Said Betty Buckley, quoted in "'Is Betty Buckley Still Alive?' Trump Asked. She Certainly Is. 'What’s happening these days,” the singer said at the start of a Joe’s Pub residency, 'is weird, and not cool'" (NYT).
"I still have hope for an awakening of awareness of community, of humanity, of the importance of life, the importance of every one of us. I’m appalled at the tech bros who think empathy is a weakness. Art is really important, because it’s there that we express these feelings — you can feel that connection — and I feel sure that that’s why Trump is moved by that song.... I would wish for him that he could build on that feeling that he has for the song, and translate that to good feelings for all others...."
ADDED: I'm struck by Buckley's idea that Trump is "trying to be seen and to be loved." It made me think of my Mother's Day post about a question a NYT writer thought we might ask our mother: "Who made you feel seen when you were growing up?" I hope that Trump invites Buckley to sing — on some appropriate occasion — and that she allows herself to be seen by and to see this person she believes has a longing to be seen. But I would guess that, like most celebrities, she wouldn't be caught dead with him.
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50 కామెంట్లు:
Does the musical include long, coordinated nightime torture of skinks, voles, and frogs? Otherwise, it might seem unbelievable.
"My theory is that Trump, on a deeper level, wants to connect. He’s trying to be seen and to be loved."
Trump would love to be #1 in the hearts of everyone. The Dems can't fathom that, because they need someone to be better than. Their whole system of belief is grounded in contempt for some inferior.
5/17/25, 10:05 AM
"...wouldn’t it be great if he could allow us, as theater artists, to share with him that which we know in storytelling to assist him to see things a bit differently..."
To do this you'd need to perform at the Kennedy Center for people on the right without shaming them from the stage or striking from the show.
Don’t be bringing reality to the feline frolic, Tina Trent. Don’tcha dare!
Feeling seen hadn’t been invented yet when I was growing up.
“Us theatre artists.” Interesting because one of the criticisms of the Biden era was about all the “theatre kids” (as Insty put it) running the Executive Branch and heading up comms for Biden.
But I would guess that, like most celebrities, she wouldn't be caught dead with him.
@Althouse, you have that right!
While Trump's antagonists lean in to transhumanity following progressive principles, he leans toward humans in a secular fashion of love and gay affair.
I’m appalled at the tech bros who think empathy is a weakness.
Whether it's Springsteen's invective, or Betty Buckley's concern trolling, their rhetoric always seems to lack the actual citations needed to back-up their premise of epochal moral failure applied to Trump.
It's as if they don't think for themselves but are trying to exist in a pre-fab reality made for them.
For Springsteen at least, attacking Trump is probably the only way he can justify the mendacious meathead politicians he's supported all along.
Empathy matters, so long as it’s her brand of empathy. Art matters, which means citizens should be forced to fund it against their will. Because all her priorities are empathy. Which matters.
In guy talk, the question “is he a good guy” overrides all other input methodologies. As long as there is someone, somewhere over the rainbow saying “Trump is not a good guy”, Orange Man is going to be busy trying. It sounds sad but that’s because it is.
It doesn’t help that being a “good guy” isn’t visual at all. In fact, it is a detriment. Visuals are seen as suspect, even when genuinely good.
Science predicts the slow increase of the empathy in the universe. It's called the heat death.
I was not aware that the 'tech bros' were waging a war on empathy. Where does this come from? Who are the 'tech bros'? Is it some kind of sly allusion to the DOGE team, who are cutting out waste while NPR runs story after story about crisis after crisis in the Blessed Federal Administrative Bureaucracy, hallowed be its name, understaffing and budget shortfalls all due to spending cuts, all due to DOGE? How about 37 trillion in debt, is that an imaginary number?
I saw a weird leaf formation in my front yard today, it spelled out "86 - 37", completely by coincidence. I wonder what it means.
Empathy and art is old hat, just not with crap music. The 7 foot tall guy has turned up before.
Trump appears in the lyrics at 5:57
Empathy is like a lot of things in life. Too much or too little can be bad. Also, many people have a lot empathy but misdirect it into things that don't really improve other people's lives. (But it makes them feel better.)
Tall guy seems to be Lionel Meunier
>Aggie said...
I saw a weird leaf formation in my front yard today, it spelled out "86 - 37", completely by coincidence. I wonder what it means.<
The tree obviously wants you to murder Richard Nixon. (Apparently it hasn't heard...)
I’m struck by by the staggering incoherence of Buckley’s comment. I’m not the most articulate guy in the world but it would take a lot of mushrooms for me to generate something like that.
I love that song but hate the musical for the most part. Streisand's cover of it is the best one.
not sure is Ann is right about Betty's desires to perform for the President. She ahs a 36 acre Texas ranch and was born and raised outside of Fort Worth. She made a very interesting movie with Robert Dubal called Tener Mercies out side of Dallas.
Tech bros like Andreessen, Theil, Musk. The key to understanding is that they are all former democratic party supporters, thus apostates now.
What Ms. Buckley is expert at is being someone she is not and expressing feeliings that are not her own.
She has chosen to share her version of President Trump. It might improve her version if she cared to get inside Trump's head (instead of her own) and see the world from his point of view.
She is one of those actors that I don't recognize until I read through her credits. That makes her pretty good in my book. As for her comments, well..... I actually don't see any TDS there, just a professional's concern for her arts and for the system of grants that support it. Which is not to say the NYT isn't trying as it always does, as hard as it possibly can, to paint it in the most damaging light possible to Trump.
For Genxers, she's the Mom from 8 is Enough!
well Trump is very approachable,
. But I would guess that, like most celebrities, she wouldn't be caught dead with him.
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YOu should hush with your social observations. For the life of this blog, you misread and don't exactly have a good "eye" for things going on under the radar...
Trump supporters were numerous for years... and under the radar. You belatedly picked up on that.
I suspect a lot of Hollywood and California people as well as a lot of celebrities are Americans first. He has widespread support amongst many who admire strength and honesty is my guess.
The years in the Ivory Tower in Madison, plus the East Coast upbringing, means you're not really connected with populist Americans. Your belated connections with meade ("What is this fun sportsgame? Baseball???" and "You mean you can walk places where there isn't concrete and grafitti???" plus the "Life really isn't about impressing other people and caring/gossipping about o/Others???") can only take you so far at your age. Old dogs/new "tricks" and all...
BB.Fort Worth TX girl.
Wasn’t she the stepmom on Eight is Enough? She drove a Morgan with rhd or something…
Nancy was the hottest. She made me feel funny…
the original author of the book, it was based on was Tom Braden, the Dartmouth educated Company operative who was Buchanan's original foil on Crossfire,
Cats is the longest running Broadway Show ever, a sad fact that ought to make the American threatre-going public contemplate mass suicide. That was the pinnacle of drama in the language of Shakespeare? Somewhere in Hell, Marx and Lenin are still giggling.
Years ago I penned a one-act parody called Cows. The signature tune was Mammaries!
"I actually don't see any TDS there, just a professional's concern for her arts and for the system of grants that support it."
Aggie's point would be more weighty if the quality of taxpayer-funded art matched the quality of dramatic art that preceded the establishment of the NEA. I'll venture out on a limb and declare the American stage since 1965 to be putrid garbage by comparison to its pre-NEA history. Saw that limb off the tree, if you can.
based on a TS Eliot poem, is the play as mawkish as the summary by Ryan George,
I paid scalper (hotel concierge) prices to view original Broadway "Cats". The biggest waste of money in my life (tho' I was known for my wastrel ways), pretty much have no use for those performers, they were pathetic.
was it based on a bet,
i do remember Miss Buckley was part of a very Handmaids Tales style piece of agitprop in the 90s,
Remember when the theatre kids ran everything a few years ago? Drag queens were at the levers of power in government and the military, medical professionals bravely showed off their dance steps during the worst pandemic in history, Scary Poppins protected us from mis- dis- and mal-information dispatches/hydroxychloroquine pills in large batches, and green-haired neurodivergents and non-braineries canceled and deplatformed the enemies of the state, reminding us that bullying them in school was actually a good thing, and that they should never be taken seriously ever again
Aggie said...
I was not aware that the 'tech bros' were waging a war on empathy. Where does this come from?
It comes from a deliberate misquote of Elon Musk talking with Joe Rogan Link to a clip of the relevant portion on YouTube
From a transcript
"So that we've got civilizational suicidal empathy going on. And it's like, I believe in empathy. Like, I think you should care about other people, but you need to have empathy for civilization as a Whole and not commit to a civilizational suicide.
Also, don't let someone use your empathy against you so they can completely control your state and then do an insanely bad job of managing it and never get removed.
The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy. The empathy exploit. They're exploiting a bug in Western civilization, which is the empathy response. And I think empathy is good, but you need to think it through and not just be programmed like a robot."
What the Left always quotes from this is the sentence in bold but it's clear from the context of the conversation that Musk isn't talking about feeling empathy but manipulating people's feelings of empathy to achieve selfish goals.
Sorry, looks like I can't get the link to work for some reason but you can find it by search for Joe Rogan Elon Musk weaponized empathy
One of the things that a number of people, I think Bruce H who comments here is one, who have seen Trump moving around in public have noted is that he spends time talking to the ordinary people that are working in those spaces. I certainly think this is evidence that he wants to connect with people but he does so in a positive sense, not the negative vibe I get from her suggestion that his desire for connection steams from something he feels is missing.
There's no "community" we should listen to less about politics then the "artistic Community". Almost without exception, these people feel rather than think, and know almost nothing about science, history, religion, and the law.
They tend to egotistical and view everything through their own situation. The fact that they make their living creating fantasy and are not employed in the real world, make their opinions even more irrelevant.
Remember the "Drama Students" from High School? Well some of them were actually talented and went on to become successful. But if you remember they were almost all weridos, dreamers, and chicks. And uninterested in sports, shop, school Government, or academic studies.
People seem to forget that trump was celebrity for 30 years before he ran for POTUS and moved in the world of Celebrities. He liked sports, he liked sports, he liked wrestling and other entertainment. I wouldn't be amazed that he knew this woman singer and would be pleased to talk to her.
The Pitch Meeting for Cats is hysterical. Definitely worth watching.
Life in the bubble.
I'd never heard of Betty Buckley when I encountered this AA post. The name was completely unfamiliar to me.
That's indicative of my level of interest in show business over the last 40 years. Close to zero.
She was also in the original Broadway cast of 1776.
Shit like this is why I'm a philistine.
"If you touch me, you'll understand what happiness is...."
- Harvey Weinstein (maybe?)
I’m with Wilbur and Crimso.
Art is shit.
Typical hubris. Knowing your name and admiring your work IN NO WAY indicates that I care to hear your inane thoughts on anything else.
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