Sunrise — 6:44.

Talk about whatever you like in the comments.

"With no clear leader to voice our opposition and no control in any branch of government, it’s time for Democrats to embark on the most daring political maneuver..."

"... in the history of our party: roll over and play dead. Allow the Republicans to crumble beneath their own weight, and make the American people miss us. Only until the Trump administration has spiraled into the low 40s or high 30s in public approval polling percentages should we make like a pack of hyenas and go for the jugular. Until then, I’m calling for a strategic political retreat. The Army has a term for this: 'tactical pause.' It’s a vision move — get out of the hour-to-hour, day-to-day combat where one side (ours) is largely playing defense and struggling to defend politically charged positions (like explaining D.E.I. or persuading voters to care about foreign aid).... I don’t think a lot of Americans are waiting around for us to use the same old arguments and same old language to pile on Donald Trump — they’re tired of it...."

Writes James Carville, in "The Best Thing Democrats Can Do in This Moment" (NYT).

"Apple has acknowledged an issue with the iPhone's voice-to-text feature where it briefly displays 'Trump' when the user says 'racist.'"

"This glitch has sparked discussions across social media platforms, with some users interpreting it as intentional bias. Apple is reportedly addressing the issue to ensure accurate dictation."

X reports.

Major Scandal Breaking! Apple iPhones now replace the word racist with Trump! pic.twitter.com/buaqR3AxY1

— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) February 25, 2025

"The liberal democracy most of us grew up taking for granted is brittle and teetering, but its fall still feels unthinkable..."

"... even if it also seems increasingly inevitable. Perhaps this is one reason Democrats, with a few admirable exceptions, seem so frozen. People who’ve spent their lives working within a system of laws and civic institutions may be particularly unsuited to respond to that system’s failure. But an F.B.I. run by Patel and Bongino is a sign that the system — which for all its manifold flaws has provided Americans a level of stability uncommon in history — is falling apart."

Writes Michelle Goldberg, in "Trump’s New Deputy F.B.I. Director Has It Out for the 'Scumbag Commie Libs'" (NYT).

If only that "system of laws and civic institutions" had been taken care of by those who purport to care so much now. 

The phrase "Scumbag Commie Libs" comes from this Dan Bongino tweet from May 30, 2024, the day Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts. This is the full tweet:

Trump is good at explaining the "5 bullet points" email.

pic.twitter.com/3IuSGe3WoK

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 25, 2025

I've been critical of what looked too harsh and unnecessarily scary, but Trump made it sound better to me in that clip (which is part of a press conference yesterday with Macron). 

As Trump put it: "A lot of people are not answering because they don't even exist." The email is a test that at least separates everyone into 2 groups, those who answered and those who did not answer. Among those who did not answer is some number of employees who are simply not there at all. "That's how badly" the government is run, Trump asserts.

Some who don't answer could still exist, but at least the nonexistent workers would be concentrated among the nonanswerers. (An answer could come "from" a nonexistent worker could answer by fraud.) 

"Mr. Lange sees what he does as 'recontextualizing' garments that are perceived to be at the end of their life."

"'... [T]here is a dark reality where it’s like, OK, I’m buying this in this place where it doesn’t have value, and I’ll bring it to the Lower East Side where some kid in all black will want it.'... In the competitive world of vintage hunting, some of the biggest fanatics don’t covet the perfect pair of 501s but rather a 1930s jacket found in an abandoned mine shaft and tinged with chemicals (also for sale in Mr. Lange’s shop). Where some cringe at the prospect of decades of dirt and grime on their clothes, others relish it. 'There is something cool about feeling someone else’s skin on you,' Ms. Trufelman said. 'People want to see signs of wear and tear. It’s a way of valuing someone else’s life and livelihood.' But even those who embrace thrashed clothing as the apotheosis of a certain gritty authenticity might sometimes pause to wonder.... 'There is a whole stolen valor side to this: You didn’t earn those rips. You didn’t paint anything'.... 'I’m not a laborer... I just want the look.'"

From "Oh, This Old, Tattered, Moth-Eaten Thing? So-called thrashed clothes — garments resembling something closer to rags — are coveted by vintage fanatics" (NYT)(free access link, so you can see photos of this stuff).

Hard to believe people are still beating themselves up for appropriating the workwear of manual laborers. The shopkeeper who selects distinctly interesting pre-worn clothes that would have been thrown away and sells them for a good price deserves his money. It's not a "dark reality." But presenting your work as "dark" — or the "skin" of others — is pitching the sale. 

Here's the Instagram page for Lange's store, sumshitifound.

Sunrise — 6:26, 6:26, 6:44, 6:47

Write about whatever you want in the comments.

"They have been drinking live fish from goblets of wine in the Belgian town of Geraardsbergen for more than 600 years."

"But a ban on animal welfare grounds drew protests over the weekend from traditionalists who wish to defend the custom. The Flemish town’s Krakelingen carnival celebrations were first recorded in 1413 and revolve around the throwing of ring-shaped bread crackers, or 'Mastellenworp,' by town worthies dressed as druids on the Oudenberg hill. Before the throwing of the breads, after a costumed procession from the town, the local church priest, the mayor and aldermen drink a sip of wine with a live fish from a 400-year-old silver cup...."

From "Animal welfare laws stop tradition of drinking live fishThe ban on the 600-year-old practice, which sipping wine from a goblet at Geraardsbergen’s carnival in Belgium, has prompted protests from locals" (London Times).

Here's some older video that demonstrates respect for the tradition:

Goodbye to Roberta Flack.

"Roberta Flack... one of the most popular artists of the 1970s, died on Monday in Manhattan. She was 88. She died en route to a hospital...." (NYT).

Greeted.

President Donald J. Trump welcomes French President @EmmanuelMacron to the White House. 🇺🇸🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/puvyxx3Kmk

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 24, 2025

PREVIOUSLY: I had this:

"At some point, presumably, the justices will draw the line...."

"In any consequential ruling, Chief Justice Roberts will likely be tempted to narrow his reasoning, soften his tone.... For Chief Justice Roberts, unanimity will be hard — even impossible — to achieve in most cases concerning Mr. Trump’s actions as president... Of course, Mr. Trump might defy the court.... Without the support of federal marshals, who answer to Mr. Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, the court cannot enforce its order.... The court will stand alone, abandoned; and Chief Justice Roberts, it is safe to assume, will not escalate a conflict his institution has already lost. He will, however, have one last tool in his arsenal: his voice.... If Mr. Trump flouts a court ruling, the nation will need its chief justice to explain what is happening — and why the executive branch, for all its prerogatives, must be bound by the Constitution...."

Writes Jeff Shesol, in "John Roberts Is on a Collision Course With Trump" (NYT).

Make acting great again: "Greatness. I know people don’t usually talk like that."

"I know we’re in a subjective business, but the truth is, I’m really in pursuit of greatness. I know people don’t usually talk like that, but I want to be one of the greats. I’m inspired by the greats. I’m inspired by the greats here tonight...."

Humility is the go-to tone for awards accepting, and Timmy eschewed it. He came right out and said he's aiming for greatness. "I know the classiest thing would be to downplay the effort that went into this role and how much this means to be, but... I poured everything I had into playing this incomparable artist, Mr. Bob Dylan, a true American hero...."

I hear Timmy's speech as part of the new masculine pride, which I associate with Trump and those in his vicinity, which is not Hollywood. But it belongs in Hollywood, and Timmy's a good exemplar of hard work and aspiration to greatness. It's okay again — isn't it? — to strive to achieve.

"The email said appointees running U.S.A.I.D. were firing 2,000 employees based in the United States...."

"The mass firings are part of a series of layoffs of agency employees by the Trump administration during a broad effort to halt almost all U.S. foreign aid using a blanket freeze. The moves came after a judge ruled on Friday that the Trump administration could proceed with plans to lay off or put on paid leave many agency employees and close down operations overseas...."

From "Trump Appointees Fire 2,000 U.S.A.I.D. Employees and Put Others Worldwide on Leave/The announcement, by email, came two days after a judge said the Trump administration could proceed with plans that amount to dismantling the aid agency" (NYT).

"My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA."

"I never thought I would have to say something like this on a television program. But after Donald Trump's statements last week at the latest, it is clear that the Americans, at least this part of the Americans, this administration, are largely indifferent to the fate of Europe."

Said Friedrich Merz* quoted in "Germany’s Merz vows ‘independence’ from Trump’s America, warning NATO may soon be dead/Election winner likens the Trump administration to Putin’s Russia as he bids to take Europe in a new direction" (Politico).

_____________________

* Suggested sobriquet: "The Landlord."

"'Dark MAGA' spreads as conservatives embrace Musk’s influence on Trump."

A headline at AP (AP, which, by the way, is suing Donald Trump for excluding it from White House access because it won't use the new sobriquet for the southward Gulf).

The AP writer, Adriana Gomez Licon, saw a lot of the black MAGA hats at CPAC. Does wearing the black version of the MAGA hat represent affiliation with Musk? 

Also: "Speakers at CPAC frequently brought up DOGE, playfully named after a meme coin with the face of a Shiba Inu dog popularized by Musk in 2021. They variously referred to him as a 'white knight,' a 'hero of free speech,' and according to one of his harshest critics, Steve Bannon, 'Superman.'"

"Occasionally [Balzac] took a boiled egg at about nine o’clock in the morning or sardines mashed with butter if he was hungry; then a chicken wing or a slice of roast lamb..."

"... in the evening, and he ended his meal with a cup or two of excellent black coffee without sugar."

That was while writing a book. When he was done, “he sped to a restaurant, downed a hundred oysters as a starter, washing them down with four bottles of white wine, then ordered the rest of the meal: twelve salt meadow lamb cutlets with no sauce, a duckling with turnips, a brace of roast partridge, a Normandy sole, not to mention extravagances like dessert and special fruit such as Comice pears, which he ate by the dozen. Once sated, he usually sent the bill to his publishers.”

From "A Hungry Little Boy/Pears had a special appeal for Balzac; he often kept bushels of them at home and could eat as many as forty or fifty in a day (one February he had 1,500 pears in his cellar)" (NYRB).

Sunrise — 6:44.

Write about whatever you want in the comments.

Let Musk justify his method in 5 bullet points.

I'm reading "Musk Says Government Workers Must Detail Their Workweek or Lose Their Jobs/Elon Musk has drawn inspiration from his 2022 takeover of Twitter with the tactic. His threat on social media of termination did not appear in an email to federal workers requesting the work summaries" (NYT).

Ugh. My draft of this post has been sitting in an open tab for 6 hours!

Let's move on to a more recent article on the subject: "Government agencies give conflicting guidance on Musk email/An email sent to 2.3 million workers asking them to outline their work last week is leading to confusion and differing instructions across the government" (WaPo).

"Wealthy residents of the Hamptons demand perfection"... and live in fear of Trump's deportation agenda.

The NYT drums up sympathy for completely unsympathetic rich people who've been relying on illegal immigration to serve their various needs!

The rich are not the "They" in the headline, "They Help Make the Hamptons the Hamptons, and Now They’re Living in Fear/Latino immigrants care for some of America’s most lavish beachside mansions. Their disappearance would affect the wealthy, too."

Heavens! Affecting the wealthy too. Oh, my!

Maybe the NYT is mocking these people? Nope! The article is well larded with empathy for the migrants who face deportation, but the travails of the rich are presented soberly:

"Do you hear the people sing/Lost in the valley of the night? It is the music of a people who are climbing to the light."

A military rendition of "Do you hear the people sing?"/"One Day More" (from "Les Misérables") as President Trump and the First Lady hosted a dinner for the Governors last night:

It was a great honor to attend this evenings Governors Ball at the @WhiteHouse, hosted by @FLOTUS Melania and @POTUS @realDonaldTrump—thank you! pic.twitter.com/NPHHz6jDfA

— Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) February 23, 2025

"Is there a world you long to see?... Say, do you hear the distant drums? It is the future that we bring/When tomorrow comes!"

I would expect Trump haters to connect that to "Tomorrow Belongs to Me," from "Cabaret."

"[Trump] is fighting for the fundamental idea that this country belongs... not to the radical left Communists...."

"We are going to have to be on top of it every single day focused every single day, driving forward every single day with unrelenting focus and passion because God gave us this country our founding fathers fought and died for this country, generations of Americans have sacrificed and bled for this country and we are not going to let the radical left — the Communists — and the American haters take our country. It's not going to happen. Not now. Not ever. So I ask you all to send a message right now to all the bureaucrats, to all the radical left commies, to the criminal aliens... to everyone who threatens the future of this country...."

Stephen Miller — at CPAC yesterday — called America's left wing "communists" and even "commies."

I think this is the only serious current use of the word "commie" that I've recorded in this blog. I've quoted a couple comic deployments of the word — here and here.

And I quoted Rush Limbaugh describing the "Dr. Strangelove" character Buck Turgidson: He just loves war and hates the Russians, hates the commies."

And I've got John Wayne in a Playboy interview — back in 1971: 

Tim Dillon — the comedian who says Trump is a great comedian — does not appreciate Elon Musk as a prop comic in sunglasses.

From the new episode of his podcast (transcript): "So we have Elon Musk, who is up at CPAC, bombing with a chainsaw and doing weird bits.... Americans, by and large do not love Elon Musk.... He is not Donald Trump. Donald Trump kills. Elon Musk does not. Donald Trump's jabs land. Hard. He's a political genius.... You might think he's an idiot. You might hate him.... He's great at what he does. Elon — it doesn't land all the time. It looks like you have sort of... like a weird billionaire talent show.... Where is Trump? Where is the one who got elected, who communicates effectively?...So here is Elon Musk with a prop. He's so high. I do respect how high he is. I do miss and love drugs. I really do miss and love drugs. Oh man, he's high.... 'Chainsaw for bureaucracy.'... "

"Can you play the meme thing where he goes, 'I've become meme' and it just doesn't land... I don't think this is good. This is not good.... I know that he's having fun with it, but there's gotta be a way to present this that where... he seems less high.... I'm just saying walking out on stage with sunglasses and a chainsaw is a little bit of a tell.... Whether they're high on ideas or actual drugs, I don't know. But we need sobriety in this country.... We need a dad... to just go, Hey man, here's the reality. You are outta control right now. You are absolutely out of control.... But this, this is a dad who himself is a little out of control, I think. I think you come home and you see dad with sunglasses and a chainsaw, and you go, my dad's going through something...."