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Why Does ‘My Cousin Vinny’ Come to Mind
Those of you who remember the 1992 movie, ‘My Cousin Vinny,’ still showing up on late night TV, might recall this courtroom scene. Two nice boys from the North were being railroaded into a murder conviction and were on trial in a conservative town in the deep South. One had somehow gotten his cousin Vinny (played by a young Joe Pesci), possessor of some questionable legal credentials, to drive south to defend him. The other was content to accept the services of the local Public Defender.
The boy who had chosen the Public Defender was already becoming disenchanted by that lawyer’s bumbling, stuttering, sometimes incoherent, performance in an earlier case on the day’s docket, and was beginning to fear years in prison, or worse, when Vinny stepped forward to defend his client.
Vinny was so powerful in his opening remarks that the ‘yout’ (Vinny’s famous mis-pronunciation of ‘youth’) who had chosen the Public Defender jumped up, pointing at him, saying ‘You’re fired!’ and turning to Vinny, continued, ‘I want HIM as my lawyer!’
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| Marisa Tomei and Joe Pesci in 'My Cousin Vinny' |
Vinny indeed got both boys off, but only after the intervention of his very smart girlfriend, played by Marisa Tomei, who had the last word.
JL
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And that ‘regime change’ he asks that we recognize is a change from our representative democracy to fascism. That is why it is crucial that there be a plan to select a nominee who can defeat Donald Trump, whose candidacy represents fascism. Read what Snyder wrote on July 7 by visiting https://snyder.substack.com/p/fascist-froth or by CLICKING HERE.
Democrats and
others, including those in the media, have no compunctions about asking
President Biden to step down so that they may have a better shot at defeating
Trump in November. They have a right to do that. But
it is very strange that Americans of both parties seem to fear asking Donald
Trump to withdraw from the presidential contest, despite his having flaws far, far, in excess
of President Biden’s, including a felony conviction, and numerous other
‘scrapes’ from which SCOTUS justices and lower judges, often appointed by him
during his earlier presidency, extricated him.
What are they afraid
of? Revenge? Retribution?
I think so.
Snyder is writing about fascism here, and all that accompanies it. You remember that, don’t you? It included the beliefs of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, as well as of parties attempting to come to power today in some European countries, often masquerading as ‘Christian Nationalists,’ and attacking immigration, minorities, and the media. Hungary’s Viktor Orban is an example. It is the antithesis of freedom, looking to ally themselves with Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi.
And when you are
finished reading the article, read it again.
It might take twice to sink in.
JL
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If the preceding piece by Timothy Snyder seemed pessimistic, there was some optimism in Europe this week. French and British voters joined the voters of Spain of a few years ago in recognizing the looming dangers of fascism. Moderates, socialists, and even some communists, joined to form ‘united fronts,’ to keep the fascists out of power. This echoed the unsuccessful attempts of such coalitions to stop Nazi Germany in the 1930s but people now are smarter and harder to fool … except possibly in the United States.
My gut reaction
at this point, however, is that Donald Trump is a weak candidate who cannot
prevail over a Democratic opponent who goes after him, day after day, with a
prosecutorial zeal. Who that candidate
is will be decided shortly. Besides his
authoritarian leanings, Trump’s prior presidency was unsuccessful in domestic
and foreign policy areas as well as in its extra-legal activities, often crossing
the line into criminality. His major
thrust was based almost entirely on lies to convince the naïve that he was
their salvation. That won’t work,
however, in the upcoming election.
I have my
leanings as to who the Democratic presidential nominee will be, although the
situation is still fluid, despite President Biden’s insistence that he will
remain in the race. Leaders such as
Nancy Pelosi keep saying the decision is up to Biden himself, despite his
repeatedly saying that he has already made his decision and will remain in the
race. There’s a disconnect there
somewhere.
I think it will
be someone else, but I am not ready to go out on a limb as of yet in
Jackspotpourri, because that limb might yet be sawed off.
Watch for an
imminent posting on Jackspotpourri for my further thoughts.
JL
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More Republican Trickery
The Fourteenth
Amendment was designed, after the Civil War, to prevent individual States from
taking away rights to which the newly enfranchised freed slaves were
entitled. It brought the Constitution up
to the higher standards described in the Declaration of Independence. Since then it has been the foundation for
much of subsequent civil rights legislation, including that making
segregation and discrimination illegal.
The latest
gambit of the Republicans now includes catering to those who still frown upon codifying
civil rights with legislation. With
their expertise in twisting truths, they now claim that the Fourteenth
Amendment applies to fetuses, accusing those who want abortions to remain the
choice of the women involved, of taking away the rights of these unborn
‘persons.’
That’s another
reason to never, ever, under any circumstances whatsoever, to trust any
Republican. History will label them as
foes of democracy and proponents of fascism in its many guises.
Another twisting of truth, better known as lying, is Donald Trump’s
statement that he is unfamiliar with Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint
to destroy democracy in the United States. In fact, Project 2025 is staffed by almost 200 former officials of the Trump administration. Yet Trump is scurrying around to establish distance
between Project 2025, currently under attack by the Democrats, and himself.
Is it really
possible that Trump is unfamiliar with the massive conservative project worked
on by hundreds of his own former officials? Of course not. He is so inured to lying that he doesn’t even
recognize the falsehoods he speaks as being lies.
If he weren’t
such a force for evil, Trump would be more to be pitied than scorned. But we do not have that choice. His evil and that of the sniveling
Republicans who support him must be defeated on November 5 when you vote and
urge others to do so as well.
Check out what
Professor Heather Cox Richardson had to say in her posting dated July 9. There’s an awful lot going on and she
manages to report on it all. If you are trying to ration your online time,
for which there are so many demands, you might agree with me that hers is the
one daily posting that you should not miss.
Visit https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/ or just CLICK HERE.
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Meteorology Department
I’ve noted that the two prime online sources of
weather information don’t always agree.
Accuweather seems to be more pessimistic about any day’s weather than
the Weather Channel. Check them both out
first thing in the morning and see which one’s predictions for the day in your
area turn out to be more accurate.
Usually they agree as to likely temperatures
but otherwise they differ, especially in the likelihood, stated as percentages,
of precipitation throughout the day. Both
tend to suggest changes in the weather as happening earlier than when they
actually occur, and both usually agree about vague generalities such as ‘a possiblilty
of scattered thunderstorms,’ that anyone looking up at the clouds can predict. Generally, followers of Accuweather’s
predictions are more likely to carry umbrellas with them than those who follow
the Weather Channel.
Really, their meteorologists are
little better than political pollsters. While Bob
Dylan sang, ‘You don’t have
to be a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing,’ being a
weatherman doesn’t guarantee that either. This past Sunday (when
I prepared the first draft of this item), Accuweather and the Weather
Channel placed the direction of the day’s winds as coming from somewhat
differing directions all falling within a range running from the east southeast to the south southeast, and they disagreed as to their predicted breezes’ timing during the day.
The very best way of determining wind direction at any hour is to moisten your forefinger and stick it up in the air. Of course, this only works outside of your house, and it would help if you knew in what direction you were facing.
Come to think of
it, the same thing applies to the conclusions of political pollsters.
JL
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Housekeeping on Jackspotpourri
Strange “Hits’! The large number of those accessing Jackspotpouri from Singapore has suddenly ceased. In their place, however, there have appeared large numbers of ‘hits’ on each posting in the hundreds, and as was the case with those from Singapore, but this time from Hong Kong! I suspect that the Chinese are playing around with internet transmissions, possibly to try to identify who is reading them.
Email Alerts: If you are NOT receiving emails from me alerting you each time there is a new posting on Jackspotpourri, just send me your email address and we’ll see that you do. And if you are forwarding a posting to someone, you might suggest that they do the same, so they will be similarly alerted. You can pass those email addresses to me by email at jacklippman18@gmail.com.
Forwarding Postings: Please forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it. Friends, relatives, enemies, etc.
If you want to send someone the blog, you can just tell them to check it out by visiting https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com or you can provide a link to that address in your email to them.
There’s another, perhaps easier, method of forwarding it though! Google Blogspot, the platform on which Jackspotpourri is prepared, makes that possible. If you click on the tiny envelope with the arrow at the bottom of every posting, you will have the opportunity to list up to ten email addresses to which that blog posting will be forwarded, along with a brief comment from you. Each will receive a link to click on that will directly connect them to the blog.
Either way will work, sending them the link to https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com, or clicking on the envelope at the bottom of this posting.
Again, I urge you to forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it, particularly if they are a registered voter. This is an election year. Spread the word.
JL
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