Oscars As A Microcosm

I used to get all worked up just waiting for Oscar night. The folks used to let me stay up real late to watch them. I'd ooh and ahh at the gowns and the tuxedos, I'd listen closely to the speeches to see who they thanked...or missed. I'd applaud and boo accordingly as the statues were handed out. And I was watching the night everything changed...when Brando didn't show up and sent Sacheen Littlefeather to decline his Best Actor Oscar. We didn't know it at the time, but Sacheen Littlefeather was really Maria Louise Cruz of Salinas, California, and she had fabricated her Native American ancestry....according to her sisters. But that really didn't matter. Her performance opened the door to political commentary on the Oscar stage. 

Since then, lots of causes have made their way to Oscar. Some righteous, some dubious, some outright confusing. In an industry that has welcomed diversity with arms wide open, many members of Academy, red hand pins proudly on their lapels, have chosen to demonize a small group of indigenous people fighting for their right to live in peace on their land. A group that welcomes all communities to join in being part of a democratic nation. Members of the Academy refuse to work with members of this tiny group because they would rather support terrorism and the murder of civilians in their homes, on buses, in restaurants, or just on the streets while demanding those people have no right to defend themselves, their family, their nation. Which is odd because their military reflects the multicultural complexion of the country. Much the way once upon a time We, the People thought our country should. 

But in all the sanctimonious righteousness on that stage last night, not a word was mentioned about Iran, the people of Iran, or, for that matter, the debacle that is the war. Why was that? Are they all afraid of President Felon's reach? Did the desecration of The Kennedy Center cause them to pants poop? The closest anyone came to recognizing our supreme leader's stranglehold of American arts and culture was Jimmy Kimmel when he presented Oscars for best documentaries. In his intro, he said:

When he prepared to read the names of the nominees for feature film documentary, he quipped: 

Oh man, is he gonna be mad his wife wasn’t nominated for this.

Full disclosure: when MELANIA became available on Prime Video, I girded up my loins to watch it. It took me 3 days to get through the whole thing. Once, I fell asleep because I was so bored. Twice, I just had to stop it. The only word that even comes close to describing the ordeal is VAPID.

Seriously. if I had to hear her say how she was laser focused  one more time, I was ready to throw something at the TV. Her Be Best bullshit is just that. Bullshit. The woman has no clue about anyone other than protecting herself. And to her credit, she might actually be protecting her own life from that degenerating monster she's married to. 

Once upon a time, I had great sympathy for Melania. Back in January, 2017, I wrote a whole blog about her, calling her a hostage:

Mellie is a hostage. She may have been complicit in her own hijacking, but she's clearly having buyer's remorse.  As caring, compassionate women, we cannot allow Donny to use Mellie as his whipping post. We are joining together to fight for access to health care, access to education, access to loving, let us not abandon Mellie Trump. Let us shout encouragement to her wherever she is. Let us stand beside and behind her...and let her know we have her back. 

Let her be our symbol for freedom. Here are the new rules:

• No picking on Mellie. She has  enough on her plate just trying to maintain her composure. 
• No picking on her kid, Barron. Bullying, cyber or otherwise. is evil. 
• No matter what she says, remember she is being manipulated. 

Donny practices on Mellie, therefore Mellie is the stand-in for us. But she is also in the room. When she feels  safe,  Mellie can be an ally. Let's give her that chance.

My heart goes out to Melania Trump. She has to see him naked with that dangling Tootsie Roll he believes is Excalibur. She gets to smell his morning breath. She has to actually talk to him. She doesn't have to be our hero, she is not. She doesn't have to be our object of derision, she should not. But she is, indeed, our metaphor.

After watching MELANIA, I'm positive she is a metaphor. I'm torn between thinking she really is his hostage, or than she has finally consumed the Kool-Aid. Only Jeffrey Epstein knows for sure. 

But why am I writing about this when I really want to be writing about Iran, Russian, and the incipient fall of world order? 

Truth is, I'm getting a bit screechy and tired of playing Cassandra. I keep harping on follow the money and this week, it's been like watching a Bill and Jeff Keane FAMILY CIRCUS cartoon. The path is so twisty-turny that you are left unsatisfied at the end. And every time you think you have some of it worked out so it makes sense, President Felon throws a monkey wrench at you. 

I think (for a change) Heath Cox Richardson gives the base argument to us in a very tidy little nutshell:

Despite reports that Russia is providing Iran with intelligence that permits it to target U.S. forces in the Middle East, late last night the Trump administration lifted sanctions on shipments of Russian oil until April 11, permitting it to be sold to buyers around the world for the next month. The U.S., along with the rest of the Group of Seven (G7) nations with advanced economies, has maintained sanctions against Russia since it invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has been eager to get those sanctions dropped because oil sales will help the flailing Russian economy. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the move is necessary to help ease oil prices, which are skyrocketing because Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the attack by the U.S. and Israel. But German chancellor Friedrich Merz said the heads of the G7 had urged Trump not to ease the sanctions, saying “[t]here is currently a price problem, but not a supply problem.” He added that he “would like to know what additional motives led the US government to make this decision.”

After Trump lifted sanctions on Russian oil that was already in ships, Democrats cried foul. At a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting yesterday, Senator Angus King (I-ME) said: “There is a clear winner in this war. The clear winner is Vladimir Putin and Russia. Estimates released a few hours ago are that Russia has reaped $6 billion of benefit from this war since it began just two weeks ago. That’s about $400 million a day from the increase in oil prices and the easing of sanctions, which is somewhat puzzling to me…. I just think the record should show that the real winner so far is Vladimir Putin to the tune of $6 billion in two weeks.”

Meanwhile, Kim Barker of the New York Times reports that, at the request of the United States, Ukraine has sent interceptor drones and a team of drone experts to Jordan to protect U.S. military bases there. “We reacted immediately,” Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky told Barker. “I said, yes, of course, we will send our experts.” In a phone call to the Brian Kilmeade Show on Fox Radio this morning, President Donald J. Trump denied that Ukraine was helping the U.S. with drone defense, saying “we don’t need their help…. We know more about drones than anybody. We have the best drones in the world, actually.”

That sorta says it all. Why are we enriching Putin? Oh, I don't know. Maybe because President Felon views Putin as a brother dictator? That in reality, he's a role model? That maybe he's hoping Putin will divide up with world with him? 

Here's something worth noting: since Cox-Richardson wrote that, President Felon has repeatedly claimed the war is won. But is it? It's certainly not over.

I have this handy, dandy app on my phone called Tzfor. This app alerts me every time missiles are launched at the cities I've selected, followed by shelter warnings. It goes off all the time. It wakes me several times during the night. Why don't I shut it off? Because it tells me when my friends are running heading into the shelter. See this picture? It's a screenshot from my phone. Every one of those red droplets represents a place where a missile has headed over the course of 24 hours. Most are from Iran, but a lot comes from Hezbollah in Lebanon as well. Iron Dome knocks most of them out, but there are still hits. 

But maybe what you don't understand is that it's not just in "war" those red dots appear. It's been steady for the last 70+ years. It fucking never stops. Iran has funded Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and others in an attempt to remove an indigenous people from their land, a place where they have been speaking the indigenous language continually for 3000 years, practicing the same religion for 3000+ years, living and working and farming as a single cultural identity. Sure, we are a rainbow of colors because that's the way genetics work, but we are one people: the indigenous people that area now known as Israel. 

So Javier Bardem can just go fuck himself when he cries "FREE PALESTINE" at the Oscars because he knows exactly nothing about what Palestine is, what Israel is, and why we are not moving one fucking inch away from our country. I would suggest he'd have better luck shouting Gora Euskal Herria askatuta! Free the Basque Country! because gee, isn't that what Spain is doing to them? Doesn't he have some meeting to go to or a worthy opinion about that?

I would strongly suggest that if he wants nothing to do with Israel and supporters of OUR right to live in OUR own homeland, he should just get the hell outta the film industry because there is not one aspect of that industry that has not benefited from Jewish creativity, drive, and technology. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

There is a huge push in Congress to pass the SAVE Act. If you haven't read it, follow the link and read the bill. It kinda sounds harmless, but it is not. It is open disenfranchisement of the less affluent and rural residents of this country. It will prevent voting, not save it. It takes the power of electoral governance away from the states and hands it over to the federal government, something the framers of the Constitution specifically did not want...and for good reason. IF the SAVE Act passes, it will alter the very structure of our elections. And to that end, if it passes, I doubt there will be midterms. 

There. I said it. You have me on record. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

In case you didn't hear, we had a blizzard on Sunday.

Yes, a real, honest-to-goodness blizzard. 

There is only one cure for that:

Yes, there was Spotted Cow involved.

I Guess Is Not An Answer

Anna Moneymaker / Getty 

When I was a young whippersnapper protesting the Vietnam War, I went head-to-head with my dad about it. We disagreed on almost everything except that people die in war and that regardless, our troops deserve our respect. Over the years, I have watched many interactions between a sitting president and the military. I have watched many dignified transfers on television. I even saw one taking place at JFK from my window seat on the plane at the next gate. What struck me was when the captain came on the speaker to direct our attention to the event, everyone who could, stood up and all conversation stopped. We watched, some with salutes, me with my hand over my heart, as the casket came down the conveyor and the waiting soldiers stepped in to carry the flag draped casket to a van. As the van pulled away, the soldiers walked in formation behind it. When we were seated, the woman beside me leaned over and quietly explained that it was probably a combat death (this was during the first Iraq War) and was a transfer to another flight. I asked her how she knew. She just shook her head and said, "Former military." 

What struck me about the actions on the tarmac was how everything around the area stopped and all eyes were on the casket. The silence in my own plane was punctuated with sighs and even a few sobs. The woman beside me wiped her own eyes. And I felt my breath come short in those moments as the casket was slid into the van. 

War is not a joke. Attending to a fallen soldier, especially by the President of the United States is a solemn duty, one to be handled with the utmost gravitas and respect. It does not include wearing a piece of political regalia. It's not a video game despite what the Gold-Plated House wants you to believe. Watch to the end and see the signature. THIS is what our government thinks of war. It is nothing more than a video game. 

In a TIME magazine interview, Eric Cortellessa spoke to President Clueless about the war against Iran:

Asked whether Americans should be worried about retaliatory attacks at home, Trump acknowledges the possibility. “I guess,” he says. “But I think they’re worried about that all the time. We think about it all the time. We plan for it. But yeah, you know, we expect some things. Like I said, some people will die. When you go to war, some people will die."

For a guy who is so hot for the Nobel Peace Prize and ran on a platform of being the president of peace, he has a strange idea of what constitutes peace. He has a history of attacks without planning for an aftermath. He currently has his eyes on Cuba as the next target. But nowhere, in any of this, do we ever hear about what comes next. He is delusional if he thinks the Iranian people are going to get together to sing Kumbaya while forming a new, democratic government. The country is splintered and the regime is not going to go pack up their tents and steal into the night....unless it is to form a new government in exile in some country that willingly takes their cash....just like in Paris after the Shah was deposed. The mess left in Afghanistan will look like a veritable picnic compared to what will happen in Iran. Just look at Gaza; Hamas never laid down their arms and they are re-arming as we speak. You think it's gonna be any different in Iran?

Meanwhile, back at the oasis.....

If you follow the money (like I keep saying) the path isn't always clear. My favorite underplayed scenario is that China, who currently gets about 90% of its oil from Iran, even though Iran masks its oil as Malaysian,  now has to find a new supplier. Russia provides much less than a lotta people think: less than 20%. After Russia, our good friends the Saudis provide about 14%. Currently, the Straits of Hormuz are blocked at the moment, which means not even Saudi oil can get through. President Felon is urging tankers to run the gauntlet, going so far as to say:

We're really helping China here and other countries because they get a lot of their energy from the Straits, We have a good relationship with China. It's my honor to do it.

Sure, we do. They just love his tariffs. 

But the Saudis do love President Felon. They love him so much they are paying him, via the family, billions. From the New York Times last November:

The Trump Organization is in talks that could bring a Trump-branded property to one of Saudi Arabia’s largest government-owned real estate developments, according to the chief executive of the Saudi company leading the development.

The negotiations are the latest example of President Trump blending governance and family business, particularly in Persian Gulf countries. Since returning to office, the president’s family and businesses have announced new ventures abroad involving billions of dollars, made hundreds of millions from cryptocurrency, and sold tickets to a private dinner hosted by Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump is set to host Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, in Washington next week.

The prince is overseeing a $63 billion project that is set to transform the historic Saudi town of Diriyah into a luxury destination with hotels, retail shops and office space. The Trump business has a history of lending its name to mixed-use projects touting “iconic luxury.”

 And you think the Saudis are doing this out of the goodness of their royal hearts? What do you think would benefit the Saudis in the long term? How about the oil business formerly known as NICO: National Iranian Oil Company who, because of the sanctions against Iran, have to utilize a "shadow fleet" ...which is where Malaysia happily comes in to provide shelter for illicit ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian oil so it can move though normal shipping lanes? 

That is one big, giant money-producing nut for Saudi Arabia, and do not think for one New York minute that generous cuts are not being handed out. Right now, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (aka MBS) is rushing around the globe to shore up new, international alliances to support the destruction of Iran. He's talking to anyone who will listen. Now, given the history of this dynasty, nothing is free or without strings. 

Use your imagination; it's not exactly a stretch. And if that doesn't work, have I got a bridge in Brooklyn for you!

And in other news, I attended a political fundraiser for Bree Fram. A rocket scientist (yeah, really) she was a colonel in the Space force..yep...you read that right.,, until retired (forcibly) by President Felon. Now, she wants to take the fight for democracy to Congress. Originally from Mendota Heights, her mom is a friend, she is running in the Virginia 11th, and I could not be more proud and excited to contribute to this race. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Bree Fram 

 is an important candidate in an important race

for the heart and soul of American democracy.

Read her story and join me in supporting Bree!

Wag the Dog. Again. And Again. And Again.

There is a whole lot to unpack this week. I had planned to write about the State of the Union and, by extension, women's sports, but like SNL's original thoughts about this week's opening, that's ain't happening. Like everyone else, I am stuck on Iran, the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia....and, on the side, why the hell President Felon spent the weekend dancing at a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago instead of in Washington DC.  But that begs a different kind of question. We'll get to that, too. 

There are a whole lotta questions that need to be asked for which I'm not seeing satisfactory questions...much less answers. 

Question #1: Is this attack even legal?

Without consulting Congress, this administration attacked yet another country. Board of Peace, my ass, He doesn't give a shit about the Constitution or the role of Congressional governance/oversight as continually made clear with each new attack. And what's possibly worse, is that when he gets bored he turns his back on the victims of his machinations. Just ask Ukraine how he's working out for them. All hat, no cattle, as the saying goes. He's abandoned Ukraine, just like he ultimately signed the death warrant for Afghanistan. He signed off on the plan, then walked away, leaving the Biden Administration to try to sort out and clean up the mess.

President Felon already describes this action as a "war" in his announcement to We, the People, on Saturday

The Iranian regime seeks to kill. The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties. That often happens in war, but we’re doing this not for now. We’re doing this for the future, and it is a noble mission.

Yet, this is an undeclared "war" which is forbidden by the Constitution as it explicitly states only Congress can declare war. Article I, Section 8, Clause 11:

[The Congress shall have Power . . . ] To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; . . .

In other words, this is yet another case of President Felon exercising power that are specifically NOT granted to a sitting president. 

Former Federal prosecutor at the DoJ, Ankush Kardori writes in Politico:

The Trump administration’s war also cannot be squared with the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which allows the president to initiate hostilities abroad “only” when there has been “(1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.” Trump did not even attempt to argue that any of these conditions had been met, probably because he could not seriously do so. 

As for international law, the attack on Iran goes much further than the Trump administration’s military campaign to oust and arrest Maduro, which itself ran afoul of multiple domestic and international legal prohibitions.  

The U.N. Charter —which was overwhelmingly passed by the U.S. Senate and signed by President Harry Truman in 1945 — prohibits the use of force “against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.” The U.N. Security Council can authorize the use of force in support of a party’s “right of self-defence,” but that did not happen here. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has already condemned the strikes as a violation of the U.N. Charter.

In other words, the short answer is "NO," this is not legal on any level...but we already know he doesn't give a shit. 

Question #2: Does anyone really have a plan for what happens next?

While there is no question about the need for regime change in Iran, and the removal of the mullahs as rulers, there is also a long history of what happens when the US takes a sitting government down. One needs only look at the long term chaos in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan. and most recently Gaza to understand that if no plan for what happens next is in place, these places are unable to suddenly produce a functional government to lead. Same thing with the Arab Spring. Lots of slogans but not a leader in sight to unify any of the toppled governments...and now, it's  back to business as usual. Economies pretty much collapsed in the wake of these optimistic revolutions. And Gaza? President Felon is too busy lining his own pockets to pay attention to the spiraling of Gaza.

Back in the 80s when Iran fell the first time, the underlying reason why that revolution actually succeeded was because there was already a shadow government in Paris ready to go. That was the one that gave Iran the first ayatollah, Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini. These guys had a plan and they executed it almost flawlessly. Does Pahlavi and his friends have a government in exile ready to step into the breach? If they don't, the current dead ayatollah, Ali Khamenei, was known to be in ill health and it's believed his succession had already been laid out. You can bet if that's the case, it's already moving forward to consolidate their position as the legitimate rulers of Iran. 

Still, I listened carefully to former former crown prince Reza Pahlavi on 60 Minutes talk about how he wants to lead the transition to democracy, saying he did not want to be king or president or prime minister...but rather the guy who shepherds them into a functioning government. Very well spoken, but does he have a shadow government in place waiting to step in? That wasn't clear. If the voice of the Iranian Diaspora is any indication, he can, with their backing, begin the long process of going home which, if you listen closely, is what they want. Just like the Jewish Diaspora, they long to return to their home, and gee, I don't blame them one bit. 

Question #3: Why now? Why at just this moment?

Anyone remember the movie WAG THE DOG with Dustin Hoffman? IMDB sums it up rather succinctly: 

Shortly before an election, a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover up a Presidential sex scandal.

If you haven't seen it. you should watch it. It's out there on all sorts of platforms. It's pretty funny. Of course, the name EPSTEIN is never mentioned....but in the here and now, every time a new Epstein scandal rises over the horizon, this presidential Fruit Loop creates a crisis to take it off the front page. And usually he succeeds...for a moment. 

It's no secret that President Felon has not been totally exonerated in the Epstein files. Yes, I know he keeps saying that, but that's part of the fantasy he's spewing. But the newest allegations are seriously horrifying should they turn out to have been intentionally removed from the files. According to an investigation conducted by NPR:

The Justice Department has withheld some Epstein files related to allegations that President Trump sexually abused a minor, an NPR investigation finds. It also removed some documents from the public database where accusations against Jeffrey Epstein also mention Trump.

Some files have not been made public despite a law mandating their release. These include what appear to be more than 50 pages of FBI interviews, as well as notes from conversations with a woman who accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago when she was a minor.

NPR reviewed multiple sets of unique serial numbers appearing before and after the pages in question, stamped onto documents in the Epstein files database, FBI case records, emails and discovery document logs in the latest tranche of documents published at the end of January. NPR's investigation found dozens of pages that appear to be catalogued by the Justice Department but not shared publicly. 

But there is so much more to this timing that any Jewish kid can tell you about: PURIM.

Let's pretend you actually have read the bible, specifically the Book of Esther. It's an interesting book to be in the canon since it never mentions G-d in any way, shape or form. What it does talk about is a guy named Haman. Here's the short version:  King Achashverosh, the king of Persia, deposed his queen, Vashti, and needed a new one. A contest was held to find a new queen and a guy named Mordechai sent his niece Esther to try out. She wins and becomes the new Queen. Meanwhile his prime minister hates Mordechai and the Jews and plots to destroy them. To make a long story short, Esther intervenes, Haman is hanged on his own gallows, and the Jews stop the attacks. In other words, like so many of our holidays, they tried to kill us, we won, let's eat. Kids dress up in costumes, but instead of trick-or-treat, we go around giving shalach manot,  gifts of food and sweets (often in secret) to our friends and neighbors. 

Tonight, Purim begins at sundown. We will gather to read the Megillah. Every time Haman's name is mentioned, it will be drown out with graggers, boos, and hisses. Kids dress up in costumes as Esther, Mordechai, even Haman, but instead of trick-or-treat, we go around giving shalach manot,  gifts of food and sweets (often in secret) to our friends and neighbors. We will sing and dance and have plays to tell the story as we celebrate the destruction of Haman and the saving of the Jews of Persia.

Perhaps you missed this....Israel and Persia have been allies for a thousand years. After the exile, Persia helped us to return to our land and helped rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Persians are not our enemies. They sheltered Jews during World War II. Jewish communities in Persia/Iran thrived...until the ayatollahs took over. It shouldn't surprise anyone that the Iranian Diaspora turned to Israel for help. 

But did they get the help they needed from the US....or were they played to wag the dog? To provide yet more smoke and mirrors to hide a sexual predator from prosecution as he wages an illegal war?

Question #4: Will Israel be blamed for it all?

Funny, all those pro-Gaza people shouting to free Palestine are now decrying the bombing of Iran. Don't they realize that Iran is the moneyman for Hamas and the terrorists? Where were their voices as thousands of Iranians were being slaughtered by their government? Why were they silent to those pleas for help? 

Oh. There were no Jews involved. 

Well, now there are. I do worry about not just the timing, but the preparedness of the Iranians to take back their country. We can only hope there really is a government in exile waiting in the wings to step up. 

I should probably mention there are already those who claim Netanyahu conned President Felon into attacking Iran, especially at this time of year. They already claim the US is being used as a proxy by Israel...and Saudi Arabia. They will espouse the ol' Jewish Cabal theory of world domination. Never mind that President Felon is a loyal disciple of the Christofascist Brigade.

If you are asking my opinion here, I will tell you that I truly believe Khamenei had to go, that Iran needed to be free. But I am not convinced that the actions of President Felon are warranted without the backing on Congress and adherence to the law of the United States. Unless someone knows there is a plan and a government waiting to go, this is doomed. As for Netanyahu,  getting deeper into bed with that sexual predator just means he's got the fucking of his life. Israel does not deserve that. They deserved a plan and a plan, not this rogue cowboy shit that's going down. Feckless Felon says it can last 4-5 weeks....as Ukraine about that. I do not trust him to wage this action. It's all about him and his pockets and how much the Saudi royal family is paying him. It' all about the baksheesh.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.....

I'm trying to get this thing done so I can go don my costume for Megillah reading with the kiddies tonight. They don't know I'm wearing a costume, but I am. I'm going as Atossa, daughter of Cyrus the Great, and often said to be the mother of Achashverosh. Or so some legends claim. In other words, I'm going as Esther's mother-in-law. Once upon a time, I wrote a midrash for her: QUEEN 101: Intro to Queenship. I always had a soft spot for Vasti and I do like Atossa. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

The lingering cold in my nose kept me from 

the annual rush of baking and sending out

hamantashen. 

Next year, I'll do better.