Commentary: From Rob Reiner, a life of political activism driven by compassion. From Trump, a grave dance

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

Whether you sat across the table from him or across the aisle, Rob Reiner left no doubt about what he cared about and was willing to fight for.I had lunch with him once at Pete’s Cafe in downtown L.A., where he was far less interested in what was on his plate than what was on his mind.He was advocating for local investments in early childhood development programs, using funds from the tobacco tax created by Proposition 10 in 1998, which he helped spearhead.I remember thinking that although political activism among celebrities was nothing new, Reiner was well beyond the easier tasks of making endorsements and hosting fundraisers.

He had an understanding of public policy failures and entrenched inequities, and he wanted to talk about the moral duty to address them and the financial benefits of doing so.“He was deeply passionate,” said Ben Austin, who was at that lunch and worked as an aide to Reiner at the time.“He was not just a Hollywood star … but a highly sophisticated political actor.”Reiner, who was found dead in his Brentwood home over the weekend along with his wife, Michele, also was co-founder of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which was instrumental in the fight to legalize same-sex marriage in California in 2008.Hours after Rob Reiner and his wife were murdered, President Trump blamed the beloved Hollywood figure for his own death.

It’s a new low, but also shows just how right Reiner was.Michele Singer Reiner was her husband’s “intellectual partner” as an activist, Austin said, even though he was usually the one whose face we saw.But Michele made her voice heard too, as she did when emailing me about the inexcusable crisis of veterans living on the street, including on the West L.A.

veterans administration campus at a time when it was loaded with empty buildings.I’d check on the progress and get back to her, and she’d check back agai...