What A World

PAGE 20 | MontroseStar.com e | Wednesday November 11, 2020 WHAT A WORLD Lest we forget

By Nancy Ford

AHHHHH. THAT’S THE COLLECTIVE sound of America exhaling — something most of us have been waiting to do for more than four years.

Sufce it to say: tensions have been high. Te election broke all records in terms of voter turnout, from voters on both sides.

You know what else was high? Optimism. Congratulations, PresidentElect Joe Biden and Vice PresidentElect Kamala Harris. It’s time to pop the champagne that’s been chilling.

You know what else has been chilling? Te fact that this election was such a squeaker. Biden should have skated, waltzed, strolled — pick any verb that refers to nonchalance — to victory.

But no. Trump’s red-hat wearing, MAGA-deluded, Kool-Aid drinking, COVID-spreading, pistol-packing bunch showed up at the polls in nearly equal numbers to the Biden’s granolamunching, Commie-sympathizing, tree-hugging, yoga-practicing, Kumbayasinging followers. Tat means that even after all of Trump’s lying, dirty dealing, dictator sucking and climate-change denying, nearly half of voting Americans believe that four more year of the Trump Train Wreck is ordained by God. Don’t misunderstand. I am over the moon about our nation’s imminent return to stability and civility that a Biden/Harris administration will bring. I don’t mean to rain on our electoral victory parade. But it’s important to remember the words of writer and philosopher George Santayana: “Tose who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” With that in mind, let’s remember some of the numbers that will defne Trump’s reign of terror. As November wears on, nearly 250,000 Americans have died from a disease that Trump promised would magically disappear on November 4 (spoiler alert: it didn’t). Tat death count echoes the number of Iraqis that perished under the regime of Saddam Hussein. Te number of new cases of COVID–19 in the U.S. reported during Election Week broke records nearly every day, according to Johns Hopkins University. Tose fgure mark the frst times the country’s daily new cases reached six fgures — the highest since the pandemic began. Trump paid $750 in federal income tax in 2017. How about if next April 15, we all rig our tax returns to indicate we owe a mere $750 to the IRS? Surely we can calculate fear and loathing as a deduction. White Nationalist organizations have increased by 55 percent in the United States. More than 1,000 active groups were counted by the Southern Poverty Law Center, back in 2018. Imagine how many there are now. Tat’s a lot of Nazis,

bad haircuts and misspelled tattoos. According to the New York Times, the Trump administration “has dismantled major climate policies and rolled back many more rules governing clean air, water, wildlife and toxic chemicals.” In just four years, Trump gleefully reversed and revoked more than 70 environmental rules and regulations under Trump. Add to that another 26 rollbacks that are still in progress. Wheeze deep. Taking direct orders from the far, far right Federalist Society, Trump has elevated 216 judges to the Federal bench, all of whom are 1950’s-level conservative. Tat fgure could rise to 230 by the time Trump leaves ofce on (fngers crossed) January 20, 2021. Among those new judges is U.S. Supreme Court is Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Handmaid’s Tale prototype who took the seat vacated by the late Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. According to the dictates of her self-professed spiritual beliefs, Barrett had to obtain her husband’s permission to work outside the home. No less than 545 wouldbe immigrant children are being held in cages on the U.S./Mexico border and will likely never be reunited with their parents. So much for family values. A new book, All the President’s Women: Donald Trump and the Making of a Predator by Barry Levine, tallies no less than 26 incidents of “unwanted sexual contact” and 43 instances of inappropriate behavior committed by Trump. Tose accusations detail assaults ranging from forcible, non-consensual kissing to the rape of a minor. But Barack Obama wore a tan suit that one time in the Oval Ofce. Scandal. Since taking ofce in 2017, Trump has actively and intentionally thrown the LGBTQ community under the wheels of his rabid evangelical voter base, rolling back decades of progress made toward LGBTQ equality in the workplace, health care, the military, schools, housing, and our families. According to Human Rights Campaign, his Health and Human Services Department literally erased transgender people by narrowly defning sex as “either male or female, unchangeable, and determined by birth.” How very J.K. Rowling. Yet, the New York Times reported that twice as many queer Americans voted for Trump in 2020 as they did in 2016. WT actual LGBTQ F? We still have a lot of work to do. e

DEEP INSIDE HOLLYWOOD Adam Rippon sitcom skates over to NBC

By Romeo San Vicente

GOOD NEWS OR BEST NEWS? America’s gay fgure skating Olympic medal scoring sweetheart, Adam Rippon, is developing a sitcom for NBC. Now, Rippon is unquestionably a world-class athlete. But if you’ve ever seen him on a talk show or, well, anywhere, you also know that he’s simultaneously built for the world of comedy, so this was kind of a no-brainer. Te as-yet-untitled series will be set in the world of fgure skating, naturally, and center on a female skater who battles injuries, her family and other skaters on the way to ice stardom. Grace and Frankie vet Billy Finnegan will write the series from Rippon and co-creator Susan Kittenplan’s story. No cast set yet, no dates, just a great plan, and we’re readier than ready.

Fried Green Tomatoes, but with lesbians – and Reba – this time? In the early ’90s, when Fannie Flagg’s novel, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café was adapted to the big screen as Fried Green Tomatoes, the book’s lesbian themes were dialed way

Photo KathClick.

Adam Rippon down. Ladies in love became very close friends and straight audiences were allowed to feel comfortable. But that was 30 years ago, straight audiences have evolved somewhat, and now NBC has put FGT back in development as a weekly dramatic series. Legendary progressive creator Norman Lear is executive producing, and Reba McEntire is attached to star. Te story will revolve around Idgie (McEntire) – whose relationship with a woman was the center of the novel – returning to the small town where the frst story took place and dealing with the events of the past. It’s early yet, and the fractured entertainment landscape makes no promises, but with TV production slowly ramping up again, then this one could see its way to screens sometime in 2021. And what nice news it could turn out to be; Primetime Lesbian Reba is absolutely something to hope for.

Tegan and Sara go backto High School

IMDb TV, Amazon’s free streaming service, is teaming up with recording artists Tegan and Sara Quin for High School, a coming-of-age comedy series based on the bestselling memoir the twin sisters co-wrote. Teir situation was an unusual one, and refected in the story: twin sisters growing up, discovering themselves in music as an outlet and an identity, all while coming to terms with being queer. Adding another layer of queer cred, actor-director Clea DuVall (Happiest Season) is writing the pilot and will also direct, all for Brad Pitt’s Plan B production company. And now that you know IMDb has a streaming service – admit it, you didn’t until just now – you also have a reason to go there when High School drops there.

Teen drag musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie will dress up 2021

One of the many cultural accomplishments of RuPaul’s Drag Race is something that few high school guidance counselors could have predicted: the emergence of drag as a viable career path. But now we’re here in a world where Trixie and Katya have had their own TV show, books and tours, and what drag-obsessed teen wouldn’t consider the glamorous possibilities? Well, based on a true story, they say, comes Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, the flm adaptation of the hit stage musical about a 16-year-old named Jamie (newcomer Max Harwood) who, while trying to fnd his place in the world, decides that drag queen stardom is his future. And because this is a musical, that happy ending is assured, thanks to supportive friends and parents (Catastrophe star Sharon Horgan and Can You Ever Forgive Me? Oscar nominee Richard E. Grant co-star) who help him realize his destiny in the spotlight. And perfect timing: 20th Century Studios is set to release the flm in February of 2021, in the middle of what pandemic experts are predicting will be a pretty tough winter. We’re all going to need Jamie’s queer blast of sunshine, music, dancing, and wigs by then. e

Romeo San Vicente is an out-of-control Zamboni on fire.