"The problem with putting in a reflecting pool? The darn thing reflects. When the light off the Reflecting Pool bounced up onto Lincoln's face, it looked as if a flashlight had been held up under his chin."

Wrote Sarah Vowell, back in 2005, in her very entertaining book "Assassination Vacation," which I recently reread. The link goes to an excerpt of the book at the NPR website. There's also audio of Vowell reading her text, which she does extremely well.

Here's more context:

"[Daniel Chester] French obsessed for years about how to sculpt Lincoln's peculiar face, fretting and reading and thinking before committing to the brooding, seated philosopher in the memorial. He received the commission in 1913. So by the time the memorial was finally dedicated nine years later, the sculptor was a little pent up worrying how his work would come off. Hoping to celebrate, French looked upon the final installation with horror. The problem with putting in a reflecting pool? The darn thing reflects.

Memorial Day at Union Rest in Forest Hill Cemetery.

That is Meade's video of the ceremony of The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, in the cemetery very near where we live.

On the way home, he photographed this:

Unique Way/True and Life.

My son Chris sends another photograph from New York City:

Jeffree Star demonstrates how it's done.

On TikTok:

It's a good question, but it's easy to answer.

Good question pic.twitter.com/cgdRX8TW01

— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) November 23, 2025

I think the answer is in this logic:

Identity is in your feelings.

From that 1967 Clairol ad: "Why don't you try saying this out loud: 'If I've only one life, let me live it as a blonde.' If you get a surge when you say the words, you're a blonde at heart." And you are free to bleach your hair blonde so it affirms your inner feelings.

And by the way, the blondest blondes in American culture — Marilyn Monroe, Madonna, Debbie Harry — had to bleach their way to blondeness, and some classy writers have argued that they are more truly blonde — whatever that means! — than the natural blondes. 

Meade photographs the lampposts of Madison, Wisconsin.

"This is an outrageous assault on our free speech and ability to educate each other. It’s just bonkers to me that the federal government is imposing these kinds of restraints..."

"... that we’re taking away valuable information from our citizens who visit this park, and that we are trying to dumb everyone down and pretend real weather events don’t happen by not letting you read a simple sign."

Said Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), quoted in "National parks remove signs about climate, slavery and Japanese detention/The removals come after President Donald Trump issued an executive order in March seeking to remove 'improper partisan ideology' from federal institutions."

You have beautiful places, the best land and rocks and trees and waters of America, and because people want to come see these wonders of nature, you see it as opportunity to interpose human messages — negative, downer messages, propaganda — on eyesore signs. Let visitors think their own thoughts, read their own books, and speak to each other about what they think. That's the better free speech and shared education, not the speech by the government that is installed in the form of inert signs. 

Pingree complains that the new policy is "trying to dumb everyone down and... not letting you read a simple sign." But if I'm here for the landscape and the government has put up a political education sign, it's not letting me not see the government's speech.

"The truth is that Iryna had no real choice. If she avoided the seat in front of the Black man, she might look like a racist."

"She had no reason to fear him, after all, because she was sympathetic to the plight of racism in America and even had the words 'Black Lives Matter' and 'I can’t breathe' scrawled on a chalkboard in her room."

Writes Sasha Stone, in "The Girl on the Train/She escaped war in Ukraine only to find herself in the middle of a different kind of war in the United States."

"Fire Circle 5 Closed Until Further Notice/Turtle Nesting in Pit!"

This morning, in Madison.

"It looked more like a repurposed Pride rally than an anti-Trump rally, really, and that’s because it was."

"Boston’s Pride parade got repurposed into the 'No Kings but Drag Kings' parade. This was smart in terms of boosting the crowd size — there were a lot more people present than attended the rather pallid anti-Elon protest I attended in Boston a few months ago, which drew numbers in the dozens. This event definitely drew thousands. But while there was plenty of anti-Trump stuff, I’m not sure there was any more than a regular Pride parade would have featured...."

Glenn Reynolds reports — with photos — from the Boston "No Kings" event.

Makes me kind of wish I'd walked downtown to get some pictures of the Madison march. I was wary of violence. You never know.

But here's David Blaska covering the Madison event, with photos. Text: "'No Kings,' like many a partisan demonstration, was a BYO punch bowl of Leftist causes: End the War on Drugs. No Public Land Sales. Trans rights. My Body, My Choice. And, unforgivably 'Free Gaza.' No outward support for the Ayatollah, at least. Our favorite placard: 'Local Unpaid Agitator.' Note this well: at least nine of 10 signs were home made. My fellow Republicans will dismiss this as the work of George Soros and his checkbook at their peril...."

Lawn signs at the White House.

Good Morning from The White House! pic.twitter.com/1fhjzMU2gR

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) April 28, 2025

"The White House lawn is lined with posters of 100 of the 'worst illegal immigrant criminals' arrested in the first 100 days of President Donald Trump's second term" (Fox News).

"‘Mommy, the guy who’s been giving money to our school doesn’t want to give it to us anymore."

Said a little kindergarten boy, quoted in "The Zuckerbergs Founded Two Bay Area Schools. Now They’re Closing. Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, opened the schools to help communities of color. Some families wonder if the shutting of the schools is related to his D.E.I. retrenchment" (NYT).

Why doesn't the guy who’s been giving money to the school not want to give it anymore? Even if Zuck has turned against DEI efforts within institutions, this is a free-standing school, located in a place where it serves underprivileged children. That sounds like a traditional charity. Why would you cut that off? The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has given only $100 million to this school over the past 4 years. What's that in the larger scheme of Zuckerberg's wealth? You're just suddenly casting out hundreds of children you've made a show of saving from the "trauma" you attributed to their status as "low-income." I'm sorry, I don't see how closing the school is worth doing. 

What is the evidence that the closure of the school represents opposition to the greater DEI agenda? I'm seeing this:

At the Friday Night Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

The unfortunate storefront in my photograph used to be Paul's Books, one of the loveliest places in Madison. It had been around since 1954, and I didn't know that it had closed. I hadn't walked downtown in quite a while. I prefer to walk in the woods, but I thought I'd change my ways today. I pictured myself looking at the poetry books at Paul's Books. But no, Paul's was gone. And this insanity was there. You're sorry? I'm sorry.

There were lots of handmade/"handmade" signs at Madison's anti-Trump rally yesterday.

What would you do if it was your job to create the look of a truly grassroots uprising? Wonky lettering. Off-beat slogans. One thing I noticed was that the signs — most of them — were on uniformly sized white poster board. I'd go with more unfolded boxes — corrugated cardboard — and spray-painted old sheets. And the sign-holders were densely packed in front of the speaker's podium. That's photogenic, but lacking in chaotic energy. 

I was merely driving by the protests, so I can't comment on the mood. Were they angry? But these are people who just had a big political win 4 days ago — the Wisconsin Supreme Court election. They could be happy. Whatever. I'm not a source of information as I was 14 years ago, during the anti-Scott-Walker protests. 

I remember when that mild-mannered character was "Hitler":

Pasting Susan Crawford posters on public property in Madison.

The fine print says "VOTE BY 04.O1/FOR SUSAN CRAWFORD."

Crawford is one of the candidates in the much-watched Wisconsin Supreme Court election.

I photographed the posters this morning, but yesterday evening, I saw the man pasting them up. I couldn't believe that he had the nerve, in daylight hours, to deface public property. How does it help your candidate to conspicuously trash the neighborhood of the people you hope to influence? Are you picturing desperate, anarchic citizens who don't care about anything but abortion?

If I were Susan Crawford, I would be distressed to have my name on something like this. I have no idea if she or her campaign has anything to do with it. The ultra-fine print might answer that question, but it's not legible in my photographs and most definitely not legible to those of driving through the underpass.

A pedestrian could stop and read the ultra-fine print. Of course, pedestrians walking through an underpass, especially if female, can feel physically vulnerable, and pasted-up posters can magnify fear. Vandalism speaks of chaos and a breakdown of vigilance. Maybe that's the idea. The woman worries about the problem of rape, and the posters offer the second-rate solution: abortion.

UPDATE: Here's the ultra-fine print:

"I simply made myself available for a chat, should anybody like to approach me and speak about any matter on their mind."

"I didn’t breach the rules of the buffer zone – I didn’t harass, intimidate, or even seek to influence anyone. I simply stood there, available to speak with love and compassion. It isn’t right to deprive anyone of the right to take up my offer to talk. And it isn’t right to censor zones within our country from thoughts, beliefs and conversations that authorities may simply disapprove of. Buffer zones aren’t 'pro-choice' – they deprive women of the choice to have a chat outside the clinic. That isn’t right."

Said Rose Docherty, quoted in "Grandmother arrested for holding sign offering conversation outside Scottish hospital performing abortions/'Buffer zones aren’t ‘pro-choice’ – they deprive women of the choice to have a chat outside the clinic,' Rose Docherty said" (Fox News).

Scotland's The Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act purports to forbid any "acts" that  "Intentionally or recklessly influence someone’s decision to access, provide, or facilitate abortion services," expressly including "acts" that we Americans would consider speech: "attempts to persuade or dissuade someone through verbal communication, handing out leaflets with anti-abortion messages, or displaying signs intended to affect choices." It also forbids "acts" that "Cause Harassment, Alarm, or Distress," including "shouting, religious preaching directed at individuals, or silent vigils that target and emotionally affect those entering or leaving the facility."

Docherty's sign read "Coercion is a crime, here to talk if you want."

"I'm a sign guy. I notice signs...."

“Don Lemon left this interview practically in tears 😭 — he tried talking to a Pennsylvania resident and got a major reality check. Turns out, in Pennsylvania, it’s Trump signs 10 to 1 over Kamala 😂” pic.twitter.com/0VwTTMw2Bn

— 1776 (@TheWakeninq) November 3, 2024

Any Trump signs in Madison?

Yes, and this house takes the cake:

"FEMA called me and told me they wanted to inspect my house then called me back to say they couldn’t drive around the ‘road closed’ sign. They weren’t allowed."

Said Chelsea Atkins, 38, of Bat Cave, North Carolina, quoted in "FEMA abandons devastated NC town residents because they can’t drive around ‘road closed’ sign: ‘Nobody’s been bringing in supplies except civilians'" (NY Post).

Atkins said FEMA called her to arrange an inspection of her house on the Broad River rendered uninhabitable by the storm, but that they never showed up because the road was closed — the very same road The Post successfully traversed on its way to Bat Cave.

The road is treacherous, but navigable. It’s littered with downed power lines, and whole sections have collapsed. One portion of Highway 9 is entirely washed away, forcing traffic to navigate a huge chasm through someone’s front yard....

Well, then, it wasn't just misplaced rectitude about a "road closed" sign. It's more important to avoid new accidents that require emergency services than to move forward with the inspection of damage that has already occurred. The Post headline is needlessly inflammatory.

Meade sends his first photo from the Trump rally today at the Dodge County Airport in Juneau, Wisconsin.

"Gays for Trump"/"Veterans for Trump."

Meade is waiting in line (and may join the comments):