It was back in July when NBC Universal declared it would no longer be doing business with Donald Trump.
He wasnt a frontrunner for president then; he was never supposed to be. His candidacy was a joke, and there was no reason to think it would ever be anything else.
We didnt know back then how thirsty so much of the GOP primary electorate was for Trumps brand of straight-talking xenophobic racism.
It was that racism that convinced NBC along with a host of other major corporations to cancel business dealings with Trump. In his campaign launch speech Trump called undocumented immigrants crossing our southern border rapists, and thanks to a concerted effort by immigration activists, Trump was widely condemned.
We knew who he was back then.
Now his racism is winked at, accepted as part of his impish Trumpishness. Trump says wacky things! Its part of his brand! No need to take the horrific things he says seriously, even as he and Ben Carson battle it out for the lead in poll after poll.
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This weekend Trump will come home to NBC to host Saturday Night Live. And why not? The outright racism of his campaign launch has become a punch line. The ratings are sure to go through the roof. Ill watch, and I havent watched an episode for years.
Why shouldnt NBC go back on its promise? Corporations dont make moral decisions, they make business decisions. Back in July it was good business for NBC to end its relationship with Trump. Four short months later, its good business to have Trump revive SNLs flagging ratings, if only for one night.
But people can make moral decisions. And Ive been nursing this fantasy that one of the cast members will take an enormous risk, interrupt the show ideally, during Trumps monologue and on live television deliver some ugly truth right to Trumps face.
Heres what Id like to hear:
Mr. Trump, I have to interrupt you for a moment, and tell you Im not going to do this show with you tonight. After what I have to say, I probably wont be allowed to do the show ever again, but I still have to say what I have to say.
You shouldnt be on this stage. You dont belong here. Richard Pryor was on this stage. George Carlin was on this stage. These were men who saw ugliness in the world and used laughter to make sure we all saw it too.
You wouldnt understand what they did. You cant see the ugliness they saw. You cant see it because you are that ugliness.
You think its funny to call women pigs. You think its funny to call people looking for a better life for their families rapists. You think comedy is you looking down at people from your ugly tower and pointing and laughing at them.
You dont know what funny is. You dont know what decency is. You dont belong on this stage, and I sure as hell wont share it with you.
That wont happen, of course. Its too much to ask someone who has spent his or her entire career working toward the pinnacle of achievement for a sketch comedian. Lorne Michaels is still too powerful. The professional blow would be too great.
The cast, the writers, and the crew of SNL should never have been in this position in the first place. They shouldnt have to grit their teeth and smile while working with someone whose overt racism is so ugly the shows parent corporation essentially fired the guy just months earlier.
Theyll make jokes about the whole debacle, of course. They may even mock NBC execs for their craven push for ratings. But itll be gentle, all in good fun. A wink, a nod.
And Donald Trump, who never recanted his assertion that undocumented immigrants are rapists, who wants to deport every last one of them, break up families, and build a monstrous wall to keep them separate, will smile with the cast at the end of the night, thank the musical guest, and continue campaigning knowing there is no corner of American culture where he wont be welcomed.