Trump Goes To “Les Mis” (and ‘mis-ses’ it)

When our miserable excuse for a president showed up at the once great Kennedy Center, another American treasure he has defiled, he was met with jeers, boos and expletives he richly deserves. Supporters resorted to chanting “USA,” signifying they have no clue that to employ that as praise for him shows a lack of understanding of what USA is supposed to stand for.

That matches well with the fact that the self appointed supreme censor of the theater appears to have no understanding of the play. If he did, he’d have banned it. The story is about injustice visited upon the poor by the privileged class and the application of the law to maintain that injustice. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

But, in the play at least, justice prevails in the end. How could Trump enjoy that?

What is it about the show he likes? The music is not the type he has been shown swaying like a pregnant cow to, and the theme? It’s an indictment coming to him from out of the past, a warning that apparently does not penetrate his bovine consciousness.

The protagonist, Jean Valjean, is so much the opposite of Trump, so far morally superior to the smug sociopath watching from his plush theater seat, it’s hard to imagine Trump could identify with him in the slightest.

We must surmise that, through his eyes, Trump is watching a completely different show from the one most of those around him are taking in. While the rest of the audience cheers for Valjean, I imagine Trump cheering for Javert, a nineteenth century equivalent of an ICE agent.

I suspect Trump views Valjean as a lowlife, deserving of his poverty and a threat to law and order, not a desperate man driven to petty crimes by the cold, uncaring application of cruelty by the privileged class. I suspect the manifold goodness of the protagonist is entirely lost on our lame excuse for a leader. Trump is devoid of goodness, lacking a shred of caring for those our unfair system pushes into poverty and, in the case of immigrants, imposing a catch-22 that turns whatever course they choose into a crime.

As for Trump’s hero, at least Javert has the ability to see in the end that the criminal is actually himself. Trump must leave the theater completely flummoxed as to why the police inspector should come to such a conclusion.

How can he enjoy this show?

Anyhow, doesn’t he know going to the theater can be dangerous for presidents. In the words of a friend who will remain anonymous, “Where was John Wilkes Booth when we needed him?”