What's Wrong with The New York Times

I'm really getting sick and tired of The New York Times.  I first began getting more than irritated with the newspaper of record when it over-reported the non-story about Hillary Clinton's emails, on the eve of the 2016 election.   I won't go into all the poor reporting I've noticed in their pages since then.

But now there's something much worse than all of that.  When word first came in about the terrible loss of human life caused by the rocket or bomb exploding in the courtyard of the Palestinian hospital yesterday, the NY Times ran a headline that there was massive outrage in the Middle East (correct) about the attack made by Israel, according to the Palestinians.  The second part of that headline was technically correct -- the Palestinians thought and still think that an Israeli bomb caused the damage -- but it was very misleading, for two reasons.  First, the "according to the Palestinians" came at the end of the headline, and it's a well-known fact that readers of news often don't get to the end of a long headline.  Further, there should have been a prominent indication in the headline that Israel was denying that they were responsible for the horror in the courtyard, and indeed an Hamas-related terrorist group launched the rocket.  The Times has since removed the misleading headline, but the damage was already done.

And today, we have news that US intelligence has independently confirmed the Israeli explanation, based in large part on US infrared sensors that show where the rocket that caused the deadly damage originated.  Jeremy Bash on MSNBC has justly lambasted the lame headlines that stirred so much anger at Israel.  Accurate reporting, including accurately descriptive headlines, is always important.  But never more so than in the tinderbox that the Middle East has become in the aftermath of the monstrous Hamas attacks, and the increasing number of human lives at stake.

Meet the Alternative History: What If Hillary Clinton Had Run for President in 2004?

Doubling back to review the second episode of Chuck Todd's Meet the Alternative History podcast -- the first was about what if Bill Clinton had resigned in 1998, the third about what if JFK had lived, which I reviewed before the second episode because the topic is so transcendent.  This second episode finds Todd talking to Curtis Sittenfeld, whose 2020 novel Rodham (which I've yet to read) is an alternate history in which Hillary and Bill don't marry.

The conversation about the novel is fun and a good entree about how authors ply their craft.  The idea that Hillary Rodham would have had an incandescent public life not as Hillary Clinton is of course a paean to Hillary, and one which certainly seems plausible.  But I thought the real payoff in this podcast episode comes when the two discuss Todd's notion that Hillary Clinton, pursuing the exact same path as she did in our reality up until 2004, might well have won the U. S. Presidency had she run for that office that year.

Among the nuggets Todd reveals in that conversation is what David Axelrod told him about something that happened in 2009: that Trump had called Axelrod offering to run the early Obama dinner which the Salahis notoriously crashed.  Axelrod never returned (or was very slow to return) Trump's call.  Trump in turn didn't turn against Obama until a year or two later.  Todd says Axelrod wondered: could Trump have been an ally of Obama and the Democrats had Axelrod graciously accepted Trump's offer back then?

It's a fascinating conjecture about the very stuff of alternate history: little, seemingly inconsequential interactions or non-interactions that can have massive effects on subsequent history, aka the butterfly effect.  If ever those was a person in politics whose path was filled with those butterflies it would be Hillary Clinton.  She came razor close to winning the Democratic primaries in 2008, and in fact won the popular vote in 2016.  Todd also offers his view that, fifty years from now there may well be more books written about Hillary than Bill, and he may be right.

See also Meet the Alternative History: What If Bill Clinton Had No Resigned? and Meet the Alternative History: What If JFK Had Lived?

Listen to Meet the Alternative History on Spotify, Goodpods, or Podchaser

 

Why Republicans Continue to Support Trump

Here's my best explanation/theory about why those 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives, and 17 Republican state attorneys general, signed amicus curiae briefs in support of the attempt by Texas to get the U. S. Supreme Court to disallow the votes in swing states Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia that went for Biden in the Presidential election.

Republicans were traumatically horrified when Obama won not once, but twice, and against two mainstream, highly regarded, mainstream candidates. When Trump beat Hillary, even more loathed by Republicans than Obama, Trump won the inchoate love of many otherwise sane Republicans. They support Trump now because they want, against all odds, to somehow hold on to that evil magic.  To keep that sick hope alive.

The Supreme Court wisely threw out the Texas attempt to overthrow the election.   Biden will take the oath of office on January 20, 2020.  But it will take a lot more than one Supreme Court decision to put the fascist, racist rage back in the hole from which it emerged.

The Comey Rule Part 1: The Reality, Part 1

I had planned on waiting until I saw all of The Comey Rule on Showtime -- the two parts -- before I reviewed it.  But there are too many things I want to say about first part, on earlier tonight, to wait until tomorrow.

First, as for the craft of the docu-drama, including the acting, it was just superb, ranging from Jeff Daniels as Comey down to every FBI man and woman, in every scene, and also Comey's wife.  Even Kingsley Ben-Adir in the relatively small part (in this narrative) of Obama was good.   I could write all day about how well this first part was done, but the reality it describes cries out for comment.

No one can say with any certainty why Trump won the Electoral College vote, even as he lost the popular vote.  The fact that this resulted in him becoming President, and the horrendous job he has done in that office, is more than enough reason to do away with that anachronistic "college" as soon as possible.

There are other villains in this true tragedy.  Anthony Weiner unable to control his impulses, Jill Stein unable to control her ambitions, the Russian assault on our country via cyberspace, all played some role, and deserve some apportionment of blame.

And Comey?   This first part of this two-part series shows at least three interlocking errors:  the way he first announced the non-actionable result into the FBI investigation into Hillary's emails, his refusal to go public with the FBI's investigation into Trump's Russian connections, and his second announcement (in a letter to Congress) that the FBI was reopening the investigation into Hillary's emails just ten days prior to the election.   Like a classic Shakespearean tragedy, Comey did those three things for noble reasons.  But the result was the complete antithesis and annihilation of nobility, putting America into the most dangerous condition it has been in since the Civil War.

Can we reasonably say Trump in the White House was the result of Comey's actions?   No doubt not completely, but also no doubt yes, at least in part.   I will say, on Comey's behalf, that the writing of his book, A Higher Loyalty, the basis of this mini-series, is at least an attempt at retribution.  And kudos to Showtime for putting this on at a most appropriate time, when we Americans are again focused on an impending Presidential election.

And I'll be back with thoughts on Part 2 tomorrow.   I'm especially looking forward to seeing more of Brendan Gleeson as Trump.  They somehow managed to get someone made to look uglier and sound even more abrasive than the real thing,  A nightmare of a nightmare.

Homeland 8.1: Lost Time

Homeland was back tonight for its eight and final season, with a strong episode, situated mainly in Afghanistan, that fired on all cylinders.

The main, nearly choking vice that Carrie finds herself in this time is the months of missing time - time she can't remember - inside a Russian prison.  This is a theme we've seen on spy shows before - Howard Gordon was a mover of 24 and does much the same for Homeland - so it's not surprising that Jack Bauer and Carrie Mathison have been in similar situations.  But Carrie's is more laden with danger than even Jack's, given her bipolar disorder.

In episode 8.1, Carrie worries that she may have revealed information about her source in Afghanistan that got him killed.  Seeing Yevgeny in Kabul amplifies those fears - she had come to rely upon him in the Russian prison, and who knows what she may have said to him.   But I have to say, maybe it's something about Costa Ronin's manner - he played a sympathetic Russian in The Americans - that makes hope that he's not the bad guy.  In fact, he'd actually make a good partner for Carrie, but that's not likely to happen, either.  We'll just have to see.

Back to our reality, I'm also wondering if this final season of Homeland will deal in any way with Trump in the White House?  Like 24, the Presidents in Homeland have pretty much avoided any parallels to Presidents actually in office (Elizabeth Keane might have been like Hillary, but the Electoral College decreed otherwise).  But here's a thought: Homeland will be over before Americans have a chance to vote Trump out of office.   The producers had to know this when they were making this final season.  They surely must have been tempted to put something of our reality into this narrative.   It will be fun to see how much.

See also Homeland 7.1: The Worse Threat ... Homeland 7.2: Carrie vs. 4chan ... Homeland 7.3: Separating Truth from Hyperthinking ... Homeland 7.4: Fake News! ... Homeland 7.5: "The Russian Angle" ... Homeland 7.6: Meets The Americans, Literally ... Homeland 7.7: Meets The Americans ... Homeland 7.8: Evenly Matched ... Homeland 7.9: Franny vs. the Job or the U.S. Hacks Twitter ... Homeland 7.10: President Trump and President Keane ... Homeland 7.11: Carrie in Action ... Homeland Season 7 Finale: The President

And see also Homeland 6.1: Madam President-Elect ... Homeland 6.2: Parallel Program ... Homeland 6.3: Potentials ... Homeland 6.4: "A Man with Painted Hair" ... Homeland 6.5: The Attack on Carrie's Brownstone ... Homeland 6.7: The Arch Villain ... Homeland 6.8: Peter's Problem ... Homeland 6.9: The Tide Begins to Turn ... Homeland 6.10: Fake News! ... Homeland 6.11: Quinn and Dar ... Homeland Season 6 Finale: Chilling - and True to Life

And see also Homeland 5.1: Moving into the Age of Snowden ... Homeland 5.2: Who Wants to Kill Carrie ... Homeland 5.3: Carrie and Kerry ... Homeland 5.5: All Quinn ... Homeland 5.6: Saul Wises Up ... Homeland 5.7: Tough to Watch ... Homeland 5.9: Finally! ... Homeland 5.10: Homeland and Homeland ... Homeland 5.11: Allison as Primo Villain ... Homeland Season 5 Finale: RIPs

And see also Homeland 4.1-2: Carrie's State of Mind ... Homeland 4.3: Quinn and Carrie ... Homeland 4.4: Carrie's Counterpart ... Homeland 4.5: Righteous Seduction ... Homeland 4.6: The Biggest Reveal ... Homeland 4.7: The Manifestation ... Homeland 4.8: Saving Someone's Life ... Homeland 4.9: Hitchcock Would've Loved It ... Homeland 4.10: The List ... Homeland 4.12: Out of this Together

And see also Homeland 3.1: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 3.2: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 3.3: Two Prisons ... Homeland 3.4: Twist! ...Homeland 3.6: Further Down the Rabbit Hole ... Homeland 3.7: Revealing What We Already Knew ... Homeland 3.8: Signs of Life ...Homeland 3.9: Perfect Timing ... Homeland 3.10: Someone Has to Die ... Homeland 3.11: The Loyalist ... Homeland Season 3 Finale: Redemption and Betrayal

And see Homeland 2.1-2: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 2.3-5: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 2.6: What Brody Knows ... Homeland 2.7: Love Me Tinder ... Homeland 2.8: The Personal and the Professional ...Homeland Season 2 Finale: The Shocker and the Reality

And see also  Homeland on Showtime ... Homeland 1.8: Surprises ... Homeland Concludes First Season: Exceptional

Fifth 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate: Winners

The six-person Democratic presidential debate just concluded on CNN was easily the best debate so far - best in clarity, power of ideas, and even charm - so far.  Whether this was because of the fact that six candidates had more time than ten and more to express their views, or because these six candidates had better views to express ... well, it's probably a combination of both.

But I thought Klobuchar and Steyer especially stood out in their answers to just about all of the questions, and their concluding comments, and I expect that will help both of them in Iowa and beyond.   But Biden, still not the most articulate person on stage, was clear enough.  And Warren, Bernie, and Buttigieg were articulate and passionate, too.

My favorite exchange, in terms of both truth and humor, was between Biden and Bernie:

• Biden: Kim Jong-un said: "Joe Biden is a rabid dog who should be beaten with a stick" 
• Bernie: "Other than that, you like him." 
• Biden" "0ther than that I like him.  And then he sent a love letter to Donald Trump"

Next, I thought Warren got the better of Bernie in the "can a woman be elected President" controversy.  Although Bernie denied saying that, and offered his view that of course a woman could be elected President, given that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in 2016, Warren just seemed more believable in both her unspoken denial and her commitment to women in politics, with her example of woman being more electable than men.

On health care, I still remain unconvinced by Bernie and Warren about the way to get to universal health care in America.  It's a laudable, essential goal, but Klobuchar, Biden, Steyer, and Buttigieg made more sense in building towards on what we already have, via the Affordable Care Act.

Warren was also excellent on politics not being the most important thing - in this case, returning to Washington and sitting as a senator in the trial of Donald Trump takes precedence.   All the candidates agreed that, one way or another, Trump has to be removed from office.  Seeing him voted out of office by the Senate would be satisfying, but I'll take any of the candidates on stage tonight beating him in the election this coming November.

See also  First 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate, Part 1 of 2: Winners and Losers ... First Democratic Presidential Debate, Part 2 of 2: Winners and Losers ...  Second 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate, Part 1 of 2: Winners and Losers ... Second 2020 Democratic Presidential, Part 2 of 2: Winners and Losers  ... [missed third debate, I was in Canada] ... Fourth 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate: Winners and Losers

Some Thoughts on What Trump and His Minions are Doing to Children on our Southern Border

A few thoughts about the horrendous, immoral Trumpian policy of border security separating children from parents of people trying to enter our country on the southern border:

• It's good to see all the former First Ladies come out against this policy (Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, Rosalynn Carter).  The current First Lady Melania Trump's statement was better than nothing, but could have been stronger.  But ... where are the former Presidents?  I'd like to see Obama give a speech about this, and George W. Bush and Bill Clinton as well.
• The agents themselves who are implementing this policy - separating children from their parents, lying to the children, as a means of separating them - are as much to blame as Trump and his lying minions.  Those agents are no better than Nazis who said they were just following orders.   Where is their humanity?  Without them, Trump's bluster would be just that, bluster without consequence.  I hope the next Democratic President fires each and every one of these agents.
• Where are the Republicans who, in the past, have shown a shred of decency on this issue?  Where is John McCain*, Jeff Flake, Ben Sass, Susan Collins?  Why don't they step up and vividly denounce this inhumane policy? Some have made statements, and some are better than others.  The time has come for every Republican with any compassion to come out with clear, unconditional statements calling for this heinous policy to end. *[McCain just tweeted the following at 7:30pm Eastern, "The administration’s current family separation policy is an affront to the decency of the American people, and contrary to principles and values upon which our nation was founded. The administration has the power to rescind this policy. It should do so now." Excellent - exactly!]
• Much has been said by Trump and his supporters about the Democrats made this law.  That's not true - as just about everyone knows, this is a policy, not a law, that Trump has chosen to initiate.  But even if it was a law - as our great philosophers have told us throughout the ages, there are moral imperatives that transcend the law, and should be followed when the law calls for something evil to happen.  Caring for our children, seeing that no harm, let alone indelible harm and pain befalls them, is among the most important moral imperatives in our human condition.
• Credit to most of the media for shining a spotlight on this awful state of affairs.  If ever it was clear that we need a free media system, unregulated by government, the baneful actions of our government are demonstrating this today.
• Psychologists accurately say that separation of children at such early ages (especially toddlers!) can cause enduring psycho-social damage to the children.  This is something that every parent, and everybody who was ever a child, which means everyone, should instantly understand.

Every American needs to step up and speak up and oppose this policy, in whatever way they can.  For what it's worth, I think it's the worst thing our government has ever done, domestically, in my lifetime.

Timeless 2.7: Emma

Timeless is nicely mixing it up this session, putting villains on the team with our heroes, where they so far have performed remarkably well. Flynn is now almost admired if not yet quite trusted by everyone except Wyatt, and in 2.7 Emma joins our team.

The difference is Flynn was never a Rittenhouse agent as is Emma, and she makes it clear this switch of allegiance is for one night only. Her reason is about as noble as it gets - she wants to make sure the Suffragette Movement succeeds and women get the vote - and we get an episode with even sharper than usual dialogue - which has been excellent this season - replete with a few mentions of dick, as in private detective back in the nineteen-teens and as in, well, dick to our 2018 ears.

And there’s a well-played twist wherein Lucy looks like she’ll be stepping up to make a crucial Suffragette speech only for someone else to step in.  Good thing, too, since Lucy making the speech would have put a big change on history.  Even so, everyone is relieved that Hillary Clinton ran for President in 2016, showing the Suffragettes prevailed. No one was thrilled, though, that Trump won, and good for Timeless for name-checking both.

Hey, did I mention that I’m really enjoying this show? It’s much better than it was last year, and I’m looking forward to more.

See also Timeless 2.1: "Mein Kampf, by Philip K. Dick" ... Timeless 2.2: The Nod ... Timeless 2.3: Orson, Hedy, and Lucy ... Timeless 2.4: Striving to Avoid the 'I Made It Happen' Loop in Time Travel ... Timeless 2.5: JFK ... Timeless 2.6: Lucy and Flynn

And see also Timeless 1.1: Threading the Needle ... Timeless 1.2: Small Change, Big Payoffs ... Timeless 1.3: Judith Campbell ... Timeless 1.4: Skyfall and Weapon of Choice ... Timeless 1.5: and Quantum Leap ... Timeless 1.6: Watergate and Rittenhouse ... Timeless 1.7: Stranded! ... Timeless 1.8: Time and Space ... Timeless 1.9: The Kiss and The Key ... Timeless 1.10: The End in the Middle ... Timeless 1.11: Edison, Ford, Morgan, Houdini, and Holmes (No, Not Sherlock)! ... Timeless 1.12: Incandescent West ... Timeless 1.13: Meeting, Mating, and Predictability ... Timeless 1.14: Paris in the 20s ... Timeless 1.15: Touched! .... Timeless 1.16: A Real Grandfather Paradox Story


                    more time travel about JFK

Homeland 7.6: Meets The Americans, Literally

Whew, a powerful Homeland 7.6 tonight which does what Homeland always does best, an episode which changes everything.  Plus this one had some other good features -

Such as Costa Ronin, showing up tonight in a role that he does best - a Russian spy (Oleg in The Americans, Yevgeny in Homeland) in the U.S.  Except Yevgeny has little of the humanity of Oleg, as he makes clear in the speech he gives to his older fellow spy, Ivan, who is wedded to the Soviet ways of spying.  They kept the world safe, Ivan says.  Yeah, but it destroyed our country, Yevgeny truthfully says.  And he therein is the clearest spokesperson for Putin we've yet to see in the real news, fake news, or just plain narrative fiction.

But there was nothing plain about tonight's episode 7.6.  It also featured Carrie drugging and seducing the FBI agent Dante whom she thought was her ally, but was really playing her for his profoundly nefarious plan.

And that's the plan that changes everything.  Because this FBI guy is in fact in cahoots with Wellington's mistress to set him (Wellington, the President's Chief of Staff) up, with an eye towards bringing the President down.  So the twist here is President Elizabeth Keane is a not a Trump in woman's clothing after all - Keane is really Hillary, and Putin's operatives here in America are indeed trying to bring her down.

I'm happy to see this, because I didn't like Keane acting like Trump in even the slightest way.  She's much more convincing, sympathetic, and real as a Hillary Clinton kind of President.

I said in my review of an earlier episode this season that I was a little disappointed in Homeland.  I'm glad I kept watching.  Tonight's 7.6 was one of sharpest to come down the pike in the entire series.

See also Homeland 7.1: The Worse Threat ... Homeland 7.2: Carrie vs. 4chan ... Homeland 7.3: Separating Truth from Hyperthinking ... Homeland 7.4: Fake News! ... Homeland 7.5: "The Russian Angle"

And see also Homeland 6.1: Madam President-Elect ... Homeland 6.2: Parallel Program ... Homeland 6.3: Potentials ... Homeland 6.4: "A Man with Painted Hair" ... Homeland 6.5: The Attack on Carrie's Brownstone ... Homeland 6.7: The Arch Villain ... Homeland 6.8: Peter's Problem ... Homeland 6.9: The Tide Begins to Turn ... Homeland 6.10: Fake News! ... Homeland 6.11: Quinn and Dar ... Homeland Season 6 Finale: Chilling - and True to Life

And see also Homeland 5.1: Moving into the Age of Snowden ... Homeland 5.2: Who Wants to Kill Carrie ... Homeland 5.3: Carrie and Kerry ... Homeland 5.5: All Quinn ... Homeland 5.6: Saul Wises Up ... Homeland 5.7: Tough to Watch ... Homeland 5.9: Finally! ... Homeland 5.10: Homeland and Homeland ... Homeland 5.11: Allison as Primo Villain ... Homeland Season 5 Finale: RIPs

And see also Homeland 4.1-2: Carrie's State of Mind ... Homeland 4.3: Quinn and Carrie ... Homeland 4.4: Carrie's Counterpart ... Homeland 4.5: Righteous Seduction ... Homeland 4.6: The Biggest Reveal ... Homeland 4.7: The Manifestation ... Homeland 4.8: Saving Someone's Life ... Homeland 4.9: Hitchcock Would've Loved It ... Homeland 4.10: The List ... Homeland 4.12: Out of this Together

And see also Homeland 3.1: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 3.2: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 3.3: Two Prisons ... Homeland 3.4: Twist! ...Homeland 3.6: Further Down the Rabbit Hole ... Homeland 3.7: Revealing What We Already Knew ... Homeland 3.8: Signs of Life ...Homeland 3.9: Perfect Timing ... Homeland 3.10: Someone Has to Die ... Homeland 3.11: The Loyalist ... Homeland Season 3 Finale: Redemption and Betrayal

And see Homeland 2.1-2: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 2.3-5: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 2.6: What Brody Knows ... Homeland 2.7: Love Me Tinder ... Homeland 2.8: The Personal and the Professional ...Homeland Season 2 Finale: The Shocker and the Reality

And see also  Homeland on Showtime ... Homeland 1.8: Surprises ... Homeland Concludes First Season: Exceptional

Homeland 7.1: The Worse Threat

Homeland was back in business with the debut episode of season 7 tonight, and a story that aptly captures our real predicament these days in a warped, Bizarro-world kind of way.

The gist of the set-up, which we saw fall into place at the end of last season, is this:  The worse threat to our democracy, as Carrie tells an ally she fails (so far) to secure, is no longer terrorism but the fascist in the White House.  This rings true enough to our world with Trump in the White House - except the occupant in Homeland is a woman, Elizabeth Keane, a martinetish version of Hillary Clinton, who became paranoid last season after an attempt on her life.

The switch is more than just of gender.  Everything else around and about the President is turned around.  O'Keefe, a libertarian nut-job most reminiscent of Alex Jones in our reality, is alas not so far off when he raves about Keane as the Hitler in the White House (one only wishes the real Jones would rant the same about Trump).  And, indeed, the President is hunting him down, just as O'Keefe fears.

I expected that General McClendon would be killed - the President cannot abide even the life sentence that he was given - but the big question is who gave the order.  Was it the President herself, or her Chief of Staff, the guy who tried to get Saul on the President's team.

That didn't happen to tonight - Saul's price (freedom for all the illegally jailed people) was too high, but the coming attractions show that something will convince him to take the job.   Will he once again be at odds with his star pupil, who has been more incisive than Saul for a while now?  I hope not - Carrie and Saul are always at their best when they're working together, totally on the same side.

Good for Homeland for telling us a story this season of a budding Mussolini in the White House, even if she's not the same gender as Nixon or Trump.

And I'll be back here next week with more.

See also Homeland 6.1: Madam President-Elect ... Homeland 6.2: Parallel Program ... Homeland 6.3: Potentials ... Homeland 6.4: "A Man with Painted Hair" ... Homeland 6.5: The Attack on Carrie's Brownstone ... Homeland 6.7: The Arch Villain ... Homeland 6.8: Peter's Problem ... Homeland 6.9: The Tide Begins to Turn ... Homeland 6.10: Fake News! ... Homeland 6.11: Quinn and Dar ... Homeland Season 6 Finale: Chilling - and True to Life

And see also Homeland 5.1: Moving into the Age of Snowden ... Homeland 5.2: Who Wants to Kill Carrie ... Homeland 5.3: Carrie and Kerry ... Homeland 5.5: All Quinn ... Homeland 5.6: Saul Wises Up ... Homeland 5.7: Tough to Watch ... Homeland 5.9: Finally! ... Homeland 5.10: Homeland and Homeland ... Homeland 5.11: Allison as Primo Villain ... Homeland Season 5 Finale: RIPs

And see also Homeland 4.1-2: Carrie's State of Mind ... Homeland 4.3: Quinn and Carrie ... Homeland 4.4: Carrie's Counterpart ... Homeland 4.5: Righteous Seduction ... Homeland 4.6: The Biggest Reveal ... Homeland 4.7: The Manifestation ... Homeland 4.8: Saving Someone's Life ... Homeland 4.9: Hitchcock Would've Loved It ... Homeland 4.10: The List ... Homeland 4.12: Out of this Together

And see also Homeland 3.1: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 3.2: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 3.3: Two Prisons ... Homeland 3.4: Twist! ...Homeland 3.6: Further Down the Rabbit Hole ... Homeland 3.7: Revealing What We Already Knew ... Homeland 3.8: Signs of Life ...Homeland 3.9: Perfect Timing ... Homeland 3.10: Someone Has to Die ... Homeland 3.11: The Loyalist ... Homeland Season 3 Finale: Redemption and Betrayal

And see Homeland 2.1-2: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 2.3-5: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 2.6: What Brody Knows ... Homeland 2.7: Love Me Tinder ... Homeland 2.8: The Personal and the Professional ...Homeland Season 2 Finale: The Shocker and the Reality

And see also  Homeland on Showtime ... Homeland 1.8: Surprises ... Homeland Concludes First Season: Exceptional

Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams 1.10 Kill All Others: Too Close for Comfort

The 10th and last episode of Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams - which I've been reviewing here episode-by-episode (because each one is standalone), and which I hope will be the first ten of very many - is Kill All Others.  Although each story is different, they're deeply connected and intertwined by the central, galvanizing themes of all of Dick's work: it is real or an illusion, with the struggle to decide which is which always laced with paranoia.

Kill All Others has these characteristics par excellence, and is also the closest to the very time we're living in right now.  That makes it closer to Black Mirror than The Twilight Zone, though it feels a lot like a Twilight Zone episode, too.  Philbert Noyce sees a political candidate on television - the only candidate running for President - introduce a slogan, "Kill All Others".   At first it seems he's the only one who saw this - the real vs. illusion quandary - but soon confirms that others have seen this, and inevitably comes to think of himself as an "other" and then becomes an "other" himself.   This is where the paranoia comes in, with the inevitable Dickian question of whether what Noyce is feeling and seeing is real, or his over-active mind - a reversion, as often happens in Philip K. Dick's stories, to the "is it real" dilemma, which never really goes away.

The story for television, well written and directed by Dee Rees, departs from Dick's original 1953 story, "The Hanging Stranger," replacing nefarious aliens who have taken over the bodies of humans (as in Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Heinlein's Puppet Masters, also the theme of episode 1.7 of Electric Dreams) with just us humans as both villain politician and "others" in Kill All Others.   The near-future setting gives us "Yes Us Can" and "Mex Us Can" as government slogans - a good example of how fascism can co-opt democracy by twisting its words - and Royce saying "Kill All Others" is "hate speech".  But there's no one who looks like Trump in power - likely because this was written before he was elected, but still unfortunate.  The single candidate is a woman, which puts Kill All Others in league with the new season of Homeland and even Claire in House of Cards, with women in charge with dictatorial tendencies.  A shot against Hillary Clinton?   You can decide.  All I'll say is I would have rather seen a Trumpian in this role, since his polices are indeed getting closer and closer by the day to the xenophobia towards everyone around us in Kill All Others.

Good acting by Mel Rodriguez as Noyce, Glenn Morshower (24!) as one of his co-workers, and Vera Farmiga as the nameless candidate.

With the 10-episode anthology concluded for now, I always like to pick a favorite episode.  The choice is tough - there are so many superb ones.  I guess I'd go with 1.3 Human Is.  But I loved almost everything about this series, including the great opening sequence.  And I'll be back here with more whenever Electric Dreams continues.

See also Philip K Dick's Electric Dreams 1.1 Real Life: Mutually Alternate Realities ...  1.2 Autofac: Human v Machine ... 1.3 Human Is: Compassion or Alien? ... 1.4 Crazy Diamond: DNA Batteries ... 1.5 The Hood Maker: Telepathy and Police ... 1.6 Safe and Sound: This Isn't A Drill ... 1.7 Father Thing: Dick from Space ... 1.8 Impossible Planet: Eye of the Beholder ... 1.9 The Commuter: Submitted for Your Approval

NBC Reverses Decision and Renews Timeless: Lessons for Time Travel

Great news emerged last night on Twitter: Timeless, just cancelled by NBC, has now been renewed for a second season.  In other words, NBC does something a network rarely does, and never this quickly: it reversed its decision to cancel the series.

Or ...

Well, the lessons in this renewal for time travel make a good episode or even a series in itself.   Lucy, who's the most culturally adept on the time-travel team, went back just a few days in time and got NBC to see the light and keep the series going.   That point or something similar has been made everywhere, including by Eric Kripke.

But that's just the beginning of what this renewal can teach us about time travel.  We - you, me, everyone in the media and on Twitter - are fully aware that the series was just cancelled.  So this change-of-course by NBC, if it was the result of Lucy's travel to the past, tells us that when changes are made to the past, everyone in the world remembers the original reality (in this case, in which Timeless was cancelled) and the new one (in which Timeless was just renewed).

And this, in turn, tells us something very significant about the multiple universes hypothesis, which suggests that every time the past is changed, even in the slightest, a new universe or reality pops up.   We now know, since we are all well aware of the original and new realities regarding Timeless, that when a new reality is created, everyone in the new reality remembers the old reality - the two realities are not separate, mutually exclusive bubbles.

This may contradict a widely disseminated hypothesis about how Trump won the election (or the electoral college) - that some evil group from the future went back in time and monkeyed around with the votes in those few midwest states.   But since none of us actually remember Hillary winning the election - the original reality - this suggests that, if time travel were the reason, that in this case, unlike Timeless, changing the past also erased all memories of the original.

So, which is correct?  I'm going to go with the Timeless renewed being the result of time travel, and keep Trump out of my science fiction, since there's nothing the least bit enjoyable in that.

And I'll be back for sure with reviews for the new season of Timeless in 2018 ... unless something in history changes again.

See also Timeless 1.1: Threading the Needle ... Timeless 1.2: Small Change, Big Payoffs ... Timeless 1.3: Judith Campbell ... Timeless 1.4: Skyfall and Weapon of Choice ... Timeless 1.5: and Quantum Leap ... Timeless 1.6: Watergate and Rittenhouse ... Timeless 1.7: Stranded! ... Timeless 1.8: Time and Space ... Timeless 1.9: The Kiss and The Key ... Timeless 1.10: The End in the Middle ... Timeless 1.11: Edison, Ford, Morgan, Houdini, and Holmes (No, Not Sherlock)! ... Timeless 1.12: Incandescent West ... Timeless 1.13: Meeting, Mating, and Predictability ... Timeless 1.14: Paris in the 20s ... Timeless 1.15: Touched! .... Timeless 1.16: A Real Grandfather Paradox Story

-> and see also (evidence of original reality):  Time After Time, Timeless, and Frequency Now in the Dustbin of History


FREE on Amazon Prime

Available on Prime