;)
June 15, 2023
Afternoon Update:
Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a 1978 law aimed at keeping Native American adoptees with their tribes and traditions, handing a victory to tribes that had argued that a blow to the law would upend the basic principles that have allowed them to govern themselves. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the majority opinion. She was joined by six other justices. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr., dissented." A Guardian story is here.
Trump Vows to Make America Great a Banana Republic. Jonathan Swan, et al., of the New York Times: "When Donald J. Trump responded to his latest indictment by promising to appoint a special prosecutor if he's re-elected to 'go after' President Biden and his family, he signaled that a second Trump term would fully jettison the post-Watergate norm of Justice Department independence.... In his first term, Mr. Trump gradually ramped up pressure on the Justice Department, eroding its traditional independence from White House political control. He is now unabashedly saying he will throw that effort into overdrive if he returns to power.... Two of the most important figures in this effort work at the same Washington-based organization, the Center for Renewing America: Jeffrey B. Clark and Russell T. Vought. During the Trump presidency, Mr. Vought served as the director of the Office of Management and Budget. Mr. Clark, who oversaw the Justice Department's civil and environmental divisions, was the only senior official at the department who tried to help Mr. Trump overturn the 2020 election.... They are condemning Mr. Biden and Democrats for what they claim is the politicization of the justice system, but at the same time pushing an intellectual framework that a future Republican president might use to justify directing individual law enforcement investigations."
Merrick Thwarts the Revolution. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Twice in recent months, allies of ... Donald J. Trump have used violent language to criticize the criminal charges brought against him, calling for vengeance and encouraging Mr. Trump's supporters to respond to the indictments as though they were acts of war.... Both times — first in April in Manhattan and then on Tuesday in Miami -- ... the crowds that actually showed up for Mr. Trump were relatively tame and fairly small. But ... scholars of political violence said ... that after the cataclysmic events of Jan. 6, 2021, many Trump supporters have become more reluctant to act on statements by Mr. Trump's allies suggesting that a second American Revolution might be coming or calling for civil war.... One reason for the absence of conflict in Miami, [scholar Rachel] Kleinfeld wrote in an email, was that the prosecutions of Jan. 6 protesters ... have had 'a real deterrent effect' on those who might have once considered violence. She also said that many people remain 'angry at Trump for failing to provide monetary support for those jailed on his behalf after Jan. 6.'"
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Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Under indictment and enraged..., Donald J. Trump -- with the help of Republican allies, social media supporters and Fox News -- is lashing out at his successor.... The accusations against [President] Biden are being presented without any evidence that they are true, and Mr. Trump's claims of an unfair prosecution came even after Attorney General Merrick B. Garland appointed a special counsel specifically to insulate the inquiries from political considerations. But that hardly seems to be the point for Mr. Trump and his allies as they make a concerted effort to smear Mr. Biden and erode confidence in the legal system. Just hours after his arraignment, Mr. Trump promised payback if he wins the White House in 2024.... The response from Mr. Biden and his advisers has been studious silence.... But if [Mr. Trump] does become Mr. Biden's opponent for the presidency again, the strategy of avoidance may eventually have to change."
Perry Stein of the Washington Post: "Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday afternoon defended the Justice Department's classified-documents investigation of ...Donald Trump, who has been calling Jack Smith, the special counsel in charge of the probe, a 'thug' and a 'lunatic.' In his first public comments since Trump was indicted last week, Garland would not answer specific questions about the investigation, but said that he had faith in the 'integrity' of the probe and would let the indictment and future court filings speak for the Justice Department. 'Mr. Smith is a veteran, career prosecutor. He has assembled a group of talented prosecutors and agents who share his commitment to integrity and the rule of law,' Garland said at an event at Justice Department headquarters...."
Josh Dawsey & Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post: Last fall, one of Donald Trump's attorneys, "Christopher Kise, wanted to quietly approach [the Department of] Justice to see if he could negotiate a settlement that would preclude charges, hoping Attorney General Merrick Garland and the department would want an exit ramp to avoid prosecuting a former president.... But Trump was not interested after listening to other lawyers who urged a more pugilistic approach.... That quiet entreaty last fall was one of many occasions when lawyers and advisers sought to get Trump to take a more cooperative stance in a bid to avoid [prosecution].... Since the National Archives first asked for the return of presidential documents in Trump's possession in February 2021 and until a grand jury issued its indictment this month, Trump was repeatedly stubborn and eschewed opportunities to avoid criminal charges, according to people with knowledge of the case.... Trump time and again rejected the advice from lawyers and advisers who urged him to cooperate and instead took the advice of Tom Fitton, the head of the conservative group Judicial Watch, and a range of others who told him he could legally keep the documents...." MB: Tom Fitton is not a lawyer. ~~~
~~~ Nikki Ramirez of Rolling Stone, republished by Yahoo! News, reprises much of the content of the WashPo story. MB: It is fairly mind-boggling that an elderly person who is in peril of years of incarceration would follow legal advice from a crackpot with no legal training over the advice of several of his own attorneys.
** Michael Schmidt & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Aileen M. Cannon, the Federal District Court judge assigned to preside over ... Donald J. Trump's classified documents case, has scant experience running criminal trials, calling into question her readiness to handle what is likely to be an extraordinarily complex and high-profile courtroom clash. Judge Cannon, 42, has been on the bench since November 2020, when Mr. Trump gave her a lifetime appointment shortly after he lost re-election. She had not previously served as any kind of judge, and because about 98 percent of federal criminal cases are resolved with plea deals, she has had only a limited opportunity to learn how to preside over a trial.... A New York Times review .. identified [only] four [cases] that went to trial. Each was a relatively routine matter.... Judge Cannon's suitability to handle such a high-stakes and high-profile case has already attracted scrutiny amid widespread perceptions that she demonstrated bias in the former president's favor last year.... In that case, she shocked legal experts across the ideological divide by disrupting the investigation -- including suggesting that Mr. Trump gets special protections as a former president that any other target of a search warrant would not receive -- before a conservative appeals court shut her down, ruling that she never had legitimate legal authority to intervene....
"Lawyers who have appeared before Judge Cannon in run-of-the-mill criminal cases ... said she is demonstrably inexperienced and can bristle when her actions are questioned or unexpected issues arise.... The Trump case is likely to raise myriad complexities that would be challenging for any judge -- let alone one who will be essentially learning on the job.... Judge Cannon's [Senate Judiciary Committee] questionnaire answers put forward few experiences or accomplishments that clearly distinguished her as seasoned and demonstrably ready for the powers and responsibilities of a lifetime appointment to be a federal judge." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: An argument I keep hearing pundits make is, "Well, she may not know much, but she has clerks who will set her straight." Really? She had clerks last year when she made those wild-assed, contra-Constitutional rulings in favor of Trump, and her clerks either did not set her straight or she did not heed them. ~~~
~~~ Alex Wagner of MSNBC on Aileen Cannon's so-called professional experience:
Maybe Jack Smith Has Another Trump Indictment Up His Sleeve. Jamie Frevelle of Mediaite: "While it's only speculation, Ryan Goodman and Andrew Weissmann write in The Atlantic that none of the 37 counts outlined in the 49-page indictment include a charge of dissemination of classified information, a 'steeper' charge. The reason for this, they suspect, is because these charges were made in Florida -- but the possible dissemination, or communication of information or materials may have happened in New Jersey.... The recording they mention is the one obtained by CNN in which Trump is heard 'waving around documents' and saying, on tape, 'Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this' and 'This was done by the military and given to me.'... There are concerns that [Aileen Cannon] may not be objective when it comes to the former president. There is also the chance that Cannon could 'pocket-veto' the charges by scheduling the trial for a date after the 2024 election...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Fun Fact. Sophie Tatum of the Messenger: If found guilty in the documents case before election day 2024, Trump will lose his right to vote for himself in Florida.
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Mike Ives of the New York Times elaborates on Fox "News" running a chyron last night that called President Biden a "wannabe dictator": "The onscreen text appeared briefly at the bottom of a split-screen broadcast that showed President Biden and former President Trump speaking from respective podiums, at the White House and a Trump golf club in Bedminster, N.J. 'Wannabe dictator speaks at the White House after having his political rival arrested,' the chyron read. It did not refer to Mr. Biden by name, but the implication was clear.... A spokeswoman for Fox News said, 'The chyron was taken down immediately and was addressed.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Michael Crowley, et al., of the New York Times: "The Biden administration has been negotiating quietly with Iran to limit Tehran's nuclear program and free imprisoned Americans, according to officials from three countries, in part of a larger U.S. effort to ease tensions and reduce the risk of a military confrontation with the Islamic Republic. The U.S. goal is to reach an informal, unwritten agreement, which some Iranian officials are calling a 'political cease-fire.' It would aim to prevent a further escalation in a long-hostile relationship that has grown even more fraught as Iran builds up a stockpile of highly enriched uranium close to bomb-grade purity, supplies Russia with drones for use in Ukraine and brutally cracks down on domestic political protests."
Max Bearak of the New York Times: "... American companies are paying around $1 billion a year to Russia's state-owned nuclear agency to buy the fuel that generates more than half of the United States' emissions-free energy. It is one of the most significant remaining flows of money from the United States to Russia, and it continues despite strenuous efforts among U.S. allies to sever economic ties with Moscow. The enriched uranium payments are made to subsidiaries of Rosatom, which in turn is closely intertwined with Russia's military apparatus.... No American-owned company enriches uranium.... But building a new enriched uranium supply chain will take years -- and significantly more government funding than currently allocated."
Rachel Siegel & Abha Bhattari of the Washington Post: "The Federal Reserve is leaving interest rates unchanged for the first time since spring 2022, signaling a new chapter in the central bank's fraught fight against inflation. The decision at the end of the Fed's two-day policy meeting on Wednesday was widely expected, after a long run of rate hikes pushed the central bank's benchmark rate up by five percentage points in 15 months. The Fed also signaled more rate hikes would come before the end of the year, according to economic projections also released Wednesday, though it was unclear when exactly those increases might happen." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: "The Senate voted Wednesday to confirm Dale Ho to a lifetime federal judgeship, a major victory for progressives who have been anxiously awaiting action on Ho's nomination for nearly two years. Ho was confirmed 50 to 49 to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Every Republican voted no. Every Democrat, including the two independents who caucus with them, voted to confirm him, except for one: Joe Manchin of West Virginia.... Ho, 46, is considered one of the nation's leading voting rights lawyers. He's been the director of the American Civil Liberties Union's voting rights project since 2013 and was previously a staff attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He argued two cases against the Trump administration at the Supreme Court, one of which successfully challenged ... Donald Trump's plan to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census.... [Ho] had his Judiciary Committee hearing in December 2021. But since then, Ho's nomination stalled amid stiff GOP opposition and Democratic absences...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: But Ho wrote nothing, nothing about flamenco dancing or tomatoes! What if he has to hear a case in which a flamenco dancer sues a tomato producer for not growing cancer-preventing tomatoes? Ho will be totally unprepared! (See Alex Wagner segment embedded above for context.)
John Wagner & Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "The Republican-led House voted to table a measure Wednesday that would censure Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) for pressing allegations that ... Donald Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with Russia. Twenty Republicans voted with Democrats to table the measure -- effectively killing it -- in a vote of 225-196. Two Republicans and five Democrats voted present. The resolution also sought to fine Schiff, the former House Intelligence Committee chairman, $16 million, which its sponsor, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), says is half the cost of an investigation into the alleged collusion.... As Schiff spoke to reporters after the vote, Luna rolled by on a foot scooter and interrupted him by saying she'll file the same measure next week. Schiff, meanwhile, said it 'showed a lot of courage' for 20 of his Republican colleagues to vote against the 'crazy MAGA folks.'"
Presidential Race 2024
Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "Top Democratic strategists, including current advisers to President Biden and former U.S. senators, met last week with former Republicans who oppose Donald Trump at the offices of a downtown D.C. think tank. Their mission: to figure out how to best subvert a potential third-party presidential bid by the group No Labels, an effort they all agreed risked undermining Biden's reelection campaign and reelecting ... Donald Trump to the White House.... [There were] about 40 people in the room and others appearing on Zoom.... Attendees included former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, Democratic National Committee senior adviser Cedric L. Richmond and Stephanie Cutter, a former campaign adviser to Barack Obama who has worked with the Biden team. They were joined by former senators Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), along with representatives of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, former Weekly Standard publisher Bill Kristol and Lucy Caldwell, a former Republican consultant...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Gary Fineout & Brakkton Booker of Politico: "Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is joining the crowded Republican field for president, becoming the first Hispanic in the race who also contends he can broaden the appeal for Republicans nationally -- especially to Hispanics. Suarez, 45, filed official federal paperwork on Wednesday, just one day after Donald Trump's arraignment in downtown Miami.... Suarez has touted the city's low crime rate and economic successes, but he has lately been dogged by news reports about a developer who hired him to allegedly secure permits for a stalled real estate project at the same time the developer was trying to win approval for a city project."
Donald Trump deliberately framed this absurd standoff with the government of the United States to prove that he could still stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and wouldn't lose any voters. -- Judge J. Michael Luttig, Ret. ~~~
~~~ Isaac Arnsdorf, et al., of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump is seeking to present the next election as a stark choice: whether to return to power a twice-impeached, twice-indicted former president so that he can beat his prosecution and exact revenge on his political opponents.... Although he makes sure to tie up his fate with that of the country and his MAGA movement, he is equally clear about what he stands to lose: his own personal freedom.... More broadly, he has begun staking out a legal and political defense that relies on misrepresentations of facts and law.... In the process, Trump is now determinedly delegitimizing the legal system, as he has tried to do in the past with public health measures, the intelligence community, elections and other people or agencies he views as opposing him."
Ruth Graham & Elizabeth Dias of the New York Times: "After overwhelmingly voting to finalize the expulsion of two churches with female pastors, Southern Baptists voted on Wednesday to further expand restrictions on women in church leadership, potentially opening up hundreds of new churches to investigation and expulsions. Delegates to the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in New Orleans approved an amendment to their constitution that their churches must have 'only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture.'"
Capitalism Is Gross. Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "The manager of a morgue at Harvard Medical School has been charged with selling body parts from donated cadavers and allowing buyers to come to the morgue to choose which parts they wanted, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday. Prosecutors said that the manager, Cedric Lodge, 55, and his wife, Denise Lodge, 63, both of Goffstown, N.H., and three others had been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pennsylvania on charges of conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods. A sixth person, Jeremy Pauley, 41, of Bloomsburg, Pa., was charged separately, prosecutors said. A seventh, Candace Chapman Scott, of Little Rock, Ark., was previously indicted in Arkansas, prosecutors said." An NBC Boston story is here.
Beyond the Beltway
California. Livia Albeck-Ripka of the New York Times: "Two men from Orange County, Calif., including a Marine, have been arrested and are facing federal charges after being accused of using a Molotov cocktail to firebomb a Costa Mesa clinic operated by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America last year, federal authorities said. The men, Tibet Ergul, 21, of Irvine, and Chance Brannon, 23, of San Juan Capistrano, were arrested on Wednesday morning and charged with using an explosive or fire to damage property, the Justice Department said in a news release."
Mississippi Is Still Mississippi. Daniel Wu of the Washington Post: "Six sheriff's deputies responding to a report of drug activity at a Mississippi home in January deactivated their body cameras before forcibly entering the house -- despite not having a search warrant, a lawsuit alleges. Once inside, the Rankin County Sheriff's Office deputies allegedly handcuffed two Black men and subjected them to a night of abuse. While Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker were subdued, the deputies beat them, hurled racist slurs and repeatedly used Tasers on the men, the federal lawsuit filed Monday by Jenkins and Parker states. The deputies, who are White, also waterboarded Jenkins and Parker, pelted them with eggs and attempted to sexually assault them with a sex toy, according to [a] lawsuit [Jenkins and Parker have filed]. The encounter ended nearly two hours later when a deputy placed a gun in Jenkins's mouth and shot him, permanently injuring his face, the lawsuit alleges."
Montana. Phil Helsel of NBC News: "A Montana man who fired an AK-style rifle at the home of a lesbian woman and said he wanted to 'get rid of' gay people in his small town was sentenced to 18 years in prison Tuesday, prosecutors said. John Howald, 46, opened fire at the woman's home in Basin in March 2020 and set off to shoot others before he was interrupted by a sheriff's deputy the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Montana said in a statement Wednesday. Howald was shouting anti-gay slurs and said he wanted to 'clean' the small community by killing gay and lesbian people, the office said. No one was injured in the gunfire."
Nevada. Mike Ives of the New York Times: "Nine women accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault in a Nevada lawsuit on Wednesday, less than two months after the state changed its statute of limitations for civil cases involving that crime. The women said in the lawsuit that the assaults took place in Nevada between 1979 and 1992, some in Mr. Cosby's hotel suite in Las Vegas. They said that Mr. Cosby, now 85, had drugged or attempted to drug each of them before the assaults."
New York. Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "A grand jury on Wednesday voted to indict a Marine veteran who was arrested last month after killing a homeless man on a subway car in a case that created a political firestorm in New York City and beyond, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The case against the veteran, Daniel Penny, was brought by the Manhattan district attorney's office, which had charged Mr. Penny with manslaughter in the death of the homeless man, Jordan Neely, but needed the grand jury's approval to proceed with the case." An ABC News story is here.
Texas, California. Jill Cowan & Shawn Hubler of the New York Times: Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Tx.) sent "a group of Latin American asylum seekers on Wednesday [to California. Abbott acknowledged in a statement that he has bussed] at least 42 migrants, including children and toddlers..., to Los Angeles.... State officials said Los Angeles nonprofits had been informed in advance of the relocation, unlike what happened before two planeloads of migrants arrived in Sacramento earlier this month with the backing of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida.... It was not immediately clear on Wednesday whether the migrants had agreed to travel to California or what they had been told about the journey west."
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Thursday is here: "U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in Brussels to host a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which includes ministers from almost 50 countries assisting Kyiv's war efforts.... Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reiterated Thursday that financial and military aid was making a difference on the battlefield, as Ukraine's highly anticipated counteroffensive begins. He said 'fierce fighting' was underway as the alliance moves to strengthen defense spending. Earlier this week, Stoltenberg met with [President] Biden in Washington to discuss the ongoing conflict.... More than 2 million Ukrainian children have been forced to flee since the war began, according to UNICEF.... Ukrainian forces are making grinding advances in several directions in the early stages of their counteroffensive, according to officials."
U.K. Danica Kirka & Sylvia Hui of the AP: "Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament about the lockdown-flouting parties that undermined his credibility and contributed to his downfall, a committee of lawmakers said Thursday after a year-long investigation. A scathing report from the House of Commons Privileges Committee found that Johnson's actions and his response to the committee were such a flagrant violation of the rules that they warranted a 90-day suspension from Parliament. While a condemning indictment of the former prime minister's conduct, the recommendation is largely symbolic because Johnson angrily quit as a lawmaker Friday after the committee informed him of its conclusions." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times story is here. The Guardian is running a liveblog of developments.
News Ledes
New York Times: "Glenda Jackson, the two-time Oscar winner who renounced a successful film and stage career in her 50s to become a member of the British Parliament, then returned to the stage at 80 as the title character in 'King Lear,' died on Thursday at her home in Blackheath, London. She was 87." Jackson's Guardian obituary is here.
New York Times: "Robert Gottlieb, an illustrious editor at Simon & Schuster, Alfred A. Knopf and The New Yorker whose deft touch shaped a bibliophile's library of novels, nonfiction books and magazine articles by a pantheon of acclaimed writers from the middle to the late 20th century, died on Wednesday in Manhattan. He was 92."
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Reader Comments (12)
"Tom Fitton is not a lawyer."
Reminded me of the Marty Stuart performance I saw at a local theater last night. I enjoyed it.
People have a choice. They can listen to what they want to hear or to what they need to know.
Last night I chose the former.
The Pretender always does.
SINGING THE BLUES:
Blind Wille Johnson, Skip James, and Robert Johnson's plea keeps running through my mind:
"Oh, won't somebody tell me, if you can, where in the body is the soul of a man."
Someone once said that Trump reminded her of a "hollow man"–-the kinds of characters in literature that lack substance and will bend to any wind that will carry them along as long as it benefits them. This type can also be labeled as tragic–––"true that" as one might say to describe this character we are dealing with today.
PD,
Thinking about Robert Johnson, I’m reminded of his most startling song title, “If I had Possession Over Judgment Day”.
Given the nefarious and downright evil doings in Trump World, home of grifters, traitors, liars, schemers, bigots, and bastards, I’d enjoy that power for a day or so, as Johnson put it (sort of):
If I had possession over Judgement Day
Those maggoty MAGAts wouldn’t have no right to pray.
Amen.
@P.D.Pepe: You're likely right about Trump's being a "hollow man." I tend to think of "hollow people" as lacking not just moral character but also hope and personality and some sort of decent purpose in life. Trump to me is not as much hollow as he is stuffed with corruption, anger, cruelty, etc.
As for being a "tragic figure," I don't think Trump is one. A tragic figure has to have character and some redeeming qualities. The "tragedy" is that s/he does something reckless to undermine or overwhelm those good or even heroic qualities. I don't think Trump has now or ever had a single redeeming quality.
As for the use of the term tragedy, I think it is much misused (but not by you). People tend to refer to all sorts of random bad fortune as tragedies: sudden storms, train crashes, whatever. But a tragedy must be a self-inflicted wound. If you are killed in a random act of violence (or of God!) which is in no way your own fault, then it's not a tragedy. If you are killed because you took a stupid risk you knew better than to take, then, yes, that's a tragedy.
Just had a thought about the obsequious and debasing sycophancy of such as Jacketless Gym and Aunt Pittypat when it comes to their vociferous support for the most criminal asshole in US presidential history.
Sure, it might be that they’re true believers (Gym might be, but probably not AP who says whatever he thinks will make him important), but there might also be some fear in there too.
Both were instrumental in Fatty’s attempted takeover of the government. Gym Jordan, Mr. Subpoena Law and Order, turned tail and ran when he was subpoenaed. Aunt Pittypat tried every trick he could think of to keep from testifying before a grand jury in Georgia about the battery of Trump dirty tricks and his hand in it.
They are both solidly in the Guilty of Treason camp. And those shitheads are donning prison togs a dozen at a time, every day.
Both of these guys have to recognize what a snaky turncoat Trump can be. Should he find himself in the deep end, he would have no compunction about giving up two, three, a dozen congressional co-conspirators. He’d sell those bastards in a New York minute if he thought he could get a lighter sentence.
If he goes down, they might too.
Better get busy with the “Trump is innocent! Witch hunt!” bullshit.
And hope it works.
I think Marie has it just right about tragedy and Trump. Trump is no tragic figure. He is a thoroughly despicable creature with zero redeeming qualities. Nothing tragic about seeing a world class asshole hit the skids.
Nietzsche, in his work on the Birth of Tragedy, talks about classical tragedy (the Greek variety, mind you, but perhaps for all kinds) as a clash of Apollonian and Dionysian qualities: rationality, harmony, and restraint vs desire, instinct, and chaos.
Trump has plenty of the second, none of the first.
He also says something about the kinds of action that bring about tragic consequences. Action, he says, requires the veil of illusion, in other words, an idea or thought or impression of the world that causes a character to act out in ways that invite tragedy.
Some of this might apply to Trump, but there again, once you think about it, the veil of illusion idea indicates a masking of the part of the self that could save that character from disaster. There is no part of Trump, no core of decency, moderation, rationality that needs to be masked in order to do crazy shit.
Crazy shit is his middle name.
So, no. Nietzsche agrees with Marie.
Trump is just a piece of shit. No tragedy there.
Marie,
Couldn't agree more. Said the same thing in a letter to the editor in "Newsweek" in reaction to their cover story tommyrot about Bush II back in 2008 or so.
Can't find a copy of it now, lost to history and to Google as it appears to be, but I made the same argument then. To be a tragic figure, by dint of talent or effort you have to have to have achieved some remarkable height before your fall.
And when assessing the depth of the tragic fall, money is never the measure.
A good volume of ink (pixels) is being spent recently to discuss the issue of Judge Aileen Cannon as a potential "Get Out Of Jail Free" card and the many ways it could be played. And the discussions of the prospects are maddening.
But. Documents and Miami are not the only offense and venue for DiJiT. At some point, the same prosecutor (Smith) can bring the January 6th indictment, and even though there is no nominal overlap, the public will form opinions about how the docs case is handled, before the January 6 case gets moving (if it ever does). Smith has to be mindful of appearing scrupulously and demonstrably fair in the docs case, to avoid loss of public confidence for the other cases. A tough row to hoe, and an advantage to DiJiT in the short run, but not the long. I expect that Cannon will do some things that are so egregious the "sympathy vote" for DiJiT will erode. Not with MAGATs, because they are impenetrable, but with the rest (majority) of the country.
Meanwhile, it is clear that DiJiT will use his travails as campaign fodder, while Biden can't. Until after the D convention (nomination), at which point Biden should be able to shoot back with all tubes. Let us hope.
More bush-wah from Rightists proving again they are impervious to the benefits of education.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/06/15/abortion-transgender-christian-doctors/?
AK: "He also says something about the kinds of action that bring about tragic consequences. Action, he says, requires the veil of illusion, in other words, an idea or thought or impression of the world that causes a character to act out in ways that invite tragedy."
You and Marie are correct in terms of pinning the word tragic onto Fatty-- ( and other occurrences) -I wasn't clear, I suppose, because I don't view him as a tragic figure ––but I think what he has wrought is tragic.
P.D.
Yes.
If our country could be written as a character, by a contemporary Sandburg or Whitman maybe, it might be written as a tragedy hinging on the many broken and disappointed promises made at our birth..
to emulate Forrest, last night I lit a votive candle for a high school friend of my BIL that died this past weekend. It was a shock to him that Treat Williams passed because of a left-hand turn.