Last night’s opera, “Doctor Atomic,” was about the making and the first testing of the atomic bomb. You may say, “Well that sounds like a weird choice of subject,” and I won’t disagree. But it works. And it even manages to show respect to the indigenous Americans in and around the area of Los Alamos. The character of Pasqualita, the Oppenheimers’ housekeeper and nanny, is given an absolutely gorgeous aria representing Native American prayer and respect for the land. Meredith Arwady, a true contralto (they are not all that common), made her Met debut in this role in this production. Though serious, the opera is not without humor. For one thing, Edward Teller is present as quite irreverent (probably accurately), and for another, the character of General Groves is given lines from the actual general’s journal expressing his discomfort with the weight control program he was involuntarily placed on. And, of course, just about everyone’s favoriet line – “With respect, sir, anyone with two good eyes could havefound Los Alamos just by following the trail of beer cans from Santa Fe.”
Cartoon
Short Takes –
Crooks and Liars – Fox News Host Celebrates FL Building Collapse As ‘Shining Moment’ For DeSantis
Quote – “Another thing I gathered from watching these press conferences is the leadership of Ron DeSantis,” she said. “We’ve seen him be a leader so many times, time and time again. This is also another shining moment for him. And I can’t sing his praises high enough.”
Click through if you can stand to. I haven’t addressed this in part because structural engineers were discouraging speculation about the cause(s). But this is so Republican!
Raw Story – Right Wing Watch reinstated after YouTube experiences massive backlash – Well, this came rapidly.
Quote – “We are glad that by reinstating our account, YouTube recognizes our position that there is a world of difference between reporting on offensive activities and committing them,” said PFAW in a statement on their website.
Click through for more.I am saving both links (YouTubr and Vimeo) – for now, the newest ones are on Vimeo only.
PolitiZoom – WATCH: MAGAs Left Trump’s Ohio Rally In Droves Because He Wasn’t ‘Radical’ Enough For Them
Quote – This could be some kind of a turning point, the MAGAs deciding that Trump just isn’t crazy enough for them anymore. Trump’s going to have to go waterskiing and jump a shark, literally. The phrase, “jumping the shark” “is an idiom used to describe the moment of a misguided attempt at generating new publicity for something once, but no longer, widely popular; the attempt serves instead to highlight the irrelevance of what it intends to promote,” according to Wikipedia.
Click through for more (and I also have a pdf – PolitiZoom doesn’t seem to like all browsers, so if you can’t get through, let me know and I’ll send it). Maybe we were wrong to snicker; maybe we should have panicked (or at least gone into alert.) Because if he isn’t radical enough for them, there are others who are.
Food for Thought
9 Responses to “Open Thread for June 30, 2021”
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Tomi Lahren is sick. And it was Rethuglicans pushing deregulation that led to shoddy construction in South Florida that, at the minimum, contributed to the condo’s collapse.
And yet DeSantis is STILL pushing for more deregulation.
https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/article252418058.html
https://financialpost.com/diane-francis/diane-francis-the-florida-condo-collapse-and-the-perils-of-too-lax-regulation
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/06/28/pers-j28.html
Not surprising to see all the Trumpkins leaving early. Donnie has nothing new to say – and he doesn’t even say his old whines well at all.
Plus good to hear his July 4th “rally” was cancelled!
Cartoon: Frightening times!
C&L: Good Lord. What in the same hill? ugh!
PolitiZoom: Was great watching the folks leaving the rally in droves.
Yes, I saw that his rally for the 4th was cancelled. YAY!!
Glad that you are enjoying your opera, Joanne. Thanks for post too.
*This just in: “We need a full accounting of the Trump DOJ’s abuse of power targeting Congress and the press. An IG investigation is just the start. The full range of the misconduct must be examined, including Barr’s efforts to protect those who lied to cover up, and go after Trump’s enemies.” ~ Adam Schiff ~ 2. ‘GOP, Fox News Can‘t Make 1/6 Investigation Go Away — Dems Will ‘Move Forward‘ ~ Maxine Waters ~
3. “Despite this remarkable progress, LGBTQ Americans still face barriers and bigotry in communities around the country. @House Democrats are committed to enacting the Equality Act to finally secure vital protections against discrimination for our LGBTQ friends, family and neighbors.” ~ Nancy Pelosi ~
4. “”The president shouldn’t be limited by Republicans, particularly when we have a House majority, we have 50 Democratic senators, and we have the White House. And I believe that we can make sure he’s successful in executing a strong agenda for working families.” ~ Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ~
5. “TOT wanted to have a rally on the 4th in Alabama. Park Commissioners in Mobile, Alabama have nixed a planned Trump rally on July 4th weekend over concerns it would be a partisan political event, rather than a patriotic event. ~ Reid Wilson ~
5.1 “Plus he has trouble paying his rally bills anyway!” ~ M. Sanders ~
TJI #1 – Beau actually missed part of the point on this – he thought the outrage was over Trump** having targeted Congress (as if Congresscritters were above the law.) That wasn’t it at all. The outrage was that he targeted his personal political enemies for no reason other that that they opposed him. But the conclusion to be drawn – that, if this was legal, then the bar ti protect citizens fro surveillance is too low – that is absolutely right on the money.
TJI #2 – You go, Auntie Maxine !!
TJI #3 – I could write a long screed addressed to Christians who think that the Bible condemns any sexual activity and any sexual orientation except cis (and some of that too.) But I won’t do it here.
TJI #4 – So true.
TJI #5 – I love the way they cite “concerns” when what they mean is he would absolutely turn any event into a political circus. Of course, I guesss they can’t really say that out loud in the South. (5.1 Also that he’s a deadbeat.)
TI #1, #2, #3 & #4 – We Democrats are so fortunate to have a stable full of competent, caring and responsible representatives.
In all honesty, I’d be happy if the Rethuglicans also had a few – it would help in governing. But sadly, they don’t!
TJI #1: Get on with it.
TJI #4: Gee, Alabama had concerns Trump’s rally would be a partisan political event. Wherever did they get that idea?
TJI #5: I’m sure this was Alabama’s true reason for cancelling.
The opera sounds quite interesting.
‘Toon: Had TOT been able to steal his 2nd election, we’d have had our very own version of this already.
C&L: She/they pull garbage out of a huge cess pool of idiocy.
RS: Quite a relief!
PolitiZoom will not let my browser in, however, my impression from yesterday’s reports was that they left because he was just reiterating the same old same old; they’ve heard that song too many times, already.
FFT: I disagree with the last two of those characterizations, but the final two points are accurate.
TJI#1: Schiff knows what the story is.
TJI#2: Maxine rocks!
TJI#3: Pelosi gets that.
TJI#4: AOC also rocks!
TJI#5: Screw him!
TJI5.1: “Trouble?” “…he has trouble paying his rally bills anyway?” No, he has no trouble, it’s the people to whom he owes money who have the trouble! He has, I suspect, fun.
Thanks for your review of “Doctor Atomic,” Joanne. I think one of the reasons why I never got into Opera is because I can’t follow the storyline. After all, I can’t understand what they are singing. It doesn’t bother me for one “song”, hence my appreciation of Callas’ “greatest hits”, but it gets to me after a while even if I’m familiar with the plot.
Cartoon: I’m sure the GQP have studied the script extensively.
C&L: 🤮🤮🤮 Everything is a photo-op for Republicans, even 151 people buried under a pile of rubble.
RS: Insight led YouTube to reinstate Right Wing Watch’s account? Nah. Backlash did.
PZ: There are a number of Senators and Representatives in Congress doing some preliminary stretches at the sidelines to warm up. Even before their warm-up, they were radical enough for the Maga crowd.
FFT: As a European-grown leftie, I couldn’t agree more. Real lefties would be at Washington’s gates with pitchforks and torches by now.
You’ve put your finger, I think, on why these days every opera house, and almost every broadcast, has titles. There are not a whole lot of operas I don’t need them for myself. La Boheme and Tosca, maybe. And those plots were specifically chosen by the composer (Puccini) for their transparency through the action.