There is a hot new play currently running off-Broadway in New York.
From the website: “Fatherland is the true story of an 18-year-old son who turned in his father to the FBI for his militant role in the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. Fast-paced and powerful, Fatherland has landed off-Broadway following a sold-out Los Angeles run which the LA Times hails “will leave you shaken.” This compelling tale is told verbatim from public statements, case evidence, and official court transcripts from the explosive trial that ignited a media frenzy and grabbed headlines nationwide.”
Or, as Brett T. asks at Twitchy, “So now we have January 6, the play?”
Just in time for the November election, this “true story” play running in New York tells the story of young Jackson Reffitt and his father, Guy, who is currently serving 7.5 years in prison for wearing a firearm during the protests following the 2020 election. According to reports, Guy Reffitt never drew his weapon, never assaulted a police officer, and never entered the Capitol building. Yet he’s locked in prison for 7.5 years and spending 23 hours per day locked down in solitary confinement for being in the Capitol while wearing a holstered pistol as part of the crowd supporting Donald Trump.
Exactly why is Jackson’s father in prison? Well, he’s currently rotting away behind bars because Jackson called the FBI and reported his father for participating in the January 6 “insurrection,” while giving federal authorities all the evidence they would need to convict him. If I could ask Jackson one question (he’s currently much too busy studying political science when he isn’t making appearances on MSNBC or CNN or doing interviews with the Washington Post to respond to someone like me), it would be this: have you seen any of the coverage of what happened after Donald Trump was elected in 2016 and if so, how can you sleep at night after betraying your own father?
Apparently, he manages somehow. On Morning Joe, young Reffitt complained, “It was the hardest decision I’ve ever made, and it continues to haunt me to this day. But I don’t regret it.”
Perhaps you don’t regret it today, but you will regret it eventually. You didn’t just betray your father by reporting his conversations with your mother to the FBI. You’ve also destroyed your family. You’ve got a fat GoFundMe account for college tuition, but what about your younger sister, Peyton? How does she pay for school?
Three years ago, Jackson magnanimously posted on X (Twitter), “Yes I’m the kid on cnn [SIC] I’m sorry I probably won’t get around to responding to everyone. My mom and my sisters are absolutely ruined about the news from what I did. This is the first they are hearing about my involvement in my dad’s arrest. Please send them love in any form.”
I do send them all the love and sympathy I have, but that won’t get your father out of prison, will it? A little over a year later Jackson posted, “My father could have possibly been home by now getting mental help if he took a plea deal.”
Wow. Are you kidding me? Would this mental help be taking place in a “reeducation camp,” by any chance? There is supreme irony in naming a play Fatherland that is about a boy betraying his father for the sake of the nation/state. The playwrights obviously intended the make the connection between Donald Trump and Hitler, but the far more real connection is between Jackson Reffitt and the Hitler Youth, the Hitler Jugend. That’s exactly what the Nazi did — turn families against each other.
Gutes Deutsch.
I have only one final thing to say: Free Guy!
John Leonard is a freelance writer. He blogs at southernprose.com. His books can be found at LeonardBooks.net.
Image: AT via Magic Studio
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