Lobenthal.com

“We Need a Donald Trump to Show Some Authoritarian Power,” Governor Le Page snorts. Esme Cribb at TalkingPointsMemo  reports on Le Page’s radio interview.

“Yes, I’ll be in jail if you’re President, because you’ll suspend our judicial system.”

That would be Consortium News’ Robert Parry, who cautions us that:

“Not since the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq has Official Washington’s political/punditry class clamored more single-mindedly – and openly – for the U.S. government to commit a gross violation of international law, now urging a major military assault on the government of Syria while also escalating tensions with nuclear-armed Russia.”

It started with Ronnie: Paul Campos at Salon describes the way that Reagan ushered in the valorization of stupidity and ignorance as supreme political credentials–thus making the least qualified, most ignorant and dangerous candidates the coolest and most electable.

Long before our “mainstream” broadcast media gave Trump billions of dollars of free advertising, it had made Trump inevitable by choosing to chronicle elections as cute popularity contests, and assiduously avoiding discussions of issues.  The reality show scam has made it considerably more dangerous: much of our electorate literally cannot tell the difference between a political candidate and a commercial broadcast persona. Persona has always been key to electing leaders, but the broadcast media has now made it the primary criteria on the part of much of the electorate.

Lynne D. Schneider at AlterNet breaks down the reasons why our country is breaking down as a result of its obdurate refusal to separate Trump fact from Trump TV reality-show-idol fiction.

And remember; the broadcast networks get the use of our airwaves gratis, and no questions asked. We are subsidizing their assault on democracy.

A friend talking about something on youtube: “she dances a Spanish thing with some bloke and a bunch of other folks in costumes.”

Paring things down to the artichoke!

Will it take the descendants of slaves to save liberty in this country?

I went to a Baptist funeral over the weekend, saying goodbye to the mother of childhood friends. It was incredible seeing people I hadn’t seen in 40 years!

Almost everyone there was African-American. And it was heartening that the pastor was fulminating against Trump in his eulogy of the deceased. And it was completely relevant, since the deceased herself was politically active and politically outspoken.

because you want to be in a thoughtful, receptive mood when you flock to the Museum of Modern Art October 5-16 for its retrospective of the films of Marlen Khutsiev. I’ve only seen his July Rain, which is quintessential Soviet thaw cinema. Most of his films aren’t available on DVD, so you need to be there.

And to top it all off, Khutsiev, NINETY-ONE YEARS OLD, is working on a new film and is coming to New York City to be interviewed at MOMA!!

Isn’t it time, now that Trump has pledged to accelerate humanity’s race to extinction, that Hillary started making the environment a campaign issue?

Speaking of S.N. Behrman, I was thinking of his Portrait of Max as I wrote my biography of Alla Osipenko. Behrman foregrounds his friendship with Max Beerbohm, drama critic and humorist and just highly interesting individual. I don’t quite foreground my interviewer-interviewee relationship with Osipenko, but it’s an important part of the book.

I was also thinking of Mitch Albion’s Tuesdays with Morrie!  In the sense of chronicling regular visits to a senior inspiring person. So I had to sign and send the book to David Black, who’s Albion’s agent as well as representing a lot of other top authors. As well as being my nursery-school-playground playmate. David’s the son of Hillel Black, who’s had a long and extraordinary career in publishing, and he and my Dad were college friends. And we were also, as very young tykes, neighbors in Jackson Heights, Queens. Still looking for that picture of us in crepe-paper capes in the playground. . .

Didn’t know that Hilly had just died last February. Donations in his memory may be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center–that tells you something.