And THAT is coming home to roost, sometimes in humorous ways.
While Trump is expending apparently an unprecedented amount of tax payer dollars on his gaudy but tacky inauguration, it is an ongoing thorn in his "not my president" side that major performers, both in the US and outside the US (notably from the UK), have refused Trump.
He has already demeaned the prestige of the office; I cannot recall, before, in my lifetime a performer declining to perform for an incoming president at such a previously important national event. I do not fault the performers for refusing Trump; he is even more deplorable than the deplorables who voted him into office in a record low voter turnout election. That low voter turn out above and beyond the polarized low information voters who turned out for Trump make him a less legitimate president. It is not the candidates, contrary to some pundits claims who are responsible for that low turnout, it is the right wing efforts at voter suppression coming to fruition.
So here is the morning's Schadenfreude for your amusement. A poseur band performing for a poseur president; all hail mediocrity and Rump.
From the Rolling Stone:
Bruce Springsteen Cover Band Defends Donald Trump Inauguration Party
"It's got nothing to do with politics whatsoever," says the B-Street Band's Will Forte. "It's really just a New Jersey party" "I've been beaten down. I haven't slept. I've been up all night," says Will Forte, the founder of popular Bruce Springsteen cover group the B-Street Band. The 63-year-old musician tells Rolling Stone that when news broke that his band would play a Donald Trump inauguration party this month, he received a flood of emails excoriating the group.
"We kind of fell into this and never saw it coming," he adds. "I'm only a small fry. I like publicity, but I didn't want this kind of publicity. The last time we had this much publicity is when we almost played the Craigslist Killer's wedding up in Boston."
This is the first I heard of it that the Craigslist Killer had a fiance. I suspect that as much as she (I assume it is she but could be he) was as distressed by their choice of mate as Rump voters are going to be by their choice in president. While not a murderer (that we know of), Rump may very well be a criminal of the rich sort that gets away with his crimes, up until the issue of high crimes and misdemeanors brings him crashing down.
Even conservative artists have bailed on any association with Rump. Not to mention Trump's bad track record of paying people being a presumed consideration. Being a deadbeat employer is just one of the many failings coming back to haunt him. I predict this is a taste of abandonment by the right yet to come, but coming soon.
Also from Rolling Stone:
Why Even Trump-Friendly Artists Won't Perform at His Inauguration
Afraid of media circus, musicians are steering clear of president's swearing in, according to music managers.
Weeks before Donald Trump's presidential inauguration, the subject of securing performances has been contentious. Last night, the president-elect weighed in on the debacle (on Twitter, naturally), saying in his inimitable way that he didn't need "so-called 'A' list celebrities." "I want the PEOPLE!" he tweeted. But according to top music managers, Trump's team has been hustling to secure a high calibre of talent and star-power for the event nonetheless.
"We've gotten calls that almost sound a little bit desperate: 'Does anybody want to perform?'" says Ken Levitan, a top music manager who represents liberal and conservative artists including Kings of Leon, Hank Williams Jr., Lynyrd Skynyrd and Emmylou Harris. "At this point, we haven't had anybody that has any desire to perform at the inauguration.
"Even if you're a Trump supporter, you've got to look at how he plays the media [and] the public, in terms of how he attacks and twists things around. I've got to think there's a fear of talking about things and working with him," Levitan continues. "I do know some of the very conservative [artists] have no desire to do it. ... [They] just don't want to be involved in the circus — it's a media circus, and not necessarily in a good way."
Elton John, Garth Brooks and Celine Dion have reportedly turned down offers.
And in MORE Schadenfreude news, there are only 200 buses that have applied for bus parking during the inaugural on January 20th; for the Women's March on the 21st (not, of course, limited to women participants) has in contrast, applied for 1,200 bus parking permits; the parking location for such events holds a maximum of 1,300 buses.
Mr. Rump, the people appear to be catching on to you, and that doesn't look good.
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