Dear Phanto,

You are in no position to judge what Meryl
Streep was entitled to say or do. Neither
am I. We had nothing to do with that evening.

Meryl Streep however was invited to that event and
was honoured with an award at that
function. She was invited to speak.

That made her position different to
those of the other guests. In her speech she
chose to speak out about people in positions
of power who misuse their privileged positions.
She spoke about journalists not being silenced
and holding people in positions of power
to account. She did
not mention Trump by name. She was asked to
make a speech and what she spoke about was
up to her. I don't have a problem with that as
many speakers at various different functions have in the
past chosen to do likewise - choosing a topic dear
to their hearts.

Your opinion is different from
mine in this matter and - that's fine.
We are entitled to have different viewpoints on a
discussion forum such as this one.

I listened to part of Meryl's speech. Thought it not unreasonable and her right as a high profile public figure, to hold those who would weld extreme power, to account and forewarned.

And in the best democracy money can buy! Any citizen's right! Even a (hup 2-3-4) left right?

And a least as much right to an opinion as Louis, who'd like any critique of Mr Trump halted, gagged or simply and vacuously labeled leftist!?

The last time I looked holding countervailing left wing views, having a brain/doing your own thinking, wasn't a hanging offence Louis, except in the glorious third Reich?

That said, we may be misjudging Mr Trump?

It's possible he may even have a Keynesian based (new deal) economic plan, to make America great again?

Particularly as his survival and that of huge swathes of the republican party absolutely relies on delivered outcomes!
Alan B.

Streep's un-American speech, may prompt Uncle Don to resurrect the committee for un-American activities again. I hope so!

I really don't care who denounces Trump, as long as we get as many denunciations possible. This man is the most dangerous man on earth at the moment and we will all, American and non-American alike, will have to pull our weight and show him for what he is, a buffoon. This is no time for niceties about who is allowed to voice and opinion. Good on you Meryl Streep.

Foxy:

You are judging. You have judged that what Streep did was a good thing to do. We all have right to judge the situation.

What the organisers wanted we cannot tell. We know what Streep wanted and that was to abuse her position as an actor to try an influence a political situation. It was her choice and she just thumbed her noses at everyone else in that theatre who had just as much claim to political expression as she did.

Political platforms should not be handed out on the basis of your acting skills no matter how good those skills may be. It goes against every egalitarian principle that Americans claim to support. Obviously Streep does not believe in equality.

“She did not mention Trump by name.”

No she spoke of the person who would occupy the most important seat in the land. Who else could she be talking about?

“Your opinion is different from
mine in this matter and - that's fine.
We are entitled to have different viewpoints on a
discussion forum such as this one.”

I don’t need you to give me permission to have a different view to you. Why else would you state such an obvious truth?

Dear Phanto,

We have seen that people in different walks of life
may interpret the same phenomenon - whether it's a
president elect's speech, the speech of an award
winning actress, or
a post on a discussion forum - in very different ways.
In other words, people tend to see things from a
viewpoint of subjectivity.

As for what Meryl stated? - she was invited to speak
and she exercised her right to do precisely that.