honest and wise men

 

Supreme Court corruption

two contemporary viewer Comments under a news-reportage video:

~  I used to think the USA had a well developed constitutional government.  That is far from the truth.  It is a very fragile system.

~  To be fair, all systems of political organization are based on the honor system at the end of the day, and if enough of a society is devoid of honor and they make it into power, then no political system can correct for that.

____________________

These came after a day when the Supreme Court heard arguments from one of Donald Trump's lawyers that presidents should have "immunity" and be allowed to kill people, without consequences.

(That quote from the psychologist:  "Fragile systems bend toward the most dysfunctional person in them.")

        "...If enough of a society is devoid of honor and they make it into power, then no political system can correct for that."

---------------------------------------------

The second U.S. President, John Adams, wrote in a letter to his wife:

"I Pray Heaven To Bestow The Best Of Blessings On This House and All that shall hereafter inhabit it.  May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof."

        I guess now is the time to Pray, and this coming November is the time to Vote.

-30-

ease had corrupted them

 

(left) American actor Broderick Crawford playing Willie Stark in the 1949 film  All The King's Men.  Movie based on the novel.  Willie Stark based on the real-life Louisiana politician Huey Long.

----- [excerpt from All The King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren.  Copyright 1946.  Harcourt Inc.] -----------

        But, speaking vulgarly, the Sheriff and Pillsbury were part of Willie's luck.  I didn't know it that night in Pappy's parlor, and I didn't know it when I got back to town and gave Jim Madison my tale.  Well, Willie began to appear in the Chronicle in the role of the boy upon the burning deck and the boy who put his finger in the dike and the boy who replies "I can" when Duty whispers low "Thou must."  

The Chronicle was turning up more and more tales about finagling in county courthouses around the state.  It pointed the finger of fine scorn and reprobation all over the map.  Then I began to grasp the significance of what was going on in that world of reasons high above the desk of Jim Madison, and caught the glint of those diaphanous spirit wings and the fluting whispers of the faint angel voices up there.  

In brief, this:  The happy harmony in the state machine was a thing of the past, and the Chronicle  was lined up with the soreheads, and was hacking away at the county substructure of the machine.  It was starting there, feeling its way, setting the stage and preparing the back-drop for the real show.

It wasn't as hard as it might have been.  Ordinarily the country boys in the county courthouses have plenty of savvy and know all the tricks and are plenty hard to pin anything on, but the machine had been operating so long now without serious opposition that ease had corrupted them.  They just didn't bother to be careful.  So the Chronicle was making a good show.

        But Mason County was Exhibit Number One.  On account of Willie.  He gave the touch of drama to the sordid tale.  He became symbolically the spokesman for the tongue-tied population of honest men.  And when Willie was licked at the polls of Mason County, the Chronicle ran his picture, and under it the line KEEPS HIS FAITH.  And under that they printed the statement which Willie had given to me when I went back up to Mason City after the election and after Willie was out.  The statement went like this:

        "Sure, they did it and it was a clean job which I admire.  I'm going back to Pappy's farm and milk the cows and study some more law for it looks like I am going to need it.  But I have kept my faith in the people of Mason County.  Time will bring all things to light."

-30-

if you think of 25 of them, you're a genius

 

On You Tube, find the video titled

Nice Mickey Rourke scene in 'Body Heat' (1981)

It is 2 minutes long.  Watch and listen.

viewer comments:

~  In every bar buddy conversation when this comes up and guys imitate Rourke in this scene, they pretend to be smoking - I've always found that interesting... "Hey! no smoking in here".

~  The Counselor brought me to this.  Thanks Ridley Scott and Dariusz Wolski.  And Cormac McCarthy

        ~  Same here.  Just now stopped the movie to You Tube this scene.

~  2 truly amazing actors.

~  ...Rourke always had a great screen presence and everything he says is intense.  It's scenes like this I remember from great movies.

~  General Thunderbolt Ross and Whiplash Ivan Vanko

~  "There's 50 ways you can F this up.  A genius might think of 50, and you ain't no genius, Councilor!"  Words to that effect.  This movie ran for 6 months straight in an Albuquerque theater, 44 years ago.  Walter White should have seen this scene!

~  Mickey was great, and so were William Hurt and Kathleen Turner.  Great parts for all three - roles that actors live-for.

~  ...Great scene in a great movie.

~  RIP William Hurt, eri un attore che ho sempre amato molto.  Grazie per I personaggi che ci hai regalato.

-30-

fragile systems

 

"Fragile systems bend toward the most dysfunctional person in them."

        I heard the above statement in a You Tube video, from a psychologist.  

---------------------------------------------------

As the current trial of Donald Trump goes along, there are all these courtroom sketches showing up in some of the news stories.

        I became interested in the artwork of the sketches.  Why do we see drawings instead of photographs?

I asked Google, and from what I can understand, in federal courts there are no cameras or recordings allowed, so if there are going to be any visual depictions, they are going to be drawings.

In state courts, some allow cameras, and some don't.

So anywhere cameras aren't allowed, the courtroom sketch artists are the backup.

-30-

"you look like Pine Haven"

 

I often feel that the 1981 film Body Heat doesn't receive the recognition that it should.  Some movies, you will find many (or several) videos on You Tube, analyzing them:  Taxi Driver, Rear Window, Citizen Kane...

Not much on there for Body Heat.  I did hear Mr. Sheffield on "The Nanny" mention the film, and then recently while watching clips of "Law & Order" episodes, fan favorite character Lenny Briscoe (portrayed by actor Jerry Orbach), in a conversation about whether someone had their spouse killed over money, says, "I watched Body Heat three times...!"

I felt like, "Finally!"

Finally someone besides me says it.

-30-

too funny

 

Under the video on You Tube of the Kennedys meeting the British royals in The Crown are Comments:

~  President first, President first.

No curtsy, no curtsy...

I love those two men.  XD

~  Bloody shambles

~  Almost like commentary at a sporting event.

~  Your royal highness is for princess / prince, your majesty is for king / queen.

~  Hilariously awkward scene

~  The way the president says "your Royal Majesty" with such confidence [3 laughing emojis]

~  and loud!

~  I love that the Queen's face is a combination of ever so slightly annoyed, surprised, and amused.  And then she's gracious enough to go and save Mrs. Kennedy from wherever she's going lol.

~  I'll never get over this [laughing emoji] "Your Royal Majesty" omg

~  "Lord knows!"  That was too funny.

~  When she said your Grace I cringed so hard

"Your Royal Majesty" [6 laughing emojis] I can't

~  Honestly, Charteris  and Adeane's reactions make this scene.  I was chortling Britishly to myself throughout.

~  Charteris and Adeane are a TOTAL MOOD here...

~  Prime Minister:  "Oh, for goodness' sake!"  I howled.

~  bloody shambles

-30-

Lord knows

In this scene from The Crown U.S. President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline met Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at an "informal" dinner.  (What the royals call informal looks very very formal to many of us!)

It's a big room with tables, and people, dressed up.  Near the door are the Queen and her husband, waiting to greet the Americans.  There's a whole "right way - wrong way" of greeting and moving about:  you don't walk in front of the Queen, for example, and the correct way to address the royals...  Their ancient traditions that are supposed to give "stability."

 Off to the side near the door are two men:  Martin Charteris and Michael Adeane.  Adeane is the Queen's private secretary and Charteris is the deputy.  They try to make everything go right.

        A little ways into the room is British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and his wife.

INT.  Castle's dining hall - Evening

The Queen and Prince Philip stand watching the large, grand doorway, awaiting the Kennedys' arrival.  Before they (and we) see the Kennedys and their entourage, we can hear them walking in the hallway.

Philip (in a low voice, to his wife) -

Come on, it's like royalty.

Queen -

Very funny.

The Kennedys enter the room.

Philip -

Gosh.

 

Michael Adeane (sotto voce, to Charteris) -

President first, President first.

Jackie (who has gone first) -

Your Majesty.

Adeane (in a tone of ominous foreboding) -

No curtsy.

Charteris -

No curtsy.

Queen -

(startled - and with a look of faint disapproval)

Mrs. Kennedy.

Jackie (to Philip) -

Your Grace.

Adeane - 

Your royal highness.

Philip -

Mrs. Kennedy.

President Kennedy -

Good evening, Your Royal Majesty.

[Queen nods her head, a little stunned]

Charteris -

Oh dear.

Prime Minister Macmillan (to his wife) -

Oh for goodness' sake.

Queen -

Mr. President.

[staring, transfixed]

Philip -

Mr. President.

Kennedy -

Your Grace.

Adeane -

Did he not get the protocol sheet?

Charteris -

Yes!  He obviously didn't read it.

Queen (brightly) -

Yes!  Well - shall we?

Kennedy -

Uh - Jackie?

[Jackie walks on further into the room.]

Charteris -

Where do you think she's going?

Adeane (resigned tone)

Lord knows.

[The Queen catches up with Jackie and then we hear her voice from off-screen]

Queen (in a tone of warm politeness) -

Mrs. Kennedy.

Kennedy -

I feel like that went wrong in about ten thousand different ways.

Philip -

I've seen worse.  Though I'm not sure when.

[The president laughs, and Philip joins in.

Philip -

Drink?

Kennedy -

Please!

Charteris -

Sorry, sir.

Adeane -

Bloody shambles.

-30-

we'll see

 

------- [excerpt from All The President's Men.  Carl Bernstein / Bob Woodward.  1974.  Simon & Schuster] ------

        Maybe she could convince him?  Bernstein smiled, trying to suggest a good-natured conspiracy.

        She laughed.  "We'll see," she said.

        There was a pretty fair bike shop in McLean, and Bernstein drove there to kill a couple of hours and look halfheartedly for a replacement for his beloved Raleigh.  But his mind was on Jeb Magruder.  He had picked up a profoundly disturbing piece of information that day:  Magruder was a bike freak.  

Bernstein had trouble swallowing the information that a bicycle nut could be a Watergate bugger.  And Magruder really was a card-carrying bicycle freak who had even ridden his 10-speed to the White House every day.  Nobody would ever steal Jeb Magruder's bike, at least not there.  

Bernstein knew that, because he had ridden his bike to the White House on July 14--not the Raleigh, but a Holdsworth that he had had built in London--and as he went through the gate he knew no one would get near it.

        So Bernstein had rested his bike against the wall of the little guardhouse at the entrance and not bothered to lock it.  He was there to hear Vice President Agnew talk about cutting red tape to get help to victims of the Great Flood caused by Hurricane Agnes.  And he had run into Ken Clawson in the hallway.

        "You guys back at the  Post are going to bark up the wrong tree one too many times on Watergate," Clawson had said.

_______________

on You Tube, find the video titled

Buddy Holly - Not Fade Away (1957)

uploader / channel:  Marvin Pollei

...and listen.  It's the Bo Diddley beat!

-30-

he certainly liked her

------- [excerpt from All The President's Men, by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward.  Copyright 1974.  Simon & Schuster] ----------------

        Had  she read the Post's story?  Mrs. Sloan nodded.  She had been pleased; it had been a relief finally to see what she knew in print.  Bernstein told her the Post's staff had no preconceived notions.  And there were some people who were not concerned about the truth, he added, much less about what happened to her husband.

        "I know," she replied.  It was spoken sadly.  Her husband had been let down by people he believed in, people whose principles and values they had both thought were the same as their own.  But the values of many of the others had been hollow.  There was a flash of anger as she spoke, but mostly sorrow.

        Bernstein wanted to move the conversation away from generalities.  They had established a common ground philosophically, and seemed to like each other.  He certainly liked her.

        What had her husband's reaction been when he realized what he was being asked to hand out money for?  Bernstein was trying to cross the line slowly but she recognized it immediately.

        That was something he would have to talk to her husband about.  It wouldn't be appropriate for her to say.  She asked for his phone number again and Bernstein wrote it on a page from his notebook.  He had another appointment in McLean that evening, he lied; if it ended early enough, would it be all right to come back and talk to her husband?

        Bernstein was welcome to come back, but she did not know if her husband would talk to him.

__________________

On You Tube, find the video titled

Buddy Holly - Rock Around with Ollie Vee

uploader / channel:  Rockin' Bandit

play and enjoy, and had probably better dance, too

__________________

-30-

an honest house

---------- [excerpt from All The President's Men] -----------

        The development consisted of imitation Tudor houses clustered along little concrete-and-grass pedestrian lanes.  The place was doubtless designed for families with young children; traffic and parking areas were safely isolated and almost every house seemed to have a tricycle or some form of hobbyhorse overturned on the lawn.  Bernstein got soaked as he searched on foot for Sloan's house.

        Mrs. Sloan answered the door.  She was very pretty and very pregnant.  Bernstein introduced himself and asked for Sloan.  He was downtown and would not be home until 7:30 or so.  She was friendly, and asked where Bernstein could be reached.  

Bernstein was looking for a way to talk to her at least for a while.  She had worked at the White House as a social secretary, he knew, and she had been an important influence in her husband's decision to quit the Nixon campaign.

        He guessed she was about 30.  There was a softness about her good looks that seemed to suit the idea of becoming a mother.  She had big brown eyes.  Bernstein thought these must be awful days for the Sloans--a former assistant on the President's staff, out of work and under a cloud of suspicion, and his wife expecting their first child.  

At this time when they should be happiest, his name was showing up in the papers every day in a way usually associated with mobsters . . . she spent her time waiting for him to come back from the grand jury . . . FBI agents were talking to their friends and neighbors . . . reporters were knocking on their door at all hours . . .

        Bernstein shared these thoughts with her, trying to dissociate himself from the hordes.

        She sensed his discomfort.  She understood he was only trying to do his job, she said.  Like her husband.  "This is an honest house."  It was a declaration, proud, firm.

________________

On You Tube, find the video titled

1958 Buddy Holly - I'm Gonna Love You Too

uploader / channel:  The45Prof

and Play!

-30-

all your turtle - dovin'

 

---------- [excerpt from All The President's Men, by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward] ------------

        The next morning, the New York Times did not mention the secret-fund stories.  At the White House, Ron Ziegler was not asked about them.  The networks carried neither of the stories, and most papers didn't either.  

On Capitol Hill, the Republican leader of the Senate, Hugh Scott of Pennsylvania, told an informal morning press conference that the Watergate case was not of concern to the average voter but of interest to "just Senator McGovern and the media."  "Nobody is paying any attention to what you're writing," he said.  

In the newsroom, Bernstein and Woodward waited for the first edition of the afternoon Washington Star-News to arrive.  The only Watergate story was about a George Washington University law professor who had filed a motion in federal court seeking the appointment of a special prosecutor in the case.

        Late that afternoon, Bernstein signed out a company car an drove to McLean, in the Virginia suburbs, to visit Hugh Sloan, the former treasurer of CRP.  The trip, ordinarily half an hour's drive, took more than an hour and a quarter in the rain; Sloan lived in a new development, and Bernstein had trouble finding it.

------------------------------

On You Tube, type in

That'll Be The Day, Buddy Holly

-- pick your video, and Play!

-30-

the cautious side

 

(excerpt from All The President's Men) ---------------- Magruder's tone had made more of an impression on Woodward than his words.  He was second in command at CRP.  His job at the White House had been to deal with the press.  But his voice had been shaking as he talked to Woodward.

        A section of the story was about Hugh Sloan.  Deep Throat had said that Sloan had had no prior knowledge of the bugging, or of how the money was to be spent.  He had quit as treasurer of CRP shortly after the bugging because he "wanted no part of what he then knew was going on." 

        The story quoted the Bookkeeper anonymously.  "He didn't want anything to do with it.  His wife was going to leave him if he didn't stand up and do what was right."

        There was one problem in writing the story.  Deep Throat had been explicit in saying the withdrawals financed the Watergate bugging.  But the Bookkeeper--who suspected as much--could not confirm it.  

The reporters conferred with Sussman and Rosenfeld,  who decided to fall on the cautious side and say the money was used to finance widespread "intelligence-gathering activities against the Democrats." 

Gradually, an unwritten rule was evolving: unless two sources confirmed a charge involving activity likely to be considered criminal, the specific allegation was not used in the paper.

---------------------

On YouTube, find the video titled

Oh Boy

--------- uploader / channel: Buddy Holly - Topic

... and play!

___________________________

All The President's Men, by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward.

Copyright 1974.

Simon & Schuster.

-30-

mother, don't you recognize your son

 

I've said  before,  I love every single song they used in The Sopranos.  David Chase and I must have the same taste. 

The Rolling Stones 

Bob Dylan 

Joan Baez ("Diamonds And Rust")

Artie Shaw

Chuck Berry 

The Faces ...

In The Sopranos episode titled "Marco Polo" there's a song at the end - "Bad 'N' Ruin".

It's so good!  And I had never heard it before. 

        It's by a band called The Faces, lead singer Rod Stewart. 

One viewer comment said the song is "underrated."  (That word is used a lot on the internet.)

        On YouTube, type in  

Faces, Bad 'n' Ruin

and you will get several videos of the album cut you can listen to. 

One video I want to highlight:

Faces - Bad 'N' Ruin  / THE SOPRANOS 

uploader-channel -- WGON Music 

Click on that one and play it.  It's the song,  with scenes from the Marco Polo episode. 

----------------------------

Comments under one of the album cut videos:

--   I swear to God I find a new song after every episode of the sopranos 

--   Thank you again David Chase.  This song rules. Rod Stewart is awesome as f---.

--   I literally can't kill someone outside of a brothel without literally listening to this first 

--   God I love how the comment section of every song featured on the sopranos on YouTube is overrun with sopranos quotes 

--   Loved this when it was released.  Blew my mind when heard it on the Sopranos.  One of my favorite songs. 

--   What a track.

______________________

-30-

every game you play

 

Since Sean Combs has been in the news so much lately I realized I've never heard his music. Typed him into YouTube and tapped on a video: it was a song with P. Diddy singing / rapping, but it was a song I had heard before, by The Police.  "Every Breath You Take."

A viewer comment under a news video argued that a young lady said she wasn't attracted to Mr. Diddy but then she became his girlfriend anyway after he "showered her with gifts, clothing, jewelry, apartments"...

The concept of showering someone with apartments.

It made me think of The Wizard Of Oz, when Dorothy Gale's house falls out of the tornado and lands on the Wicked Witch Of The East.

____________________________

-30-

unpleasant people

 

Several years ago I watched a documentary called "Surviving R. Kelly" - it kind of helps the viewer to contemplate what goes wrong with some people who get fame, money, and power.

        Or - does something "go wrong" with the person, or were they always that way and the power just put them in a position to run amuck?

(John Oliver had a segment on Rudy Giuliani a while back, he said people ask what went wrong with the former New York City mayor, but - leaning forward to the camera and vibrating with his trademark manic energy - "HE'S ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY!!!")

Now it's Sean Combs (P. Diddy) ...

You tube viewer comments:

--   How arrogant do you have to be to record your own illegal crimes with someone else's phone?

--   Just rich..... the rich have different rules.

--   In any society where money and influence can build a shield against the law, this will continue to happen.

--   Pro tip: if you're in a position of authority, do not abuse your subordinate(s).

--   Like R. Kelly, Diddy has been on my "never listen to this fool's work EVER" list for a few decades.

--   Diddy earned everything that he's getting.

______________________________

I was reading about this, and someone referred to R. Kelly and Mr. Combs as "unpleasant people."

        Bit of an understatement.

--------------- I learned who Jennifer Lopez was when I saw the movie Selena in 1997, when it came out.  Then she was making a record album called "On The Six." (Back then I would get my music news from VH-1.)

        THEN, later on that year, I was getting dressed, getting ready for work, and the news said Jennifer Lopez had been arrested (ARRESTED?!) along with her companion puff Diddy, p. Daddy, Whatever, they were at a nightclub and a gun was involved in the scenario...??

I was thinking, OK, that young lady should NOT be dating that person.

...And as soon as she calls me to ask my advice, I will Tell her that. ...

-------------------------------

-30-

the wheat fields waving, and the dust clouds rolling

 

Listening to "Texas Hold 'Em" by Beyonce recently, the banjo-playing reminded me of Pete Seeger.

On YouTube, play for yourself and your family and friends the video titled:

Pete Seeger This Land Is Your Land

----  uploader / channel - Ruchira Natraj

___________________________

-30-