People are really angry at 2016.
For those who have not been on the Internet much over the past 12 months, many users out there have been railing against this calendar year for two reasons:
1. Donald Trump was elected President of the United States.
2. Many, many big-time celebrities have died, with George Michael, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds all passing away since Christmas.
Charlie Sheen, meanwhile, who has actually NOT been heard from much this year, has decided to combine these two topics in a Tweet that is generating both controversy and applause.
A day after Carrie Fisher died, and the same day Debbie Reynolds died, Sheen jumped on social media and made a plea to God.
Yes, God.
The often-troubled former Two and a Half Men star addressed The Big Man Upstairs with a very simple request writing three words and two punctuation marks over and over and over again:
Trump next, please!
Sheen is asking the Almighty to kill Donald Trump.
If Sheen were to write this after Trump takes office, he actually might come under investigation.
It’s illegal to threaten the life of the President.
One can debate whether or not Sheen is actually issuing a threat, the same way one can debate whether this Tweet was in poor taste.
(Okay, granted: one cannot really debate this. It’s clearly in poor taste to wish for someone’s death, even if that someone is Donald Trump. The guy does have kids and grandkids, remember.)
But Sheen is merely the latest Twitter user to come under fire for his reaction to Fisher’s passing.
First, there was Steve Martin, who somehow received criticism for writing the following about his friend:
“When I was a young man, Carrie Fisher was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. She turned out to be witty and bright as well.”
The comedian was even forced to delete this Tweet because so many people out there found it to be sexist.
Then there was Alec Baldwin, who used the occasion of Fisher’s death to take another dig at Trump.
“Death comes in threes,” the actor wrote. “Carrie Fisher George Michael The integrity of the Oval Office.”
Baldwin has not taken down this message or apologized for it.
And finally there was Cinnabon, the calorie-loving chain that joked about Fisher’s demise with a tasteless caption and amateur-lookig photo.
The eatery has since apologized for writing the following this week:
Sheen’s message, of course, is very different than these Tweets.
He isn’t mentioning Fisher (or Michael or Reynolds) in any way, shape or form.
He’s just saying that if God is busy taking celebrities away from us, He might as well keep going and add Trump to the list before the President-Elect becomes the actual President and can inflict real damage on the country.
We’re not about to say the same thing.
We’re not about to actually wish for Trump to die.
But you know what would be interesting?
After stars die, you read countless tributes and messages in their honor.
What would happen if Donald Trump actually was killed? Would Hollywood pretend as though it was suddenly a fan of him? Or would we actually read celebratory Tweets in light of such an event for a change?
Just something to ponder.
