Sunday
Jun072020
The Commentariat -- June 8, 2020
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
The New York Times' live updates of protest developments Monday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Monday are here.
Heather Caygle, et al., of Politico: "Top Democrats unveiled a major police reform bill Monday morning in an effort to galvanize public pressure into legislative action as protesters nationwide demand racial justice after the killing of George Floyd. The bill would make dramatic changes to police policy across the country and undo decades-old laws that Democrats and activists say has led to the deaths of black men and women at the hands of police officers.... House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said he plans to call the House back as soon as the bill is ready for a vote, likely before the end of June. But, Hoyer added, he's not as confident the Senate will pass the legislation given how the chamber has struggled in recent days to pass a bipartisan bill making lynching a federal crime."
The Cops Keep Killing People. Mark Berman, et al., of the Washington Post: "Protests against the use of deadly force by police swept across the country in 2015.... That year, The Washington Post began tallying how many people were shot and killed by police. By the end of 2015, officers had fatally shot nearly 1,000 people, twice as many as ever documented in one year by the federal government.... Since 2015, police have shot and killed 5,400 people.... The number killed has remained steady despite fluctuating crime rates, changeovers in big-city police leadership and a nationwide push for criminal justice reform.... Even amid the coronavirus pandemic and orders that kept millions at home for weeks, police shot and killed 463 people through the first week of June -- 49 more than the same period in 2019. In May, police shot and killed 110 people, the most in any one month since The Post began tracking it. The year over year consistency has confounded those who have spent decades studying the issue."
Virginia. Gabrielle Harmon of WTVR Richmond: "The Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney said a hate crime investigation was underway against the self-proclaimed president of the Virginia KKK. Harry Rogers appeared in Henrico Court Monday morning where he agreed to receive a court-appointed attorney. Rogers, 36, of Hanover, was formally charged with attempted malicious wounding (felony), destruction of property (felony), and assault and battery (misdemeanor) after police said he drove his pickup truck into a group of protesters Sunday in Lakeside.... No one was seriously injured physically."
Washington State. Linda Givetash of NBC News: "A man drove into a Seattle crowd protesting the death in police custody of George Floyd before shooting one of the demonstrators on Sunday, police said. The suspect was detained and the 27-year-old man who was shot in the arm was taken to hospital by firefighters, police said in a tweet. Officials did not name the shooter or the victim.... Video shared on Twitter by a bystander at the incident showed a man emerging from a vehicle that appeared to have struck a barricade at an intersection. The driver appeared to be carrying a gun in one hand as he ran into the crowd. The sound of what appeared to be gunshots could be heard on video of the incident from the scene."
Polls don't mean too much at this point, BUT this is ~~~
~~~ Bad News for Bozo. Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump's overall job approval rating dropped 7 percentage points over the past month, according to a survey released Monday that also shows him trailing former Vice President Joe Biden by 14 points ahead of the general election in November. The CNN poll showed that 38 percent of respondents said they approve of the 'way Donald Trump is handling his job as president,' and a majority -- 57 percent -- indicated that they disapprove." ~~~
~~~ What's the Matter with Men? Chuck Todd, et al., of NBC News: "Overall, our poll shows ... Joe Biden leading Trump by 7 points among registered voters, 49 percent to 42 percent, which is unchanged from April.... Biden is ahead of Trump by 21 points (!!!) among women, 56 percent to 35 percent. That's compared with Hillary Clinton's 13-point advantage with women, per the 2016 exit poll. And Trump is up among men by 8 points, 50 percent to 42 percent -- it was 11 points in the 2016 exit poll."
~~~~~~~~~~~
The Washington Post's live updates of protest developments Sunday are here. The Post also has live updates for events in D.C., Maryland & Virginia; a crowd of tens of thousands is expected in the District. New York Times Sunday updates are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Lara Jakes & Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "President Trump said on Sunday that he had ordered National Guard troops to begin withdrawing from the nation's capital, after a week of relentless criticism over his threat to militarize the government's response to nationwide protests.... The president said the National Guard soldiers would withdraw 'now that everything is under perfect control.... Far fewer protesters showed up last night than anticipated!' (In fact, the daylong protest in Washington on Saturday appeared larger than earlier rallies over the past week.)... Mr. Trump announced his order on Twitter as three former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff harshly condemned him for using force to drive protesters back from the White House and threatening to send troops to quell protests in other cities. They warned that the military risked losing credibility with the American people....
"Colin L. Powell, a retired Army general who was the first African-American national security adviser, Joint Chiefs chairman and secretary of state, called Mr. Trump's actions 'dangerous for our democracy' and 'dangerous for our country.'... 'We have a military to fight our enemies, not our own people,' Mike Mullen, a retired Navy admiral who was the top military adviser to Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, told 'Fox News Sunday.'... Martin E. Dempsey, a retired Army general who was the Joint Chiefs chairman during the Obama administration, criticized the Trump administration's comparisons of the demonstrations to battlegrounds as 'inflammatory language' that could damage the military's relationship with the public." ~~~
~~~ From His Bunker, Donnie Couldn't See Mitt. Paul LeBlanc & Ted Barrett of CNN: "Republican Sen. Mitt Romney on Sunday marched in a Washington, DC, protest after the death of George Floyd in a break from other GOP lawmakers who have largely aligned behind ... Donald Trump's militarized response to nationwide unrest.Romney told Washington Post reporter that he was participating in the demonstration 'to make sure that people understand that black lives matter.' The Utah senator later tweeted a photo of himself at the protest with the caption 'Black Lives Matter,' becoming one of the most prominent GOP figures to do so.... Joining [an] evangelical group was 'spontaneous, [a Romney] aide said, adding that Romney was in DC and intended to march Sunday. He came across a group of 1,000 to 1,500 evangelicals from the DC area near the Capitol and joined their march for an hour and a half, the aide added." ~~~
This is my father, George Romney, participating in a Civil Rights march in the Detroit suburbs during the late 1960s—“Force alone will not eliminate riots,” he said. “We must eliminate the problems from which they stem.” pic.twitter.com/SzrcAyfPD8
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) June 6, 2020
Kristen Holmes & Sarah Westwood of CNN: "After a weekend of massive peaceful protests around the country, White House officials are currently deliberating a plan for ... Donald Trump to address the nation this week on issues related to race and national unity, as Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson hinted in an interview with CNN on Sunday and a senior administration official said was under serious consideration. Many allies of the President spent the last week distraught as they watched Trump fumble his response to the police killing of George Floyd, only to follow his perceived silence on the resulting racial tensions with a federal law enforcement crackdown on the protesters near his fortified doorstep." Mrs. McC: I'm pretty sure we're going to find out there are very fine people on both sides. ~~~
~~~ AND, while we're at it, we might as well note that Ivanka Trump, too, has been reflecting about the protests and --luckily for all of us -- shares her thoughts. Thanks to Anonymous for the link:
David Martin of CBS News: "In a heated and contentious debate in the Oval Office last Monday morning, President Trump demanded the military put 10,000 active duty troops into the streets immediately, a senior administration official told CBS News. Attorney General William Barr, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley objected to the demand, the official said. In an attempt to satisfy Mr. Trump's demand, Esper and Milley used a call with the nation's governors later that morning to implore them to call up the National Guard in their own states, the official said.... On 'Face the Nation' Sunday, Barr disputed the characterization of the Oval Office meeting, calling it 'completely false' and denying the president demanded active-duty troops in the streets immediately, rather than having them on standby." Mrs. McC: Because Bill Barr always tells the truth. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Timothy O'Brien of Bloomberg: "The St. John's gig was a raw abuse of Trump's powers, a stunt made possible by deploying state violence to clear a path through peaceful protesters saddened and angered by George Floyd's death at the hands of police.... Even if the staging ultimately doesn't serve him well electorally, it will still serve him well personally. Because however unraveled he may be about weak poll numbers and social disarray he can't control, performing at St. John's advanced one of his few long-term goals: promoting Trumpism so that it endures beyond his presidency.... Whenever his tenure ends, I imagine Trump will attempt to start or buy a media company that can compete with Fox News and do battle with everyone else..., remain[ing] a force in Republican politics, darkening the national conversation.... [H]e crossed his Rubicon last week. Don't expect him to let go of anything." (Firewalled) --s
Rebecca Morin of USA Today: "The perception of police by white Americans has dropped by double digits in just one week, as police continue to target peaceful protestors, bystanders and even journalists amid nationwide demonstrations focusing on systemic racism facing black Americans. Perceptions also have declined across all racial groups following the death of George Floyd in police custody, according to a new survey from the Democracy Fund + UCLA Nationscape Project." --s
Minnesota. AP: "A majority of the members of the Minneapolis City Council said Sunday they support disbanding the city's police department, an aggressive stance that comes just as the state has launched a civil rights investigation after George Floyd's death. Nine of the council's 12 members appeared with activists at a rally in a city park Sunday afternoon and vowed to end policing as the city currently knows it. Council member Jeremiah Ellison promised that the council would 'dismantle' the department.... Disbanding an entire department has happened before. In 2012, with crime rampant in Camden, New Jersey, the city disbanded its police department and replaced it with a new force that covered Camden County. Compton, California, took the same step in 2000, shifting its policing to Los Angeles County. It was a step that then-Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department was considering for Ferguson, Missouri, after the death of Michael Brown. The city eventually reached an agreement short of that but one that required massive reforms overseen by a court-appointed mediator." ~~~
~~~ Libor Jany & Andy Mannix of the Star Tribune: "Long before former officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd's neck, the Third Precinct in south Minneapolis had a reputation for being home to police officers who played by their own rules. One officer kicked a handcuffed suspect in the face, leaving his jaw in pieces. Officers beat and pistol-whipped a suspect in a parking lot on suspicion of low-level drug charges. Others harassed residents of a south Minneapolis housing project as they headed to work, and allowed prostitution suspects to touch their genitals for several minutes before arresting them in vice stings.... While 40% of the city's residents are people of color, 74% of all Minneapolis police cases with force involve them. Black people are on the receiving end of officers' force 63% of the time.... 'It was kind of like a playground for rogue cops,' said Paul Applebaum, an attorney who specializes in civil police misconduct cases." --s
Florida. Maggie Lorenz of News4Jax: "A retired Navy captain, who lives in Atlantic Beach, has resigned from the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association board after he accidentally broadcast a conversation he was having with his wife on Facebook, according to a statement from a family spokesperson. News4Jax received a copy of the recording, which was live on Facebook for more than 30 minutes. Scott Bethmann and his wife, Nancy, were apparently discussing the Black Lives Matter movement while watching television, when they began using slurs and making other racially insensitive comments. Bethmann is heard using the N-word." --s
Oregon. Brandy Zadrozny & Ben Collins of NBC: "About 200 protesters came to Sugarman's Corner, the local hotspot in downtown Klamath Falls, Oregon, last Sunday night to protest the killing of George Floyd.... Just across the street, hundreds of their mostly white neighbors were there for decidedly different reasons.... Most everyone seemed to be carrying something: flags, baseball bats, hammers and axes. But mostly, they carried guns. They said they came with shotguns, rifles and pistols to protect their downtown businesses from outsiders. They had heard that antifa, paid by billionaire philanthropist George Soros, were being bused in from neighboring cities, hellbent on razing their idyllic town.... Towns from Washington state to Indiana have seen armed groups begin patrolling the streets after receiving warnings about an antifa invasion, often spurred by social media or passed along from friends. Those actions have yet to erupt in major violence but often bring heavily armed people in close contact with protestors, as it did in Klamath Falls." --s
Pennsylvania. How the Philly D.A. Caught That Top Cop. Laura Ly of CNN: "A Philadelphia police inspector [Staff Inspector Joseph Bologna] is facing charges after prosecutors said a video shows him striking a student protester on the head with a metal baton...Prosecutors say Bologna was captured on cell phone video striking a Temple University student in the back of his head [requiring around 10 staples 10 sutures at the hospital].... Philadelphia police arrested the student protester and detained him for more than 24 hours and referred him to the ... [Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner] for prosecution. But after prosecutors reviewed the video and other evidence, Krasner declined to charge the student and charged Inspector Bologna instead." --s
Virginia. Sabrina Moreno of the Richmond Times-Dispatch: "After a day and evening of peaceful protests and marches in Richmond and its suburbs, protesters using ropes pulled down a statue honoring Confederate Gen. Williams Carter Wickham, which has stood in the park since 1891.... Monroe Park is in the heart of the Virginia Commonwealth University campus." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Canada. Trudeau's act of solidarity comes after he declined to comment earlier in the day about whether he would be attending the protest. Still, he arrived at Parliament Hill -- home to Canada's Parliament -- wearing a black cloth mask Friday afternoon and surrounded by security guards, according to CNN affiliate CTVnews."
Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Wowza! Marc Tracy of the New York Times: "James Bennet resigned on Sunday from his job as the editorial page editor of The New York Times, days after the newspaper's opinion section, which he oversaw, published a much-criticized Op-Ed by a United States senator calling for a military response to civic unrest in American cities. 'Last week we saw a significant breakdown in our editing processes, not the first we've experienced in recent years,' said A. G. Sulzberger, the publisher, in a note to the staff on Sunday announcing Mr. Bennet's departure.... The foment has reached other newsrooms. On Saturday night, Stan Wischnowski resigned as top editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer days after an article in the newspaper about the effects of protests on the urban landscape carried the headline 'Buildings Matter, Too.' The headline prompted an apology published in The Inquirer, a heated staff meeting and a 'sickout' by dozens of journalists at the paper." A Politico story is here. ~~~
~~~ Travis Andrews & Elahe Izadi of the Washington Post: "The New York Times on Sunday announced the resignation of its editorial page editor James Bennet, who had held the position since May 2016, and the reassignment of deputy editorial page editor James Dao to the newsroom. The announcement comes three days after Bennet acknowledged that he had not read, before publication, a controversial op-ed from Sen. Tom Cotton (R.-Ark.) headlined 'Send in the Troops,' which called for military intervention in U.S. cities where protests over police brutality have ignited violence." ~~~
Say, Let's Find Out What Donald Trump Thinks! (From the WashPo story): "President Trump, who has long railed against the Times..., was predictably pleased with the announcement, tweeting, 'Opinion Editor at @nytimes just walked out. That's right, he quit over the excellent Op-Ed penned by our great Senator @TomCottonAR. TRANSPARENCY! The State of Arkansas is very proud of Tom. The New York Times is Fake News!!!' Cotton retweeted the note, adding an American flag emoji." ~~~
~~~ Here's a statement from the New York Times Company. ~~~
~~~ Erik Loomis of LG&$: "... I guess it turns out that soliciting a piece supporting fascism and then not even bothering to read it before publishing it can cost you a job, even at the New York Times.... Maybe Bedbug Stephens will resign in protest. [NYT executive editor Dean] Baquet needs to go too. But this is a significant development."
~~~ Ben Smith of the New York Times: "Historical moments don't have neat beginnings and endings, but the new way of covering civil rights protests, like the Black Lives Matter movement itself, coalesced on the streets of Ferguson. Seeing the brutality of a white power structure toward its poor black citizens up close, and at its rawest, helped shape the way a generation of reporters, most of them black, looked at their jobs when they returned to their newsrooms.... Some of the lessons learned in Ferguson -- about race and the particular experience of black reporters, among others -- carried over into the next challenging era: the arrival of Mr. Trump, whose bigoted language and tactics shattered norms.... Now..., [America's] biggest newsrooms are trying to find common ground between a tradition that aims to persuade the widest possible audience that its reporting is neutral and journalists who believe that fairness on issues from race to Donald Trump requires clear moral calls." Mrs. McC: Love the set-up to this piece, which demonstrates what a blow-dried blowhard Joe Scarborough is. The bottom line is that corporate, MSM will never get on board with young reporters, whether those reporters are minorities or women or gay or gonzo. Whatever. If you don't fit into a "suit," you have to pretend you find that starched collar, tie & dry-cleaned gabardine just the comfiest, most natural look ever.
Joel Achenbach of the Washington Post: "Shutdown orders prevented about 285 million coronavirus infections in China and about 60 million in the United States, according to a research study published Monday that examined how stay-at-home orders and other restrictions limited the spread of the contagion. A separate study from epidemiologists at Imperial College London estimated that the shutdowns saved approximately 3.1 million lives in 11 European countries and dropped infection rates by an average of 82 percent, sufficient to drive the contagion well below epidemic levels. Both reports were published Monday in the journal Nature. The two reports provide fresh evidence that aggressive and unprecedented shutdowns, which caused massive economic disruptions, were necessary to halt the exponential spread of the novel coronavirus." At 6:45 am ET, this is a developing story.
Jessica Silver-Greenberg, et al., of the New York Times: "HCA [Healthcare] is among a long list of deep-pocketed health care companies that have received billions of dollars in taxpayer funds but are laying off or cutting the pay of tens of thousands of doctors, nurses and lower-paid workers. Many have continued to pay their top executives millions, although some executives have taken modest pay cuts.... The hospitals -- including publicly traded juggernauts like HCA and Tenet Healthcare, elite nonprofits like the Mayo Clinic, and regional chains with thousands of beds and billions in cash -- are collectively sitting on tens of billions of dollars of cash reserves that are supposed to help them weather an unanticipated storm." Mrs. McC: There's a reason TV shows so often portray hospital administrators as useless, greedy bastids; it's, um, true-to-life.
Here is the text, via the Washington Post, of President Obama's address to the class of 2020. The text of Michelle Obama's address is here.
A Mustache in Summer. John Dawsey & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "John Bolton is forging ahead with plans to publish a scathing memoir about his time in President Trump's White House and is in negotiations with network television channels to promote the book, according to people familiar with the talks. Bolton, who served as national security adviser from April 2018 to September 2019, plans to publish 'The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir' on June 23, after embarking on a media tour to promote the book the weekend before, according to people with knowledge of the negotiations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. The White House has not formally signed off on the tome, and officials in the Trump administration have delayed the book for months due to a classification review process led by the National Security Council.... Bolton is planning to publish even if the White House does not give publication approval, people familiar with his thinking say, and believes he has removed all classified material." A Mediaite story is here.
Presidential Race
~~~ Carol Morello & Laurie McGinley of the Washington Post: "The most withering critique [of Donald Trump Sunday from a former military leader] came from Colin Powell in an interview on CNN's 'State of the Union.' The former secretary of state and chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff called Trump a chronic liar who had 'drifted away' from the Constitution and become a danger to the country. Powell said he plans to vote for Joe Biden for president and urged Americans to search their conscience and vote for the candidate who is best for the country as a whole, not only themselves.... 'I couldn't vote for [Trump] in 2016. I certainly cannot in any way support President Trump this year.' Trump responded nearly immediately on Twitter, calling Powell 'a real stiff' and 'highly overrated.'" ~~~
~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump has "drifted away from the Constitution"? That's like my saying I have "drifted away" from Sophocles' works in the original ancient Greek. Can't drift away if you ain't never got close. Update: OR, better yet, as Mae West used to say, "I used to be Snow White, but I drifted." Thanks, Akhilleus!
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Reader Comments (20)
Marie,
Thanks for the Dobie Gray clip. A hall of fame song if there ever was one (and a blast to sing), thanks primarily to his outstanding vocals and the sweeet guitar of the great Reggie Young. In the Age of Trump where ineptitude and incompetence reign supreme, listening to these two cats is a reminder that excellence is still worth striving for. If you’ve listened to rock, blues, country, or pop music in the last 60 years you’ve heard Reggie, who played with everyone from Elvis to Solomon Burke, Willie Nelson, John Prine, Aaron Neville, Johnny Cash, JJ Cale, and Wilson Pickett. (Pretty awesome resume.)
As for Fatty drifting away from the Constitution (*guffaw*), it’s like saying he used to be a decent, respectful, kind hearted human being. (Reminds me of the great Mae West line: “I used to be Snow White, but I drifted”. At least Mae had both a sense of humor and crackling self awareness. Also, she never killed anyone to win an election.)
I can't wait to see what Stephen "white supremacist fanboy" Miller has to say on race relations and national unity. Or maybe he's so far gone down the racist hell hole that he'll refuse, and it'll be a trio effort of corporate doublespeak featuring Hope Hicks and Javanka.
This is sure to be an epic disaster, but it'll bring out at least a few media heads to return to the beaten horse of "wow, he was so presidential*". That's the whole reason for this con show. A few positive sound bites from CNN and terribly written headlines from the NYT.
The speech may start out on race relations, national unity, and police brutality. Does anyone really think it won't swerve over to a rally for "great and wonderful me" before it's over?
An interesting take about Keynsianism now: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/06/08/john-maynard-keynes-book-economy/. The author mentions his two masterpieces, one of which is the Economic Consequences of the Peace. It is absolutely, unbelievably prescient about post WWI Europe. Friedman and Laffer will be forgotten long before Keynes. Authoritarian "conservatives" in their heart of hearts know the insubstantial-ness of their intellectual claims of trickle down. When I write that I'm reminded of the look on WF Buckley's face while James Baldwin spanked his ass during the debate on race at the Cambridge Union: https://aeon.co/videos/the-legendary-debate-that-laid-down-us-political-lines-on-race-justice-and-history.
I was homebound but now I'm drifting––-Mae West did a lot of that drifting and good for her but I agree, Powell's use of the word is insufficient at best.
Thanks for the Gray clip, Marie–-I join Ak in my admiration for this talented musician.
A few words about that Bate's Motel manager look--alike, Tom Cotton, summed up by Digby some time ago:
""Tom Cotton is Ted Cruz with a war record; Sarah Palin with a Harvard degree; Chris Christi with a southern accent."
It's an amazing feat our esteemed leader is capable of: Just as he can make his inaugural crowd enlarged, he can now make the crowd of protestors much smaller. One could say, and only one, that Trump drifts away from the truth at times–––tippy toe, tippy toe––and editorial page editors are now facing the facts forcing their resignations.
But in my backyard the Geese are still here––it looks like they've found a home. Perhaps a good omen for our country's embrace of those who felt they never belonged.
Yesterday's WaPo report on Colin Powell's interview garnered immediate and relatively long-form comments from folks who pointed out, fairly consistently, that Powell was one of those who lied us into the Iraq debacle, yadda yadda. In one comment the writer referred to "General Powell" in the first paragraph, but in the final paragraph referred to "General Paul".
I was trying to figure out who "General Paul" was, never having heard of him/her and not recalling any reference in the story or comment. I reread both, to no resolution.
Then the old po-russki part of my brain kicked in. If you transliterate "Powell" into Russian you get something close to "Pavel". "Pavel" is the Russian name for "Paul." So a native Russian speaker might translate "Powell" into "Paul" without thinking.
As I've said before, always edit your work, kids. Vuy ponamayetye?
We have been watching some favorite old films; the one we saw this last weekend was "Fatal Attraction" and I was struck by how well executed this film is. Our bunny, boiling suckubus' sly maneuvers hoodwinked Michael Douglas into thinking he could have a few romps in the hay––or on top of the kitchen sink––and call it a day. It slowly dawns on Douglas that this woman is a psychopath. The terror he feels is palpable and we feel this with him.
I couldn't help thinking how this relates to our political situation. I recall Katie Tur, who traveled with the Trump campaign, telling us how so many in the crowds seemed besotted–-almost orgiastic–-over this over-sized barker selling himself and his wares. The tenancy to believe in someone who makes you tingle and tremble is powerful stuff. Will enough of those lovers see the light? How long will it take to discover the pathology of their fatal attraction? I think for many, it will take a different kind of awakening than Alex Foster provided and I'm not sure what that would be.
@Patrick: Such a good detective you are!
Still mostly homebound myself. Occasional forays into the wider world (picked up some groceries at the local Safeway the other day and discovered the freeway exit revision project that had gone on for over a year was done and finished) but most traveling continues to take place in my head.
Last week rode a book deep into my past, sophomore year in college I think it was, when I took an intro to anthropology course that my life up to that time had apparently primed me for in ways I still do not fully understand. Found the course, certainly the readings it exposed me to, endlessly fascinating, and as was typical of my inefficient approach to learning I remember reading far beyond the syllabus or course reading list (probably skipping other classes to do so), one book after another, authors/anthropologists from the 1910's, 20's, and 30's, all of whom I still remember today.
The book that carried me back? "The Gods of the Upper Air" by Charles King, an account of the life and work of Franz Boaz and his anthropologic progeny, all those familiar names, Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, Theodore Kroeber and one that was not to me, the brilliant black researcher and writer, Zora Hurston.
It was one of those books that like that anthropology course of long ago hit me at precisely the right time. Simultaneously a stroll through a fondly remembered past when the door opened wide to understanding how culture shapes us, that verities are often relative and that there is only one humanity, all that putting into words how I was already beginning to feel, and a series of headlong mental rushes into the turbulent present where the application of those same understandings makes equally compelling sense.
Reading about Boaz' lifetime war against racism, seeing that American "thinkers" provided Hitler with the "scientific" underpinnings of the horrors he perpetrated, and recognizing that an entire nation that prides itself on its modernity recently closed its door and shuttered the windows to the enlightenment this group of of researchers and thinkers made possible could be downright depressing.
But before I put the book down, the personal pleasure I had in reading it, combined with the the sight of thousands out there in the streets delivering their own message that could have been inspired by Boaz himself was enough to give me hope.
Looked for a protest sign that says, "Boaz Lives!" Couldn't find it, but I know it was there.
Margaret Sullivan would be a good replacement for Bennett at NYT. She actually reads. A girl can dream.
PD,
Your “Fatal Attraction” reference makes me wonder if the un-besotted MAGA morons will, after realizing the danger of their demented dalliance, try to kill their putrid paramour—before he kills them.
Nahhh. They’ll blame Obama.
@Patrick: Maybe the comment writer was a Russian troll. (P.S. You stumped me with "Vuy ponamayetye." I've worked on it, and still don't get it.)
Rubin in the WAPO contrasts Powell and Rice. Think she was too kind to Powell, but…
ttps://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/08/colin-powell-gets-it-condi-rice-do
My comment:
I’ll never know what it means to be black in a white society, but I'd guess if you're black and want to join the white elite some accommodation is often necessary. Understandable and forgivable.
That said, lying about weapons of mass destruction to foment an unnecessary war, as both Colin Powell and Condi Rice did, is not forgivable. Both are in that respect forever tainted.
Retired Gen. Powell is now free to tell the truth as he sees it. He has nothing to lose. Rice, on the other hand, is still angling for Republican Party prominence.
She is slated to head the Hoover Institution, Stanford University's crazy uncle, and I'd guess her sense that she cannot afford to offend the Institute's rightist corporate masters factors into all she says.
It seems to me that Rice's bowing and scraping behavior toward the present Republican Party could be more evidence of how growing up in a racist culture can damage one, no matter how talented and brilliant.
She’s a tragedy clothed with gaud of worldly "success."
BeaMarie- yeah, I was thinking professional Leningrad trollfarm at work. So many comments in such short time all whacking Powell for his late-life failures, very orchestrated-looking (you can almost hear the themese from "Marche Slav" in the background).
"Vuy ponamayetye?" is a phonetic latin character rendering of "Do you understand?" I don't know how to do cyrillic on this site.
Also ... I think Powell must reflect daily on his Bush II errors and faults. His main problem was that he believed that the President has the right to make mistakes (fine), but Powell should have resigned a la Vance just before the invasion of Iraq. Everybody who worked for Powell at the time advised him it was a serious error to invade, yet Powell loaned Bush his good name ... and lost it.
Ken,
“The Hoover Institution ”, Stanford University’s crazy uncle...” an excellent distillation of what I’ve always thought about that rat’s nest. Once a fairly respectable joint (way back when), but now just another of the many wingnut hovels that use their name to try to put lipstick on the pig of right-wing crazy. I’ll be swiping that one, if you don’t mind.
@Patrick: Looks as if to print standard cyrillic (or other non-English) letters, you just need to copy from a page where they're already printed. It appears it will work from a word-processing-generated page of your own work and from an Internet page (which is where I got the letters below).
Б – Г – Д – И – Й – Л – П – Ф – Ц
Akhilleus,
Steal away. Kinda liked that one myself; have used it before and will again.
There's a clear line between the Hoover Institution (complete title "of War and Peace," as I remember) of yore and the present. Back in the 60's it devoted much of its scholarship and energy to proving how bad communism was, publishing volume after volume of history and critique making just that point, which to my mind even then hardly needed to be made in such a frenzied way. With Mao still alive but his regime increasingly and more evidently oppressive , the Vietnam quagmire in the forefront here, and the Soviet Union already showing signs of decay, the future seemed obvious.
But behind the frenzy, misdirected or not, was capitalism's paranoia. That has not changed. Capitalism is still afraid someone is going to take its stuff away. A simple but I believe accurate explanation of how anti-communism morphed into pro-Pretender. It's all just the same but now more obviously nuts.
Hence, "crazy uncle."
Mrs. Bea McC: I've always wondered how things would have played out if the monk Cyril had transmitted the Roman alphabet instead of being inventive. About 50 years ago I picked up a smattering of Russian, no mostly forgotten, but was totally illiterate.
@Ken: "But behind the frenzy, misdirected or not, was capitalism's paranoia. That has not changed. Capitalism is still afraid someone is going to take its stuff away."
YES--and haven't we seen this from Trump at the very beginning––-other countries, other international organizations, are not paying their fair share––WE are being ripped off –-WE have done so much for everyone–-We need to take care of ourselves alone--AMERICA FIRST---and foremost.
And speaking of language–-ancient or otherwise––there is a term the Germans have:
"Mit dem linken hand"–––he did it with the left hand, which means it is something not focused on, he having focused on something else. And that something else for Herr Dummkopf is, of course,` HIMSELF.
How left-handed Germans took to this is probably how many feel when outed as THE OTHER–-something Germans know a whole lot about.
The pity, of course, is the fact that we have failed to take care of those that need caring for the most right here in La La land of the free and star spangled wonder of wonders.
The good St. Cyril was just an early example of bothsiderism: combining the Roman and Greek alphabets, trying to please everyone/no one.