It's a story we see played out time and time again on Twitter (now X): A celebrity makes an off-the-cuff statement, another responds, and suddenly it's slash-and-snap time at the zoo.

Let this sink in. Republicans say that even if Trump is a Convicted Felon who attempted to destroy American Democracy, they will still vote for him. We will only survive if he, and the corrupt party he leads, is decisively defeated in 2024.

— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) September 4, 2023

I would like to point out to Mr. Reiner if he wants to be taken seriously, that "convicted" and "felon" as well as "democracy" are not proper nouns and should not be capitalized, but perhaps that is being a little persnickety. Still, I do this for a living, so the observation, if persnickety, is accurate.

One of show businesses' few heroes of the working folks replied in what I would describe as a slam-dunk:

What a crazy idea, you mean beat him in a fair and general election that would require good ideas and debate (and not so obvious corruption)??? Lol,
Good luck dems. We know why you’re cheating and lying and indicting and false flagging. It’s your only hope. But keep telling us we…

— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) September 4, 2023

What a crazy idea, you mean beat him in a fair and general election that would require good ideas and debate (and not so obvious corruption)??? Lol,Good luck dems. We know why you’re cheating and lying and indicting and false flagging. It’s your only hope. But keep telling us we are the threat to democracy.

I will give Rob Reiner credit for one thing: He gave us The Princess Bride, a movie I enjoyed in the theater in 1987 and still enjoy today. It's one of the most-quoted films in cinema history; in fact, shortly after it was released, I attended a function where we were all handed one of those stickers that says "Hello, my name is" and has a space to enter your name; I, of course, wrote in "Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." At least three other people at the function had the same idea, which was worth some laughs all around.

But other than that? This is a guy who is otherwise best known for playing a character nicknamed "Meathead," an appellation Mr. Reiner has certainly earned.

Rob Reiner is, to put it charitably, unclear on the concept of how campaigns work, and his comment raises the question, what does he have in mind if Donald Trump is in fact re-elected? Roseanne, on the other hand, responds with a good point: In a fair election, it is ideas, aired through open and honest debate, that should win the day. Not that Roseanne hasn't had her own missteps, but we are none of us perfect.

These conflicts aren't confined to Twitter/X, of course. My colleague Becky Noble recently chronicled the attacks aimed at actor Woody Harrelson for wearing a RFK Jr. cap - in so doing announcing his support for a Democrat. Because of these attacks, or more likely because of them, many show-business types who lean to the right are striking out on their own, away from the Hollywood establishment. See my colleague Jerry Wilson's excellent piece on that phenomenon.

Where are today's John Fords, by the way? Mr. Ford, aside from producing many wonderful films and giving us American film icon John Wayne, also served in World War 2 in the US Navy Reserve, attained the rank of Rear Admiral on his retirement, and filmed alongside servicemen in combat in places like Midway and North Africa. John Ford was a brilliant filmmaker and a man of iron courage; what would he make, do you suppose, of such as Rob Reiner?

I think we can imagine the answer to that.

A while back, I stumbled across a great documentary on Rob Reiner's anti-tobacco activism. Here's a sample.