Bob Schwartz

It’s hard to know whether to say that St. Elmo’s Fire (1985) reflects the 1980s. On the one hand, it does star the so-called Brat Pack of young stars (real or wannabe) of the era. On the other hand, it is so cheesy and Hollywood-version-of-unreality, starring the so-called Brat Pack of young stars (real or wannabe) of the era:

Emilio Estevez as Kirby “Kirbo” Keager, a law student and waiter at St. Elmo’s Bar.

Rob Lowe as Billy Hicks, a saxophonist “frat boy” and reluctant husband and father.

Andrew McCarthy as Kevin Dolenz, a writer for The Washington Post with a sullen streak, and Kirby’s roommate.

Demi Moore as Julianna “Jules” Van Patten, an international banker and the “party girl” of the group.

Judd Nelson as Alec Newbury, a yuppie pursuing a career in politics.

Ally Sheedy as Leslie Hunter, a budding architect who is reluctant to marry Alec.

Mare Winningham as Wendy Beamish, a welfare clerk from a wealthy family and devoted to helping others.

(Thanks Wikipedia)

If you’ve never seen it, you’ve gotta watch it. And in a twisted, ironic, completely unhistorical way, you’ve gotta love it.

“Mr. Barr and his advisers have expressed their own frustrations about Mr. Mueller and his team. Mr. Barr and other Justice Department officials believe the special counsel’s investigators fell short of their task by declining to decide whether Mr. Trump illegally obstructed the inquiry, according to the two government officials. After Mr. Mueller made no judgment on the obstruction matter, Mr. Barr stepped in to declare that he himself had cleared Mr. Trump of wrongdoing.”
New York Times

Investigators from the special counsel’s office have indicated that that Barr’s four-page summary of the Mueller Report “failed to adequately portray the findings of their inquiry and that they were more troubling for President Trump than Mr. Barr indicated.”

This has led to reports that Attorney General Barr is frustrated that Mueller left the decision on obstruction of justice charges to him. He should be frustrated, because his ongoing attempts to hide the most damaging evidence—something he promised Trump he would do—are being thwarted. He got played.

Here’s how it works. Mueller knew that if he determined the issue, whatever he said would be dismissed. He also knew that there was plenty of evidence that might support indicting Trump or at least naming him as an unindicted co-conspirator.

So he put Barr in a no-win situation. If Barr admitted that there was substantial negative evidence, even if not enough to indict, he would hurt Trump. If Barr downplayed it and aggressively tried to cover up the evidence, and the evidence came out—as, after much wrangling, it will—Barr would look like he was taking part in a cover-up. Which he may be.

See Lesson for Trump Attorneys: The Lawyers of Watergate:

“Congress initiated multiple investigations that exposed the involvement of more than 20 of the most powerful lawyers in the United States.

At the top of the list was Nixon, the 37th president of the United States, who resigned on Aug. 8, 1974, as Congress was gearing up to conduct impeachment proceedings.

But the list also included two U.S. attorneys general, two White House counsels, an assistant attorney general and a chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.”

Fred Trump, Born in the U.S.A.

Trump may be the biggest idiot in America. Or he deserves our compassion for his cognitive challenges.

Washington Post:

Trump wrongly claims his dad was born in Germany — for the third time
Trump claims his father was born in Germany

Speaking to reporters April 2, President Trump said his father “was born in a very wonderful place in Germany.” Fred Trump was born in New York.

Of all the odd, counterfactual and conspiratorial claims President Trump has made over the past four years or so, this one may take the cake: He said Tuesday that his father was born in Germany, even though he wasn’t.

It is at least the third time he has said this.

“My father is German — was German,” Trump said. “Born in a very wonderful place in Germany, so I have a great feeling for Germany.”

This is not true. Fred Trump is of German descent, and his father was a German immigrant. But Fred Trump was born in New York.

If you ask most adults—and many children—they can tell you what country their parents were born in. You probably know what country your parents were born in. Maybe there are cases where parents were unclear or unsure, or wanted to hide their origins, but otherwise most people know.

It is possible that given Trump’s predilection to lie, this is just one more. On the other hand, maybe he is cognitively off balance, and he has actually forgotten where his father was born. Either way, every attempt by those who know where their parents were born to escape the Twilight Zone has once again been thwarted. It’s been surreal.

Religious traditions, those I identify with as a home, and those I visit, are treasure houses. But that is different than being a treasure hunter. Every treasure, no matter how alluring or valuable in some marketplace, is inert—dead. The hunting and finding is fun. But each treasure demands work for it to become anything other than a trophy or museum piece. Each treasure asks to be transformed and brought to life.

When it comes to history, America is a baby. A big and powerful baby, but still a baby.

American leadership, and particularly certain blindered and limited exceptionalists, seems now to be acting on the premise that whatever America chooses is the best by definition—because it is America. We don’t need history, philosophy or old principles to succeed. We don’t follow roads, we make them.

Much of the rest of the world has long history, and has learned the hard way that history can’t be escaped, but must be regarded and when necessary adapted and transcended. China is not a role model for many things, but in the seventy years of post-revolutionary progress, it has learned that there is value in being heir to thousands of years of success, strife and wisdom. Yet in America there seems to be studied ignorance of political philosophy, wisdom and history. Some seem unable to pay attention to history that goes back only two centuries.

America is a baby being led by a baby. The aspiring superpowers of the 21st century are older and wiser. Who do you think has the better chance of winning in the long run?

We may be stressed by various happenings in our private and public lives. For relief, we don’t just need distraction. We need a WOW!, something to take our breath away. We deserve a WOW!

Here is one at Live Science: The 12 Strangest Objects in the Universe

There is growing public and political pressure to release the final report of the Special Counsel. The House this week voted unanimously—Democrats and Republicans—to urge its public release.

We will soon discover something that few have mentioned: there is likely to be no final report issued at all.

How could that be possible?

The charge to the Special Counsel Office is prosecutorial. Its stated role is to investigate and, when investigation warrants, prosecute. Fact finding will be involved in that, but it is not otherwise a fact-finder or reporter. It can be argued—and it will be by those who want to bury any inconvenient evidence—that once the prosecutions are done, the role of the Special Counsel is over.

There will naturally be political outrage in the face of that. Even some Republicans may publicly complain that without a report, millions of dollars will have been wasted with little to show for it. But privately, those Republicans will be relieved, as will Trump. The indictments, guilty pleas and trials taking place, and yet to come, are pieces of a damning picture. But a report would be a complete picture, which is why, one way or another, Trump and those under his direction or influence, will make certain that no such report is ever seen. And the best way for that to happen is for there to be no report at all.

There are two kinds of daily bad news about Trump:

Things he says or does.

Reasonable speculation, based on what he says or does, about what he might do in the future.

This speculation by Chris Cilliza is in that second category. It is both chilling and plausible:

Donald Trump is laying the groundwork to de-legitimize the 2020 election
Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

Even as the 2020 race begins in earnest, President Donald Trump is already suggesting that Democrats cannot beat him fairly — raising the specter that if he loses next November, he will suggest that the election was not legitimate.

“The Democrats in Congress yesterday were vicious and totally showed their cards for everyone to see,” Trump tweeted Tuesday, referring to House Democrats’ launching of a broad-scale investigation into him. “When the Republicans had the Majority they never acted with such hatred and scorn! The Dems are trying to win an election in 2020 that they know they cannot legitimately win!”

Trump 2020 campaign press secretary Kayleigh McEnany echoed that sentiment in a statement on the Democratic investigations. “These desperate Democrats know they cannot beat President Trump in 2020, so instead they have embarked on a disgraceful witch hunt with one singular aim: topple the will of the American people and seize the power that they have zero chance at winning legitimately,” she said….

This is straight from the Trump blueprint — and not just in politics, either. In his past life as a businessman, Trump would regularly declare victory on a deal loudly and publicly — even when the facts didn’t bear out his bluster….

In the business world, that approach was mostly harmless. Trump could say whatever he wanted but, at the end of the day, it was pretty clear who won and who lost a deal. Money, usually, changed hands. And while lots of people Trump dealt with rolled their eyes about his massive exaggerations, they usually just ignored them.

In politics, Trump’s inability to accept that he could lose fair and square is far, far more dangerous.

Michael Cohen, Trump’s former longtime fixer, said as much during his congressional testimony in front of the House Oversight Committee last month. “Given my experience working for Mr. Trump, I fear that if he loses the election in 2020, that there will never be a peaceful transition of power,” said Cohen.

Sit with that for a minute. And realize what it would mean if the sitting incumbent President of the United States simply refuses to concede he has lost in 2020.