There is a compelling scene in the 2014 blockbuster movie, “ Guardians of the Galaxy ,” in which the Peter Quill character, played by Chris Pratt, …
There is a compelling scene in the 2014 blockbuster movie, “ Guardians of the Galaxy,” in which the Peter Quill character, played by Chris Pratt, is threatened by the Yondu character, played by Michael Rooker. Yondu looks menacingly into Quill’s eyes and declares: “When I picked you up as a kid, these boys wanted to eat you.… I saved your life.” Quill screams back in his defense: “Oh, will you shut-up about that.… Normal people don’t even think about eating someone else, much less that person having to be grateful for it.” Cut to the 2020 presidential election and, according to a forthcoming book by Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender, titled, “ Frankly, We Did Win This Election,” then- President Trump angrily interrupted a policy meeting in the Oval Office to vent about Joe Biden by allegedly asking: “ How am I losing in the polls to a mental r—-d? ” That’s how, to begin with. To paraphrase Peter Quill: “Normal people don’t even think about calling someone else a ‘mental r—-d.’” Normal people don’t, but egotistical bullies who favor 1970s insults might have no problem spewing out a demeaning label that has made most people cringe for decades now. That’s one of the most important answers to Trump’s reported question: Live by the insult sword, die by the insult sword. While this may come as a shock to Donald Trump, there are millions of Americans — including a large number of his supporters — who believe that a president should conduct himself with class, dignity and grace. If not for himself, then most certainly out of respect for the highest office in the land.
