Sir Ian McKellen joined the Women’s March in London on Saturday, and he even held a placard that featured Patrick Stewart’s famous (and meme’d) facepalm. Incidentally, Ian didn’t make that sign, he only found it at the march and then proudly posed for photos with it, because he and Patrick are in love with each other. Sir Ian is an ally to all disenfranchised people, of course, and he took a moment to not only tweet some photos from the London march, but to offer a statement on Emperor Baby Fists, or as Ian calls him “President Breaking Wind.”
The Women’s March in London was the longest I have been on. See the rest of my message attached. pic.twitter.com/q7QC4Jvg0S
— Ian McKellen (@IanMcKellen) January 22, 2017
In case you can’t read what Sir Ian posted, here’s the gist:
Sir Ian McKellen is calling for citizens to remain vigilant against Donald Trump, writing on Twitter the president “had his chance” to prove he’ll govern for all Americans. McKellen didn’t use Trump’s name in his social media post; instead, he wrote that the word “trump” in “schoolyard English” means “to break wind.”
“President Breaking Wind has impacted us all; and personally,” McKellen wrote. “Some like him, think they can identify with him, believe him because they’ve seen him on television perhaps and think the billionaire and his billionaire team are truly friends. The rest of us, including the majority of voters in USA, see through the charade: after all, the schtick is not exactly subtle. But he’s riled us, got under our skin, making us angry and despairing that he should have got through to the final of his show and turned democracy into a tv/twitter spectacular.”
Citing how the White House website removed its LGBT page after Trump was sworn in on Friday — as well as reports Trump’s administration could end national arts funding — McKellen speculated about what the future might hold.
“What will happen? No doubt his believers will be soon disillusioned. The rest of us cannot let him reign unchallenged. The Marches worldwide were a good beginning. Some who fear him say ‘give the man a chance.’ OK — he’s started by removing LGBTQ people, climate change, and state funding of the arts from POTUS’s website. He’s had his chance.”
I totally agree with the sentiment of “He’s had his chance.” I understood why President Obama and some Democratic leaders made the “give him a chance” argument. It’s because that’s their job and that’s their fundamental belief in the system. But I was past the “give him a chance” moment during the g—damn Republican primaries, and everything since then has absolutely confirmed it: he has no chances left. This is who he is. The resistance has already started. Join it.
Incidentally, I’ve been thinking a lot about impeachment and treason and such and I realized on Inauguration Day that because I’m still thinking in those terms – like, I’m still thinking that there are checks and balances on an autocrat’s power – that means I still fundamentally believe in the system too. Does that make me naïve? Optimistic? I don’t know.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Sir Ian, you are wonderful. And your statement is perfect.
LOL I love the Patrick Stewart sign, Ian is a great man.
Sir Ian is fabulous. President Breaking Wind is perfect shade. I think I’ll start calling DT President Cutting Cheese.
President Cutting Cheddar. Thanks Ian!
Sean Spicer can have cheddar with his whining at the press today also. Although he caused a sensation when he said that the press doesn’t appreciate his movement. Oh we love Genghis Con’s movements, Sean. Commander-in-Pee, Hail to the Pee.
I was never on the give him a chance train…I cannot afford that stance at all. So resistance was always the name of the game.
ALL BETS ARE OFF – since I saw who was joining DRUMP in the White House
Yes! Speaking of resistance, for those who are against his rumored defunding of the Natl Endowment for the Arts and Humanities, please sign this petition.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/do-not-defund-nea-or-neh-0
I never gave him a chance. He showed me who he was when he started birtherism and kept going. Why would I consider him any different now? He’s just more diabolical than I realized.
My co-worker, who does not like Trump, mentioned that we should give him a chance. I explained to her that his orange a** is 70 years old and he isn’t going to change. He has shown the world exactly who he is. There are no chances here with a man this unstable.
Personally, I find my thoughts getting interrupted by Trump throughout the day. Yesterday, I took myself out to one of those dine-in movie theaters to see Hidden Figures and while I was happily eating my pretzel bites and enjoying the film, I had this sudden “OMFG DONALD TRUMP IS PRESIDENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!” panic moment. Trump is becoming an anxiety disorder for me.
I know what you mean, this whole situation still feels so surreal.
You are describing my daily experience to a “t”. That’s why we have to stick together and fight him!!
I can empathise with that, I actually had a ‘Brexit’ disorder diagnosed recently (no joke, it means Brexit undid 2 years of therapy for an anxiety disorder I already had and I wake up during the night “omg they rang the bell, I am going to be deported”, plus panic attacks…).
So big hugs your way xx
Oh no, I’m so sorry, SilverUnicorn! That must be incredibly discouraging. I hope you start firmly back on track to rebuilding your reserves, soonest. I suspect Brexit and Adolf Twitler are and will continue to cause very real anxiety among caring and concerned citizens. Hugs to you.
Me too. I’m an economist and I specialize in health economics and policy, i.e., the ACA, Medicare, Medicaid. I can’t really work because I’m so anxious about the plans.
Trump has had countless chances and he has blown them all. The gloves are off and they stay for as long as necessary.
+ 1
Say it louder for the people in the back!
+1
please vote him out and take back the 2018 midterms, I don’t want to risk that this orange evil will nuke my country for being brown.
Amen !
You are not being naive thinking about checks and balances and impeachment. One group is planning to sue him for ethics violations / conflict of interests. It’s only Day 3!!
http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/22/news/donald-trump-constitution-lawsuit/index.html
Maybe there’s really a chance that he will be impeached one day during his presidency.
But then we will have Pence. But at least he will be predictedly awful…
They filed at 9 am. These are bipartisan constitutional lawyers (for Obama and Bush). I listened to one speak on NPR. It’s very overtly stated in the Constitution. I’m(cautiously) hopeful this will be his undoing.
The OtherOne, excellent read. I know that his first day in office when he started to obolish ObamaCare and other necessary programs just proved to me he is not looking out for Americans. Just himself as usual.
Love this man … President Sir Ian McKellen doesn’t sound so bad to me.
I don’t know why people are supposed to give him a chance. He has been in the spotlight for decades and has shown everyone who he is. He has never changed. He has always been a lying, sexist, bigoted narcissistic bully. F*ck him.
I would like to add that each new President takes down the previous President’s pages and puts up their own. Of course since it’s 45, the issues pages are not well done. They are too wordy and intentionally misleading. Shocking I know.
The “en espanol” option has also been removed from the white house page. There is no national language in America, and at least 38 million Americans use Spanish as a primary language.
One of these people is my grandmother-in-law, a woman living in Puerto Rico who has worked her whole life as a business owner. She contributes to her community even at the age of 90. She and her late husband were pillars of the community when they were younger, and as wealthier people there they sponsored and initiated cultural events for the town. They grew their business from scratch. They are the most upstanding of citizens.
This wonderful American woman deserves to go on the website of her government’s highest office and be able to understand what’s written!!! And as of two days ago she no longer can, that was taken away from her already by Trump. Just one example among MILLIONS of people who are being blocked by this racist and disgusting move.
The White House website says it all right now. Trumps America is not for LGBTQ persons, not for Spanish speaking Americans, not for Americans interested in civil rights (that page is gone too). I gave him a chance and he deeply disrespected the oldest and most cherished member of my family overnight!!!!
Patricia– totally nuts about the WH page. And I see folks excusing it saying “he’s just getting it all in order for his administration.”. That’s bull. All that stuff could easily have transferred. He took it out intentionally.
Losing the “en Espanol” option is so insanely racist and not being the President for “all people” as he claims he wants to be.
When will people stop listening to what he says and actually pay attention to what he DOES?
Wow, I was not aware that they removed the “en Espanol” option! My grandmother is also Puerto Rican and cannot read or speak English well. She has lived in the U.S. for years, her husband was a marine, and she has worked and paid taxes to the U.S. government for decades. To treat her as if she is less American because she speaks Spanish is absolutely atrocious. I am fucking furious right now.
Jesus. He took away the “En Espanol” option too? That is racist, petty, smallminded… wow, where do I even begin? He is indeed President Fart. That is a great name for him.
Patricia– it’s worse than you saw. The accessibility page is gone too… The page which assures deaf and blind people that they can access the site! I’m not sure if just the disclaimer is gone or features too… But since that disclaimer would be easy transfer from Obama’s site… I suspect both are gone.
He’s officially saying screw you blind, deaf, and ESL people.
When someone shows you who they are, believe them.
Resist.
I don’t believe in the system at all. A system that allows someone like trump to legally (given all the sh!t he’s pulled) become president is astounding. How are there not already laws in place to prevent his kind if thing from happening?! It’s been able to go this far with the current system! This is ludicrous!
There are “procedures” in place, built into the electoral college, to reject a president-elect that is deemed unfit for office. But it is a farce. The electoral college screwed us twice. The popular vote did not count and the electoral college did not reject this imbecile on December 19th even though they had every legal standing to do so. I’m gonna go back to building my bomb shelter now……
I’ve seen what happens when one party controls the three branches and you can kiss the Republic goodbye. He will do what he wants and will have the support of the Republicans because now they’re back in control and they won’t relinquish that.
I hope the Republican party implodes.
Yup. The GOP is as thoroughly corrupt as he is. He has absolutely proven himself unfit for the job within his first 72 hours yet the Congress will do nothing to stop him. Theyve planned and patiently manipulated for decades to create a one party country. Theyre not giving that up for anything. F the Constitution. They think they can control him just like the idiots in Germany thought they could control Hitler. They’re all cowards and traitors and we’re the ones who’ll pay for it.
The Marches were great and uplifting, a starting point for resistance, but I’m afraid it’ll end up being a long and devastating physical fight for the country. Hopefully there are a few decent people left in the Intelligence and military, who won’t blindly follow orders to attack their own people. The police are a lost cause atp. Too many of them have the brownshirt mentality.
This is what I’m afraid of.
I just hope they don’t find a way to cancel 2018 elections or successfully gerrymander their way into winning again. And I really hope people stay angry and engaged. There’s no hope without that.
God, I love him.
Watch this discussion on Morning Joe with guests about the two days this weekend (inauguration speech/women’s march/White House attacking press on crowd size and CIA) and how he is beginning his presidency.
And thanks to them for giving the weight deserved by the massive march around the world.
Very insightful and tough on Trump and his aides. But they are dreaming if they think they can control Trump’s speeches, i.e., the CIA press conference, without him going off script, are dreaming. But, yes, they are right, the ones that wouldn’t back down, egging him on (for me Kellyanne) are doing him no favors. She made a fool of herself on the talk news circuit Sunday. Eddie Glaude, Jr., Chair for the Dept of African-American Studies at Princeton, hit the nail on the head discussing everything that was scrubbed from Whitehouse.gov. on day one.
http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/trump-s-volatile-weekend-the-show-has-begun-really-badly-860575299662
Yay Surian (and Surpat)!
I love it that he even got a dig in at that rape cult the SWP (the thing in his statement about identical banners on marches). As all good British lefties know, this handful of Trots always manage to infiltrate (and ruin) almost anything good we get off the ground.
I personally think Seth Meyers said his best, early after the election he said, let’s give him a chance, oh, he picked Steve Bannon? Goodbye chance. I like his reaction because the truth is Trump had so many chances, he could have turned a corner after being nominated, he could have surprised us after the election by picking a good cabinet and so on, but instead he just got worse and worse.
Completely agree!
He had a chance on Inauguration Day he blew it with hate rhetoric his obsession with numbers and his Bane quite drop. He had a chance when he signed orders to be rid of things. He had a chance when he lied right in the CIA face when he himself tweeted against them. He had a chance to address the march he tried to do a back track on twitter today of that. He’s burning some bridges with the law enforcers who protect our country he only played nice with CIA because he needs them they don’t need him. He’s pissed off how many countries now and about to dissolve a trade agreement yes we need jobs here but good luck with imports while all that happens with manufacturing if it does and its countries you don’t want angry at you. Why are we getting involved in stuff that’s been happening thousands of years. He’s manipulative that’s all. Congress needs to stand up and I know many seethe over him well nows the time to get rid of this Hydra if we want to use super hero movies he’s a hydra to the core.
This is what people keep saying to me–I’m in Alabama for work, and I have to do outreach to rural communities. Just give him a chance! HE NEVER EVEN LET US GIVE HIM A CHANCE. Before he even got inaugurated he filled his cabinet with the richest, whitest, dumbest old men he could find.
People I talked to said that he would definitely divest, and he would definitely share his tax returns once he got in office. He’s not doing either of those things. What is it going to take for his gullible supporters to get pissed that he is not keeping his promises?
I don’t want our country to fall into chaos, but that’s what will happen if Trump actually keeps all of his promises. Building a border fence now? No wall? BUILD A FREAKING WALL, THEN GO TO WAR WITH MEXICO TO MAKE THEM PAY FOR IT. KEEP YOUR PROMISES YOU PIECE OF SH*T.
wonderful man. i like the way he speaks, he is on another level. a real talent with personality. rare breed… he is very active in political terms but of course, the mainstream media does not give a toss.
there are so many wonderful and famous men who think, but we were brainwashed with stupidity on hourly level.
“But he’s riled us, got under our skin, making us angry and despairing that he should have got through to the final of his show and turned democracy into a tv/twitter spectacular.” EXACTLY.
The idea of defeating Trump is very appealing – right up to the moment I realize that he’d only get replaced by another corporate shill. Then I feel deflated again.