Rob Reiner and the Measure of a Life
Donald Trump posted today about the tragic murder of Rob Reiner and his wife. In the same breath, he told us how Reiner had “fallen,” how he had succumbed to “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Anyone who can read that message—knowing that this man holds the nuclear codes, shapes our health care, directs our foreign policy, and now, with the Court’s blessing, exerts influence over nearly every facet of American life—should feel a chill.
Rob Reiner and Donald Trump could not have had more different effects on my life.
Reiner’s Meathead on All in the Family was among the first characters who ever made me think seriously about politics, class, and moral disagreement. He was human, stubborn, wrong at times, but unmistakably real.
I have returned to Reiner’s films again and again.
When Harry Met Sally taught me about friendship, love, and timing—and delivered one of the great endings in American cinema.
The American President showed me what leadership could look like, and how a First Lady might rise to meet it.
A Few Good Men taught me something essential about courage, law, and the necessity of standing up to power.
Defending Your Life reminded me that bravery in this life matters if we hope to move on to whatever comes next.
I never missed Rob Reiner when he appeared on television. I will always remember his final appearance with Bill Maher—calm, humane, generous—patiently absorbing Maher’s incorrigible neuroticism without cruelty or condescension.
Reiner will remain with us, in the right way: through the stories that shaped us, the values he illuminated, and the culture he helped build. The manner of his death is a tragedy, and the loss of his wife compounds it unbearably.
Donald Trump’s legacy, by contrast, is already plain: a diminished American name abroad; a neutered Congress and Court; a politics of grievance; a corrosive view of immigrants, minorities, and women; and a public life drained of dignity.
Rob Reiner will be with us long after this moment has passed.
He will be all around us.