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The Week on Twitter | Meryl Streep, Plagiarism, & Joe Biden

By Jade Hayden

This week, Meryl Streep ripped into Trump, Trump ripped into Meryl Streep, Joe Biden got quite emotional, and TK Whitaker passed away. A lot of people also decided to sue TheLiberal.ie, and it was great.

#MerylStreep uses #GoldenGlobes speech to criticise Trump

This week, the Golden Globes were on. Lots of talented people won lots of awards for being pretty talented. Meryl Streep won the Cecil B. DeMille award, or the lifetime achievement award, for being very, very talented and just pretty great really. Have you seen her portrayal of Aunt Josephine in the film adaptation of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events? Haunting.

Streep used her speech to emphasise the importance of America’s diversity, and to applaud the work of her fellow actors. But she also used it to criticise President-elect Donald Trump, his mocking of a disabled reporter during a rally in South Carolina in 2015, and his willingness to use his position of privilege to “bully others.”

In her speech, she said that “…it kinda gives permission for other people to do the same thing. Disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence.”

Some people listened to Streep’s speech and decided that it was not a celebrity’s place to be involved in politics. They said that she didn’t know what she was talking about, and that it was irresponsible of her to “attack” him in this way. Others made the point that Trump himself was literally a celebrity involved in politics. They applauded Streep. Robert DeNiro wrote her a note saying that he “shares her sentiments on punks and bullies.” It was good.

This week also saw Trump at the centre of what many have dubbed ‘golden watergate.’ On Tuesday evening, BuzzFeed published a series of memos detailing the alleged collaboration of Trump with Russia against Hillary Clinton during the Presidential campaign. The very unverified document also stated that Trump stayed in the Ritz in Moscow and hired sex workers to “perform a ‘golden shower'” on the bed where the Obamas had slept.

The dossier came from an anonymous source, and Trump was quick to dismiss it as “FAKE NEWS” and attempt to shut down any allegations that he has ties to Russia. He called the publication of the document a “POLITICAL WITCH HUNT” and questioned whether we were “living in Nazi Germany” or not. Honestly, probably yes.

https://twitter.com/RevDaniel/status/818996047271919616

Obama presents #JoeBiden with Presidential Medal of Freedom

Joe Biden and Barack Obama are pretty good friends. This we know. They hug a lot. It’s nice to watch. It’s something that we will probably all miss quite a bit when Trump and Pence start ruining lives on January 20th, but at least we will always have the memories.

Obama bid Biden quite a goodbye on Thursday when he surprised him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the nation’s highest honour. Biden and his wife Jill had been invited to the White House for a “private farewell” which turned out to be a presentation of the award.

Biden cried. Obama called him his brother. They hugged. People wrote think pieces about how Biden’s sensitivity was such a positive influence to young American men today. It was beautiful.

TheLiberal.ie gets sued for plagiarism

TheLiberal.ie have been accused of stealing other journalists’ stories many times. In response to these accusations, they have decided to block people on social media and pretend to give away Penneys vouchers. It’s an unethical, flawed system, and yet Leo Sherlock and his team (?) have been pretty much getting away it. Until this week.

On Monday, The Times reported that The Liberal was to be sued over plagiarism allegations made by journalists. CCC Nuacht have accused Sherlock of stealing court reports multiple times between 2015 and 2016. Apparently, Leo has yet to respond to the claim.

Instead, The Liberal was mysteriously taken offline following the report of the allegations. According to a tweet, they were down for scheduled maintenance. Their Facebook page was also inactive for a short period of time.

https://twitter.com/NM_irl/status/817916664620707840

#TKWhitaker dies, aged 100

Monday also saw the passing of economist and public servant TK Whitaker. Whitaker has been hailed as the “architect of modern Ireland” for his progressive policy reforms as former secretary general of the Department of Finance in the 50s and 60s. He also spent four years in the Seanad where he spoke regularly about issues in the North and Ireland’s economy.

Whitaker had just turned 100 years old last month. His funeral took place on Wednesday and was attended by Michael D Higgins, Mary McAleese, and Michael Noonan.

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Jade Hayden 144 posts 0 comments

Jade Hayden has an MA in journalism, a degree in English, and a house rabbit who sleeps in her bed sometimes. You'll often find her wearing glasses, fixing her fringe, and complaining about the amount of time she spends on public transport. Jade is also the editor of HeadStuff's topical section, and she'd love if you sent your submissions over to [email protected].

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