Most Americans find themselves in a constant state of fatigue as celebrities and their allies in the liberal media endlessly lecture them on political matters. Actor John Lithgow was the latest far-left celeb to engage on this, appearing on Tuesday’s The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
As Lithgow and host Stephen Colbert chatted, the conversation was invariably centered around their obsession, Donald Trump. Colbert prompted:
Now you wrote an op- ed in The New York Times-this past week and it was entitled, “Trump is a Bad President. He is an Even Worse Entertainer.” Okay... here's my counter-argument. If he's such a bad entertainer, why can't we look away?
Lithgow was firm in his anti-Trump vitriol:
I mean, I look at Trump and I see a man who has no sense of irony, wit, self-awareness even- And I've never seen him attempt to tell an actual joke. He mangles everything approaching a punchline. And yet, he, God knows, he commands an enormous audience. He's entertaining somebody all right. It makes me think of how Shakespeare must have felt putting on "Hamlet" in one part London, while the entire town flocked to bear baiting across the river.
Evidently these men have never seen President Trump’s Twitter feed. Colbert retorted; “Watching Trump is like watching a blood sport.”
Moving on to the next phase of the Trump bashing discussion, Colbert promoted Lithgow’s newest book, Dumpty:
Your own original art. "The Age Of Trump In Verse." It's stories of Trump's presidency told in verse poems and as I said, with your own art. I particularly like this one, there's Trumpty Dumpty, right there, sitting on the wall.
The colloquy then took a strange turn as Colbert questioned the inspiration for the book. Lithgow, in a pompous attempt to be intellectual, responded in such a way that made his elitism leak through:
You know, it's the last thing that occurred to me. I didn't think I would set out to write a book of political humor in verse. But something happened which was the actual inciting event. I was asked to perform for the New York public theater gala. They do an annual gala in Central Park. They asked me to come and sing the "Patter" song from The Pirates of Penzance. “I am the very model of a modern major general.”... Although the audience had no idea what-- who I was impersonating until I got to the end of the second verse.
Lithgow, unsolicited, began to serenade the audience with what he must have deemed an innovative concoction, despite its close resemblance to a CNN soundbite:
I tweaked the last couplet. I sang “then I can hum a fugue of which I heard the music there's never been a general the likes of Michael flynn-a-fore.” And it sort of spread this realization in the audience, "Oh, that's what he's doing." And then I slowed the tempo down to a ponderous pace, and I sang my own rewritten lyrics to the third verse. I sang, “When President Obama made me head of all things clandestine he’d realized he’d brought to life a governmental Frankenstein. But then I made a killing in a case of public pillory by shouting “Lock her up” in my harangue opposing Hillary. So I was chosen National Security Advisory, until I left the crafty Russian Secret Service hire me. Now I've become the target of a Special Council crime report, a fate I share with Cohen, Donald Jr., and with Manafort. I plead the Fifth Amendment when the public and the press attack, my meeting Jared Kushner in a room with Sergey Kislyak. In short vegetable, animal, and mineral I am the very model of an ex-Lieutenant General.
There are few examples of moral smugness being offered by the most sanctimonious among us than this very interview.
Transcript below:
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
10/22/19
12:05:30 AM
STEPHEN COLBERT: Now you wrote an op- ed in The New York Times-
JOHN LITHGOW: Yes, I did.
COLBERT: This past week and it was entitled, “Trump is a Bad President. He is an Even Worse Entertainer”. Okay, counter, here's my counter-argument. If he's such a bad entertainer, why can't we look away?
LITHGOW: Well, I mean, when it comes to entertainment, there's absolutely no accounting for taste.
COLBERT: Sure.
LITHGOW: I mean, I look at Trump and I see a man who has no sense of irony, wit, self-awareness even-
COLBERT: Never seen him laugh.
LITHGOW: And I've never seen him attempt to tell an actual joke. He mangles everything approaching a punchline. And yet, he, God knows, he commands an enormous audience. He's entertaining somebody all right. It makes me think of how Shakespeare must have felt putting on Hamlet in one part London, while the entire town flocked to bear baiting across the river.
COLBERT: Sure, sure.
LITHGOW: It’s like-what do you have to do?
COLBERT: Watching Trump is like watching a blood sport.
(…)
COLBERT: Now, you’ve written also a new book, which I’m really looking forward to Dumpty. With your own original art.
LITHGOW: Yes, yes.
COLBERT: Your own original art. "The Age Of Trump In Verse." It's stories of Trump's presidency told in verse poems and as I said, with your own art. I particularly like this one, there's Trumpty Dumpty, right there, sitting on the wall.
(…)
COLBERT: Why capture this Presidency in verse? Why did this particular art form appeal to you?
LITHGOW: You know, it's the last thing that occurred to me. I didn't think I would set out to write a book of political humor in verse. But something happened which was the actual inciting event. I was asked to perform for the New York public theater gala. They do an annual gala in Central Park. They asked me to come and sing the "Patter" song from "Pirates of Pensance." I am the very model of a modern major general.
COLBERT: I’m an information animal-yes, yes, yes
LITHGOW: Exactly. I never played the part, but I said yes. And I decided to perform it as ex-Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn. Put a little-- put a little-- give a little point to the evening. And I came out on stage on the night in a Navy suit and a red tie, and Michael Flynn makeup, almost as good as my Rudy Giuliani makeup. And I launched into the actual Gilbert & Sullivan song, sang –
COLBERT: Is that this one?
LITHGOW: Yeah, although the audience had no idea what-- who I was impersonating until I got to the end of the second verse. I tweaked the last couplet. I sang “then I can hum a fugue of which I heard the music there's never been a general the likes of Michael flynn-a-fore.” And it sort of spread this realization in the audience, "Oh, that's what he's doing." And then I slowed the tempo down to a ponderous pace, and I sang my own rewritten lyrics to the third verse. I sang, “When President Obama made me head of all things clandestine he’d realized he’d brought to life a governmental Frankenstein. But then I made a killing in a case of public pillory by shouting “Lock her up” in my harangue opposing Hillary. So I was chosen National Security Advisory, until I left the crafty Russian Secret Service hire me. Now I've become the target of a Special Council crime report, a fate I share with Cohen, Donald Jr., and with Manafort. I plead the Fifth Amendment when the public and the press attack, my meeting Jared Kushner in a room with Sergey Kislyak. In short vegetable, animal, and mineral I am the very model of an ex-Lieutenant General.
