The silence in the liberal echo chamber that is my Facebook feed is deafening. Apparently it has occurred to none of my left-leaning friends or fans to call out Madonna for her utterly reprehensible remarks last Saturday at the Women's March on Washington. And so, it is up to me to do the dirty work.
Someone on left has got to hold Madonna accountable. Someone on the left must tell her bluntly that what she said was vile and unacceptable, and that her "clarification," issued the following day, was totally lame, serving only as further evidence that she is clueless and unfit to speak at any political rally whose purpose is to spur social change peacefully.
Imagine if you will Ted Nugent at a Men's March on Washington after the election of Barack Obama saying that he “had thought a lot about blowing up the White House.” Imagine what Rachel Maddow or Bruce Springsteen or Al Sharpton would have to say about that. Also imagine their response if Ted Nugent had issued a statement soon afterwards bitching that his words were taken “wildly out of context,” without offering an apology of any kind.
The galling fact of the matter is that liberals are giving Madonna a pass, but she won’t get one from this liberal. Madonna was not giving a performance at a concert for fans on Saturday. She was giving a speech to a massive gathering of concerned citizens, none of whom were there to see her, at a high profile protest march in support of women’s rights.
Madonna came across as bitter, vulgar and shrill. Her anger is understandable. Many of us are aghast at Trump and his unapologetic misogyny. Regarding rhetoric, he has set the bar unfathomably and unforgivably low. That said, “When they go low, we go high,” Michelle Obama implored us. Unlike Scarlett Johansson, Madonna didn’t get the former First Lady’s message. Her reckless speech could have incited violence and she would have been culpable.
You simply cannot stand in front of nearly a half million people in our nation’s capital, with emotions running high, say that you’ve been thinking about blowing up the White House and then say that you were actually delivering a “message of love.” There was nothing loving about Madonna’s words, tone or body language. I believe that her intentions were good, but her political IQ is low. Her remarks were not extemporaneous; she read from a prepared script, the soaring message of which was “fuck you.” All this did was play directly into Trump’s and his supporter’s hands. Case in point: Newt Gingrich, that fetid swamp of a man, promptly called for Madonna’s arrest and lamented the rise of “an emerging left wing fascism.”
I have previously referred to Donald Trump as a “narcissistic, ugly pig of a man, totally unfit and unqualified to be President.” That said, he is President, my President and Madonna’s too. Madonna owes Trump an apology, and not just him. She owes the organizers of the march an apology. She owes an apology to the mothers and fathers who brought their children and were not prepared for an R-rated rant. Madonna’s remarks were not taken out of context and no one is accusing her of being “a violent person,” as she fears. What she is accused of being is an idiot.
Bottom line: Consciously or not, at the Women’s March on Washington, Madonna stopped just short of encouraging violence. Even more concerning is that she remains in denial, blaming others for not “getting her.” And even more concerning still is that liberals, who with good reason are disgusted with Trump, just can’t bring themselves to call out Madonna for her ugly words. Bill Maher? I’m hoping...
Joe Raiola is Senior Editor of MAD Magazine and Producer of the Annual John Lennon Tribute in NYC. He has performed his solo show, “The Joy of Censorship” in over 40 states.