slide of the United States into illiberalism may well have begun on June 1, 2020. Remember the date.” Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen accused President Traitor of co-opting the military for political purposes, and James N. Miller, a former undersecretary of Defense, resigned in protest on Tuesday.
This is a four siren moment for our country. It’s exhausting and it is scary, but we must pay attention and be prepared for whatever comes next.
Not to induce whiplash, but I’m going to talk about some TV and celebrity stuff related to this broader story about racism and police brutality now because culture is part of this entire conversation.
Gabrielle Union has filed a discrimination lawsuit against NBC and Simon Cowell in particular. Her complaint predates the George Floyd story, but it is not unrelated to the larger story of racism in this country.
This piece calls for all cop shows and movies be pulled immediately. (This will never ever happen.)
Steve McQueen’s new anthology series, Small Axe, has been dedicated to George Floyd.
Producers and filmmakers, including Lucasfilm, have shown their support for John Boyega after his impassioned speech at a London protest.
The AMC networks went dark this afternoon for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in tribute to Mr. Floyd.
In fact, a bunch of networks have voiced their support for the Black Lives Matter Movement. Great.
Disney, at least, is putting $5 million where its mouth is.
Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote an open letter insisting that they must do better.
Where are you?#normalizeequality#blacklivesmatter pic.twitter.com/Xid3BC4B2n
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) June 4, 2020
Meghan Markle addressed the graduating class of her high school and discussed racism and the need to speak out: “I realized, the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing. Because George Floyd’s life mattered, and Breonna Taylor’s life mattered, and Philando Castile’s life mattered.” She also added, “Always remember to put others’ needs above your own fears.”
Here I posted it on Instagram but twitter can have it too… I wrote something to help your white children understand what’s going on… I did the work now you do some pic.twitter.com/9DsKALVx4n
— nicole byer (@nicolebyer) June 2, 2020
Not right now, 9-1-1‘s Ryan Guzman.
Good Morning @thebillybush. I appreciate you being an ally NOW. But, if you want to talk about the pain #WhitePrivilege causes African Americans, you should probably also talk to the black woman who sat next to you on the set of #AccessHollywood for years. https://t.co/CN5jnJ4NOb
— Shaun Robinson (@shaunrobinson) June 3, 2020
Kanye West donated money to the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor and started a college fund for Floyd’s daughter.
Twitter’s Jack Dorsey is donating $3 million to Colin Kaepernick’s legal defense fund.
Beyoncé, Oprah, Geroge Clooney, Michael Jordan, and a bunch of other celebrities called for justice for George Floyd and an end to systemic racism.
And in a move that might actually make something of a difference, the mayor of Los Angeles is cutting $100-$150 million from the LAPD budget and reinvesting that money into communities of color. This obviously has President Screamy screaming so it must be a good idea:
The Radical Left Democrats new theme is “Defund the Police”. Remember that when you don’t want Crime, especially against you and your family. This is where Sleepy Joe is being dragged by the socialists. I am the complete opposite, more money for Law Enforcement! #LAWANDORDER
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2020
Maybe this weekend would be a good time to finally get around to watching When They See Us on Netflix. Just a suggestion.
Going Viral — Because We Are Still in a Pandemic Somehow
Hey, the NBA is returning in late July.
The NBA meets Walt Disney World ✨ pic.twitter.com/Roy4jsJ3nm
— ESPN (@espn) June 4, 2020
The Peabody Awards ceremony has been canceled, but winners will still be announced on Wednesday.
Looks like COVID is the thing that finally kills paper scripts, once and for all.
OK, how realistic is it that Tenet will open in theaters on July 17? (NOT VERY.)
Las Vegas casinos reopened today. OH HELL NO.
Chris Trousdale, boy band member of DreamStreet and child actor, has passed away from coronavirus complications. He was only 34.
Black Mirror. Season 6 pic.twitter.com/v2sZiqFAPZ
— Faisal Almalki (@faisalalmalki) June 2, 2020
All Other TV News
Now that The Sopranos is streaming on HBO Max, people are remembering that Lady Gaga, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Michael B. Jordan all guest-starred on the series.
Sisqo was in the Legends of Tomorrow finale? I’m sorry, WHAT?
Nebraska. They sent Aunt Becky to Nebraska.
Though it is getting drowned out by … EVERYTHING … it is Pride Month. Variety is doing a great series on eight LGBTQ couples in entertainment, and here’s a lovely piece about everyone’s favorite Cheer hero, Jerry.
Wait, you need to have programming that people want to watch for a streaming platform to work? WHAT A CONCEPT.
This is an interesting piece on how TV has gone from 10 seasons of 25 episodes to 3 or 4 seasons of 6-10 episodes and what that means for the industry. Times have changed.
This article about revelations from the virtual All My Children reunion sent me down an All My Children wikihole, I’m not ashamed to say. And the cast says they are up for a reboot. DO IT, ABC. DO IT, YOU COWARDS.
In Development
- Devils, a Sky Italia series starring Patrick Dempsey, has been picked up by The CW.
Casting News
- Amanda Seales is leaving the daytime talk show, The Real.
Mark Your Calendars
- Lovecraft Country will debut on HBO in August, and honestly this could not come at a better moment:
- Cable Girls will return on Netflix on June 3.
R.I.P.
Mary Pat Gleeson, A character actress with more than 100 roles — she was most recently on Mom, as Mary, but she was on Desperate Housewives, The Middleman, Saved by the Bell, Will & Grace and so many others. I promise you’ve seen her before.
Bruce Jay Friedman, Novelist and screenwriter of Splash
WATCH THIS
The Thomas John Experience: A psychic goes around freaking people out when they get into his Uber. (Also, I can’t stop writing this as “The Thomas Jane Experience” which is a very different show.) Series premiere. CBS All Access
We’re Here: This fucking virus even interrupted our favorite drag queens cross-country trip bringing joy and understanding to our small towns. Goddammit. Season finale. 8 p.m., HBO
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?: Season finale. 7 p.m., ABC
Late Night:
- Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Graham Norton, Luke Combs
- Late Night with Seth Meyers: Christine Baranski, Taika Waititi
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Andrew Ross Sorkin, John Malkovich
- The Late Late Show with James Corden: Anna Kendrick, Alanis Morissette
- Jimmy Kimmel Live: Wanda Sykes
- The Daily Show: The Daily Social Distancing Show
- Conan: John Malkovich
| THUR | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | Who Wants to be a Millionaire? (new) |
Holey Moley (new) |
To Tell the Truth (new) |
| CBS | Young Sheldon (repeat) |
Man With a Plan (new) |
Mom (repeat) |
Broke (new) |
S.W.A.T. (new) |
| CW | Burden of Truth (repeat) |
In the Dark (new) |
News/Local |
| FOX | Celebrity Watch Party (new) |
Labor of Love (new) |
News/Local |
| NBC | Council of Dads (new) |
Blindspot (new) |
Law & Order: SVU (repeat) |
One thought on “It’s June. It is only June.”