The Ledes

Thursday, July 3, 2025

CNBC: “Job growth proved better than expected in June, as the labor market showed surprising resilience and likely taking a July interest rate cut off the table. Nonfarm payrolls increased a seasonally adjusted 147,000 for the month, higher than the estimate for 110,000 and just above the upwardly revised 144,000 in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday. April’s tally also saw a small upward revision, now at 158,000 following an 11,000 increase.... Though the jobless rates fell [to 4.1%], it was due largely to a decrease in those working or looking for jobs.”

Washington Post: “A warehouse storing fireworks in Northern California exploded on Tuesday, leaving seven people missing and two injured as explosions continued into Wednesday evening, officials said. Dramatic video footage captured by KCRA 3 News, a Sacramento broadcaster, showed smoke pouring from the building’s roof before a massive explosion created a fireball that seemed to engulf much of the warehouse, accompanied by an echoing boom. Hundreds of fireworks appeared to be going off and were sparkling within the smoke. Photos of the aftermath showed multiple destroyed buildings and a large area covered in gray ash.” ~~~

The Wires
powered by Surfing Waves
The Ledes

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

New York Times: “The Rev. Jimmy Swaggart, who emerged from the backwoods of Louisiana to become a television evangelist with global reach, preaching about an eternal struggle between good and evil and warning of the temptations of the flesh, a theme that played out in his own life in a sex scandal, died on July 1. He was 90.” ~~~

     ~~~ For another sort of obituary, see Akhilleus' commentary near the end of yesterday's thread.

Help!

To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

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Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

INAUGURATION 2029

Commencement ceremonies are joyous occasions, and Steve Carell made sure that was true this past weekend (mid-June) at Northwestern's commencement:

~~~ Carell's entire commencement speech was hilarious. The audio and video here isn't great, but I laughed till I cried.

CNN did a live telecast Saturday night (June 7) of the Broadway play "Good Night, and Good Luck," written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, about legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow's effort to hold to account Sen. Joe McCarthy, "the junior senator from Wisconsin." Clooney plays Murrow. Here's Murrow himself with his famous take on McCarthy & McCarthyism, brief remarks that especially resonate today: ~~~

     ~~~ This article lists ways you still can watch the play. 

New York Times: “The New York Times Company has agreed to license its editorial content to Amazon for use in the tech giant’s artificial intelligence platforms, the company said on Thursday. The multiyear agreement 'will bring Times editorial content to a variety of Amazon customer experiences,' the news organization said in a statement. Besides news articles, the agreement encompasses material from NYT Cooking, The Times’s food and recipe site, and The Athletic, which focuses on sports. This is The Times’s first licensing arrangement with a focus on generative A.I. technology. In 2023, The Times sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, for copyright infringement, accusing the tech companies of using millions of articles published by The Times to train automated chatbots without any kind of compensation. OpenAI and Microsoft have rejected those accusations.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I have no idea what this means for "the Amazon customer experience." Does it mean that if I don't have a NYT subscription but do have Amazon Prime I can read NYT content? And where, exactly, would I find that content? I don't know. I don't know.

Washington Post reporters asked three AI image generators what a beautiful woman looks like. "The Post found that they steer users toward a startlingly narrow vision of attractiveness. Prompted to show a 'beautiful woman,' all three tools generated thin women, without exception.... Her body looks like Barbie — slim hips, impossible waist, round breasts.... Just 2 percent of the images showed visible signs of aging. More than a third of the images had medium skin tones. But only nine percent had dark skin tones. Asked to show 'normal women,' the tools produced images that remained overwhelmingly thin.... However bias originates, The Post’s analysis found that popular image tools struggle to render realistic images of women outside the Western ideal." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The reporters seem to think they are calling out the AI programs for being unrealistic. But there's a lot about the "beautiful women" images they miss. I find these omissions remarkably sexist. For one thing, the reporters seem to think AI is a magical "thing" that self-generates. It isn't. It's programmed. It's programmed by boys, many of them incels who have little or no experience or insights beyond comic books and Internet porn of how to gauge female "beauty." As a result, the AI-generated women look like cartoons; that is, a lot like an air-brushed photo of Kristi Noem: globs of every kind of dark eye makeup, Scandinavian nose, Botox lips, slathered-on skin concealer/toner/etc. makeup, long dark hair and the aforementioned impossible Barbie body shape, including huge, round plastic breasts. 

New York Times: “George Clooney’s Broadway debut, 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' has been one of the sensations of the 2024-25 theater season, breaking box office records and drawing packed houses of audiences eager to see the popular movie star in a timely drama about the importance of an independent press. Now the play will become much more widely available: CNN is planning a live broadcast of the penultimate performance, on June 7 at 7 p.m. Eastern. The performance will be preceded and followed by coverage of, and discussion about, the show and the state of journalism.”

No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land. -- Magna Carta ~~~

~~~ New York Times: “Bought for $27.50 after World War II, the faint, water stained manuscript in the library of Harvard Law School had attracted relatively little attention since it arrived there in 1946. That is about to change. Two British academics, one of whom happened on the manuscript by chance, have discovered that it is an original 1300 version — not a copy, as long thought — of Magna Carta, the medieval document that helped establish some of the world’s most cherished liberties. It is one of just seven such documents from that date still in existence.... A 710-year-old version of Magna Carta was sold in 2007 for $21.3 million.... First issued in 1215, it put into writing a set of concessions won by rebellious barons from a recalcitrant King John of England — or Bad King John, as he became known in folklore. He later revoked the charter, but his son, Henry III, issued amended versions, the last one in 1225, and Henry’s son, Edward I, in turn confirmed the 1225 version in 1297 and again in 1300.”

NPR lists all of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize winners. Poynter lists the prizes awarded in journalism as well as the finalists in these categories.

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

Saturday
Mar162019

The Commentariat -- March 17, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Bigot-in-Chief Doubles Down. Brian Stelter of CNN: "Jeanine Pirro, whose show did not air on Saturday night, was suspended by Fox News after her widely criticized commentary doubting Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's patriotism, according a source familiar with the matter.... On Sunday morning the president ... tweet[ed], 'Bring back @JudgeJeanine Pirro. The Radical Left Democrats, working closely with their beloved partner, the Fake News Media, is using every trick in the book to SILENCE a majority of our Country. They have all out campaigns against @FoxNews hosts who are doing too well.'... Fox did not announce the suspension publicly. The network declined to confirm or deny that Pirro has been suspended. There is no word on whether Pirro's show will return next week. At the same time, there is no indication that she has been fired from Fox. The source said she has not been fired. Pirro is one of the network's highest-rated weekend hosts, well known for her vehement defenses of ... Donald Trump and attacks against his perceived enemies." ...

      ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump knows what he is doing. This is another appeal to Islamophobes & white supremacists in general. And once again he's coy enough about it to enjoy barely-plausible deniability. Here's the sequence: (1) Pirro questions the "constitutionality" of wearing a hijab; (2) Fox "News" condemns her remark & quietly suspends her; (3) a white supremacist kills 50 Muslims; (4) Trump demands Fox reinstate the person who questioned the constitutionality of Muslim clothing. P.S. If I get it, you can bet the dimmest ethno-nationalist does, too. ...

... Matt Shuham of TPM: "As his chief of staff defended him against charges of Islamophobia on Sunday..., Donald Trump defended a Fox News anchor who was reportedly suspended for Islamophobic remarks.... Mick Mulvaney argued on 'Fox News Sunday' that he was not a white supremacist, and two days after a white nationalist terrorist attack killed 50 Mosque-goers in Christchurch, New Zealand. In a separate interview Sunday, Mulvaney told CBS’s Margaret Brennan that 'I don't think anybody can say that the President is anti-Muslim.' 'Well, the President's tweeting now about a TV host who was suspended for anti-Muslim rhetoric,' Brennan responded. 'So I think it's a fair question to ask you about this.'" Mrs. McC: Mick, now you have blood on your hands, too, you sniveling, lying toady. And everyone can say the President* is anti-Muslim. And everyone would be right. ...

... Marisa Fernandez of Axios: "The string of [Trump] tweets comes one day after authorities said 'an immigrant-hating white supremacist'killed at least 50 people at a pair of mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Trump issued a single tweet on the day of the attack extending his sympathies to the people of New Zealand, but he did not condemn the shooter's racial motives or acknowledge the targeting of Muslims." Both Shuham & Fernandez cite Trump's full Twitter defense of Pirro & Tucker Carlson."

Christopher Dickey of the Daily Beast: "Now is the time for a global war on white nationalist terrorism.... Networks of white nationalist apologists, sympathizers, supporters and facilitators -- vital to any terrorist movement -- are deeply embedded in the political and social fabric. They are literally the enemy within. As an apologist, it should be said..., Donald Trump is in a class by himself. Trump is 'a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose,' as [the New Zealand mosque murderer] wrote in his manifesto.... And when it comes to feeding the basic instincts of the base in order to hold on to power, it is not at all clear how far Trump will go."

~~~~~~~~~~

The Trump Scandals, Ctd.

Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Saturday said he encouraged House Republicans to vote in favor of a resolution calling on the Justice Department to make Robert Mueller's final report public -- despite tweeting a day earlier that the special counsel 'should never have been appointed' and that 'there should be no Mueller Report.'... 'On the recent non-binding vote (420-0) in Congress about releasing the Mueller Report, I told leadership to let all Republicans vote for transparency,' Trump wrote on Twitter. 'Makes us all look good and doesn't matter. Play along with the game!'" Mrs. McC: Anyone inclined to "play along" with that assertion, Donald, will have to suspend disbelief.

Daniel Politi of Slate: "... Donald Trump made it clear Saturday that just because someone is dead, doesn't mean that they get a reprieve from his petty squabbles.... The president's criticism of [John McCain] began with a quote of a comment by former independent counsel Ken Starr who was referring to reports that it was McCain's office that passed along the unverified dossier of Trump's ties to Russia to the media. Starr had said that while McCain was an 'American hero,' the reports, if true, amount to a 'very dark stain' on the late senator. Trump, however, seized this opportunity to bring up his long-held criticism of McCain, saying the Arizona Republican 'had far worse "stains" than this,' going on to cite his vote against efforts to repeal Obamacare in 2017."

Laurence Tribe & Joshua Matz in the Daily Beast argue that Trump is more impeachable than ever: "When we released To End A Presidency: The Power of Impeachment in May 2018, we ... concluded that four alleged impeachable offenses merited further investigation: (1) improper dealings with Russia surrounding the 2016 presidential election; (2) obstruction of justice in Russia-related investigations; (3) abuse of the pardon power; and (4) implementing kleptocracy. We stand by our original conclusions. Indeed, in many respects the facts bearing on these four issues have grown worse for Trump. The evidence of sketchy interactions with Russia during the election is now much stronger; his assaults on the Russia investigation have continued apace; and Trump's financial entanglements with hostile powers have cast a pall of corruption over key foreign policy judgments.... In light of events since May 2018, we now believe that two more potential 'high Crimes and Misdemeanors' warrant investigation.... The first such offense is corrupt failure to defend the United States -- and its electoral system -- against domestic operations launched by a hostile foreign power.... The same is true of allegations that Trump broke the law during the 2016 presidential election." ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: So in case you're afraid you might be slightly wacky to be singing the impeachment song, take heart in knowing that Larry Tribe is in the chorus.

Frances Robles, et al., of the New York Times explore Li "Cindy" Yang's endeavors in her pay-for-play shenanigans at Mar-a-Lago. It certainly appears she has engineered illegal contributions to Trump's re-election committee. "Over the weeks leading up to the event, at least nine people in Ms. Yang's orbit, some of them with modest incomes, made donations at exactly $5,400. She ended up at the dinner.... One of the $5,400 political donations came from a 25-year old woman who gives facials at a beauty school, in a strip mall in nearby Palm Beach Gardens that is owned by Ms. Yang's family. Another $5,400 came from a woman who says she worked as a receptionist at a massage parlor owned by Ms. Yang's husband. A third gift of $5,400 came from an associate of Ms. Yang's who had been charged in 2014 after a prostitution sting with practicing health care without a license, police records show." (Also linked yesterday.)


Dance of the Dinosaurs. Darryl Fears & Juliet Eilperin
of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration is aggressively pressing ahead in expanding federal oil and gas industry leases that could lead to more drilling on land and at sea, defying an assessment by government scientists that the production and use of fossil fuels is accelerating climate change. On Friday, the administration announced a final decision to lift protections for a uniquely American bird, called the greater sage grouse, on nearly 9 million acres to provide more leasing opportunities to oil, gas and mining industries. A day earlier, an Interior Department assistant secretary confirmed that he told leaders of the fossil fuel industry last month that the Atlantic coast will almost certainly be included in the administration's plan to expand federal leasing to nearly the entire outer continental shelf. Offshore leases haven't been granted in the Atlantic for decades, and drilling hasn't been allowed for a half-century.... n his remarks, [assistant secretary for land and minerals management Joe] Balash said he found it 'absolutely thrilling' that President Trump's 'knack for keeping the attention of the media and the public focused somewhere else' has allowed Bureau of Ocean Energy Management employees to process the permits without much scrutiny."

Aaron Davis & Marina Lopes of the Washington Post: "The FAA's publication of pilot training requirements for the Max 8 in the fall of 2017 [--which did not mention the new anti-stall software --] was among the final steps in a multiyear approval process carried out under the agency's now 10-year-old policy of entrusting Boeing and other aviation manufacturers to certify that their own systems comply with U.S. air safety regulations. In practice, one Boeing engineer would conduct a test of a particular system on the Max 8, while another Boeing engineer would act as the FAA's representative, signing on behalf of the U.S. government that the technology complied with federal safety regulations, people familiar with the process said.... The process was occurring during a period when the Transportation Department's Office of Inspector General was warning the FAA that its oversight of manufacturers' work was insufficient. In the years between the time Boeing launched the Max 8 design in 2011 and the first plane rolled out of production in 2016, the inspector general criticized the FAA's handling of the 'self-certification' system in three successive reports." (Also linked yesterday.)

John Cassidy of the New Yorker: "... even though it was encouraging to see some individual Republicans [vote against Trump], there is still no reason to suppose that the G.O.P. as a whole is getting ready to rein in Trump, or to start distancing itself from him. To the contrary, the [Senate] vote [on his fake national emergency] demonstrated that the vast majority of elected Republicans are still too cowed by the President and his supporters to oppose him, even when they know what he has done is wrong, a majority of the public agrees with them, and the outcome of the vote is largely symbolic."

Presidential Race 2020 -- Feet of Clay Edition

Christopher Hooks in the American Prospect: "While representing a gerrymandered city council district that contained some of [El Paso]'s richest residents at one end and some of the country's poorest at the other, [Beto] O'Rourke championed a plan by the well-heeled to appropriate large parts of the city's historic barrios for redevelopment. It was bitterly opposed by many of his constituents in the affected areas, but supported fervently by his father-in-law Bill Sanders, one of the richest and most powerful men in town. This is the paradox of Beto O'Rourke.... He can be a loud and distinctive progressive voice on national issues and an avatar for the wealthy and powerful, sometimes simultaneously. He's the House primary challenger who took on Silvestre Reyes in 2012, running to Reyes's left on legalizing marijuana, and to his right on increasing the Social Security retirement age. He's the rock-star Democrat who wouldn't support a fellow House candidate over a Republican he considered his friend. And he's the city councilmember who tried to be everything to everyone in El Paso -- except for the people of south El Paso." ...

... A Precocious Hacker. Joseph Menn of Reuters: "While a teenager, [Beto] O'Rourke acknowledged in an exclusive interview, he belonged to the oldest group of computer hackers in U.S. history. The hugely influential Cult of the Dead Cow, jokingly named after an abandoned Texas slaughterhouse, is notorious for releasing tools that allowed ordinary people to hack computers running Microsoft's Windows. It's also known for inventing the word 'hacktivism' to describe human-rights-driven security work. Members of the group have protected O'Rourke's secret for decades, reluctant to compromise his political viability."

Say What? Sarah Jones of New York: "Senator Amy Klobuchar, alleged staff-abuser and Democratic candidate for president, has decided to cast her 'tough' treatment of aides as a positive quality. The Minnesota Democrat told CNN's Poppy Harlow that while she 'can always do better,' being a boss means 'you have to have high standards.' She went on to claim that her behavior would make her a good president: 'One can always do better, and that means you want to be sure that you are listening to people if they felt that something was unfair, or they felt bad about something. But I still think that you have to demand good product. When you're out there on the world stage and dealing with people like Vladimir Putin, yeah, you want someone who's tough. You want someone that demands the answers and that's going to get things done, and that's what I've done my whole life.'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Let's see: "I throw binders at my incompetent staff, so I would stand up to Vladimir Putin, too." Okay then.

Avery Anapol of the Hill: "Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) on Sunday officially announced she is running for president in 2020. The Democratic senator, who announced an exploratory committee for a potential run last month, takes aim at President Trump and highlights a number of progressive causes in a launch video that asks: 'Will brave win?'"

Mike Memoli of NBC News: "Joe Biden nearly declared his candidacy several weeks ahead of schedule as he previewed the message he'd take to the campaign, telling his home state Democrats that he had 'the most progressive record of anybody running' even as he appealed for a return to bridge-building politics of consensus. Biden's keynote address to the Delaware Democratic Party's largest annual fundraising dinner was not supposed to be an announcement speech. But for the second time in less than a week he walked close to the line as he addressed a very friendly audience."


Carole Cadwalladr
of the Guardian: "Facebook is facing explosive new questions about when senior executives knew of Cambridge Analytica's abuse of users' data, one year on from when the scandal first broke, as federal prosecutors investigate claims that the social media giant has covered up the extent of its relationship with the firm. The Observer has also learned of claims that a meeting was hosted at the office of Facebook board member and confidant of its CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Christopher Wylie, the Cambridge Analytica whistleblower, in the summer 2016 just as the data firm started working for the Trump campaign.... Individuals who attended the meeting with Wylie and [Facebook board member Marc] Andreessen claim it was set up to learn what Cambridge Analytica was doing with Facebook's data and how technologists could work to 'fix' it."

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. "Fox News Channel replaced [Saturday] night's broadcast of Jeanine Pirro's weekly program with a repeat episode of its documentary series 'Scandalous,' just days after the ... cable-news network said it condemned remarks the outspoken host made about Minnesota Democrat Ihan Omar.... A Fox News spokesperson ... declined to elaborate." Mrs. McC: Looks as if even Fox "News" thinks it's a bad idea to be airing the views of an Islamophobic wacko in the wake of the New Zealand mass murder.

A History Lesson for White Supremacists. Gillian Brockell of the Washington Post: White supremacists, including the New Zealand mass murderer, sport medieval signs which they think symbolize the good old days when Europe was all-white. "'White supremacists imagine the Middle Ages as a time when Europe was all white, separated from its neighbors and in constant conflict with those that it deemed to be outsiders,' [medievalist Paul] Sturtevant said. 'Nothing could be further from the truth.' In medieval Sicily, Christians, Muslims and Jews were 'living and working together side by side,' Sturtevant said. In 7th-century England, the well-respected archbishop of Canterbury was from Turkey, and his favorite abbot was from North Africa. There were Ethiopian embassies across southern Europe, including Rome. Pilgrimage books listed travelers as hailing from 'India' -- though this was probably just a fill-in for anywhere in the Middle East." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Historically, the only all-white continent is Antarctica, where the whiteness is snow. Any place outside Europe that is predominantly white today is so because Europeans invaded it, not the other way around. That certainly includes Australia, which whites first invaded as recently as the late 18th century, and New Zealand, which whites began to settle only in the mid-19th century. The "intellectual" basis for white supremacy is white territorial aggression.

Beyond the Beltway

Missouri. People Voted for This Idiot. John Bowden of the Hill: "A Republican lawmaker in Missouri wants to require adults in his state to purchase handguns and AR-15 rifles. Two bills introduced by state Rep. Andrew McDaniel would require residents to purchase firearms while providing $1 million in tax credits on a first-come, first-served basis to residents who fall under the law."

New York. Ali Winston & William K. Rashbaum of the New York Times: "A 24-year-old Staten Island man who was taken into police custody on Saturday in connection with the fatal shooting of the reputed boss of the Gambino crime family faces murder charges, according to court records and officials. The brazen shooting of the boss, Francesco Cali, in front of his home in the Todt Hill section of Staten Island on Wednesday ... fueled speculation that New York City was seeing the return of open mob conflict that last erupted decades ago. Several officials, however, said on Saturday that preliminary information suggested that the killing of Mr. Cali, 53, was not related to organized crime. One official cautioned that the inquiry was still in its early stages."

Way Beyond

... Australia. Palko Karasz of the New York Times: "An anti-immigration lawmaker in Australia who has been criticized for blaming Muslim immigration for Friday's New Zealand shootings struck a teenager who smashed an egg on his head in Melbourne on Saturday.... After dozens of people were shot and killed at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Friday, [Sen. Fraser] Anning said in a statement widely shared on Twitter, 'The real cause of bloodshed on New Zealand streets today is the immigration program which allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate to New Zealand in the first place.'"

... Calla Wahlquist of the Guardian: "The Australian government has cancelled the visa of far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos just a week after it was personally approved by the immigration minister. Immigration minister David Coleman said on Saturday that comments about Islam made by Yiannopoulos in the wake of the Christchurch massacre were 'appalling and foment hatred and division' and he would not be allowed in the country. It comes a week after Coleman approved Yiannopoulos' visa against the advice of the home affairs department, which said the commentator may fail the character test to enter Australia." ...

... Al Jazeera: "Yiannopoulos is a former editor of the US-based far-right website Breitbart news site who has regularly railed against ;Muslims, immigrants and the press. On Friday, he said on Facebook that attacks like Christchurch happen because 'the establishment panders to and mollycoddles extremist leftism and barbaric, alien religious cultures.'" ...

... New Zealand. Melissa Davey of the Guardian: "The death toll from the mosque terror attacks in Christchurch has risen to 50, New Zealand police commissioner confirmed on Sunday morning." ...

... Emanuel Stoakes & Gerry Shih of the Washington Post: "The primary suspect in Friday's deadly shooting at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, appeared in court on Saturday. Brenton Harrison Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian, did not enter a plea on one count of murder and made a white power gesture from the dock. Authorities have two more suspects in custody. New Zealand's [Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern] vowed its 'gun laws will change.' Suspect had license to carry the types of guns used in deadly attacks.... Ardern said Tarrant had modified guns used in the killing that left at least 49 dead, and Attorney General David Parker says the government will ban semiautomatic rifles." (Also linked yesterday.)

Reader Comments (9)

The Daily Beast - To End a Presidency: One can go on and on with
reasons, maybe not impeachable, but close enough.
(5) Incompetence
(6) Ignorance
I'm sure we could go up to 100 without even trying hard.

And I would like to make a correction to the March 15 article in
The Guardian by rewriting it with my point of view, to wit:

The Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, brought his partner, Matt
Barrett, to a meeting with US vice president Mike Pence, who claims
to be straight and refers to his wife as 'mother'.
Sounds like a field day for psychologists.

March 17, 2019 | Unregistered Commenterforrest.morris

@forrest morris: I don't know anything about Varadkar other than what I read this week, but he's my new hero because he (politely enough) stood up to Trump on Brexit and mike & mother pence on human rights.

And I've often wondered this: if pence won't meet in a room alone with a woman, will he meet in a room alone with a gay man?

March 17, 2019 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

@Forest: Spot on! I also find it amusing that Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and presidential hopeful, is the one who has come out with the kind of message to the Muslim community that Pence, as the failed governor of Indiana and homophobic Vice would never–-could never–-give. Pete shows how its done–-spreading love in a cold climate.

March 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

As a Sunday sermon had intended to use a comment I sent responding to the Times' Bruni column on the college admission scandal in which I suggested it is American business practices (at least since the Reagan) era that have taught and encouraged and even glorified cheating everywhere. In it I went on to imply the Pretender's occupation of the Presidency is the natural culmination of the trend....but it was not to be. Gremlins or a censor at work, I don't know, but the comment never appeared and didn't kept a copy.

But the comment, wherever it is, did remind of something I wrote a dozen or so years ago that anticipated some of what I still think. It even contains a remark about the professionalization and specialization of the college entry game.

So...an (over?- long sermon from the archives:

I called it "Service."


It’s cold here in Conway, below freezing during the day and dipping to 14 or so at night. This morning, a few flakes of snow. Wool sweater and down vest weather, to be sure. Sensitivity to carbon footprint be damned; we’re burning precious oil and it feels good.

We have an old furnace, its aged ducting delivering the faint odor of diesel along with the heat. That smell and the weather make me think of my father, a small-town hardware store owner who sold nearly everything, including Quaker oil heaters. When he installed or repaired them, he sometimes recruited me to help.

Memory does not tell me much of what I actually did or how useful I might have been. I’m sure there was tool handing and flashlight holding. I was too young to supply much heft or any expertise, but I do remember the after dark trips in the ’49 International pickup, the cramped homes of that era and the gray-haired widow whose old heater had quit in the cold of Winter. Perhaps she had no one else to turn to.

That night was not a rarity. For my father the service came with the sale. When he sold an appliance, he installed it; when it failed before its time he made sure it got fixed. And as far as I remember, he did not charge extra for any of this. I suspect he thought that kind of service would bring repeat business, would cement his reputation as a helpful merchant, and I would guess it did. People have told me that they liked dealing with him because he would try to fix something before he would sell them a replacement. But I know much of the after hours work he did, the trouble he went to, was motivated by his sense of responsibility and duty. He had a need to help.

For years I have been amused by references to our “service economy.” I understand what it means: our natural resources are depleted and we don’t manufacture much anymore. We live instead by catering to one another’s personal needs, doing the kinds of things that we used to do for ourselves, not as my father did, out of a sense of what was right. Now everything we do for one another is another billable hour.

Today we spend more time on the road, sleep away from home, eat out or take out, have someone else do our laundry, hire a gardener to prune our trees and mow our lawns, engage an all-day babysitter or a nanny, miming the lives of the wealthy even when we are not.

We used to have veterinarians. Now we have large and small animal vets, themselves further divided into sub-specialties, not to mention canine and feline groomers or psychologists for parakeets. In high school we no longer simply study hard, then apply to college. Today college application requires more than good grades and an essay or two. We have tutors and consultants to tell us how to test and how to write the perfect personal statement.

Health care, our fastest growing enterprise, has generated uncounted specialists of its own, each requiring hordes of technical and clerical support, all contributing to the growing proportion of our treasure we expend on staying alive.

Everywhere specialties proliferate. We can see their face in our modern Meccas, the malls. Whole stores devoted to electronics, to white goods, to vitamins, to coffee, or even to juices. The panoply of services designed to help us find all that we have been taught to think we need is breathtaking in extent and in implication.

For what if we don’t need all that “service?” What if we could do most of it for ourselves or do without it at all? The recession we are in is answering that question for us. It is possible for people to skip a latte or shampoo their own dog. Just as we’ve seen, when “services” are mostly non-essential, economies dependent on them can contract in a hurry; and when they do, some of the essentials fall by the wayside, too.

Though he may not have consulted a dictionary, my father somehow knew the word “service” is rooted in “servant.” We are here to help those in need. Because it is something that should be done, the proper payment is not in dollars and cents but in the feeling that we have helped someone else. Money may be involved in the transaction, but the smile, the willingness to go beyond any contractual requirement, to give of one self, are the essential elements of service truly performed.

I’m uncertain why he took me along on these evening trips, but I do remember them. Maybe he was after a bonding experience long before specialists-yet-to-be named that potent relationship between father and son. Maybe he wished to teach me something about his business. What he did teach me was how he conducted it.

One night, he placed me in the truck bed to steady a refrigerator perched against the cab. That was one long, cold ride into the country. I had plenty of time to wonder what I was supposed to do if the refrigerator began to tip. I weighed far less than the appliance and wasn’t nearly as tall. Fortunately, though it shifted with every bump, the refrigerator stayed in place.

So has the memory of what it really means to do a service for others.

March 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

And oh, by the way, that father was half Irish.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

March 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Dear Ken: And how very fortunate you are to have a father who instilled in you about real service to others which helped make you the compassionate person you have become. The older I get the more I value the positive lessons my parents imbued me with along with the other less satisfactory ones. I learned from both.

March 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

Just finished reading afternoon update where I see that Trump's tweet re: the dismissal of Jeanine Pirro's Sunday show is ––let's use the correct word here––shocking! This is the president of the U.S. saying:

"Bring back @JudgeJeanine Pirro. The Radical Left Democrats, working closely with their beloved partner, the Fake News Media, is using every trick in the book to SILENCE a majority of our Country. They have all out campaigns against @FoxNews hosts who are doing too well."

How long can we endure this mania?

March 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

@PD

Thanks.

....." the more I value the positive lessons my parents imbued me with along with the other less satisfactory ones. I learned from both."

Indeed.

No one of us is an unblemished hero. I like to think my mind opened with the years just as my father's closed, but those who knew both of us well would say I'm still my father's son.

March 17, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes
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