Not okay (Image via video still)

I loved Mary Hart.

When I was a kid, becoming interested in current entertainment and also developing a fascination for stars of the past, Mary and her legs were the image of Entertainment Tonight, which was creating a wholly new way of informing the public of such things as box-office takes, mega-deals and behind-the-scenes (though usually star-friendly) gossip.

But seeing her emcee Trump's hate fest at Mount Rushmore Friday really killed those good feelings. Mary gushed about the crowd, throwing an unmistakable white supremacist “okay” symbol with both hands. It wasn't an accident; in context, it was a totally weird place to even make that gesture (she wasn't saying “okay,” for example).

And to avoid any subtlety, her gesture — which came on the night Trump trashed the trashing of Confederate monuments and the “new far-left fascism” and was rife with “us vs. them” — was accentuated by her wearing of a white cape.

Damn close to a robe, Mar'.

Cancel culture can be dicy. I think if someone says or does something objectionable and it was an obvious lapse and they're sorry, it can be ridiculous to see them dragged forever. But there is no way to tell someone they have to keep room in their heart for a person who is aligning herself with hate, and with clear eyes.

Mary Hart isn't casting her lot with Trump in 2015, when he was a jerk but an unknown quantity as a leader; or 2016, when he was arguably pretty blatantly racist, but still wasn't fully exposed. She is casting her lot with him four months away from what could be a thumping by the American public, and if it is, it will be because we know exactly who and what he is: a vile, unapologetic, gutless, treasonous, incompetent, self-motivated racist.

Dah-dah-dah-dah-da-da.

I got my entertainment news — and in a then-new way — from Mary Hart, so seeing her do an unmistakably purposeful white supremacy sign is ... look away, look away, look away, Dixie Whatley. pic.twitter.com/3wryReopTc

— Boy Culture Blog (@mattrett) July 4, 2020