Aftershock

Is civilization suffering from PTSD? When you get into an accident you go into shock which is also the way the body protects itself. But what about the body politic? Is it numbed or prone to violent outbursts as a way of dealing with violence? It is a popularly held misconception that people become inured to their own suffering. Actually, every action produces another wish or hope and opposite reaction according to Newton's Third Law. Aftershock is what you have when an earthquake hits. Apres coup is the psychoanalytic term.

read "An Incident of Defenestration" by Francis Levy, Vol. 1 Brooklyn

Collective Thwarting

Hassan Nasrallah

Russia is thwarting Ukraine under the guise of restoring what was theirs. It's the old Imperial Russia impulse going back to Peter the Great, an impulse known as irredentism. Iran is Russia's proxy along with Syria which is a fellow traveller. Iran is also the proxy of China and North Korea. The impulse, in the case of Iran and its proxies Hezbollah and Hamas is millenarian and hence cloudier with the ultimate result perhaps either oblivion or armageddon (and a life after death)--take your pick. 

read "Francis Levy's Divine Comedy," Exquisite Corpse

Midnight Train to Georgia

When you study montage there is always the scene of the train coming and the maiden on the tracks--which is sexist btw. Why not make it a man? Then there is Philippa Foot's "trolley problem." Should the engineer veer off one way to kill one soul and avoid the crowd? Plainly there are two trains bearing down now, one in Ukraine, the other Israel. The election train has yet to leave the station. If Trump loses he is likely to be a train wreck--if Jack Smith has his say. "Midnight Train to Georgia" is a famous Gladys Knight song. Georgia is also a train wreck. You have Jeff Duncan, the former lieutenant governor, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia election commission who is doing everything in its power to create chaos, and then the governor, Jack Kemp. Quantum entanglement is a better description of these goings on.

read an "Incident of Defenestration" by Francis Levy, Vol. 1 Brooklyn

and listen "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight and the Pips

Mayor Adams

Someone with the strongly held beliefs Joe Biden has would not weaponize the Justice Department. That is what Donald Trump tried unsuccessfully to get his then attorney general William Barr to do. CBS political correspondent Marcia Kramer's attempt to draw a line between the present federal indictment against Adams and the mayor's anger at White House migrant policies is far flung. Kramer alluded to Adams' attendance at a White House migrant conference last November (which he purportedly left against the background of early revelations of wrongdoing by fundraiser Brianna Suggs) and his current troubles. Isn't this actually not a salient point? Isn't this what the current election is all about? Or should we take the stated and strongly held conviction of the current Justice Department chief Merrick Garland to be disingenuous?

read "Pet Buddha" by Francis Levy, Vol. 1 Brooklyn

Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers (1970)

The Rohingyas in Myanmar, the Uyghurs in China and the women of Afghanistan constitute some of the most oppressed minorities in the world. Unspeakable accounts of atrocity have emerged from the civil war in Darfur where both starvation and mass rape have become sickening almost routine factors of life. Where is the humanity? In the comfort of Western households with well stocked cupboards, outrage is disingenuous and easy to muster. Then back to the argument about where to go to dinner if which top university will send the letter your child's  been waiting for. "Decolonization" has been become a chic byword of educated speech, but there's a dissonance between theory and practice. Should one give back the lands under which wealthy metropolises have produced so-called civilization? "Radical chic" was the term Tom Wolfe used to describe Leonard Bernstein lionizing the Black Panthers. Abhorrence is a sport amongst elites who secretly gloat that the savagery is far away (like the gladiatorial sports of ancient Rome) not happening  to them as they succor their Lafites.

read "An Incident of Defenestration" by Francis Levy, Vol. 1 Brooklyn

Profiles in Courage

JFK wrote Profiles in Courage. What better soubriquet for Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. Michelle Obama famously said, "When they go low, we go high." Many people think Biden stepped away because he was incapacitated--pure and simple. So what! It's still a hard thing to do. No more poignant counter example than Ruth Bader Ginsberg who didn't rise to the occasion. Fareed Zakaria had Hillary Clinton on GPS last Sunday. She revealed herself to be a profound thinker about campus unrest, the Middle East and a host of other issues. However, she's also a woman of courage as it relates to her own marriage. Cynics will cry that she couldn't leave it, if she wanted to make her mark. Yet it's plain. She Ioves her husband, despite all that's transpired. "Heart" is a word applied to prize fighters, but it's something that characterizes these two figures. It's nice to know there'a still someone adults can look up to.

read "Removing Your Unconscious" by Francis Levy, The East Hampton Star

Mistah Shawn--He Dead!

photo: Janet Malcolm

Mistah Shawn, he dead. The old New Yorker offices on 43rd street are another country. Brendan Gill famously wrote Here At The New Yorker and there were Tina Brown, Bob Gottlieb and most famously William Shawn at the helm. Mystique is probably not an adequate word. For good or bad the current editor a man of multifarious talents and seemingly unfathomable energy, is an all hands on deck down to earth editor who himself has covered Russia and written portraits of pop icons like Paul McCartney (he's a lover of rock). He recently published a piece about Yahyah Sinwar and Hamas. Is Max Weber's concept of "disenchantment" a way to describe the evolution of the magazine? You can't produce a character like Shawn without a premises  inhabited by a tribe like the one that originally constituted the nearby Algonquin round table. The prestigious Century association, home to the city cultural elite, was right down the street. Shawn had a long affair with the legendary Lillian Ross. Good for him but he was no good-ole-boy. Harold Brodkey, V.S. Naipaul the Johns Updike and Cheever were all legends at this sometimes alcoholic clubhouse. Then there was Genet in Paris--definitely  not a John or Jean, but Janet Flanner, not a flaneur! Pauline Kael was the magazine's controversial film critic who compared Last Tango in Paris to Le Sacre du Printemps. John McPhee and Robert Caro are just two of the legion of non-fiction writers, including Janet Malcolm. She wrote about psychoanalysis and psychoanalyzed journalism.The famous fiction editor Roger Angell was New Yorker aristocracy being the son of the magazine's first fiction editor Katherine Angell and step son of the famed E.B. White.

read "Frankel" by Francis Levy, Vol. 1 Brooklyn

The Triumph of Death

"The Triumph of Death" by Brueghel the Elder

Death gets things done is the message of Dostoevsky's Grand Inquisitor. The great poem lies at  the heart ofThe Brothers Karamazov. Trump will star in the first episode of the series "The Triumph of Death," based on the Brueghel painting when he visits Springfield next week--to rally crowds against all the "legal" Haitian immigrants who are eating pets. Whether it's 5:38 or Quinnipiac, all the polls indicate the election will be very close. Even if Kamala Harris wins, there are the raging maggots aka MAGAs. If nothing else the seeming infallibility of terrorist organizations like ISIS has demonstrated you can't kill an ideology. Hamas has nine lives. Will Trump accept defeat? It's lucky Biden will be in office in the event Kamala Harris confirms her positive election results at president of the senate. At least this time, the National Guard will be in attendance. In American Dharma Steve Bannon exhibited his erudition by quoting Milton's famous, "better to reign in hell than serve in heaven." He could have taken the words right out of the current Grand Inquisitor's mouth.

read "Francis Levy's Divine Comedy," Exquisite Corpse

Mens Rea

Gwendolen Harleth at Roulette Table

Spoiler alert.The scene in George Eliot's Daniel Deronda where Gwendolen Harleth seeks absolution should be required reading for law school students--addressing, as it does, the concept of mens rea. In the novel, George Eliot hones in on a moment. In a boating accident Gwendolen hesitates before throwing a rope to her hated husband, the pompous and imperious Henleigh Mallinger Grandcourt. Deronda offers that Grandcourt was past saving. However, intention is the subject at hand. What was Gwendolen's state of mind? She will never be able to relieve her guilty conscience, but is she guilty of malice of forethought?

read "Frankel" by Francis Levy, Vol. 1 Brooklyn

and listen to "Mustang Sally" by Wilson Pickett 

The Free World

Louis Menand's The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War is a glossary of human existence for those who care about things like Clement Greenberg and the advent of abstract expressionism, Lionel Trilling's relationship to Allen Ginsburg and Ginsberg's relationship to Rimbaud and the provenance of Trilling's essay, Sincerity and Authenticity. Caveat emptor if you are not interested in how the value of criticism lies in the creation of sensibility or how one's appreciation and discrimination, one's taste, ultimately both determines and reflects how one feels about life (a la Trilling's The Liberal Imagination). Bonus non-sequitur.The pain of life does not necessarily make for greatness. For instance alcoholic  writers like James Agee become great despite the drinking. One can't but wonder what path(s) they might have taken or heights ascended were they to have given up the bottle.

read An Incident of Defenestration by Francis Levy, Vol. 1 Brooklyn

Relationships

Many people stay married when the relationship is fraught. The reward is longevity--a form of aging that produces notable even profound vintages of human beings. Nuns are married to Christ. "Marriage de convenance" is French for the kind of utilitarianism in which love plays a small part. Fungibility characterizes these transactions where even an itinerant or pro forma kiss might be monetized. You read about bad and abusive relationships all the time and wonder why people stay together when one or both are so unhappy.

read "Francis Levy Divine Comedy," Exquisite Corpse

Selma

 Edmund Pettus Bridge

Do people name their daughters Selma anymore? Do you know any Selmas born after April 30,1975, the day the US embassy was evacuated in Saigon? Names like Jan, Alexis, Aubrey, Avery and Billie are given to both men and women. Collies, Beagles and Cocker Spaniels can be Linda, Larry Maurice, Fred and Don, but have you ever heard of a German Shepherd or St. Bernard named Selma? Selma was usually the name of your mother's friend. It was that or Muriel. Doris Kearns Goodwin is a famous historian but did any Selmas write about the Roosevelts? Can you imagine Selma Kearnes Goodwin, Selma Day O'Connor or Selma Obama? Selma can be the name of a town. Take Selma, Alabama.

read "Frankel" by Francis Levy, Vol 1 Brooklyn

and listen to "Barbara" by The Temptations

Schenck v. US

Mario Savio, Sproul Hall (1966)

Get the fuck out of there is what you're going to do when someone cries "fire" in a crowded theater. That's the reason Oliver Wendell Holmes delivered the famous Schenck decision, cautioning on the limits of free speech. It's a free country. The Bill of Rights allows for the single individual to stand fast against the will of the many. The problem comes  when one deals with limits. Danger to life is an obvious parameter but whaf if there really is a fire? People are likely to be killed not only because of the  smoke and flames, but the stampede which results when the alarm goes off. 

read "Frankel" by Francis Levy, Vol 1 Brooklyn

and listen to "Boogaloo Down Broadway" by Johnny C

Schopenhauer

What do you want? Classically the question arises in developmental stages where love and work are concerned. "Plastics" was the iconic quote from The Graduate. Plastic is a word for a substance as well as emotion or personality. Everyone graduates though not every graduate has the good fortune of being seduced by Anne Bancroft. In another way of thinking the end of study itself is biological. Esse est percipi. You only stop when you can no longer be perceived. Thus eschatologically one can never know until one takes a last breath. Desire is the arbiter until the story is over. Die Welt aus Wille und Vorstellung is Schopenhauer's great tome. Steven Greenblatt's Will in the World, may refer to both the Shakespearian and Shavian "life force."

read "Francis Levy's Divine Comedy," Exquisite Corpse

and listen to "Duke of Earl by Gene Chandler

Phillippe Petit

Phillippe Petit, Allentown, 1974

Free solo is one of the most dangerous sports. Ultra marathons, UFC fights which allow kicks to the legs and choke holds. Diana Nyad braving shark infested waters in 90 mile swims to Cuba and Phillipe Petit scaling skyscrapers or tightrope walling between them and the crew of the dirigible who perished on the way ti the wreckage of the Titanic, the astronauts who never seem to be returning (like the riders in Boston's MTA in the famous folk song), film director Ian Cameron's explorations of The Mariana Trench and the riders of the Tour de France braving ever more difficult courses at record breaking speeds,  Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Judge--does the thrill derive from knowing you can't compete with these daredevils or is it vicarious? Does it lie in imagining what it would be like if you could?

read "Frankel" by Francis Levy, Vol. 1 Brooklyn

and listen to "Make America Great Again" by Pussy Riot 

Harris v Trump Heavyweight Title Fight

Joe Lous v Max Schmeling (1938)

A jab in boxing is both a defensive and offensive move. It keeps your opponent off while inflicting damage on them at the same time. Lennox Lewis won fights with his lethal jab. Tonight's debate is the equivalent of a heavyweight fight, even though the two contenders are not in the same weight class (Harris being the heavy and Trump super light, verging on laughable). Harris needs to put Trump on the defensive by constantly making him pay every time he comes close. When she sees him start to weaken and try to throw a wild punch out of frustration, let her feint, duck and unleash a combo--in this case a mixture of attacks on his inanity, lying and general moral turpitude while showing forth the power and legitimacy of her agenda.

read "Frankel" by Francis Levy, Vol. 1 Brooklyn

and listen to "Make America Great Again" by Pussy Riot 

Fear

Fear can lead to championships. Adrenalin fuels the competitive instinct (in that case it's not clear what comes first the cart or the horse, but most likely the cart since it's apprehension that produces the chemical reaction). Interestingly priapism which creates necrotic tissue is treated with Adrenalin. You don't find too many sprinters running the hundred yard dash with a tent in their crotch.

read "Frankel" by Francis Levy, Vol. 1 Brooklyn

and listen to "Make America Great Again" by Pussy Riot 

The Power Clean and Jerk

Dead lifts, power cleans and jerks, in which you pick up the bar then flip your wrists, and lift up the weight, squats and naturally bench presses are four competitive weightlifting categories. George Foreman heaved cars up a hill as part of his training regimen. He lost one of his last fights to a youngster named Shannon Briggs. When a sportscaster asked what went wrong he simply promoted his grill. He was a real "heavyweight" a brooding malcontent turned into a statesman by the beating he took from Mohammed Ali at the "Rumble in the Jungle." At 96, Jack LaLane was still exercising every day. Hearns v. Hagler, Ward v. Gatti--now it's Trump v. Harris. Will it be a standing KO?

read "Frankel" by Francis Levy, Volume 1, Brooklyn

and listen to "Hooked on a Feeling" by B.J. Thomas (1968)

Stupidest Candidate Trump

 

Lawrence O'Donnell has previously used the soubriquet "stupidest candidate Trump." Commenting on Trump's appearance before the Economic Club of New York Thursday, he remarked New York's "stupidest rich people" clapped after Trump said "childcare is childcare." He also made the point that while the country's economy was suffering, these captains of industry continued to make money from money. Calling someone stupid is usually considered to be a low blow that reflects badly on the speaker, but Lawrence O'Donnell is very smart. Equivocating about evil is what is stupid. Moreover it perpetuates suffering. 

Les Mots

Oceans of words are weaponized against sometimes invisible enemies. You know the conversations that go on in your head with this or that hardened criminal guilty of no ore than the drumbeat of human difference--which is btw truly a misdemeanor. The contrived  enemies are shell companies. You don't even qualify as an account receivable. Then there are the agitators with their bullhorns. The tides of language are monetized by acts that will have to be paid for--in full. Water over the dam is the only way to treat fhe extensions of desire or denial that soon find their way into the immortality of oblivion.

read "Frankel" by Francis Levy, Vol 1 Brooklyn

and listen to "Boogaloo Down Broadway" by Fantastic Johnny C

Procrustean Don

Sassy the Sasquatch  (Bloody Boppa)

OK there's "Crooked Joe," "Comrade Kamala" and "Lyin' Hillary." What about "Procrustean Don?" "Procrustean" is the best adjective to use for Trump. "A rolling stone gathers no moss" is a fitting way to describe his ideology. Think of Gulliver among the Lilliputians. His 2025 agenda is Big Foot. Everyone criticizes the former president for lying but when you're good at something  (say the destruction of democracies), shouldn't there be a reward? "Gaslighting" is a noun which also epitomizes his method. If you arrest an insurrectionist or prevent the state of Louisiana from putting the Ten Commandments in classrooms, you are encroaching on freedom. If you don't allow government to enforce Dobbs, you are depriving right to lifers their freedom. Trump believes six weeks is too short, but he has to vote against Florida's abortion rights amendment since it might allow abortions as late as 9 months. If you recall murder of the first born sons of the Egyptians was one of the ten plagues--and a form of euthanasia. You marvel at the illogic the way you become entranced by someone who's capable of spinning a tall tale.

read "Francis Levy's Divine Comedy," Exquisite Corpse

and listen to "Duke of Earl by Gene Chandler

101 Dalmations

Fantasy is the most cogent argument for determinism. You don't choose the couplings in your head. They come to you first hesitantly and then in more full-blown form, a display of imagery fit for a king or despot depending on the fantasy. Of course, there's the free will crowd who discountenance the effect libertinage has on others. The fact is, everything manifests for a reason and has consequences that are determined by the effect these behaviors have on others. Fantasy itself is naturally a complex issue that can be deconstructed.The beautiful princess in the tower classically dreams of being rescued by her knight in shining armor but her more repressed wish may be to be rescued by a damsel or lady boy or simply be hung out to dry. Not everyone is going to be excited by the same scenario. While it's easy to blame the ferocity of images that tarnish imaginative freedom, it's important to realize that people ultimately only see and hear what they want.

read "Removing Your Unconscious" by Francis Levy, The East Hampton Star

and listen to "Bernadette" by The Four Tops

Dialectical Materialism

Karl Marx (1875)

Not to condone anything, but there is something wrong in the USA just as there was in Germany attendant upon the rise of Hitler. It's easy to blame MAGA Republicanism. Yet that's only a symptom of something else--is it inflation, jobs or the border? Everything is ultimately a symptom of everything else. For instance joblessness leads to tariffs which upends the balance of trade. The balance of trade is exacerbated by the plethora of unskilled workers in countries like China. There is no denying a phenomenon. You can't kill an idea as is the case with radical movements like ISIS and Hamas. Is this an argument for a tragic view of existence? Maybe rather a philosophic one. Neoliberalism may prevail in the current election simply because the threat Trump poses to Constitutionalism is so great. However, there is a historical process going on. Dialectical materialism produced Communism. What is the synthesis that will result from opposing historical forces in today's world?

read "Francis Levy's Divine Comedy," Exquisite Corpse

and listen to "Duke of Earl by Gene Chandler

The Outcry (1957)

Les quatre cent coups (1959)Tirez Sur le Pianiste 1960), Jules et Jim (1962) seem like yesterday as does the famous first line of L'etranger and Before the Revolution (1964) (with its less famous depiction of social class in the seating of the Parma opera house) The Conformist (1970), Last Tango (1972), which Pauline Kael compared favorably to Le Sacre de Printemps and lesser known classics like Antonioni's Il Grido, The Outcry (1957) which takes place in the Po Valley Bellocchio's Devil in the Flesh (1986) which starred the Dutch actress Marushka Detmar's whose "natural" style both of acting and body hair were originally displayed in Godard's First Name: Carmen (1983).The famous Bergman trilogy about the absence of God Through a Glass Darkly (1961),Winter Light (1963) and The Silence (1963) are yesterday as is Superfly (1972) recently revived at Film Forum, with the signature Curtis Mayfield sound track. Don't forget the Una Vita Difficile (1961) whose title is that of a novel its leading character, the tragic-comic figure played by Italy's Chaplin, Alberto Sordi, writes. Sordi also memorably starred in Lattuada's Mafioso (1962). These all also are yesterday for alumni of The New Yorker and The Thalia along with those currently enrolled at Film Forum. Remember "Death Knocks,"Woody Allen's New Yorker parody of The Seventh Seal (1957)?

read "Removing Your Unconscious" by Francis Levy, The East Hampton Star

and listen to "Bird on the Wire" by Leonard Cohen