Your thoughts and prayers stink with the blood of innocents

I went down to the Detroit Film Theater this afternoon for the first of two movies. They are finishing up an Akira Kurosawa series, showing eight of the director’s 30 feature length films, newly restored. I intend to see another tomorrow. Today’s film was Sanjuro, filmed in 1962 and starring Toshiro Mifune, one of Kurosawa’s favorite actors. Nine young samurai of a clan have gathered in a room because the clan’s superintendent has done something to the chamberlain (I didn’t figure all that out). This is some sort of corruption, which is not good for the samurai image. One of the nine is the chamberlain’s nephew, so there is a family tie involved too. In comes Mifune’s character to join the group. He quickly shows he’s quite a fighter (of opponents, not the group), earning their respect. He then shows he is much better at anticipating the opponents and prevents these young men from doing stupid things. When not actually in battle he has a lazy, carefree way about him, not at all concerned about how a samurai is supposed to act. Of course, there are lots of complications along the way. At one point they rescue a mother and daughter. The mother admonishes Mifune to be less violent, to kill fewer people, preferably none. They also rescue a servant of the opposing side. They stuff him in a closet. Every so often he emerges to say something, then decides he had better get back in the closet. So a bit of humor, some violence, and a lot of intrigue. An enjoyable afternoon. I’m way behind in my reading. On Monday Lisa Needham of Daily Kos reported the nasty guy and his Attorney General Pam Bondi have issued an executive order that bans burning the American flag without violating the 1989 Supreme Court decision that said flag burning is protected as free speech. At least that’s what they claim. They say if flag burning discriminates against or violates the rights of a citizen they will be prosecuted. But free speech never violates another’s rights (though slander and libel do). So how this will get around free speech rights is a mystery. Except that none of the Supreme Court members who decided that 1989 case are around anymore. Even if the Supremes strike it down, it does serve as red meat to the base. And accusing immigrants as the ones doing the flag burnings just adds a bit of juice to the meat. A week ago Needham reported that a district judge ordered that Alligator Alcatraz (more accurately called Alligator Auschwitz) must no longer receive new detainees and be closed and dismantled within 60 days. The reason was it was constructed so quickly the required environmental study was not done. We’ll take any reason we can get. Oliver Willis of Kos writes a column titled Explaining the Right. Two weeks ago the topic was Why conservatives think American cities are hellscapes. Quotes from his answer:

The conservative movement loves to connect fear of crime to rhetoric about racial minorities. It preys on deep-seated bigotry and motivates conservative voters to get out and vote, all as a way to stop the “other” from gaining control and allowing the spread of crime. ... By invoking crime, particularly at a moment of political vulnerability, he understands that he is activating long-simmering conservative resentments. By raising the idea of a crime wave occurring in cities with large Black populations, the tensions raised within the MAGA movement about Epstein can be eased, at least temporarily. ... Right-wing lawmakers and media have sold conservative voters on a false narrative for so long that those voters truly believe Trump and his cohorts are fighting crime—even as they continue to cover up for an accused sex trafficker and pedophile.

Alix Breeden of Kos gives and update on the continuing saga of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. He was the guy mistakenly sent to the notorious El Salvador prison and the nasty guy claimed he was unable to undo the deportation. Abrego Garcia is back in America. He was detained (I don’t remember the details), released, had three days with his family before being detained again. The administration is annoyed he won’t plead guilty to their fake charges of human trafficking and is threatening to send him to Uganda (which would send him to El Salvador). Abrego Garcia’s legal team is trying to stop deportation and get his case before a court. I am behind in reading the top level articles on Kos, but I’m up to date in reading the pundit roundups. The roundup for today, assembled by Greg Dworkin, included a couple responses to a tweet by The Bulwark:

Vance on undermining the Federal Reserve: "I don't think we allow  bureaucrats to make decisions about monetary policy and interest rates without any input from the people that were elected to serve the American people...POTUS is much better able to make these determinations."

Justin Wolfers responded:

They're now saying it out loud: The Administration's goal is to undo the political independence that Congress granted the Fed, so that the President can directly set rates.

Jessica Riedl also responded:

Political Economy 101: Putting politicians directly in charge of monetary policy would be a pandering, inflationary disaster - as nearly every developed nation long ago learned, often painfully.

In the comments Jesse Duquette posted a cartoon showing 98% of mass shooters are straight men and MAGA snores. 57% are straight white men and MAGA snores. 0.13% of mass shooters are trans and MAGA screams “They’re evil! Put ‘em in camps!” Muriel Vieux posted a poem she first posted January 22, 2023 and, alas, has plenty of reason to post again. The poem is titled “Thoughts and Prayers.” I’ll repeat just a couple of the six verses.

Keep your thoughts away from us They stink with the blood of innocents Keep your prayers in your coffers No God wants to honor them What thoughts are you sending anyways? The ones twisted by your greed and indecency? Is there a return address attached? So we can send them back to you?

David Roberts tweeted a link to an article in Psypost. The article’s title and part of its description:

Trump supporters report higher levels of psychopathy, manipulativeness, callousness, and narcissism. Support for Donald Trump is linked to darker personality traits, including psychopathy and decreased empathy, new research finds.

A comment by wmpmacm (no source for his statistics are given):

Homeschooling is on the rise precisely because of the fear people have of the gun violence in this country. So if you want to know who is really afraid of being shot, look no further than the Conservative Christian Gun Owners who know very well who gets killed — their kids in school. This is why they hide their kids behind closed doors. Religion has absolutely nothing to do with it!

Bill in Portland, Maine, in his Cheers and Jeers column for Kos included a video as his sanity break. It is less than three minutes and shows some of the things Darth Vader has to put up with on a daily basis such as: Being asked about his weekend plans. Recognizing that the Force can’t help with a slow elevator. I saw sheet music for a song from the musical Godspell that I didn’t recognize, the song Beautiful City. That prompted me to look it up online and listen. I see it wasn’t in the original stage production, but new for the movie. That prompted me to listen to all of the songs. I chose a recording from the 2000 Off-Broadway revival, which I didn’t know had happened. There are, of course, many differences with the CD I have of the original production and, of course, a different cast. Godspell came out when in was in high school. It was a big deal at the time. I saw a live production when it came to town. It has had a special place in my life.