EDITORIAL: John Hinckley, Jr. Does Not Deserve Your Attention
The failed presidential assassin is an even bigger failure as a songwriter
For a good portion of my liberal friends, I’m sure my deep respect and admiration for Ronald Reagan is most certainly an anomaly.
But I love the guy. He always reminded me of my grandpa, so please note that this comes from a personal place more than a political one.
I love how Alex Keaton loved him in Family Ties.
I love how he had the New York City Breakers perform at the inaugural ball for Reagan’s second term.
VIDEO: NYC Breakers perform at Reagan’s second inaugural ball January 1985
I love that little head tilt he did when he knew he was closing in on a zinger in his speeches.
I love watching him get roasted by Don Rickles on the Dean Martin Celebrity Roast.
I love watching Rodney Dangerfield literally killing Reagan when he performed stand-up in front of him and Nancy at the Ford’s Theater for the 1981 Salute to the President TV special.
VIDEO: Rodney Dangerfield cracking up Ronald Reagan at the 1981 The Stars Salute The President variety special
I love the story about how after he was shot in 1981, he made a joke on the operating table about how he hopes all the surgeons were Republicans before going under the knife.
Living in this fetid age of Trumpism has only deepened my candor for Reagan. Because for all his shortcomings in terms of cultural progression–primarily in his handling of the AIDS pandemic–the man had a soul. He held his ground against Russia, not colluded with them. He made sure the mega-rich paid their fair share, not give them the entire damn pie.
Notwithstanding the impact his release is having on Jodie Foster as her former stalker as well as the Reagan family, I’m angry that you got John Hinckley, Jr. out here trying to get a music career going. Imagine John Wilkes Booth returning to the Ford’s Theatre to hold a concert 40 years after he shot Lincoln?
He’s actually playing a show in Brooklyn this summer, can you believe it?
“Big news!! I will be performing on July 8 at the Market Hotel in Brooklyn, NY,” Hinckley tweeted on April 9. “Get your tickets while you can.”
As RnRG contributor Joseph Kyle wrote on Facebook this morning, “hipster John Hinckley Jr worship is not ironic or edgy. You’re exploiting mental illness.”
It’s also fetishizing gun violence, given this asshole’s only claim to fame is shooting an American president. And coming from portions of the same folks who pretend to be all for melting the guns, it’s pretty damn hypocritical.
If you are going to see John Hinckley at the Market Hotel, you better check your ethics; because it’s not about being anti-Reagan as much as it smacks of far-left idiocy at its most embarrassing.
Fuck John Hinckley, Jr. and his shitty songs and the 25,000 morons who subscribe to his YouTube channel. Total trash.
Shame, shame.
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Welp. You lost me with the Reagan love.
So much of the rancid bigotry being openly flaunted by the Republicans party now can be easily traced back to Reagan. To pretend otherwise is disingenuous at best. Downright sickening is more accurate.
Hinckley is obviously a troubled person and doesn’t deserve a pass for what he did. But had he succeeded in ridding the planet of one of the 20th century’s most vile people I wouldn’t have complained.
Me having an unpopular opinion is far, far less disingenuous than hiding behind a fake name, “Guy.”