Sunrise — 6:24, 6:25, 6:27, 6:33.

"The book’s word-to-photo ratio is extremely low.... You’ll go 15 pages with no captions at all, then get a bland sentence like 'Bidding farewell to Barack and Michelle Obama on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2017.'"

"And none of the words are in Trump’s handwriting, unless you count the slogan 'NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER SURRENDER' on the full-page mug shot that opens the book..... There are six pictures of Trump raising his fist after the assassination attempt. I guess you could say this is another example of lazy design choices, but I’m listing it as a high because the image is undeniably iconic from any angle, and if I survived an assassination attempt, that would be the subject of all 359 pages of the book. Low: There are 15 pages on Trump golfing.... There are shots of Trump sitting in a golf cart, chatting with various golf pros, holding a map of his club in Scotland at his club in Scotland, and swinging a golf club from multiple angles. One page is a zoomed in photo of the back of Trump’s MAGA hat-clad head with the caption, 'Who is this Handsome man?'"

I'm reading "The High and Lows From Trump’s Lazy New Coffee Table Book/From glaring errors to debunked gossip, Save America is a dizzying semi-literary adventure" (NY Magazine).

You know, some people just want more pictures of Trump. I want more pictures of the people at Trump rallies, so let me give you one more from Meade's sojourn to Mosinee, Wisconsin:

This picture has been growing on me. The shadows, the elbow, the mushrooms, the long foot. 

"His ideas on what he called the 'politics of meaning' (his goal, he said, was 'to build a society based on love and connection') were briefly embraced by Hillary Clinton..."

"... the newly installed first lady. 'We need a new politics of meaning,' Mrs. Clinton said in a speech in Austin, Texas, in 1993. 'We need a new ethos of individual responsibility and caring. We need a new definition of civil society which answers the unanswerable questions posed by both the market forces and the governmental ones, as to how we can have a society that fills us up again and makes us feel that we are part of something bigger than ourselves.' Just how much impact his ideas ultimately had on Mrs. Clinton is unclear; confronted by skepticism over the vagueness of his philosophy — a Baltimore Sun columnist called it 'psychobabble' — she soon dropped references to it, at least in public.... 'Unintentionally hilarious Big Brotherism is, in fact, a hallmark of Lerner’s ideas for implementing the politics of meaning,' the journalist Michael Kelly wrote in a 1993 profile of Hillary Clinton in The New York Times Magazine, citing Rabbi Lerner’s proposal that the Department of Labor order 'every workplace' to create a 'mission statement.'"

From "Michael Lerner, 81, Is Dead; Founder of a Combative Jewish Magazine/His publication, Tikkun, was a leading voice for left-wing American Jews. His ideas about “the politics of meaning” were embraced by Hillary Clinton" (NYT).

"Parallels to a certain contemporary political figure whose need for the continual propping up of his ego (and his retributive acts to members of his circle who don’t oblige) are obvious."

"But APT doesn’t underline the similarities, choosing a more traditional approach. Perhaps this is a wise decision; perhaps it’s a missed opportunity. It’s hard to say."

Writes the Isthmus reviewer, Linda Falkenstein, in "Tell me you love me/Strong performances are at the heart of American Players Theatre’s King Lear.'"

We saw the play yesterday. Here's my pre-show photograph to record our attendance:

The play in my pre-show photograph yesterday — here — was "Constellations." Yes, I took the 1-hour drive west to Spring Green 2 days in a row. On Friday, I went with Meade, on Saturday, with my son Chris. Where was Meade when Chris and I were seeing "King Lear," which may or may not have stirred up thoughts of Donald Trump (or the old man who did, like Lear, step down, Joe Biden)?

Meade was taking a 2-hour drive north, to Mosinee, for a Trump rally. I don't think Trump displayed any need for propping up, contrary to Falkenstein's assertion (see post title).

Full video of Trump's Mosinee speech here. 

And here is some of Meade's documentation of his presence at what he made sound like a love fest:

ADDED: While I did not watch the play looking for parallels to Trump/Biden, the deep engagement in Shakespeare's tragedy that I sought was impaired by the frequent laughter from the audience. I found Falkenstein's review this morning because I had developed a suspicion that word had gone out that the play was deliberately staged to heighten the comedy and that audience members other than me were committed to providing the actors with support for this interpretation. I found no evidence for my hypothesis. But Falkenstein's review provides a basis for a new hypothesis: The laughers in the audience were thinking of Donald Trump, and, in that light, when they saw tragedy, they thought it was hilarious.

Let me just give one memorable example of the laughter. In Act IV, Scene 6, Gloucester and King Lear are reunited, and we have been witnessing both men going through immense suffering. The lines are:

GLOUCESTER O, let me kiss that hand!
LEAR Let me wipe it first; it smells of mortality.

The audience busted out laughing at "Let me wipe it first." The hell! What explains that?!

"A near majority of voters say Mr. Trump is 'not too far' to the left or right on the issues, while only around one-third say he’s 'too far to the right.'"

"Nearly half of voters, in contrast, say Ms. Harris is too far to the left; only 41 percent say she’s 'not too far either way.' This is one of Mr. Trump’s overlooked advantages. Yes, he’s outside of the political mainstream in many respects.... But he’s also taken many positions that would have been likelier to be held by a Democrat than a Republican a decade ago, like opposition to cutting entitlements, support for a cooperative relationship with Russia or opposition to free trade.... Only 40 percent of likely voters said Ms. Harris represented 'change,' while 55 percent said she represented 'more of the same.' Mr. Trump, in contrast, was seen as representing 'change' by 61 percent of voters, while only 34 percent said he was 'more of the same.'... When Ms. Harris entered the presidential race, she seemed like a candidate with a lot of potential liabilities. She took many unpopular positions in her 2019 presidential campaign, and she was tied to the Biden administration’s immigration policy as well. In August, it seemed she could glide past all of these issues by running as a 'generic' Democrat.... The risk, however, was that Ms. Harris was inevitably going to be defined, one way or another, and that her campaign was mostly forfeiting its opportunity to clearly define her in the eyes of the public. In this poll, the risks associated with this strategy are evident...."

Writes Nate Cohn in "New Poll Suggests Harris’s Support Has Stalled After a Euphoric August

Almost 30 percent of voters said they needed to learn more about her" (NYT). A new NYT poll has Trump 1 point ahead of Harris, "the first lead for Mr. Trump in a major nonpartisan national survey in about a month." And, by the way, "Why haven’t there been more polls?"

Cohn points to a few "positions that would have been likelier to be held by a Democrat than a Republican a decade ago," but we could easily add to that list: support for endless wars, opposition to freedom of speech, persecution of political enemies....

Sunrise — 6:30, 6:31.

"Elon Musk is intrigued by the idea women can’t think freely because of 'low T.'"

Writes Arwa Mahdawi (in The Guardian).

[T]he billionaire reposted a tweet from “Autism Capital” that suggested that “women and low T men” are not able to think freely because they “can’t defend themselves physically”. The only people who can think freely are “high T alpha males and aneurotypical people ... this is why a Republic of high status males is best for decision making. Democratic, but a democracy only for those who are free to think.”

"It’s the stuff of #Resistance dreams: Kamala Harris, the prosecutor, gets onstage in Philadelphia next Tuesday across from Donald Trump, the felon, and proceeds to brutally expose him..."

"... as a racist and sexist con man who’s been lying to the American people ever since his famous escalator ride nine years ago. Only that’s not how she or her debate-prep team sees her main objective for the debate — at all. In mock-debate sessions in Pittsburgh, planning meetings in Washington, and briefing-book cram sessions between public events on the campaign trail, the vice-president and her aides have kept much of their focus on fine-tuning ways to keep presenting her as representative of a new political era for the benefit of curious voters who are still interested in learning more about her — and who may swing the race come November... 'She’s not known in the way Donald Trump is,' says one senior Democrat who used to work for Joe Biden and is now close to the Harris campaign’s leaders. 'It’s an opportunity to define herself....'"

Writes Gabriel Debenedetti, in "Why Kamala Isn’t Preparing to Knock Out Trump at the Debate/To her campaign, something else is more important" (NY Magazine).

Is she even asking for a box?

Trump has this at Truth Social:

No boxes or artificial lifts will be allowed to stand on during my upcoming debate with Comrade Kamala Harris. We had this out previously with former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg when he was in a debate, and he was not allowed a “lift.” It would be a form of cheating, and the Democrats cheat enough. “You are who you are,” it was determined!

Easy for him, the taller one, to say. How quickly you perceive the principle in formal equality when you are the one who comes out ahead and when you are a member of the group that, systematically, gets the real-world benefit.

But though I am ready to make arguments in favor of lining the heads up for television viewing, I'm not seeing that her people are asking for that. 

Why not try it?

Would you debate him on a box?
Would you debate with him on Fox?
Not on a box. And not on Fox.
Not in a house. Not with a mouse.
Not here or there.
Not anywhere.

And check out this art project:

We went to the theater yesterday.

Bill Maher explains to Democrats that they are giving people "the ick."

Hillary Clinton can't talk straight about whether Kamala Harris has sought out her advice on how to debate Donald Trump.

I'm reading "Hillary Clinton Has Advice on Debating Trump: ‘He Can Be Rattled’/The 2016 Democratic nominee fell short to Donald Trump, but she had strong debate moments against him. In an interview, she offered some thoughts for Kamala Harris" (NYT).

"The consensus was that I won all three debates and that I was well prepared," Mrs. Clinton said.

That rather suggests that she doesn't have the secret to besting Trump in a debate. Everyone around her told her she was winning, so she knows what it means to win. Obviously not.

And this was funny:

Have you talked with Harris about this debate?

He doesn’t answer the questions. He doesn’t come with any specifics. It appears from the reporting that he is going with a scorched-earth approach and will just try to tear her down, which is his usual go-to strategy.

She didn't answer the question when she answered a question by saying "He doesn’t answer the questions." The question was "Have you talked with Harris about this debate?" I'm going to infer that the answer is no. I can also infer that one piece of advice she would give KH if she were asked is: Any question you don't want to have to answer can be reimagined as a question you do feel comfortable answering.

Sunrise — 6:00, 6:26, 6:30.

Golden hour.

"Judge Delays Trump’s Sentencing Until Nov. 26, After Election Day."

The NYT reports.

As I predicted.

The NYT assesses this development: "It is unclear whether sentencing Mr. Trump in September would have helped or harmed him politically; his punishment could have been an embarrassing reminder of his criminal record, but could have also propelled his claims of political martyrdom."

"And by the aughts, oversize teeth, white as a camera flash, suited the broader popular aesthetic of exaggerated perfection: larger breasts, smaller waists, and deeper fake tans."

"Jon Marashi, an L.A.-based dentist whose clients include Halsey, Ben Affleck, and Kate Hudson... noted that large white veneers appeared on the red carpet 'at that exact moment that you saw people wearing True Religion bell-bottom jeans. The flare couldn’t be big enough, and the pocket flaps could not have been more ornate.' These ostentatious teeth — 'obscene,' said Marashi — were also the result of too much demand. As veneers became more popular, Marashi continued, there weren’t enough skilled dentists and ceramicists to keep up, and people without the proper training began to fill the gap in the market. The results were often bulky and clumsy.... Blocky veneers became ubiquitous on reality TV, especially on dating shows like Love Island, where contestants were said to have 'Turkey teeth' — shells from cheap procedures in Eastern Europe.... In the past few years, the 'more is more' aesthetic has crested. Now it’s the Hollywood actors who have left their teeth alone who have a special charismatic pull...."

From "Jawbreakers/Young patients want beautifully imperfect veneers. They’re getting pain, debt, and regret" (NY Magazine).

The celebrities with their ridiculous veneers have access to the best dentists. The ordinary people who aspire to look like them are having some horrible experiences, detailed in the article.