Bashing the Rich and Famous
One of My Favorite Pastimes
It has been a while since I bashed anyone rich and famous. Well, except for a certain felonious candidate for President, of course. I have been bashing him as often as I can. But, this post is not about him.
I am aware that deriving such obvious pleasure from criticizing the rich and famous reveals a lot about myself. I picture rich and famous folks looking down on me as a big nobody, so making fun of their flaws and idiosyncrasies and goofs helps me feel better about me. Or something like that. Anyway, let the bashing begin.
Dave Grohl - musician
This is a tough one. I have been a fan of Dave and Foo Fighters for a long time. For me, the enjoyment of their music was enhanced by the image of Dave as an all around good guy. Not a saint or a choir boy, but an honest, decent human being. “The nicest guy in rock” it was said. I’ve seen Foo Fighters in person a couple of times, and they seem to sincerely care about putting on the best show they can. To witness the emotion flowing back and forth between the band and the audience is quite an experience.
Recently, Dave Grohl made an announcement that he has fathered a child outside his marriage. He said what most adulterous cheaters say - that he still loves his wife and family, and he will work to regain their trust.
Someone might rightfully ask, “So what, Norm? What business is this of yours?” It certainly is not my business if Dave Grohl cheats on his wife. And, I’m not presenting myself as a paragon of virtue. I’ve done wrong things in my life, most of which I do not care to discuss.
But, here’s the thing. We fans tend to put famous people up on a pedestal. We want to believe they are good human beings, in addition to being good performers, or good writers, or good speakers, or good athletes. And, when they fall short, sometimes we feel as if they have failed us. Which really is rather stupid. Still, it happens.
We all make judgments about other people every day. We do this using criteria unique to each of us as individuals. In my mind, infidelity is a big one. It is way high up on my scumbaggery scale. What kind of people betray those they supposedly love the most? I can say that, generally, I have a pretty low opinion of someone who cheats on their significant other.
Look, I know there are women who practically throw themselves at famous rock stars in every city. And, many rockers avail themselves of whatever pleasures those women have to offer. Some would say, “Hey, it’s sex, drugs, and rock and roll, Norm, everybody knows what goes on. It has always been that way.”
I am not the Morality Police. I do not want to be the Morality Police. And, just to be clear, it is not the illicit, unprotected sex that bothers me. I believe consenting adults should make their own choices. Who cares what goes on behind closed doors? It’s just that I do not like sneaky lying cheaters.
I know this whole episode is between Dave, and his wife and family. It is nobody else’s business, especially not mine. Yet, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment to find out Dave Grohl is just another sneaking, lying cheater who does whatever the hell he wants. Apparently, he is not who I thought he was. However, that’s my problem, not his. I am entitled to my opinion, but I realize it is completely meaningless to those involved.
Robert F Kennedy Jr - politician (?)
Kennedy Junior is just . . . weird. Like, uh, really distinctively weird. A weirdo’s weirdo. This is a guy, who upon seeing a dead whale on a beach, thinks the best course of action is to run home to get his chainsaw, then go back to the beach, cut the whale’s head clean off, strap the head to the top of his minivan, and take it home. This story was told by his now grown daughter, who said this about the incident:
"Every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice would pour into the windows of the car, and it was the rankest thing on the planet. We all had plastic bags over our heads with mouth holes cut out, and people on the highway were giving us the finger, but that was just normal day-to-day stuff for us."
Sounds like they were kind of a real life Addams Family. And now, since the story has resurfaced, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has opened an investigation into this too-crazy-to-make-up incident. (Although it seems ridiculous to investigate this after the passage of so much time.)
Maybe this story could be written off as a quirky aberration. Most of us have family stories that might seem weird to others. However, coming after the Dumping-a-Dead-Bear-Carcass-in-Central Park story, and the Using-an-Airplane-Restroom-While-in-His-Bare-Feet story, and the Worm-Has-Eaten-Part-of-His-Brain story, it is easy to identify a pattern. It does not seem like much of a stretch to say Kennedy Junior is weird.
It says a lot about a person if his family comes out publicly against him, as some of Junior’s siblings have done. When he ended his quixotic, pointless third party campaign for President, he showed where his mind is on being ethical and honest. Instead of bowing out gracefully, and offering up his endorsement to the best remaining candidate, he attempted to leverage his minimal influence by asking for the promise of a Cabinet position in return for that endorsement. The Harris campaign basically told him to “Take a hike.” The criminal Republican candidate unsurprisingly said, “Sure, no problemo, bud.” I saw a comment that said it was entirely predictable these two transactional people would engage in a transactional relationship.
Given his overarching pattern of strange behavior, including his misguided, antiscientific views on vaccinations, and his reputation as a serial relationship cheater, I cannot view him as anything other than a creepy weirdo.
Bradley Whitford - actor
It may be surprising for a liberal, such as myself, to be bashing another liberal. So, what sin did fellow liberal Bradley Whitford commit to get listed here? He went on Tweeter or Twitter or X or Y or Z or whatever the hell they’re calling it, to blast a politician’s wife.
Cheryl Hines, who played Cheryl on Curb Your Enthusiasm, is married to Robert F Kennedy Jr. Now, I myself have privately wondered if Hines supports her husband’s sometimes controversial positions. She has been known to support liberal causes, so it seems unlikely she would approve of her husband’s endorsement of the convicted felon Republican candidate.
But, Cheryl Hines is not a politician, nor is she, to my knowledge, one of those Hollywood types who is always pontificating on politics or current events. I think it would be wrong to criticize her for not calling out her husband publicly for his views.
Apparently, Bradley Whitford feels differently. This is what he posted a few weeks ago:
Hey @CherylHines, way to stay silent while your lunatic husband throws his support behind the adjudicated rapist who brags about stripping women of their fundamental rights. Gutsy. Great example for the kids. Profile in courage.
What the hell, Bradley? What is she supposed to say - “My husband is a dumbass for endorsing an adjudicated rapist, and I’m calling a divorce lawyer in the morning.”? She should flush her marriage down the drain to appease your sense of what’s right? How is her relationship with her husband any concern of yours? This is exactly the kind of smug, bullying, elitist comment that gives people a reason to hate Hollywood liberals.
Politicians, in my opinion, are fair game. Call them out however you see fit. Have at it. However, I believe family members are off limits, unless they are publicly involved in a campaign, or actively advocating for their opinions in a public way.
Cheryl Hines may very well have good reasons to divorce her husband, what with their obvious political differences, the well-documented weird things he does, and the persistent reports of his engaging in inappropriate relationships with women outside his marriage. That is for her to decide, though, not some asshole on Twitter. (Or Substack.)
I have no idea what Cheryl Hines posts on social media. The few times I’ve seen her name mentioned in news stories, it seems she has tried to be supportive of her husband, without always being in 100% agreement with him. Why should she be criticized for for trying to walk that line?
Do better, Bradley. Don’t be such an elitist turd.
Coda
Here are three important takeaways from this essay:
Do not cheat on your significant other.
If you do not want to be called a weirdo, do not do weird things.
Do not be an elitist turd.
Avoiding these three things will not guarantee a good and happy life. However, if I do come across a guarantee for a good and happy life, my fantastic subscribers will be the first to know. 😊
To my distinguished subscribers, please help me grow my publication by sharing my posts with family and friends, or on your social media accounts. Thank you for your support.
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I'm still in shock that Cheryl Hines is married to RFK Jr!! You must be kidding me! I loved her on Curb. She seems like such a cool person. Can this be true? If so, it has to be related to $$$$$$, but even I would never marry someone like that for any reason. I feel he dropped his name off the ballots just to appease the Republicans with another stir to gum up the elections. I saw something on the news about it and it turns out that he did have to take his name off the ballots that had already been printed, several thousand. They had just all been printed and it took several days to get them in envelopes to get out to mail to voters, and now they are delayed due to court cases, etc. They were on hold when this came out on the news and the people who got the ballots printed, stuffed in envelopes and prepared to mail, said it would cost the taxpayers at least 60K$ to have them reprinted, just in Colorado. All the battleground states are in a tizzy about this mess, and now the question is, those that went out already, can they be used? And if so, are they legal ballots? And now some judges say he can't remove his name off the ballots once it's on there. In my book, this is just another Conspiracy drummed up by MAGAs. Put someone on...take him out at the last minute....create CHAOS with the ballots to create more questions of cheating DT out of winning. We already know it's all a scam just so he can't win on the Lib's side. He told us that on first day he took office in 2016, and every day after that ad nauseum. I'm staying out of the Love conversation. Love is love and love is complicated. If it isn't good love, then it isn't. If it is, it is. Simple as that.