Patron of The Arts

This one sort of flew under the radar, but I found it one of the more bizarre episodes of late: trump becoming a patron of the arts.

What is The Kennedy Center, and why has trump decided it was important for him to fire the current President, to replace half of the Board of Trustees and install himself as Chair? I guess being POTUS, in between his golf games, wasn't enough for him to do.

It was established by an act of Congress to create a non-partisan National Cultural Center in Washington D.C. during the Eisenhower administration and later renamed in honour of President Kennedy. According to the Center's website it is "...the nation’s cultural center, and a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, we are a leader for the arts across America and around the world, reaching and connecting with artists, inspiring and educating communities. We welcome all to create, experience, learn about, and engage with the arts." 

The 2025 season, as of mid-February, will or has included Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, jazz pianist Kenny Barron, soprano Renée Fleming, bestselling author David Sedaris, comedian Sarah Silverman, and touring productions of “Parade” and “Les Misérables.” In other words, the center has showcased the very best and most popular cultural performers and productions. You may have watched the 'Kennedy Center Honours' broadcast on television, featuring the most renowned and respected entertainers and artists of our time. Ann and Nancy Wilson's performance of Stairway to Heaven when the surviving members of Led Zeppelin were honoured at the Kennedy Center, comes to mind.  

Apparently trump isn't so sure. In a social media post he said that the Kennedy Center would no longer be "going woke". He wrote, "NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA." His caps, of course.

Then trump admitted to never having attended a performance at the Kennedy Center. In fact, he is constrained from serving on any nonprofit board in the state of New York after admitting to the misuse of charitable funds by the now-dissolved Donald J. Trump Foundation.

I was reminded of Hitler's fondness for the operas of Wagner. I was reminded of the Nazi campaign against 'degenerate' (ie. Jewish) art.

'nough said.

The Gaza 'Proposal'

The front page of CNN's website headlines "Trump Made No Attempt To Soften Gaza Proposal in Meeting With King Abdullah."   

As it happens I've been working on a proposal this week. My proposal is a real estate leasing proposal. It's 10 pages long. Includes floor plans and financial amounts. It includes a timeline for delivery. It includes photos, and background material about the organization I represent. It's a serious document that describes the potential for a mutually beneficial commercial deal over a defined period of time, between the company I represent, namely the Landlord, and the company being represented by an accredited real estate agency, namely the Tenant. This is what I call a 'proposal'. 

Donald trump saying he is going to 'take' Gaza, not 'buy' it, and turn it into the Riviera of the Middle East by displacing the almost 2 million Palestinians who call Gaza home, is in no way 'a proposal'.

Actually it's an insult. A slap in the face. And King Abdullah of Jordan winced a couple of times as he sat quietly beside trump listening to him 'riff' on his 'idea' for peace in the Middle East, which would require Jordan giving some Palestinians 'a parcel of land' to settle. Shame on CNN for calling it a proposal. And shame on anyone who could think that what trump is saying is anything less than evil. I don't use that word a lot, if ever, evil. But that's actually what trump is saying. It's evil. Whether he is talking about 'taking' the land that belongs to other people, and moving the people who live there out, or bulldozing 'the strip' for a big beautiful real estate project, as he has repeated half a dozen times over the last few weeks. Using real estate development language does not cover the fact that his 'idea' is pure evil. And shame on every so-called news outlet for not calling it out for what it actually is. They are collaborating in this evil by using words like 'proposal'. Shame. King Abdullah had to be polite because he was constrained by the fact that he had to pay deferrence to his host. But you could see that if he could he would have vomitted into trump's lap.    

Almost as bad, but not quite, is Thomas Friedman and Dan Senor. I've complained about Dan Senor in a recent post. Friedman, at least called trump's idea out for what it is, not serious. He said trump was just 'riffing'. Friedman clearly doesn't understand that trump is absolutely deadly serious. If it seemed like a 'riff' it's because that's as much as trump can understand about foreign policy, very little. Then Friedman said that trump's instincts that there had to be 'new thinking' to find a solution for the Palestinians is correct. Trump's instincts have nothing to do with finding solutions for the Palestinians. They have to do with sowing chaos and making money. What Friedman should have said is that trump's idea is pure evil. Period. And left it there. Senor and his guests were worse than Friedman. Granted they are Israelis and so they are always trying to promote Israel's best interest. Getting rid of the Palestinians completely would be a dream. How that could happen, well, who knows? They admit that's a problem. But again, they say trump's 'proposal' is laudable for 'shaking the coconut tree' (similar to Friedman's sentiment). No, there is nothing laudable about it and it's not about 'shaking' any tree. It's destructive and evil. That should have been the response. Shame. Has everyone lost their minds?

One thing I am sure trump intended to do with his 'proposal' is to throw Bibi a political lifeline. It was clear during their press conference together last week that Netanyahu couldn't be more thrilled with what he was hearing. This week he is telling his army to prepare roads for massive numbers of Palestinians to leave Gaza voluntarily - not really sure where they are going - and to resume full scale war when trump's deadline for all the hostages to be released passes on Saturday. Before this Bibi's government was on the verge of collapse when some of his coalition partners bolted because they objected to the ceasefire deal. Now Bibi gets a chance to bring them back into the fold with the resumption of the war, which is what he really wants. 

We all want Israelis to live in peace. Those of us who have vigorously supported Israel's defensive war in the last year have argued, in the face of widespread protest and withering criticism, that it was morally justified and the critics were misguided. The real damage of trump's 'proposal' is that he does indeed change the conversation, and otherwise rational well-meaning people wishing for a positive outcome are suddenly willing to entertain absolutist morally repugnant notions. The worst part is that they don't realize what is happening to them. For perhaps the first time I think I understand how evil operates. 

Land Of Likes And Lies

CLICK HERE TO HEAR THE SONG

This land of likes and lies,

Where all you are are eyes.

No need for compromise,

Cause no one thinks and no one dies.

Sign a contract that you don’t read,

To give away your privacy.

Cause it only exists digitally,

In a world that’s meant to please. 

This land of likes and lies,

Where all you are are eyes,

No need for compromise,

Cause no one thinks and no one dies.

Soon you're addicted,

Ego drugged and unconflicted,

‘Bout a life that you’ve depicted.

Unmoved by what you’ve inflicted.

Digital storage forgets a lot,

Hearts can summon what we forgot,

We’ve lost our minds and we've lost the plot,

The AI is us, we’re the robot. 

In the land of likes and lies,

Where all you are are I's,

No need for compromise,

Cause no one thinks that no one dies.

On the Precipice

Elon and his geeky fanboys raiding the computer systems of the Treasury Department with the blessing of trump and his ass-kissing executive toadies. Payments to whole agencies being stopped, employees being 'offered a buyout' or be fired in 30 days. The US government is being hollowed out in the name of efficiency and cost-cutting. We all think government is bloated and inefficient, so that makes some sense. But is that what's actually going on? If it was being done in good faith, wouldn't there be audits to identify and strategically target inefficiencies? Where is the report and the transparency? Why the wrecking ball and the secrecy? Why flout the law? Actually, hollowing out the government, and replacing employees with a cadre of loyalists in the name of 'efficiency' and rooting out 'corruption' comes directly from the dictator's handbook, page one. They are already telling lies about 'the corruption' they've been finding. It's ominous.          

It got me asking: How close is America to a full-blown dictatorship. The answer may be, much closer than you think.  

Well-known lawyer George Conway is despondent. He says, legally-speaking, we're on the precipice of the end of federal rule of law. Here's the scenario he paints. Trump orders a lackey to do something illegal, take your pick. It goes to court. They lose in court and the judge orders them to stop what they are doing.  Trump says, I don't care, and orders them to continue. The judge finds contempt of court and orders the US Marshall to arrest the offender. The US Marshall is an agency of the federal Department of Justice, under AG Pam Bondi, who takes her orders from, you guessed it, trump. All it takes is for Bondi to order the federal Marshall to stand down, for the entire system of rule of law to collapse. Without enforcement of the law, there is, maybe not total anarchy, maybe selective enforcement, it comes to the same thing. That's the very definition of dictatorship. Law used by the powerful selectively, to promote their political and financial interests and against their opponents. Think Russia under Putin. There are currently a dozen or more legal challenges making their way through the court system as trump and his co-president Elon take a wrecking ball to federal agencies. It only takes one to show how far trump is willing to go to demonstrate that dictatorship has effectively arrived. Once the precedent is set, it will snowball. Oh, and even if the order could be traced back to trump, according to the Supreme Court he is immune for 'official acts' like a discussion with his AG. And his loyal lackeys will do anything he asks, because he will promise them pardons. He's already shown how willing he is to use that power for his loyal supporters, like the Jan. 6 rioters. He holds in his hand the ultimate unchallengeable 'get out of jail card'.   

Is there an answer? Impeachment and removal from office? Won't happen, as we know. 

Conway ends by saying that playing the scenarios through to their logical conclusion the only way he can see this end is, as all dictatorships end, with violence in the streets.   

Trump Derangement

I guess it's fitting that my last post was a song called "Bill of Goods" (emotional 'goods' in that case) on the weekend that trump signed his unjustified, illegal and punitive tariffs on Canadian exports to the US. I didn't watch the political talking heads trying to make sense of it this weekend. But I did have the misfortune of listening to Dan Senor's interview with someone named Walter Russell Mead on his podcast Call Me Back. Senor's podcast is my go-to source for a coherent perspective on Israeli current events. It has gotten me through this past year. I usually really enjoy his guests, especially Haviv Rettig Gur, journalist Eyal Nadav, Yossi Klein Halevi and recently the brilliant Tal Becker. But lately, especially when he talks about US foreign policy, his right-wing slip begins to show underneath his fair-minded skirt. Senor is a Republican who served in the highly successful (sarcasm) GW Bush administration. So this past week he had on this Mead fellow, and the moment the guest mentioned 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' I knew it was going to be a rough ride. The episode was generously entitled 'Decoding Trump's Foreign Policy' and Mead essentially proceeded to make the argument that trump is playing some sort of sophisticated 3D chess. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, and had to look this guy up because he seemed so out to lunch. I was shocked to read his long list of credentials and publications, which included publishing articles in Foreign Policy. He sounded like a partisan, not an academic. I guess it could be expected that Senor was deferrential to his guest, but he failed to challenge even the most blatant and obviously flimsy points Mead was making. 

Admittedly, I'm feeling particularly sensitive this weekend because the madness of the orange king is now directed at my country. But it seems obvious to even the most casual observer that trump derangement, is not a syndrome of his 'haters', it's a mental illness emanating from the man himself. If there is any decoding needed, it's a basic ASCII (read: DSM - The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) of psychotic, malignant narcissism, as follows:

Code 1: He is only capable of thinking about his personal needs and caring about himself.

Code 2: He needs constant attention and will say anything and do anyting to get it and keep it.

Code 3: Only appearances matter, and the most important thing to him is to appear 'strong' (because he knows deep inside that he is intellectually and emotionally extremely weak.) Everything he says and does is meant to promote and burnish that appearance.   

Trump is a deeply damaged individual, who attracts emotionally damaged supporters and promoters. He understands foreign policy about as much as an impetuous 5 year old with a constant need for validation and attention can understand foreign policy. Anyone who believes otherwise understands little, or is engaged in wishful thinking. That's what I would call 'trump derangement'.  

__________________________________

After last night's press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu a post script is required. Derangement is an understatement. Incredibly, surpassing for irresponsibility, trump's suggestion that 'injecting disinfectant' might be helpful against covid, and reminiscent of trump standing next to a smiling Vladimir Putin as the US president took the side of the Russian dictator over his own intelligence agencies. It was a breathtaking public moment tonight, with Netanyahu barely containing his glee, as trump announced US intention to clean-out (ie. displace the 1.8 million Palestinians) and 'own' and redevelop Gaza. He said he has been thinking about it for a long time and has had extensive discussions 'and everyone he spoke to thinks it's a great idea' to turn Gaza in the Riviera of the Middle-East. Of course this morning the media is bamboozled, many talking like trump may be playing 3D chess. More likely this is a distraction from Elon Musk dismantling the US government to turn it into trump's fiefdom. I guess that's diabolical in its own way. Two weeks into this regime and trump has threatened the sovereignty of Denmark, Canada and Panama, launched a trade war with Mexico, China and Canada, handed the keys to the US Treasury to Elon Musk, and now set the entire Middle-East on fire with talk of an invasion and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Madness.

Bill of Goods

CLICK HERE TO HEAR THE SONG

You move me, you groove me, 

Then you disapprove me.

You bait me, you hate me,

Then you castigate me.

You judge me, begrudge me,

You try but you can't budge me.

You choose me, abuse me,

You know you're gonna lose me.

It's a bill of goods you're selling,

Comes with every thought of 'should',

I should have done better, 

I should have done more, 

I should have tried harder, 

I should have kept score.

It's a bill of goods your selling,

Rotten to the core,

This bill of goods you're selling,

Why can't I ignore?

There are truths we can't admit, 

And the mirror sometimes lies.

It's easier to be dishonest 

About things you can't deny.  

You tell me that you love me,

You tell me that you care.

I wish I could believe you,

You know that I won't dare.

It's a bill of goods you're selling,

Comes with every thought of 'should',

I should have been better, 

I should have done more, 

I should have tried harder, 

I should have been keeping score.

It's a bill of goods your selling,

Rotten to the core,

This bill of goods you're selling.

Why can't I ignore?

You move me, you groove me, 

Then you disapprove me.

You bait me, you hate me,

Then you castigate  me.

You judge me, begrudge me,

You try but you can't budge me.

You choose me, abuse me,

You know you're gonna lose me.

You're gonna lose me.

You're gonna lose me.

You're gonna lose me.

"Not a Deal"

"Not a Deal" 

That's what the Lubavitch kid who comes to my office every Friday to try to convince me to put on tefillin said. 

He's been trying to get me to put on tefillin for weeks. His original pitch was that I should do a mitzvah to help the soldiers win the war in Israel. I said, really? How is my putting on tefillin gonna help win the war in Israel. He said, every mitzvah helps. I said, if you believe that, then you must believe that God cares about me doing a mitzvah and that He can intervene in what's going on. Then you must also believe that on some level God allowed October 7th to happen in the first place. And somehow there's a connection for God between doing mitvahs or not doing mitzvahs and allowing terrible things to happen. The kid agreed. I said, well I don't believe that me putting on tefillin is going to help win the war. Because if I believed that, I'd have to also believe that God is cruel enough to let young, innocent people die and be taken hostage, because we didn't do enough mitzvahs. If there's a God, I can't believe He'd be that petty. So I don't want to insult His intelligence by putting on tefillin and thinking he'd respond by making Israel win the war.

But that was a few weeks ago. This is a new week.           

"Not a deal." 

"What's not a deal," I asked.

"100 criminals and murderers released for one Israeli hostage, that's not a deal."

"Really," I said. "What's a better deal."

"One for one."

"So you think that one murderer has the same value as one innocent victim?" I asked. "I don't. I would trade 1000 criminals for 1 hostage. Because to me that's the value. 1000 to 1. Do you know what gives life value?"

He waited for my answer.

"Can't be faith in God. I mean, the terrorists have plenty of that, or so they claim. It's the law that gives life value. When a person follows the law, it means they are taking responsibility for others. The terrorists are lawless. That's why they will even kill their own women and children. To them, there are no laws, or rather they are the law, and so human life has no value. But surely you understand this. It's what Judaism is all about. Learning and following the laws of Torah. But it also applies to citizens following the laws of a country. The laws make us responsible for one another. Gaza is lawless, so human life has zero value. The hostages are citizens of Israel. They have so much value that the government and all the citizens of Israel are willing to do anything to get them back, even if it means sacrificing their own sons and daughters in battle. With responsibility comes value." 

"But what if the terrorists being released kill more people. It happened before."

"Yes, it's possible." I said. "But it's not inevitable. We let our guard down before. Our leaders failed. If we don't hold the leaders we chose accountable for the mistakes they made, then we are more responsible for letting it happen again."

"Making a deal, shows what you value," I told the kid. "They value their murderers and criminals. We value our fathers, mothers, daughters and sons."  

"Kol Yisrael arevim zeh la-zeh," he said.

Lesson learned.