The Most Important Article

 ...of the month, maybe of the year.

The highlighted article shown below is very nearly the most useful article I have read in many a moon.  You will find in it an extremely valuable unraveling of the many strands of the web of deceit which ensnares us now. 

There is here not only good information about Stone, Trump, and Russia, but a placing of the relative importance of each person and subject.  This is an invaluable contribution to our knowledge and understanding.   

There is no need for me to comment much further, except to say, Be prepared for surprises in this great piece (not long) by world-famous journalist, Greg Palast, whose name has been mentioned with increasing frequency here on this blog.

 
Greg Palast Sorts Through the Many Strands of Our Political Dilemma

Time Out for Musical Inspiration

Fine men's ensemble and choir.  Innovative arrangement.  Superior, professional video production.
 

The Stone Indictment: Beginning to Hold the Media Accountable

Via Democratic Campaign Watch --

There is another lesson to be learned from today's arrest of political operative and thug, Roger Stone, other than all the others the media will put forward.  And that is that the media itself is culpable for the kind of campaign America endured in 2016, which was surely the ugliest, weirdest, and nastiest in memory.  Never before had the person installed in the Oval Office lost the popular vote by such a wide margin.   Never before had the winning candidate been accused of such a panoply of misdeeds, both amorous, financial, and otherwise.  And -- conservative estimates place the value of media "straight" news coverage of Trump at over $1 billion.  The Salon  article whose link is on Democratic Campaign Watch now heralds a new era in constructive media criticism.


https://democampaignwatch.blogspot.com/

Nope

Special Prosecutors: Their Power and Limitations

The web site Salon.com is featuring an interview with a book author who has written the history of special prosecutors in the U.S.  I am currently reviewing the article and the interview transcript.




What is clear so far is that prosecutors act as important catalysts for decisions.  But without public pressure, Presidents have a tendency to remain in office no matter the results of special prosecutors' investigations.

This is a warning to those who believe the Mueller investigation will surely lead directly to the ousting of the President.  On the positive side, the current investigation of Our Military Leader is a crucially important one, both for what it says about the strength of our democracy as well as the impact it can have on events. 

Read the article here:
Special Prosecutors: Their Power and Limitations

The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, 2018 Trailer

More to the point, the White House was stolen for Trump as Koch Brothers, and Republican operatives worked behind the scenes to expunge voter rolls. 

"We are not amused."

This quote, attributed to Queen Victoria, is exigently applicable to the feelings of many Americans today regarding our current monarchical Executive.  Many in the press and media, and certainly in entertainment, have found much material for merriment both for themselves and for others.

But increasingly in the press, there is no more amusement.  Recent editorials in The New York Times and The Washington Post attest to this welcome literary transformation. 

Now comes The New Yorker with a feature story on the man who transformed Our Military Leader (OML) from a D-list celebrity into a President, or so the article claims.  (I am still reading it at this hour, you see.) 

This article reminds me of the landmark book by Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death.  In this great 1985 non-fiction work, Postman lays out the dangers of a too-shallow television culture which was leading America into a zombie-like state of pixilation and stupor. 

Now, however -- and after all this time -- Americans seem to be waking up once again to reality, and none too soon.  The vexations are trumping humor.  Fear is triumphing over comedy.  No, we are not amused.  But we aren't stupid either.  And tolerance for inanity has its limits after all.