Saturday, November 19, 2016

Donald Trump demands apology from what he mistakenly claims was a "very rude" "Hamilton" cast


President-elect Donald Trump is demanding an apology from the “very rude” cast of “Hamilton,” the hit Broadway musical, after Vice President-elect Mike Pence was addressed directly by the performers following a Friday night show.

Mr. Trump sent tweets Saturday morning saying the vice president-elect was “harassed” when he attended the musical:

Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
Our wonderful future V.P. Mike Pence was harassed last night at the theater by the cast of Hamilton, cameras blazing.This should not happen!

But while the vice president-elect received some boos from the audience (others cheered) before the start of the show, the cast itself concluded their performance with a heartfelt plea for the Trump administration to “work on behalf of all of us.”

Brandon Victor Dixon, the actor who plays Vice President Aaron Burr, thanked Pence for his attendance and urged the audience to be respectful.

“There’s nothing to boo here, ladies and gentlemen, there’s nothing to boo here,” Dixon said. “We’re all here sharing a story of love.”



He then delivered this statement on behalf of the show: “We are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us,” Dixon said. “We truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and work on behalf of all of us.”

According to New York Times theater critic Patrick Healy, the statement was written by the show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Watch it in full here:





45 comments:

  1. Donald Trump is not the president. He will be in another two months.

    11 out of the last 18 posts are about Donald Trump. They are definitely negative, and arguably subjective. Is this how the blog will be for the next four or eight years?

    Will this expand into speculation about Hillary Clinton running for the position of America's mayor - NYC mayor? Is the blog taking on a new direction?

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  2. no it is not taking a new direction. That which is of concern for the welfare of the Jewish community has alway been relevant. Trump is a major unknown, is unstable, has no concern for the truth as it commonly defined and he will soon be the leader of the Western World and thus a major influence on what will happen to Jews around the world. To close ones eyes and say "he won the election accept it and get on with your life" - is an example of the blindness of Trump supporters. No he is not like any other president that I am aware of and he needs to be watched. I can deal with a liar like Clinton because there is some logic in what she did and why she did it. Trump is clearly in a different category and I find him scary. He has done nothing to calm the fears that he has generated and seems to relish being unpredictable and not governed by the commonly accepted rules of behavior.

    If you find that irrelevant then realistically you will be exposed to much material that you find inappropriate in the coming months. I am open to posts that defend Trump and make rational that which seems to be a man governed by the waist down with the supreme goal of winning - not being right , not being moral - but simply winning.

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  3. “We truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and work on behalf of all of us.”
    See ttp://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/19792
    “But Jewish support of Democrats on a national level is more of a comment about the distortion of Judaism and Jewish values than it is a rejection of Trump or support of Mrs. Clinton.”
    I rephrase this: Jewish support of the Kamenitsky-Greenblatt heter and the Jachter and Ralbag’s testimony “a man who refuses to grant a get to his wife is a scoundrel, JA1901; it is a mitzvah (a religious commandment) to free an agunah, JA1878.” is a comment about the distortion of Judaism and Jewish values. Jachter, Ralbag, Kamensitsky, Greenblatt etc must uphold Judaism values and must work on behalf of all Jewish men, women and children.

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  4. http://nypost.com/2016/11/20/keep-crying-wolf-about-trump-and-no-one-will-listen-to-a-real-crisis/

    What kind of president will Trump be? It’s a tad too early to say, isn’t it? The media are supposed to tell us what happened, not speculate on the future. But its incessant scaremongering, the utter lack of proportionality and the shameless use of double standards are an embarrassment, one that is demeaning the value of the institution. The press’ frantic need to keep the outrage meter dialed up to 11 at all times creates the risk that a desensitized populace will simply shrug off any genuine White House scandals that may lie in the future (or may not).

    I do not see how you can describe what was done to Pence as not being rude. He came to watch a show, but was singled out for a lecture on how to govern by the cast. How is that not rude?

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  5. don't see that it was rude. It was a message conveyed with dignity and respect. Rather strange saying that the vice president can not be given a public message or even be confronted with a public protest.

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  6. It' pretty obvious by now that rabbi Eidensohn has a strange and pathological obsession with Donald Trump,just like he has with Rabbi SK

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  7. Broadway actors lecturing a vice-president elect when he takes his family for a night out is not rude? You have shown time and again that you are meshuga ledavar echad. I see that you have been bored lately. Maybe you want to fly out to San Francisco or Portland to protest Trump with the rest of the rabble. . .

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  8. A bona-fide lefty who understands how rude this is:

    https://twitter.com/StevieVanZandt/status/800014665560522753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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  9. no it is not rude to convey the message that people are afraid after listening to Trump's rhetoric an inconsistency.
    I am obsessed with a number of issues such as truth, child abuse, Kaminetsky-Greenblatt heter, the Schlesinger twins, frum people going off the derech, understanding Torah and mitzvos etc etc etc. Anything you don't like can only be the concerned a bored person. You must really be bored and masochistic if you keep reading my blog after condemning it over and over again. Or maybe you want to accuse me of witchcraft and forcing you to do something which is stupid?

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  10. If a rav interrupts his public drasha or shiur to berate a congregant over other issues, is that proper? (Assuming its not a mussar ethics drasha shiur lecture, and even then.)

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  11. "Lecturing" is overstating it. The actor read a four sentence statement. Even more worrisome is the thin-skinnedness of the President-elect, who still is unable to let any slight go past without a reaction. For him to be spending his time criticizing the cast of a musical for a short statement, and Saturday Night Live for their portrayal of him, does not portend well for how well he will deal with the more substantive criticism that is sure to come his way over the next four years, when he has much more than a Twitter account to retaliate with.

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  12. I think a more apt description is whether a congregant can state at the end of a public derasha by a rav that he has concerns with what the Rav said. The actors are not authorities but are concerned citizens commenting on the public pronouncements of the president. Or to make it more relevant - do you think I have the right to comment on the activities of Rav Shmuel Kaminetsky or do you agree with my critics that I am being rude?

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  13. Hillary falsely claims to work for all the people. Clinton Fund stuff shows that Hillary works for her own interests. The eloquent actor playing the role of Aron Burr makes a heartfelt plea for the Trump administration to “work on behalf of all of us.” OK, he’s not being rough and violent, but he is discourteous and impolite, to take advantage that Pence is in the audience and he’s on the stage to make his heartfelt plea that comes out as hateful anti-Trump stuff.

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  14. You are completely mischaracterizing what occurred. Nothing was interrupted. No one was berated. The musical was over and the cast had taken their final bows. Pence was on his way out, and one of the cast members asked him to listen to the statement, which was all of four sentences long.

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  15. A better comparison would be if R' Shmuel Kamenetzky was invited to your child's chasunah or sheva berachos by the other side. No, you should not get on the mike and comment on his activities in that forum. It would be rude and inappropriate.

    Or if, say, there was a fundraising event for some yeshiva unconnected to R' Shmuel, to which you happen to have a connection, and he came to show support. It would be rude and inappropriate for you to seize the occasion to comment on his activities.

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  16. disagree with your examples. The vice-president should be more open to hearing the public's concerns as should the president

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  17. nope! It was the end of the production after all was finished and he respectfully asked the vice-president to hear his words. It was not hateful and it was not disrespectful. You would have more of a case if the production was stopped in the middle and someone got up and said, "We are afraid for our lives because of the mistaken victory of Trump and we beg him to stop being so bigoted and hateful" But that didn't happened.

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  18. Nothing to do with the future VP's openness. Everything to do with the inappropriateness of venue.

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  19. All politicians claim to be good, generally meant to “work on behalf of all of us.” The actor is saying, eloquently, that Trump should please “work on behalf of all of us.” Fine sentiment. I voted for Trump along with 3 of my 9 children. I don’t know how my 6 children from Susan voted. I also say to Trump to please “work on behalf of all of us.” Why does this actor’s speech comes out as a hateful anti-Trump speech? These actors in NYC and those that cheered are hateful anti-Trump types bitter about Trump winning. Am I right?

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  20. so you are assuming they don't like Trump and therefore by definition it must be hateful?! Sorry that is not how freedom speech works. It is not only lovers of Trump who are allowed to address him but also those who don't. BTW the vice-president not only said he was not offended but he disagrees with Trump's trashing of the show

    http://www.timesofisrael.com/pence-says-hes-not-offended-by-hamilton-incident/

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  21. great so someone agrees with you. I and many others disagree

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  22. There are two issues here. One is whether is was an appropriate action on the part of the cast. One better steeped in Broadway knowledge would have a more accurate gauge of that than I would. But the more important issue for America is not whether the cast acted correctly, rather whether it is concerning that the President-elect feels the compulsion to attack those whom he thinks have insulted them, without just letting things pass. This is not the first time he has reacted like this, and is not only the only time this weekend (see his criticisms of Saturday Night Live. Every president faces a great deal of criticism, and Trump's tendency to lash out at his critics does not bode well for the next four years.

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  23. Many people agree with me as well. So what? I am not simply dropping names; I am arguing my point. I cited Van Zandt b/c I provided his quotes above. You are free to disagree, but let's not pretend I'm just dropping names without content.

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  24. I tell myself not to get involved in the question whether or not the actor and the cheering audience are hateful anti-Trump New Yorkers bitter about Trump winning. Why? On the principle
    “A passerby who gets embroiled in someone else’s quarrel Is like one who seizes a dog by its ears” (Proverbs 26:17). משלי פרק כו פסוק יז
    מַחֲזִיק בְּאָזְנֵי כָלֶב עֹבֵר מִתְעַבֵּר עַל רִיב לֹּא לוֹ:
    רש"י משלי פרק כו פסוק יז
    (יז) מחזיק באזני כלב - העובר להתעבר על ריב לא לו הרי הוא כאוחז באזני כלב הגורם שישכנו על חנם:
    מלבי"ם משלי פרק כו פסוק יז
    (יז) מחזיק באזני כלב עובר, מי שמחזיק באזני כלב שעובר לדרכו ולא נבח עליו וע"י שהחזיק באזניו ינבח עליו וינשכנו, כן המתעבר על ריב לא לו, שהריב המנבח וחורץ לשונו ככלב לא נבח עליו, וע"י שהחזיק באזני המנבח שעתה ינבח עליו וידבר עליו חרפות ובוז וגם ינשכנ

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  25. The way that Variety, a leftist media outlet, described the event it was clearly disgraceful and inappropriate and censure of it is totally in place.

    http://variety.com/2016/legit/news/mike-pence-hamilton-booed-boos-1201922601/

    I don't see how gathering all the negative information that you can about president elect Trump's administration represents daas Torah. He won the election fair and square and will lead the American people. Why isn't constantly attacking him and taking the most negative view of any events anything other than merida bemalchus? If you have some constructive criticism that could lead to any benefit, that would be fine. I don't believe that any valid Rov would agree with the current approach.

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  26. There is no need to search for negative information - Trump is a genius at producing it by doing and saying outrageous things which have nothing to do with being a president. It doesn't require twisting of the news to make it negative - it is negative. An unstable president who constantly does foolish things needs to be monitored. It is ridiculous to state that now that he has won the election and is officially going to lead them he needs to be left alone and ignored?! Trump's approach to government and governing presents a clear potential danger to the world and needs to be monitored. Hopefully he will end up being a great president - but he is like someone who has a drivers license and therefore has full permission to drive - but he is reckless and takes unnecessary risks. I don't think there is much chance that he will be a great president unless there is constant vigilance.

    While you are imagining that "no valid Rov would agree" I suggest you back your conjecture with facts. A similar invalid criticism could be said about most of the issues I present on this blog. But the fact is that everything that I publish is done for a to'eles and I have a solid record of positive accomplishment.

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  27. Do you even read the articles you link to? It doesn't say anything was "disgraceful" or "inappropriate," and the focus of the article was the behavior of the other people in attendance, not the statement of the cast member after the show.

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  28. It makes no difference how long the statement was, or what the content of the statement was. If he had something to say to him, he could have invited him backstage. If you meet your kid's rebbi in the supermarket, most people understand that it is rude to impose an impromptu parent teacher conference on him. When you meet a doctor at a chasuna, most people understand that it is rude to accost him for medical advice. It's called taking advantage of a captive audience. What's not to understand about that?

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  29. Why didn't you take the same approach with Obama? Did you find all the things that he did to be reasonable and not driven by a radical Leftist agenda that was deeply anti Torah and anti religion in general?

    Who are you addressing? Who is going to change anything based on your comments? Why aren't you antagonizing the new administration? You always pick the most liberal outlets to portray the warped point of view of what transpires. The New York Slimes, Slimes of Israel and the Washington Compost are certainly not reliable and unbiased news sources.

    By calling yourself Daas Torah, members of the Trump team will be deluded to think that your opinion is the opinion of Jewry in general. You always select the most negative news that you can. What can your monitoring biased by your slanted (in my and many others opinion) point of view help to alleviate the problem?

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  30. The reaction of much of the audience was extremely disrespectful. The unnecessary foolish speech by the cast at the end of the show was totally out of place and uncalled for and reinforced the obnoxious behavior of the fools in the audience.

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  31. as I have said before - if you don't like what I do - no one is forcing you to read it.

    Regarding Obama - he is problematic in many ways - but he is still part of the legal system. Trump is not. Trump plays by his own rules and is beholden to no one - not even himself. That flakiness, instability, narcissistic existence represents a strong challenge - that Obama or other presidents have not. Your contempt for the standard media - comes about by applying a standard which you don't apply to right wing sources. Why? It comes down to you don't like your ox being gored. It is not a question of justice or honesty or concern for the truth.

    I am surprised that you think the Trump team reads or even knows about my blog. Your reading of my blog is obviously very selective. In case you didn't realize it - I have two posts on Bannon. Do you really think they are both the same thing?! You fail to notice that I post comments that are strongly critical of my point of view. Do you think that is simply sloppy moderation on my part?

    Bottom line. I post material that I think is important to be aware of - whether I agree or disagree with it. I think each person needs to take responsibility and not just wait for others to do the right thing. If you want to live in a world where everybody nods there head in unison and say "that is the way it is and I am glad our leaders are taking care of everything" - this is the wrong environment for you.

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  32. Those are your categorizations, not those of the article you linked to. Be it as it may, the much more important issue is what it says about the personality of the President-elect that he feels the need to respond to every perceived insult, and how that will translate once he has the tools of the presidency to react, not just a Twitter account.

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  33. Obama illegal acts

    http://www.truthandaction.org/ted-cruz-releases-list-76-illegal-acts-obama/

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  34. Now that you have written about Trump's team reading this blog - I am in a high state of anxiety waiting to be zapped by a twitter comment.What is he going say about me? Perhaps it change his attitude towards his daughter and son-in-law? Maybe he won't move the embassy to Jersualem. There are just so many things I am now worried about because I hadn't realized the consequences of my blogging!

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  35. Once again, whether it was proper or improper is not the point here. One point is that you (mis)categorized it as "berating" and "interrupting" the musical; it was neither. But once again, who gives a hoot if these actors have wonderful or less than wonderful manners? Much more critical is if the president-elect is going to choose to react and retaliate against anyone who insults him over the next four years. Based on the campaign, one would say no. There were hopes that post-election, that would change. But based on this incident and his attacks on Saturday Night Live, it seems that it has not changed. More important: When he has the weight of the presidency behind him, what form will his vindictiveness take? What if it is not a musical or television program who he feels insulted by, but rather another nation-state? How will he retaliate then? He himself stated that he would react to insulting behavior by Iran by entering the U.S. into a war with them. Is there anyone among his advisers with the courage and/or power to try to reign him in a bit?

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  36. http://nypost.com/2016/11/20/the-real-problem-with-the-hamilton-shout-out-to-pence/

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  37. So he's thin-skinned. Get over it. Obama was also thin-skinned and petty in his own way, and we somehow lived through it. Trump is actually much more thought-out and deliberate than you think. Why don't you actually give him a chance for half a year or so instead of being a worrywart and fretting that he's going to nuke the first person who insults him. Just relax a little.

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  38. I don't believe these people are really worried that he'll nuke anyone. They just grab whatever stick is handy to try and beat him with it.

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  39. yes they are worried that he will !

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  40. I know they say that, but I don't buy it.

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  41. yes there are some folks like myself who believe it is possible. But it is not because I can't accept that Clinton lost and I am not throwing a gigantic tantrum. Trump supporters can't accept the simple fact that it is possible to be afraid of what Trump might do without being an idiot or naive or a leftist.

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  42. "Believe it is possible" is not the same as "worried," which is the term you used previously. Many things are possible. I too believe it's "possible." It's also possible that Hillary Clinton will become president in 2020, but it's highly, highly unlikely, and therefore I'm not worried about it.. My contention is that most of the people who claim to be worried that this will occur, meaning that they believe it's likely enough that they actually sit and worry about it, are full of baloney.

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  43. That is your fully unsubstantiated opinion, with which I fully disagree. Being that Trump has used several meetings with foreign leaders to advance his business interests in their countries already, and is poised to be violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution from day one of his presidency, I do not think the fact will bear out your assessment.

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  44. Mark Steyn:

    Sabha is a city in the south of what remains of Libya after Hillary ("We came, we saw, he died")
    Clinton was done with it. Last week, a pet monkey belonging to a
    shopkeeper from the Gaddadfa tribe pulled the head scarf off one of a
    group of passing schoolgirls from the Awlad Suleiman tribe. The outraged
    menfolk of the girls did not take it well. So far, sixteen people are
    dead plus the monkey.


    Tribalism is a subtler affair in the United States. Last week the
    fetching young gentlemen of the chorus from the Snowflake tribe
    discovered that a pet monkey belonging to the cruel and ruthless
    chieftain of the Deplorable tribe had penetrated the security perimeter
    of their sacred temple of native dancing and drumming every night at
    seven at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Upon discovering a non-believer in
    their midst, the elders of the al-Exander Hamilton tribe angrily
    denounced him from the tabernacle while their simple impoverished people
    - some of whom were only able to afford 1,500 bucks for a pair of
    restricted-view seats - bayed their approval of his public humiliation.


    http://www.steynonline.com/7603/going-ape-over-the-monkey

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  45. Comparing Obama to Trump in this regard is a total joke. Just look at the way the two of them dealt with hecklers at their speeches. Obama said that he deserves respect as he is practicing his free speech, and attempted to quell the booing, while Trump said that one should be taken out on a stretcher.
    I will relax when he begins to exhibit behavior different than his behavior during the campaign. Picking fights with Broadway shows and satirical television programs is not a good start.

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