This week, while Bruce Springsteen and Robert De Niro were abroad trashing President Donald Trump in front of wealthy Europeans, everyday Americans were flocking to the Kennedy Center to enjoy fine art.
It is quite a split screen to consider and, in the end, The Boss and old droopy eyes Bobby come across as looking nothing short of ridiculous.
Let’s start with Springsteen, who kicked off his tour in Manchester on Wednesday night with the message for Brits.
‘My home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,’ he said.
Later in the show, during which presumably he also played some music, Springsteen called Trump incompetent and an authoritarian. It seems Bruce wasn’t born to run, he was born to whine.
Across the English Channel, which is not yet the Channel of America, De Niro was at the Cannes Film Festival receiving a lifetime achievement award, because the only thing actors do better than wearing makeup and saying things they didn’t write is giving each other awards for it.
Of course, De Niro could not resist providing plenty of raging bull about Trump.
‘[Artists] are a threat to autocrats and fascists,’ he said. ‘America’s Philistine president has had himself appointed head of one of our premier cultural institutions (the Kennedy Center). He has cut funding and support to the arts, humanities and education.’
This last statement about the Kennedy Center drew a strong rebuke from its controversial new president, Richard Grenell.
‘He’s lying,’ Grenell wrote on X. ‘President Trump hasn’t cut funding for the Kennedy Center. There are a few honest reporters already reporting the massive funding INCREASE request from President Trump for the Kennedy Center. It is De Niro’s political party that is canceling shows and booing people they don’t agree with politically. We haven’t canceled shows.’
The fact of the matter is that Grenell is absolutely right about this. It is actors from a production of ‘Les Misérables’ who are refusing to perform for Trump next month, not Trump refusing to watch them.
It was the producers of ‘Hamilton’ who decided to cancel their Kennedy Center run, not Trump administration officials in arm bands censoring art.
In fact, I don’t know if ‘Hamilton’ composer Lin Manuel Miranda knows this or not, but these days it is conservatives who are far more likely to cherish his patriotic musical. Many on the left now accuse him of whitewashing America’s supposed horrible history.
For the first time in decades, we have leadership at the Kennedy Center that is worried about what the audience, otherwise known as the people, want, not with indoctrinating Americans into progressive ideologies with shows nobody wants to see anyway.
As it turns out, I found myself at the Kennedy Center on Thursday night to catch the National Symphony’s performance of Beethoven’s ‘Missa Solemnis.’ After all, a columnist can’t survive on dive bars and Midwest diners alone.
I know this will come as a deep shock to Springsteen and De Niro, but for the life of me, I could not find the fascism or autocracy.
Instead, I found Americans of all ages and walks of life sitting stunned as a piece of music that has enthralled audiences for 200 years unfolded under the direction of legendary Maestro Gianandrea Noseda.
It was a packed house on a Thursday night. You could see young people grabbing $10 rush tickets like I did as a student to see the Philadelphia Orchestra decades ago.
Try getting into a Springsteen concert for 10 bucks.
While the Boss and Bobby were being feted by Euro elites, they were still playing out their sad boomer protest fantasies born under a haze of weed smoke in 1968.
Back in April, the Kennedy Center smashed its attendance record when 11,000 attended a cheesy performance that combined art, science and drones. It is exactly the kind of programming that gives this jewel of the arts back to the people.
For the first time in decades, we have leadership at the Kennedy Center that is worried about what the audience, otherwise known as the people, want, not with indoctrinating Americans into progressive ideologies with shows nobody wants to see anyway.
Maybe Springsteen and De Niro should just stay in Europe and move in near Rosie O’Donnell and Eva Longoria, who already left after Trump’s election. They all think America is awful and they can all get cheering crowds overseas for trashing the red, white and blue.
Here in the United States, we are not going to miss the talents of these naysayers, because we have a wealth of brilliant artists who want to share their gifts with everyone, Republican or Democrat, who know that at its best, art unites, it does not divide.
So, if you find yourself in Washington, swing by the Kennedy Center and check it out. Or, wherever it is that you live, find the artists who want to speak to your soul, not to your politics. Because at long last, we are finally, once again, making space for that ancient pursuit.