Hamilton: Pence attends, Burr pleads, Trump tweets, Burr responds

AROUND THE BLOCK

What I learned today

 Free speech, harassment and Hamilton

It takes an actor playing Aaron Burr to explain basic concepts to President-elect Trump

I learned today that President-elect Donald Trump does not understand the concept of free speech. Nor, does he know what harassment is.

I know many of you reading this are scratching your heads wondering, “he’s finally learning that?” But let me explain.

Last night’s New York performance of Hamilton – An American Musical was attended by Vice President-elect Mike Pence. (It is not clear how Mr. Pence got the tickets to the hottest show on Broadway nor how much he paid.)

Not surprisingly in this deeply divided country, Mr. Pence’s arrival was greeted by a combination of boos and cheers by the audience.

But then this happened.

According to the Washington Post, “several dozen of the Broadway musical’s cast members zeroed in on Pence during their curtain call. Brandon Victor Dixon — the actor who played Aaron Burr — stepped forth and cut through the applause,” going on to say:

“We’re all here sharing a story of love. We have a message for you, sir. We hope that you will hear us out.”

Dixon then read the following:

 “Vice President-elect Pence, we welcome you, and we truly thank you for joining us here at ‘Hamilton: An American Musical.’ We really do,” Dixon said to further applause. “We, sir, we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. But we truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and work on behalf of all of us. All of us. Again, we truly thank you truly for (sharing) this show, this wonderful American story told by a diverse group of men and women of different colors, creeds and orientations.”

(Here's a video of Dixon's speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9Wi3CnzYXU)

Dixon’s speech was immediately condemned by President-elect Donald Trump via Twitter:

 Followed eight minutes later by:

(He's the President-elect of the United States for God's sake. Doesn't he have anything more important to do?)

Whereupon Mr. Dixon tweeted back,

So, there it is. An actor in a Broadway musical who plays Aaron Burr, one of the most vilified characters in American history, explaining to the next president of the United States, respectfully, the concept of free speech and that conversation is not harassment.

Just for clarity, I submit the following definitions.

Freedom of speech (free speech) noun: the right of people to express their opinions publicly without governmental interference, subject to the laws against libel, incitement to violence or rebellion, etc.

Harassment noun: aggressive pressure or intimidation.

Is there any good news coming out of all this. Well, here's one. Perhaps this kerfuffle will free up affordable tickets for Hamilton as hordes of Trump supporters boycott the show. 

Oh, right -- they weren't going anyway. 

Never mind.