Khizr Khan's Service to America

It's been almost two days since the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, and the words that are still in my mind, in fact, the only words, are not from Presidents and First Ladies, not from candidates for President and Vice President, not from former Mayors and lots of other people, impassioned and eloquent and memorable as they were.   It's what Khizr Khan, his wife beside him, father of slain US-Muslim soldier Humayun Khan killed in the Iraq War, said to Donald Trump.

They've no doubt been seen by millions of people on the Internet.  They were heard by millions when Khan said them.  But here they are again - like all words for the ages, you can't read or hear them too many times:

Donald Trump, you're asking Americans to trust you with their future. Let me ask you, have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy ... Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending America -- you will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one.

Dan Rather said to Rachel Maddow last night that he thought those words - especially that final sentence - were the most powerful he had ever heard at any national political convention, going back to 1956.  I agree. Indeed, I think those words are more powerful and important than any great political statements in any arena - better than Lloyd Bentsen's "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" to Dan Quayle in the 1988 Vice Presidential debate, even better than Joseph Welch to Joe McCarthy in the 1954 Senate hearing, "At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"

What Khan said was even more important to our country and its future, and the world, because of who he is and whom he said it to.   Khan is an immigrant, and a man whose son made the ultimate sacrifice for this country, to save the soldiers around him.

And Trump is ... well ... poking holes in his positions is easier than shooting fish in a barrel.  But Khan burst Trump's balloon of bluster and hate and ignorance more fully and effectively than anyone I've seen before.  Khan's words laid bare Trump's appalling and pathetic ignorance, along with his selfishness and greed and profound inability to walk the walk.

Those words should be carved in a monument in some public place, as a response to the totalitarian impulse that has now gripped some of this nation.   And they should be kept in mind by anyone doesn't like Trump, but is thinking of staying home on Election Day, or maybe voting for a third party candidate, because they don't like Hillary Clinton much either. I think Hillary will make an excellent President and would be voting for her whoever her Republican rival.  But with Trump, and with Khizr Khan's words indelibly in my mind, I'd vote for Hillary in a heartbeat whatever my opinion of her career.

Marcella: Offbeat and Compelling

We live-streamed Marcella on Netflix the past week, mostly in the wee hours of the morning, after watching the Presidential conventions.   It was certainly more appealing than the GOP convention last week, but that's faint praise indeed.

In its own right, Marcella is an off-beat and compelling story about the a woman who returns to the Metropolitan Police in London to help with a case that's all-too-familiar.   This happens at the same time as her husband leaves her for a blonde business executive, and then things get really interesting when she's murdered.

But here's what really sets Marcella apart as a noir police procedural: she's suffering black-outs, due to stress, and these (of course) occur at crucial times in her life  and in the investigation.  So much so, that she begins to suspect herself as the killer of her husband's lover.

Black-outs are a great trope in fiction, especially in detective stories, and even more so if it's the detective who's suffering the blackouts.   I did in this in one of my Phil D'Amato novels - The Consciousness Plague - and it adds an underlying uneasiness and uncertainty to everything in the story, which is just what you want in a serial murder narrative.

But Marcella takes this to a new level, since the serial murders themselves make no sense, and, in addition to her black-outs, she comes out of one of them with blood on her hands, literally.  I won't spoil the ending for you, but it's good indeed, conclusive in one sense but intriguingly ambiguous in another.

Anna Friel does a memorable job in the title role, the supporting cast is strong, and I'm looking for season 2 to be announced.

The Night of #3: The Schlepp vs. the Star

An excellent third episode of The Night Of on HBO last night, in which Jack Stone gets some competition in his representation of Naz - from superstar attorney Alison Crowe.

Crowe is willing to serve as Naz's lawyer for nothing, an offer that of course appeals to Naz's parents and Jack can't beat.  Why is Crowe willing to do this?   Presumably for publicity, and in bringing her into the story in this way, The Night Of takes a shot at Gloria Allred.

Though it's more complicated than that.  In real life, although Allred likes publicity, she also does a lot of good for her clients and the world.   We haven't yet seen Crowe in action, but there's no reason to suppose that she won't be able to do the same.

But not if Jack has anything to do about that, even though his course from now on is unclear.  He still doesn't know for sure if Naz is guilty or innocent - just as we the audience don't yet know - but he increasingly wants to devote his all to doing the best that can be done for Naz.   He's not about to take Crowe taking over with a deferential bow, and it will be fun to see how he strikes back.

Meanwhile, speaking of celebrity, is that what's motivating Freddy to take Naz under his wing inside prison? Hard to say, but it's always good to Michael Kenneth Williams in any role on television.

We have five more episodes to go in this mini-series, and so far, as far as we know, we haven't met any other suspects.   If the killer is not Naz - which I can't believe it is - will the real killer be (a) revealed in the final episode, (b) sometime sooner, or (c) never at all?

Your guess is as good as mine, and I'll keep watching for a hint of an answer in this fine little series.

See also The Day After The Night Of on HBO

 

Hell on Wheels Finale: From Rail to Sea

A most fine and satisfying finale to Hell on Wheels tonight, with Bohannon doing just what I'd hoped and predicted (see my previous reviews) in the end:  taking a boat to China to find Mei.

It wasn't that hard to predict, but was still very good to see.  Being a Union colonel, killing Indians, of course didn't suit him for at least two reasons.   But neither did working on a much smaller railroad in California.   Only finding the love of his life - or at least his recent life - made sense.

Durant came across very well, too, which made me sorry we had to see his ultimate decline in the flashforward a few weeks back.  But every word Durant said in his testimony rang true.  He lied, cheated, stole, all in the service of building that railroad, and he succeeded.

And the railroad Durant had built with Bohannon's help is the vehicle that gets Bohannon from Washington to San Francisco, where he boards a boat to China, in the end.  That was one of the nicest touches in this finale, that Bohannon used what he built to help his personal dream a reality.  In other words, Bohannon helped make Durant's vision real, and in turn used that reality to get his own dream underway into reality.

Seeing Custer was fun, too - though knowing what's going to happen to him makes this not quite fun, either.  But it's Custer's style and swagger than convinces Bohannon he isn't a soldier anymore, and doesn't want to be one again.

And so this wonderful series ends.  I still miss Lily, and would have been happier if the Swede had been dispatched much earlier, but hey, we were treated to a few years of a great Western with real history and some memorably personal stories to boot.   How about a movie, say, five or ten years from now, which shows what Bohannon and Mei are up to?

See also Hell on Wheels 5.1: Rails and Truckee ... Hell on Wheels 5.2: Mei and Cullen ... Hell on Wheels 5.3: Prejudice ... Hell on Wheels 5.8: Letting Him Live? ... Hell on Wheels 5.9: A Good Night for Bohannon ... Hell on Wheels 5.10: Nitroglycerin and Love ... Hell on Wheels 5.11: Durant and Shakespeare ... Hell on Wheels 5.12: Sailing Away ... Hell on Wheels 5.13: Almost Grinds to a Halt

And see also Hell on Wheels 4.1-2: Rolling Again ... Hell on Wheels 4.5: New Blood ... Hell on Wheels 4.6: Bear and Sanity ... Hell on Wheels 4.7: Why? ... Hell on Wheels 4.8: Aftermath and Rebound ... Hell on Wheels 4.9: High Noon ... Hell on Wheels 4.10: A Tale of Two Sicko Killers ... Hell on Wheels 4.11: The Redemption of Ruth ... Hell on Wheels 4.12: Infuriating and Worthwhile ... Hell on Wheels Season 4 Finale: The Buffalo

And see also Hell on Wheels 3.1-2: Bohannan in Command ... Hell on Wheels 3.3: Talking and Walking ... Hell on Wheels 3.4: Extreme Lacrosse ... Hell on Wheels 3.5: The Glove ... Hell on Wheels 3.6: The Man in Charge ...Hell on Wheels 3.7: Water, Water ... Hell on Wheels 3.8: Canterbury Tales ...Hell on Wheels 3.9: Shoot-Out and Truths ... Hell on Wheels Season 3 finale: Train Calling in the Distance

And see also  Hell on Wheels: Blood, Sweat, and Tears on the Track, and the Telegraph ... Hell on Wheels 1.6: Horse vs. Rail ... Hell on Wheels 1.8: Multiple Tracks ... Hell on Wheels 1.9: Historical Inevitable and Unknown ... Hell on Wheels Season One Finale: Greek Tragedy, Western Style



deeper history

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Tyrant 3.3: Double Death

Whew, we were treated to two unexpected deaths in Tyrant's powerful episode 3.3 earlier this week.   Neither was expected, only one was deserved.

Let's start with that deserved death.  By all rights, Jamal should have died from that attack at the end of last season.  It was surprising he survived.   But having lived, his death now was also surprising. For though he was living on borrowed time, what was the point of keeping him alive if the only result was that he would be killed, anyway?

Well, making Ahmed his killer was a powerful move - and only appropriate in such a dysfunctional family.  Still, if the killing was a shock, and more than warranted, I still regret it, more than a little, because it robs our story of such a compelling character.  (And here I'll add the proviso - assuming he's dead.  I come from the school that says if you don't see the character's head blown off on television, he or she could still somehow survive.   And sometimes - especially in science fiction, which Tyrant of course is not - even if the head is blown off.  In this case, though, I don't think that's likely.)

And then there's Emma.  She certainly didn't deserve to die.   And although she was kidnapped, her death was still a stunner (again, assuming she's really dead).  One thing you can say on behalf of her death is that her character wasn't all that important - the series can certainly survive her death.

But she was a sweetheart, and they've always been in vanishingly short supply on Tyrant.  And now Barry will be galvanized to do his very worst against the people who murdered his daughter, which sets the rest of this already very powerful season very nicely.  So that's a second thing.  And we've also seen that the US military in Abuddin isn't as sharp as it should be.  Strong, dangerous plot possibilities now in Tyrant everywhere you turn.

See also: Tyrant 3.1: Barry -> Bassam ... Tyrant 3.2: Whither Molly?

And see also: Tyrant 2.1: The Tyrant's Character ... Tyrant 2.5: The Caliphate ... Tyrant Season 2 Finale: Deserves to be Renewed 

And see also: Tyrant: Compelling Debut ... Tyrant 1.2: The Brother's Speech and His Wife ... Tyrant 1.3: A New Leaf? ... Tyrant 1.4: Close to the Bone ...Tyrant 1.6: Don't Mess with Jamal ... Tyrant 1.7-8: Coup ... Tyrant 1.9: Tariq ... Tyrant Season 1 Finale: The Truest Tyrant

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and earlier in the Middle East ...

12 Monkeys 2.13: Psychedelic -> Whole City Time Travel

An altogether superb season 2 finale to 12 Monkeys Monday night, which I haven't seen until now because I was focused on the GOP Convention in Cleveland, where, come to think of it, Trump was a little reminiscent of The Witness when he first entered the stage on Monday night, or at least the Pallid Man.

But back to 2.13 of 12 Monkeys, this episode had everything, including psychedelic time travel via red forest leaf tea, time travel of the whole city of Titan or whatever exactly that is, Cole and Cassie living a few months of happily ever after, and even a cameo by Madeline Stowe, who played the original Dr. Railly in the 1995 movie, except her first name then was Kathryn not Cassandra.

The Stowe character in Monday's season finale plays a Jennifer-like character, who may be a little more clear, if still speaking in riddles, than the Jennifer we've come to know and love.   I hope we see more of Stowe on the show next season in 2017.

We're also treated to a transformation in another Dr. on the show, Dr. Jones, who in the new reality that Cole's psychedelic time traveling creates becomes a kick-ass woman, handy with a gun.   It was great to see her actually go on the expedition to save Ramse and company from their previously deadly fate at Titan.

The ending was predicted by lots of people on the Web, but was still a treat to see: the Witness is the child of Cole and Cassie, the one who presumably wasn't born, because Cole's changing of time in 1957 erased the time he had with Cassie in the house of their dreams in 1959.  At least, that's what Stowe's character said would happen - that the time in the home-sweet-home would be gone - and she certainly seemed pretty knowledgeable.   On the other hand, she did also say that love survives all changes in time, so ...

But this leads to a question about a slightly earlier development: how did Cassie come to remember that she and Cole had been in that cottage, since that time presumably never happened?  Cole is surprised, and we never get an answer to this.  Is it also an example of love conquers all and the power of butterflies?  Likely the details will also explain how Cassie became pregnant - though I suppose Cole and Cassie could have made love at some other instant in this new reality, or maybe Cole isn't the father.

No, that last possibility wouldn't be as interesting as Cole being the father, and we'll just have to wait next to see how that plays out, and what's up in the 22nd century, as we enter 2017 with a new President in our own time-line.   Hey, I'm all about butterflies ....

See also 12 Monkeys 2.1: Whatever Will Be, Will Be ... 12 Monkeys 2.2: The Serum ... 12 Monkeys 2.3: Primaries and Paradoxes ... 12 Monkeys 2.4: Saving Time ... 12 Monkeys 2.5: Jennifer's Story ... 12 Monkeys 2.6: "'Tis Death Is Dead" ... 12 Monkeys 2.7: Ultimate Universes ... 12 Monkeys 2.8: Time Itself Wants Time Travel ... 12 Monkeys 2.9: Hands On ... 12 Monkeys 2.10: The Drugging ... 12 Monkeys 2.11: Teleportation ... 12 Monkeys 2.12: The Best and the Worst of Time(s)

And see also this Italian review, w/reference to Hawking and my story, "The Chronology Protection Case"

And see also 12 Monkeys series on SyFy: Paradox Prominent and Excellent ...12 Monkeys 1.2: Your Future, His Past ... 12 Monkeys 1.3:  Paradoxes, Lies, and Near Intersections ... 12 Monkeys 1.4: "Uneasy Math" ... 12 Monkeys 1.5: The Heart of the Matter ... 12 Monkeys 1.6: Can I Get a Witness? ... 12 Monkeys 1.7: Snowden, the Virus, and the Irresistible ... 12 Monkeys 1.8: Intelligent Vaccine vs. Time Travel ... 12 Monkeys 1.9: Shelley, Keats, and Time Travel ... 12 Monkey 1.10: The Last Jump ... 12 Monkeys 1.11: What-Ifs ... 12 Monkeys 1.2: The Plunge ... 12 Monkeys Season 1 Finale: "Time Travel to Create Time Travel"

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time travel in deeper history

Tyrant 3.2:: Whither Molly?

Events in the real world keep pre-empting my reviews of Tyrant.  This time it was the attempted coup in Turkey.  Now as to episode 3.2 -

I've got to admit, and probably have already said, that Tyrant could actually benefit from Molly Al-Fayeed being off the show.  It would free Barry to pursue other romantic interests - especially one, in particular, that we've already seen - and give him a reason to become a ruthless dictator, at least for a while.

Also, Barry's wife getting killed would, I hate to say it, serve her right for staying in Abuddin.  It stretches credibility that she would continue to stay in this country with her children, given what she has seen happening and almost happening to members of her extended family.   On the other hand, I hate to approve of anyone's murder, even a fictional character in a story, especially if that character is not a bad person and however much the murder might propel the story.

Meanwhile, as I said last week, I'm glad to see Leila increasing her political power.  It would be wild indeed to someday see her in the driver's seat of Abuddin, but that's still a very long way off, if at all possible. But, hey, making a woman head of an Arab country would once and for all put Tyrant ahead of what's actually happening in Turkey and the rest of the Middle East, and if there's any woman to do it it would be Leila.

Of course, now that Jamal is slowly coming back, he could be an obstacle to Leila's ascent, not to mention her relationship with the American general.   But, for now, we need to see Molly's fate, and I'm looking forward to the next episode to see that, with no untimely distractions from Turkey.

See also: Tyrant 3.1: Barry -> Bassam

And see also: Tyrant 2.1: The Tyrant's Character ... Tyrant 2.5: The Caliphate ... Tyrant Season 2 Finale: Deserves to be Renewed 

And see also: Tyrant: Compelling Debut ... Tyrant 1.2: The Brother's Speech and His Wife ... Tyrant 1.3: A New Leaf? ... Tyrant 1.4: Close to the Bone ...Tyrant 1.6: Don't Mess with Jamal ... Tyrant 1.7-8: Coup ... Tyrant 1.9: Tariq ... Tyrant Season 1 Finale: The Truest Tyrant

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and earlier in the Middle East ...

Melania Trump's Plagiarism in Academic and Historical Perspective

Putting Melania Trump's plagiarism and the Trump campaign's response to it in perspective - as a professor, who, like most professors, has on occasion dealt with plagiarism, and who also has studied what happens when dictators get caught up in lies -

- What Melania did was actually worse than a student who plagiarizes. Students usually are taking more than one course, get caught up in final exams, are just becoming adults, etc. Under that kind of pressure, plagiarism is wrong and must be called out, but it happens. Trump's campaign had months to prepare for yesterday's speech by Melania - the fact that she so blatantly plagiarized shows Trump's continuing disdain for both truth and democracy.

 - The denial by Chris Christie and Paul Manafort of plagiarism is the same as Trump denying a tweet contained an anti-semitic Jewish star.  Trump's approach is just double down and deny the truth when caught in a wrongdoing. This is right out of the Goebbels-Hitler propaganda playbook. Why does this work?  As Erich Fromm pointed out in Escape from Freedom, some people don't want the responsibility of thinking for themselves - they want their leaders to do it for them, and are happy to accept as truth whatever their leaders say.   This, alas, is one of the foundations of fascism.

 -Trump has already gone after the press. We'll soon see him go after academics, because professors are the in-the-trench experts on plagiarism. Attacks on the press and academics are another hallmark of leaders who don't like democracy (Erdogan in Turkey has arrested both journalists and professors).

The Trump campaign has thus far shown an astonishing resilience, often picking up rather than losing support after getting caught up in an outrageous lie.  Plagiarism, and then denying it, is part of the same pattern.   Will it have a similar effect on Trump's success?  The very future of our democracy may reside in the answer to that question.

Ray Donovan 4.4: Bob Seger

Singing has played an important role in this 4th season of Ray Donovan, but never better than tonight's episode 4.4, in which Ray does a standout karaoke of Bob Seeger's "We've Got Tonight" - or at least a few lines of the song really sung by Liev Schreiber - and a splendidly touching reprise of the song capping off the episode by Ray and Abby.

Ray and Abby harken back at that moment to Kenny Rogers' and Sheena Easton's great reprise of the Seger song - though it also reminded me a bit of Kenny Rogers' and Dolly Parton's version a few years later, when Dolly comes on stage and sings "Who needs Sheena Easton" instead of "Who needs tomorrow" (see below for videos of the two performances - decide for yourself which is better).

I could talk about this song all night, but back to Ray Donovan, it's also worthy of note that Ray karaokes the song at the insistence of Ed Cochran, now singing karaoke himself after Ray nearly got him killed and did indeed kill his illustrious career with the FBI.   All of this part of a plan to reach into prison, with another part of this same classic, Rube-Goldberg-Ray-Donovan scheme getting Ray involved, against all odds, with Mickey.

Mickey has a signally good night himself, evoking the best line of evening, which comes from the old dame who drives him back to LA.  Her price?  "It's not gonna lick itself".   I better quit on that line while I'm ahead.

And Abby has a good night, enjoying the kiss she got from a woman - a former lover of Lena, though for all I know they did more.   Anyway, Ray Donovan is off to its most enjoyable season so far, and here are the two Kenny Rogers's videos of which I spoke.





See also Ray Donovan 4.1: Good to Be Back ... Ray Donovan 4.2: Settling In

And see also Ray Donovan 3.1: New, Cloudy Ray ... Ray Donovan 3.2: Beat-downs ... Ray Donovan 3.7: Excommunication!

And see also Ray Donovan 2.1: Back in Business ... Ray Donovan 2.4: The Bad Guy ... Ray Donovan 2.5: Wool Over Eyes ... Ray Donovan 2.7: The Party from Hell ... Ray Donovan 2.10: Scorching ... Ray Donovan 2.11: Out of Control ... Ray Donovan Season 2 Finale: Most Happy Ending

And see also Ray Donovan Debuts with Originality and Flair ... Ray Donovan 1.2: His Assistants and his Family ... Ray Donovan 1.3: Mickey ... Ray Donovan 1.7 and Whitey Bulger ... Ray Donovan 1.8: Poetry and Death ... Ray Donovan Season 1 Finale: The Beginning of Redemption


  different kinds of crimes and fixes

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Hell on Wheels 5.13: Almost Grinds to a Halt

The penultimate episode of Hell on Wheels was on tonight.  And a real downer of an episode - 5.13 - it was.

In a nutshell, we see Bohannon and the Central Pacific beating Durant and the Union Pacific to Ogden.   That part of the story was uplifting, featuring the Chinese workers coming back from the mines and the African-Americans leaving Durant to join forces with Bohannon to win the race.

Inspiring.  But Durant wins anyway by threatening to get the Central Pacific rails inspected.  It's apparently vulnerable to what government inspectors might find.  Presumably both sides did shoddy work here and there, but the Central Pacific has more to lose than the Union Pacific.
So Durant's business brutality wins the day, and Bohannon is left drunk and screaming on the floor.

Since history records that the Union Pacific won, I guess Hell on Wheels had no other choice but to play it this way, with Bohannon winning but Durant getting the credit.  And who knows what might happen next week.

Truthfully, at this point, I care less about the railroad and more about Cullen Bohannon's ultimate happiness.  Since he's a fictional character, all can end well for him, or at least relatively well, next week.

I'm pulling for him to be reunited with Mei, and the two of them get a homestead and have a bunch of kids and live happily ever after somewhere.  Or maybe a townhouse in New York City, or a houseboat in San Francisco Bay.

I'll see you here next week with my reaction to what Hell on Wheels brings us.   I'll need some cheering up, in any case, with the Trump GOP convention just concluded.

See also Hell on Wheels 5.1: Rails and Truckee ... Hell on Wheels 5.2: Mei and Cullen ... Hell on Wheels 5.3: Prejudice ... Hell on Wheels 5.8: Letting Him Live? ... Hell on Wheels 5.9: A Good Night for Bohannon ... Hell on Wheels 5.10: Nitroglycerin and Love ... Hell on Wheels 5.11: Durant and Shakespeare ... Hell on Wheels 5.12: Sailing Away

And see also Hell on Wheels 4.1-2: Rolling Again ... Hell on Wheels 4.5: New Blood ... Hell on Wheels 4.6: Bear and Sanity ... Hell on Wheels 4.7: Why? ... Hell on Wheels 4.8: Aftermath and Rebound ... Hell on Wheels 4.9: High Noon ... Hell on Wheels 4.10: A Tale of Two Sicko Killers ... Hell on Wheels 4.11: The Redemption of Ruth ... Hell on Wheels 4.12: Infuriating and Worthwhile ... Hell on Wheels Season 4 Finale: The Buffalo

And see also Hell on Wheels 3.1-2: Bohannan in Command ... Hell on Wheels 3.3: Talking and Walking ... Hell on Wheels 3.4: Extreme Lacrosse ... Hell on Wheels 3.5: The Glove ... Hell on Wheels 3.6: The Man in Charge ...Hell on Wheels 3.7: Water, Water ... Hell on Wheels 3.8: Canterbury Tales ...Hell on Wheels 3.9: Shoot-Out and Truths ... Hell on Wheels Season 3 finale: Train Calling in the Distance

And see also  Hell on Wheels: Blood, Sweat, and Tears on the Track, and the Telegraph ... Hell on Wheels 1.6: Horse vs. Rail ... Hell on Wheels 1.8: Multiple Tracks ... Hell on Wheels 1.9: Historical Inevitable and Unknown ... Hell on Wheels Season One Finale: Greek Tragedy, Western Style



deeper history

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Glad to Hear about Coup in Turkey

Glad to hear about the coup currently happening against Erdoğan in Turkey - he's a bad guy, who arrested journalists and then professors who complained about that.  I talked about the need for true democracy in Turkey with my friends at Ebru News TV in March.

Paul Levinson talks about state of democracy in Turkey

The Heroism of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Abdication of the Media

I was disappointed but not really surprised that The New York Times called out Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg yesterday for her apt and heroic criticism of Donald Trump, worrying that "Washington is more than partisan enough without the spectacle of a Supreme Court justice flinging herself into the mosh pit".  The Times has sunk a long way, both in its reporting and editorials, since I read it every day in my high school cafeteria in the 1960s.   Come to think of it, it was painfully slow in getting it right about how wrong the Vietnam War was back then, too, but at least it had its moments with its publication of The Pentagon Papers.   The same can be said about the Washington Post, its publication of The Pentagon Papers, and its criticism of Ginsburg, calling her comments about Trump "inappropriate" and "much, much better left unsaid by a member of the Supreme Court".

"Better left unsaid?"  If either editorial board had more than a superficial knowledge of the US Supreme Court and its history, they might have come across the following from Associate Justice Louis Brandeis:

If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence.  Concurring opinion, Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357 (1927).

But Trump has risen and thrived due to ignorance of history and the lessons of what can happen in a democracy when it elects someone like Adolf Hitler Chancellor of Germany.   No, I don't think Trump is exactly the same as Hitler, but Trump is as bad as it gets these days as a major party candidate.   And while the media fidget and express concern that Trump's critics have gone too far - including Chris Matthews, who on MSNBC yesterday afternoon expressed concern that Hillary Clinton may have gone over the line in her speech in Springfield, Illinois yesterday, in which she wondered if Trump might use the military to silence his critics - Trump continues to threaten many of the very foundations of our democracy, including the press itself.

The media, and especially The New York Times, made things worse in the build-up to the Iraq War, uncritically supporting the US and British claim that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. They did it again with Trump in the early days of his campaign, treating it as a source of humor and a magnet for higher ratings and ad sales, rather than denouncing him for what he is and has done, and backing that up with relentless investigative reporting.

So we have the media to blame, at least in part, for where we are today with Trump about to get the Republican nomination for President, and they attack Ruth Bader Ginsburg for bravely shouting fire in the crowded theater of our democracy?   I've got some news and a little more history for The Times and the media: shouting fire when there really is a fire is exactly what a responsible citizen is supposed to do (it's falsely shouting fire that Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. warned about in his famous 1919 Supreme Court opinion).  

We live in a country in which the Republicans daily flout the Constitution by refusing to hold hearings on Obama's Supreme Court nominee, media such as The New York Times abdicate their responsibility, and both unsurprisingly are roused to come out and attack Ginsburg for doing her job as a citizen.   With any luck and a lot of hard work, Trump will lose and the Republicans in Congress will be voted out of office.   As for the traditional media - well, they'll likely continue to wither and be replaced by the Internet, which has already become the bedrock of our democracy.

PS - News just broke that Ginsburg expressed regret regarding her comments about Trump - doesn't change in the slightest that what she said about Trump was right and she was right to say it.

Mr. Robot Bhack with 2.0

Mr. Robot, the cyberpunk, age-of-Snowden masterpiece that debuted last summer, was back tonight with the start of its second season.  It was altogether surreal, cinematic, and superb - even more cinematic, in fact, than the first time.

Among my favorite "sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel" (William Gibson) scenes -

*Phil Collins' "Take Me Home" playing so faintly, almost indiscernibly in the background, and gradually getting louder, all as prelude, building up to the burning of a truckload of cash - 5.9 dollars to be exact - as our hackers get a moment in the sun, or at least the big flame of all that cash.  Hey, I love Phil Collins - he's second only to Paul McCartney and maybe some of Abba in soaring pop music - in fact, I'm listening to that song right now.

*The guy on the basketball park bench talking to Elliot, and saying that he (the guy) knows about as much about digital as his dog does about e. e. cummings.  Or maybe his dog was e. e. cummings compared to what he understood about computers - either way, his name is spelled with no caps, but you don't find a capital throwaway line like that on any other television show.

*Angela's in bed with the guy (different guy) who picked her up in the bar - reminding us that she belongs with Elliot - he's asleep, she's waking up, and throughout all this we see a skyscraper gleaming in the night through an open window.   It's a soft-spoken, almost poetic image of Big Brother out there in the heart of the cold, cold city.

*Elliot with the white bandage around his head for the bullet wound he didn't really have and the hoody looking like a nun or a sheik.

*Real speeches from Obama and Leon Panetta expertly cut to sound as if they're talking our fsociety hackers.  (I'd have found these clips even more eerily disconcerting, though, if Obama had said something about Trump.)

And there were lots more.  But as to the story, Elliott's bound-to-fail struggle against his father in his Fight Club head is nobly rendered, including the slight tinge at the end that maybe, just maybe, Mr. Robot isn't really dead?   No, he's dead, but  having him speak to Elliott remotely, via old-fashioned phone, instead of in-person as he usually does, is a very nice touch, because it shows that Elliott has both succeeded in getting his father out of face but never out of his life.

There's also an unexpected death - but on the slight chance that you haven't seen it, I won't tell you who.

And I''ll be back here with a review next week - though possibly not in quite so good a mood, since earlier this evening I was at the Mr. Robot season 2 launch party at Story, and the hors d'oeuvres were just scrumptious, though I wouldn't have minded a little Phil Collins music...

See also Mr. Robot: Cyberpunk Triumph

#SFWApro

a different kind of cyber-esponiage

Story board at Mr. Robot launch party

12 Monkeys 2.12: The Best and the Worst of Time(s)

Another powerhouse episode in 2.12 of 12 Monkeys last night - they've all been powerful this season - with some of the best and worst developments we've seen for our heroes so far.

Imagine Cole and Cassie living happily after in house in the country.  Too much to imagine? Well, we got that last night, with the kicker that it's the house she was envisioning in her red forest nightmares, and the blood came from just a cut Cole got in doing a little construction.

Back in the future, we get just the reverse - almost all of our major characters except Cole and Cassandra get massacred by the Witness and "his" followers.   The slaughtered include Ramse - which I guess means he's not the Witness, after all (though you never know) - and I put "his" in quotes because you never know about that, either.

So many important characters died in the awful scene that you just know it can't stand.   And since this a world riven and driven by time travel, pulling the rug out from under that massacre should certainly be possible, if never easy.   Towards that end, it's significant that not only Cole and Cassie but Jones were not among the fallen at Titan.   Jones indeed wasn't in this episode at all.  We last saw her in a previous episode back at the facility, which was literally flying apart at the seams, dissolving, actually, but, again, you never know ...  And, oh yeah, Jennifer - the young Jennifer - fortunately wasn't among the massacred, either.

So we have at very least Cole, Cassie, and Jennifer, and maybe Jones in some way, to reverse that chilling scene in Titan.  But if they do, there will be a big price to pay, because there always is in 12 Monkeys.  I'm hoping that whatever is required of Cole and Cassie to amend the massacre, it will not come at the expense of their memories of what we saw in the white house last night.

See also 12 Monkeys 2.1: Whatever Will Be, Will Be ... 12 Monkeys 2.2: The Serum ... 12 Monkeys 2.3: Primaries and Paradoxes ... 12 Monkeys 2.4: Saving Time ... 12 Monkeys 2.5: Jennifer's Story ... 12 Monkeys 2.6: "'Tis Death Is Dead" ... 12 Monkeys 2.7: Ultimate Universes ... 12 Monkeys 2.8: Time Itself Wants Time Travel ... 12 Monkeys 2.9: Hands On ... 12 Monkeys 2.10: The Drugging ... 12 Monkeys 2.11: Teleportation

And see also this Italian review, w/reference to Hawking and my story, "The Chronology Protection Case"

And see also 12 Monkeys series on SyFy: Paradox Prominent and Excellent ...12 Monkeys 1.2: Your Future, His Past ... 12 Monkeys 1.3:  Paradoxes, Lies, and Near Intersections ... 12 Monkeys 1.4: "Uneasy Math" ... 12 Monkeys 1.5: The Heart of the Matter ... 12 Monkeys 1.6: Can I Get a Witness? ... 12 Monkeys 1.7: Snowden, the Virus, and the Irresistible ... 12 Monkeys 1.8: Intelligent Vaccine vs. Time Travel ... 12 Monkeys 1.9: Shelley, Keats, and Time Travel ... 12 Monkey 1.10: The Last Jump ... 12 Monkeys 1.11: What-Ifs ... 12 Monkeys 1.2: The Plunge ... 12 Monkeys Season 1 Finale: "Time Travel to Create Time Travel"

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podcast review of Predestination and 12 Monkeys