THE FURTHER CORRESPONDENCES OF MARC SUSSELMAN PART 30
********
22 December 2024
MS said:
The Dylan biopic is rather unique. Few biopics are made while the subject is still alive. Offhand, I can think of only two – both politicians. PT 109, about John F. Kennedy, released in 1963, 5 months before his assassination; and Primary Colors, about Bill Clinton.
Does Dylan’s willingness to oversee and provide advice on the movie detract from his appeal as a counter-culture icon?
********
MS said:
There have been rumors that Elon Musk aspires to be Speaker of the House.
The position of Speaker of the House is established in Article I, Sec. 2 of the Constitution and does not require that the Speaker be an elected member of Congress. Prior to today, no Speaker of the House has not been a member of Congress.
********
23 December 2024
MS said:
"https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/22/politics/joe-manchin-congress-democratic-party/index.html"
We will protect you as long as you do not try to mainstream the extreme, i.e., we will protect you as long as you stay in the shadows, but if you try to come out in the light and live a life like normal people, we will reject and turn on you, because you are not normal. You should be thankful for that.
********
25 December 2024
MS said:
Below is a link to an interview by Terry Gross, of Fresh Air, of Bruce Springsteen, which I heard on Christmas day. It was a fascinating, excellent interview, regarding Bruce’s relationship with his father, his inspiration by Bob Dylan, and how he writes his songs. I recommend it.
"https://www.npr.org/2022/09/05/1120733098/fresh-airs-summer-music-interviews-bruce-springsteen"
********
28 December 2024
MS said:
Magnus Carlsen, the world chess champion, has been kicked out of the world chess tournament for wearing jeans!
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNTD_R8Scbk"
********
29 December 2024
MS said:
The IDF and Shin Bet security service said on Saturday that they arrested over 240 terrorists in the area of the hospital, including 15 Hamas members who participated in the October 7 attack. According to the IDF and Shin Bet, the hospital had become a Hamas operational base, and Israeli forces discovered grenades, pistols, ammunition, and other military equipment there.
Of course we cannot believe them, because, after all, they are only Israeli Jews.
********
30 December 2024
MS said:
From today's NYT:
I don't know a soul who's not been battered I don't have a friend who feels at ease I don't know a dream that's not been shattered Or driven to its knees Oh, but it's all right, it's all right For we've lived so well so long Still, when I think of the road we're traveling on I wonder what's gone wrong I can't help it, I wonder what's gone wrong -Paul Simon, from "An American Tune" Sung for Jimmy Carter at the Kennedy Center after his inauguration Still holds true today.
********
MS said:
Jimmy Carter’s death at the ripe old age of 100
Has awakened in me (not reawakened, because the thoughts are always there, somnolent)
Thoughts about what I have done in my life.
How much can one accomplish in one life, about which one can be proud –
Without a dress rehearsal to practice -
Without coming up short when compared to Jimmy Carter?
********
MS said:
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_3ZWT0zNz4"
Any chance Donald Trump will be this charmingly amusing?
********
2 January 2025
MS said:
An interesting dialogue of Jewish perspectives post October 7:
"https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/podcasts/2024-12-31/ty-article-podcast/what-was-it-like-being-jewish-in-2024-foer-gessen-kushner-and-more/00000194-1d4a-db03-a1f6-1d5b3c760000?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=Content&utm_campaign=daily-brief&utm_content=ea39319fef"
********
7 January 2025
MS said:
In Memoriam (Peter Yarrow, 1938-2025)
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StB_ehpZyN4"
********
8 January 2025
MS said:
A superb tribute to a superb human being, the likes of whom, as Vice President Harris said, is very rare, especially among politicians. In November, the American public elected a man who is the antithesis of everything Jimmy Carter stood for, and is already threatening to tarnish one of President Carter’s greatest achievements – returning the Panama Canal to Panama – as he lies in state. Shame on those who voted for this deplorable President elect, who does not deserve to wipe the shoes of Jimmy Carter.
"https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/07/politics/video/jimmy-carter-eulogy-kamala-harris-sot-digvid"
********
13 January 2025
MS said:
Special Counsel Report Says Trump Would Have Been Convicted in Election Case
This is really going to piss the crook -elect off. I can already hear him howling and screaming in faux indignation.
********
15 January 2025
MS said:
I just checked the comments on Prof. Wolff’s blog. I want to make clear, in case any of you wondered given my sometimes fractious relationship with Prof. Wolff, that I am not the Anonymous who made snide remarks about him or his son Tobias. And I agree they are inappropriate.
********
Michael said:
Me neither. Especially since Professor Wolff
was kind to me at times--and patient--yes, very patient.
And perhaps Professor Wolff was Christian Wolff in another life.
Or maybe, also, a future Christian Wolff indeed.
Saying this because Professor Wolff said he connected
more to the King James Bible than any other religious
writing in his life.
********
17 January 2025
MS said:
Rudolf Höss’s home next to Auschwitz opened to the public.
"https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/16/world/video/the-lead-holocaust-hitler-jewish-history-antisemitism-auschwitz-jake-tapper?dicbo=v2-AGwwtEG&hpt=ob_blogfooterold"
********
MS said:
What does Trump’s election and inauguration say about our society and its future?
To me, it says that the barbarians have won, will always win.
As mathematicians, scientists, philosophers, essayists, poets, composers, toil in their search for the truth and the meaning of life, and seek means to express them, it is the barbarians, ultimately, who hold sway over them, over all of us, and make a mockery of those efforts.
********
18 January 2025
MS said:
"https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/17/business/video/mel-robbins-let-them-success-interview-digvid"
This philosophy is totally antithetical to my attitude. She says that acknowledging that you cannot control others doesn’t mean that you cannot influence them. But just saying, “Let them,” is not doing anything to try to influence them. Letting them fail – e.g., those who voted for Trump thinking he will improve their financial circumstances – does nothing to affect those who are financially comfortable, and who voted for him, and therefore will not suffer from Trump’s economic decisions. Letting them fail is not attempting to influence them. It may relieve your own stress level, but does nothing to improve the world. And it assumes that they will learn from their failure. In Trump's case, they did not learn from what he did from 2016-2020.
That’s my opinion, anyway.
********
19 January 2025
MS said:
My wife and I saw A Complete Unknown yesterday. It was better – much better – than I anticipated, and not your typical Hollywood commercialized biopic. For Dylan aficionados (s. wallerstein), I recommend it. The performances, singing and acting, were superb. Timothy Chalermet as Dylan and Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, were outstanding. You learn about his relationships with Suze Rotolo (named Sylvia Russo in the movie, because Dylan asked that her real name not be used) and Joan Baez. The cinematography of 1960s Greenwich Village was realistic. The outrage over Dylan’s conversion to electric guitar at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival was depicted in convincing detail. Dylan emerges as a creative, but enigmatic, and somewhat narcissistic, genius.
********
20 January 2025
MS said:
Biden in Final Hours Pardons Cheney, Fauci and Milley to Thwart Reprisals
Fantastic!
********
MS said:
"https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/19/us/video/people-march-trump-inauguration-washington-digvid"
A disaster, waiting to happen.
********
MS said:
It is reported that among Il Duce's executive actions to be taken today is renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Does he think that taking this executive action will prevent hurricanes?
********
21 January 2025
MS said:
Excellent commentary by a true person of the cloth.
"https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/21/politics/video/reverend-critic-trump-theology-digvid"
********
MS said:
Trump has issued an Executive Order seeking to overturn the birthright provision of the 14th Amendment, which states that anyone born in the Untied States is automatically a U.S. citizen, even if the parents are not U.S. citizens. This is a prime example of Trump’s utter stupidity, disrespect for the Constitution, and fascistic tendencies – a President may not overturn a provision of the Constitution by simply issuing an edict. Only kings in some monarchies have that power. Trump appears to be confused – the people of the U.S., in their stupidity, elected him President, not king.
********
24 January 2025
MS said;
I could not do what Gavin Newsom did.
"https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/24/politics/video/gavin-newsom-donald-trump-tarmac-digvid"
Especially after this.
"https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/24/politics/video/california-voter-id-disaster-aid-trump-digvid"
********
25 January 2025
MS said:
I am surprised that no one has sought a protective order against Mr. Weberman, or sued him for slander and libel. Bob, Mr. Dylan, if you happen to read this, I am willing to provide you my excellent legal services, for free.
David, can you put in a good word for me with your cousin?
********
27 January 2025
MS said:
Yep, he’s planning on being Emperor for life.
Trump says he's not "100% sure" he can't run again for president
From CNN's Alejandra Jaramillo, Aaron Pellish, Donald Judd and Aditi Sangal
President Donald Trump attends a House Republican members conference meeting in Trump National Doral resort in Miami, Florida, on January 27.
President Donald Trump attends a House Republican members conference meeting in Trump National Doral resort in Miami, Florida, on Monday.
Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
President Donald Trump said he wasn’t “100% sure” that he cannot run for a third term as president.
“I’ve raised a lot of money for the next race, that I assume I can’t use for myself, but I’m not 100% sure,” Trump said Monday at the House Republican Members Conference dinner in Doral, Florida.
He added a moment of lighthearted uncertainty, asking Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, “I’m not sure, am I allowed to run again, Mike? I better not get you involved in that.”
This is not the first time Trump has hinted at the possibility of seeking three terms in office. In an appearance last Sunday in Las Vegas, Nevada, he remarked, “It will be the greatest honor of my life to serve not once, but twice or three times,” further stoking speculation about his future political plans.
Some context: Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee has spoken about amending the US Constitution to permit Trump to run for a third term. But it’s difficult to amend the Constitution, which hasn’t been changed since the 27th Amendment was ratified in 1992. Formally proposing an amendment requires either a two-thirds vote in the House of Representatives and Senate — Republicans do not hold enough seats to pass it — or via a constitutional convention, which hasn’t been held since the 18th century. Then, to ratify a new amendment, three-fourths of state legislatures (so 38 states) would need to approve it.
********
28 January 2025
MS said:
"https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/28/entertainment/video/selena-gomez-deportations-crying-video-digvid"
No buyer’s remorse? Wait till the price of eggs doesn’t come down, the price of merchandise made in China sky rockets, and he starts arresting protesters using the military.
********
Michael said:
If President Trump wants to become First King of the USA, he has an entire four years to do so. The first year he can relax. Catering to his conservative constituents and allies and moving the chess pieces around is all I've seen so far. It's all I believe he wants to do for the moment. It will only be after the first year of his second term (next year) that he might start really tightening his grip if he wants to be a monarch before his second term is up. Why? Because he'll be running out of time after the first year is over.
********
MS said:
Free lunches for school children be damned! Let them eat cake!
********
MS said:
Query: Did his father’s assassination warp the psyche of Robert Kennedy, Jr., or did his father’s absence, leaving their mother to raise 9 (?) children deprive him of the discipline he needed? It is somewhat paradoxical that a man as devoted to humanitarian causes, and sympathetic to the predicament of minorities, could have raised such a selfish and self-centered human being. Here, the acorn fell far from the tree.
********
Michael said:
I actually like Robert Kennedy Jr. He defended himself quite valiantly before Congress: proving a lot of his quoted words were taken quite out of context. He did make good points. Doctors have lots & lots of training for their medical fields. But you can still find chinks in the armor of modern medical science. RK Jr has proven that. Probably wishful thinking, but I want to live on a Star Trek world. But in the medical science impact on Earth, we're all still living in the backwards Dark Ages.
********
30 January 2025
MS said:
92 years ago today, Hitler took power. This historian wants us to see the lessons we’ve ignored from his rise.
"https://forward.com/news/639516/in-new-book-historian-describes-the-lessons-learned-and-ignored-from-hitlers-rise/?utm_source=The+Forward+Association&utm_campaign=81ad402b12-AfternoonEditionNL_%2A%7CDATE%3AYmd%7C%2A_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-878b15fee9-288548637"
********
31 January 2025
MS said:
Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God –
I urge you to listen to the sermon delivered by Rabbi Morris Panitz this past Saturday, January 25, and to share it with others.
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUVlLAQlNGY"
********
MS said:
Breaking news: F.B.I. agents involved in Trump-related inquiries will be scrutinized,
Reminiscent of the “Night of Long Knives,” June 30, 1934, when Hitler purged the SA leadership of political opponents.
********
1 February 2025
MS said:
In memory of Marianne Faithfull (29 December 1946 – 30 January 2025)
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp19hLAuOVE"
Could this be the theme of Americans leaving the U.S. before it all goes to hell?
********
4 February 2025
MS said:
"https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/04/politics/video/elon-musk-doge-young-engineers-ebof-digvid"
Talk about a “deep state.” It would be laughable if it were not so serious.
********
MS said:
The Republicans’ understanding of the Advise and Consent role stated in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution puts the emphasis on consent, and de-emphasizes the role of advising.
********
MS said:
This is becoming a constitutional crisis of major proportions. What do we do when the person who has been elected President of the United States is willing to turn over Executive power to an individual who has not been elected by the people, who has not been nominated to a cabinet position, and who is not subject to Congressional overview? The only constitutional procedure to deal with such a President would be impeachment. But the Republicans control Congress, and Trump controls the Republicans. He believes that being born in the United States does not give you an automatic right to United States citizenship. An individual born in South Africa is entitled not only to citizenship, but to control of the government.
********
MS said:
Someone approached me about filing a lawsuit against Trump in federal court, charging him with violating the Constitution. I told the individual that it cannot be done – no one in this country has “standing” to file such a lawsuit. It would be immediately dismissed.
Liz Cheney warned that Trump could never be trusted with power again. Not enough people listened to her.
********
MS said:
Live Updates: Trump Proposes the U.S. Take Over Gaza
First we took the land away from the Native Americans, and now we are going to take Gaza away from the Palestinians. After that, we are going to seize Canada and Greenland, and maybe Mexico. And Manifest Destiny will reach its full fruition.
********
MS said:
"https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/04/world/video/trump-gaza-strip-us-vpx"
“You have to learn from history.” This Bozo knows nothing about history, and Americans who voted for him know nothing about history. If the U.S. attempts to invade Gaza, it will set off a war in the Middle East, uniting all the Arab nations, and Iran, against the U.S. and Israel, and bring death and destruction of untold magnitude. And the fact that Netanyahu would endorse this imperialism, as much as I support Israel, is a disgrace. He is the worst Prime Minister that Israel has ever had. American Jews, of all denominations, of good character and religious devotion, should vigorously and loudly denounce this outrageous expression of tyrannical hegemony. It will be a smear on the history of Israel forever.
I must say, s. wallerstein was, unfortunately, correct.
********
MS said:
"https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/04/politics/video/trump-taking-over-gaza-strip-trump-netanyahu-zakaria-src-digvid"
No, I suspect the Palestinians are not going to want to leave. There is nothing in Trump’s Master of the Deal playbook that is going to make this happen. It will be a disastrous and deadly fiasco.
********
6 February 2025
MS said:
Trump signs executive orders targeting ICC and ‘anti-Christian bias’
Yes, there is massive anti-Christian bias in our country. They are under siege. This bias must be rooted out and extinguished, if our democracy is to be preserved.
Next, he will issue an Executive Order to root out anti-White bias throughout the United States, which is destroying the lives of White people.
********
7 February 2025
MS said:
Constitutional crisis?
In the United States, Congress, the president and the courts are supposed to keep an eye on one another — to stop any one branch of government from becoming too powerful. President Trump is showing us what happens when those checks and balances break down.
The president can’t shut down agencies that Congress has funded, yet that’s what Trump did, with Elon Musk’s help, to the U.S. Agency for International Development. The president can’t fire inspectors general without giving lawmakers 30 days’ notice, but Trump dismissed 17 of them anyway. Congress passed a law forcing TikTok to sell or close, and the courts upheld it, but Trump declined to enforce it. “The president is openly violating the law and Constitution on a daily basis,” said Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Dartmouth College.
In doing so, Trump has called the bluff of our constitutional system: It works best when each branch does its job with alacrity. Trump’s opponents are filing lawsuits, but courts are slow and deliberative. They can’t keep up with the changes the White House has already implemented. Congress could fight back, but the Republican lawmakers in charge have shrugged, as my colleague Carl Hulse reported. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina conceded that what the administration is doing “runs afoul of the Constitution in the strictest sense.” But, he said, “nobody should bellyache about that.”
As a result, most of Trump’s actions stand unchecked. Today’s newsletter looks at why — and where things could go next.
What went wrong
The framers wanted to avoid crowning another king. They believed that no one person could truly represent the whole country. (Consider that Trump won less than half of the vote.) So they dispersed power among the three branches. The president is just one person, Yuval Levin, a conservative analyst, told The Times. In a vast country, representation “has to be done by a plural institution like Congress.”
But polarization has made it harder for Congress to play that role. For much of American history, the two parties were made up of broad coalitions of voters. Seventy years ago, liberals, minority groups and racial segregationists were all part of the Democratic Party. A president could not always rely on members of his party to let him do what he wanted, because they were genuinely divided. When George W. Bush won re-election in 2004, for instance, he wanted to privatize Social Security. His own party helped quash the plan.
Today, the two parties are more homogeneous. The Republican Party has adopted Trump’s views — against foreign interventions, “wokeism” and immigration. And the G.O.P. controls all three branches of government. So the conflict that’s supposed to drive interactions among the branches is muted; Congress, and potentially the courts, are less likely to rein in the president. Now he can impose drastic changes even without a majority’s mandate.
How this ends
This is about the separation of powers, not a specific policy. Maybe you think that TikTok should remain online or that the U.S.A.I.D. shutdown makes sense because the government should spend more on Americans and less on foreign aid. But other government branches’ lack of pushback sets a precedent that Trump can act like a king.
Maybe next time he’d undo the Education Department, vaccine programs or food stamps. Or his administration could repurpose federal funds to imprison unauthorized migrants in detention camps. It could, in a far-fetched scenario, take possession of the Gaza Strip. Normally, these are policies on which Congress must get a say.
Nyhan’s research team has surveyed political scientists at American universities about how worried they are right now. During most of Trump’s first term, the respondents’ opinions about the health of our democracy were largely stable. But their confidence has plunged since Trump’s second inauguration.
********
MS said:
Out of curiosity, I just checked the comments on The Philosopher’s Stone.
They are atrocious.
And I want to reiterate, I AM NOT “ANONYMOUS.”
********
MS said:
I sent the below email to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office today.
Prime Minister Netanyahu,
SHUT THE #### UP! You do not speak for the Jewish people; you do not speak for me, a proud Jew and proud supporter of Israel, an Israel that respects Torah; and you do not speak for hundreds of thousands of American Jews who observe Torah, and who despise you. You are the worst Prime Minister that Israel has ever had. You are largely responsible for the Hamas terrorist attack which occurred on October 7, 2023, by your incompetence and egotism. All you care about is protecting your political position – you do not care about Israelis; you do not care about Jewish values; and you most certainly do not care about Torah. Watching you kow-tow to Trump, a fascist, and to Speaker Johnson makes me sick! Your endorsement of the ethnic cleansing of Gaza is a vile repudiation of everything Torah stands for! So, just shut up!!!
Marc Susselman
Attorney at Law and a proud Jew
********
The End.