The Vice President's speech at the Ellipse

Vice President Harris delivered a superb speech tonight--described beforehand as her closing argument of the campaign--at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., with The White House in the distance, behind her.

At the end of her speech, the Vice President said the following:

Nearly 250 years ago, America was born when we wrested freedom from a petty tyrant.

Across the generations, Americans have preserved that freedom, expanded it, and in so doing proved to the world that a government of, by, and for the people is strong and can endure.

And those who came before us--the patriots at Normandy, and Selma, Seneca Falls, and Stonewall, on farmlands and factory floors.  They did not struggle, sacrifice and lay down their lives only to see us cede our fundamental freedoms.  They didn't do that, only to see us submit to the will of another petty tyrant.

These United States of America, we are not a vessel for the schemes of wannabe dictators.  The United States of America is the greatest idea humanity ever devised.  A nation big enough to encompass all our dreams, strong enough to withstand any fracture or fissure between us.  And fearless enough to imagine a future of possibilities.

So America, let us reach for that future. Let us fight for this beautiful country we love.  And in seven days, we have the power, each of you  has the power, to turn the page, and start writing the next chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told. 

Here is a video of the full speech:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaE6FhbWVxM

Judicial vertigo

Yesterday's Supreme Court decision regarding presidential immunity is deeply distressing, and dizzying.

Here is an essay by the Editorial Board of The New York Times. The piece is titled: "The Supreme Court Gives a Free Pass to Trump and Future Presidents."

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/01/opinion/supreme-court-presidential-immunity-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.4U0.ZQwL.tV3OAWRwqS5H&smid=url-share

The debate

I hope, during tonight's debate, that voters will be reminded, in significant ways, that President Biden is an intrinsically decent and honorable man.

Former President Trump is not concerned with either decency or honor.  His plans for America (and the world) are dark, and perilous. One thinks of his perverse affection for dictators; his self-involvement; his bitterness, rage, and promises of revenge and retribution; his endless lies.

President Biden, I have no doubt, will continue seeking to strengthen and unite the country. Former President Trump likes nothing more than division, and chaos.

Juneteenth

Best wishes for the holiday...

D-Day: the 80th anniversary

D-Day--one of the most consequential events in the history of America, and the world--took place on June 6, 1944. 

The picture, above, shows the inside of a newspaper I have--the New York tabloid paper the Daily Mirror.  The paper--and other D-Day newspapers--were given to me, during my childhood, by (I believe) my maternal grandparents.

President Biden's comments, on the college protests

This morning, at The White House, President Biden made the following remarks (appropriate, and sound):

Before I head to North Carolina, I wanted to speak a few moments about what’s going on on our college campuses here. 

We’ve all seen the images.  And they put to the test two fundamental American principles.

The first is the right to free speech and for people to peacefully assemble and make their voices heard.  The second is the rule of law.  Both must be upheld. 
 
We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent.  The American people are heard.  In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. 
 
But — but, neither are we a lawless country.  We are a civil society, and order must prevail. 
 
Throughout our history, we’ve often faced moments like this because we are a big, diverse, free-thinking, and freedom-loving nation. 
 
In moments like this, there are always those who rush in to score political points.  But this isn’t a moment for politics.  It’s a moment for clarity. 
 
So, let me be clear.  Peaceful protest in America — violent protest is not protected; peaceful protest is.  It’s against the law when violence occurs. 
 
Destroying property is not a peaceful protest.  It’s against the law.
 
Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations — none of this is a peaceful protest. 
 
Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest.  It’s against the law.
 
Dissent is essential to democracy.  But dissent must never lead to disorder or to denying the rights of others, so students can finish the semester and their college education.
 
Look, it’s basically a matter of fairness.  It’s a matter of what’s right.  There’s the right to protest but not the right to cause chaos.
 
People have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across the campus safely without fear of being attacked.
 
But let’s be clear about this as well.  There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students.  There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether it’s antisemitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans.
 
It’s simply wrong.  There is no place for racism in America.  It’s all wrong.  It’s un-American. 
 
I understand people have strong feelings and deep convictions.  In America, we respect the right and protect the right for them to express that.  But it doesn’t mean anything goes.  It needs to be done without violence, without destruction, without hate, and within the law.
 
You know, make no mistake: As President, I will always defend free speech.  And I will always be just as strong in standing up for the rule of law.
 
That’s my responsibility to you, the American people, and my obligation to the Constitution.

Aleksei Navalny, and Ukraine

Today is the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.  It has also been eight days since the death of Russian opposition figure Aleksei Navalny.

Today, too, Mr. Navalny's spokeswoman announced, in an online statement, that Mr. Navalny's body had--finally--been released to the custody of his mother.

Yesterday, President Biden announced some 500 sanctions against Russia, as a result of Mr. Navalny's death, and Russia's continuing war against Ukraine.  Those sanctioned, The Washington Post noted,  included Russian individuals, companies, "and firms in other countries that supply Russia's military and industrial production, according to a Treasury Department spokeswoman."  

Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said there will also be sanctions concerning Russia's human rights abuses, within the country, and without. One hopes the sanctions will have an effect.

And yet:  in the United States, the Republican-led House continues to delay--recklessly--sending crucial aid to Ukraine.

Gamesmanship is not leadership. Fealty to Donald Trump--who is besotted with Putin--is not leadership. The stakes, concerning Ukraine, are incalculably high, worldwide, and many in the House GOP don't seem to care.

The world--teetering on its axis, while House Republicans are dormant.  

Putin is strengthened by this; America's moral leadership is deeply diminished.

And, to speak of Mr. Navalny:  he was an immensely brave man. 

The day before his February 16th death, he made a court appearance, video from which has aired on television, and can be seen online.

In the courtroom--or, in the enclosure within the courtroom--he was smiling, laughing, making jokes to the judge.

The judge had imposed "a stream of fines" against Mr. Navalny, an online Russia-oriented independent news site noted (a site blocked in Russia; the publication is now based outside of the country). Mr. Navalny said the following, at the court hearing (I am using the translation not from the above publication, but from the CBS News video, below):

"Your honor, I am waiting.  I will send you my personal account number, so that you can use your huge federal judge's salary to fuel my personal account."  He added: "Because I am running out of money, and thanks to your decisions, it will run out even faster. So send it over." 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUwOYeei5MU

Mr. Navalny's cheerful-appearing demeanor, the day before he died, was, on its own, evidence of his tremendous fortitude, and his heroism.

He had not, his manner proclaimed, been defeated--either from the terrible (and freezing) conditions of the Russian Arctic penal colony to which he had been sent in December, or from the punishing circumstances at the prison where he had been previously held since 2021.  During his imprisonment, he spent hundreds of days in solitary confinement.

Mr. Navalny's death--whether due to the harsh conditions of his incarceration (conditions imposed, certainly, by Vladimir Putin), or because of a Putin-ordered assassination--is a tragedy of great magnitude: for the citizens of Russia, for his many supporters, and, of course, for Mr. Navalny's courageous family. It is also a considerable tragedy for those seeking freedom across the world.

On February 16th, the day his death was reported, Anne Applebaum wrote the following in The Atlantic, online:

The enormous contrast between Navalny’s civic courage and the corruption of Putin’s regime will remain. Putin is fighting a bloody, lawless, unnecessary war, in which hundreds of thousands of ordinary Russians have been killed or wounded, for no reason other than to serve his own egotistical vision. He is running a cowardly, micromanaged reelection campaign, one in which all real opponents are eliminated and the only candidate who gets airtime is himself. Instead of facing real questions or challenges, he meets tame propagandists such as Tucker Carlson, to whom he offers nothing more than lengthy, circular, and completely false versions of history.

Even behind bars Navalny was a real threat to Putin, because he was living proof that courage is possible, that truth exists, that Russia could be a different kind of country. For a dictator who survives thanks to lies and violence, that kind of challenge was intolerable. Now Putin will be forced to fight against Navalny’s memory, and that is a battle he will never win.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/02/navalny-death-russia-prison/677485/?gift=Tcay7nmVziC9n3Jf9QllmzHT97CTYmgyJxhyNuNZ0fM&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

On February 20th, Nadya Tolokonnikova--one of the founders of the Russian music/protest/performance art group Pussy Riot, and who was a friend of Mr. Navalny's--published an op-ed essay in The New York Times.  She wrote the following:

People say Mr. Putin feared Aleksei. But I think the reason he wanted to get rid of Aleksei was another emotion — a darker, more sinister one. It was envy. People loved Aleksei. With his jokes, irony, superhero-like fearlessness and love for life, he led with charisma. People followed Aleksei because he was the kind of person you wanted to be friends with. People follow Mr. Putin because they fear him, but people followed Aleksei because they loved him. Mr. Putin clearly envied this appeal. No amount of money in the world can buy love; no amount of missiles and tanks can conquer people’s hearts.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/20/opinion/navalny-death-putin.html?unlocked_article_code=1.YE0.37GO.CriK-ATjG56m&smid=url-share

Trump, and the 2024 election

It is not only profoundly alarming, the possibility that Trump could be returned to office, in November.

It is also alarming, in the extreme, to think of what he might do--to think of what lengths he might go to--if he loses again.

An extraordinary role in D-Day

On Tuesday, The New York Times published an obituary of Maureen Flavin Sweeney, who died on December 17th at a nursing home in Belmullet, Ireland.  She was 100 years old.

I had not known of Ms. Sweeney, or of the remarkable role she played during World War Two.

In 1942, as the Times reported, she took a job at the post office of Blacksod Point, an Irish coastal village.  Her name, at the time--she was not yet married--was Maureen Flavin.

The Times wrote that the "remote post office also served as a weather station.  Her duties included recording and transmitting weather data.  She did that work diligently, though she did not even know where her weather reports were going.

"In fact," Times reporter Alex Traub noted, "they were part of the Allied war effort."

Then, in June of 1944, days before the D-Day invasion--originally planned for June 5th--her weather data altered history. "On her 21st birthday, June 3, she had a late-night shift: 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. Checking her barometer, she saw that it registered a rapid drop in pressure, indicating a likelihood of approaching rain or stormy weather."

The Times story continued: 

The report went from Dublin to Dunstable, the town that housed England’s meteorological headquarters.

Ms. Flavin then received an unusual series of calls about her work. A woman with an English accent asked her: “Please check. Please repeat!”

Ms. Flavin asked the postmistress’s son and Blacksod’s lighthouse keeper, Ted Sweeney [whom she would marry in 1946], if she was making a mistake.

“We checked and rechecked, and the figures were the same both times, so we were happy enough,” she later told Ireland’s Eye magazine.

The Times wrote:

That same day, [General] Eisenhower and his advisers were meeting at their base in England. James Stagg, a British military meteorologist, reported that, based on Ms. Flavin’s readings, bad weather was expected. He advised Eisenhower to postpone the invasion by a day.

The general agreed. June 5 saw rough seas, high winds and thick cloud cover. 

D-Day took place on June 6th. "Some commentators," Times reporter Traub wrote, "...have argued that the invasion could well have failed if it had occurred [on June 5th].

The obituary notes that Ms. Sweeney only learned of the importance of her weather reporting years later, in 1956.

Here is the link to the June 2nd story about her, from the Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/02/world/europe/maureen-sweeney-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.K00.0hPk.RIrpOUcYte3D&smid=url-share

Sandra Day O'Connor

While having not (admittedly) been a great fan of Ronald Reagan and his presidency, I think Mr. Reagan deserves much credit for having nominated Sandra Day O'Connor--who died on Friday, at 93--to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. 

The legacy of Justice O'Connor--the first woman to serve on the Court--is an honorable and admirable one.

Rosalynn Carter

Tuesday's memorial service for Rosalynn Carter--carried on television--was very moving.

Mrs. Carter was an extraordinary American--and an exceptional citizen of the world. She led a life of great service, and great purpose.

From "The Atlantic"

The following link is to an excellent piece from the website of The Atlantic, by staff writer Tom Nichols, titled "The Juvenile Viciousness of Campus Anti-Semitism." Its subtitle is: "Some of America's students are embracing an ancient evil."

https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/11/campus-anti-semitism-hamas-war/675991/

Mr. Nichols writes, for example, that at George Washington University,

activists projected pro-Hamas slogans on the sides of buildings, including “Free Palestine from the river to the sea,” a call for the eradication of Israel. Spare me the sophistry—most recently plumped by Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan—that “From the river to the sea” is merely an anodyne call for freedom and equal rights, or that it somehow can be detached from Hamas’s genocidal meaning...

Mr. Nichols writes:

Good for Harvard’s president, Claudine Gay, for denouncing this slogan (despite immediate campus backlash for doing so); better late than never. Some protesters insist—and many with undeniable honesty—that they are objecting only to Israeli policy. But even the sincerest among them often resort to the backbreaking mental gymnastics required to dismiss the obvious anti-Semitism that is woven into so many of these protests.

Hamas, on Osama bin Laden

Over the past days, contemplating Hamas's murderous, sadistic, gruesome attacks in Israel, I have thought of the group's reaction, in May of 2011, to the death of the mass murderer Osama bin Laden.

News reports at the time cited Ismail Haniyeh, who today is head of the Hamas Political Bureau; he has held this position since 2017.

One 2011 report said this: 

Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, told reporters that the group regards bin Laden's death "as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood."

Though he noted doctrinal differences between bin Laden's al Qaeda and Hamas, Haniyeh said: "We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior. We ask God to offer him mercy with the true believers and the martyrs." 

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4063407,00.html

Solidarity with Israel

I've long been weary of hearing those who are imbued with a deep (and often obsessive) animus toward Israel--the hatred, for example, from conspiratorial sectors on the right (including neo-Nazis, and their like), and hatred from certain sectors on the left (often today, notably, coming from repugnant anti-Israel student groups on college campuses).  I've been hearing versions of these anti-Israel voices, with profound dismay, for decades.

And so, one must make note of one's support--one's wholehearted support--for the people of Israel, during this terrible and perilous time.

On Saturday, one also must note, President Biden spoke (importantly, forcefully) in support of Israel's right of self-defense--following the thousands of rocket attacks, that day, from Hamas (and, evidently, from Islamic Jihad as well), and following the hundreds of murders (and the kidnappings) committed by Hamas gunmen during the group's invasion.

Mr. Biden said, in part:

Hamas terrorists crossing into Israel killing not only Israeli soldiers, but Israeli civilians in the street, in their homes. Innocent people murdered, wounded, entire families taken hostage by Hamas just days after Israel marked the holiest of days on the Jewish calendar. It’s unconscionable.

You know, when I spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning, I told him the United States stands with the people of Israel in the face of these terrorist assaults. Israel has the right to defend itself and its people. Full stop.

There is never justification for terrorist attacks.

And my administration’s support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering.

The Nobel Prize

I am hopeful that the supremely talented (and extremely courageous) writer Salman Rushdie might be given this year's Nobel Prize in Literature.

The prize will be awarded on Thursday.

"60 Minutes," Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Scott Pelley

On Sunday's premiere of the new season of CBS's 60 Minutes, correspondent Scott Pelley spoke with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.  The interview (or, more precisely, interviews) took place in Ukraine, in advance of Mr. Zelenskyy's visit, this week, to the United States.

Mr. Zelenskyy remains a remarkable world figure.  He is impressively determined, unusually smart, focused, eloquent, human.

Here is the link to the 60 Minutes segment:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/zelenskyy-putin-world-war-iii-ukraine-russia-60-minutes/

Scott Pelley, one notes, is one of the great reporters and interviewers in CBS News's distinguished history. His piece on Sunday about President Zelenskyy was in keeping with his longtime commitment to presenting meaningful, intelligent, superb journalism.

Rosh Hashanah

Happy New Year, and good wishes, to all who are observing the holiday...

September 11th

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Photograph © Jenny Lynn, circa 1978)

Ann Beattie's "Onlookers"

On my list of books to read: novelist and short story writer Ann Beattie's new work, Onlookers.

It is described as being a book of linked short stories, which take place in Charlottesville, VA. The book, published by Scribner, was released on July 18th.

https://www.amazon.com/Onlookers-Stories-Ann-Beattie/dp/1668013657/

As I've mentioned previously, in this space, I lived in Charlottesville--a city for which I continue to feel great affection--from the spring of 1995 until the start of 2001.

June 19, 1865/June 19, 2023

I've begun reading On Juneteenth, a book of essays by the prominent historian Annette Gordon-Reed. The book was published in May of 2021, the month before Juneteenth was designated a federal holiday.

https://www.amazon.com/Juneteenth-Annette-Gordon-Reed/dp/1631498835/

Ms. Gordon-Reed is perhaps best known for her 2008 book, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family. The book received the 2008 National Book Award for Nonfiction, and, in 2009, the Pulitzer Prize for History.

https://www.amazon.com/Hemingses-Monticello-American-Family-ebook/dp/B001FA0ONM/