Cross Town Thoughts
Global warming? Balmy February in New York. Rowboats on the Lake. 
Bannon’s economic nationalism. Dismantling administrative state. Trump golfing with Els and McIlroy. The new abnormal.
Books are still normal. Just finished a good one. The Honeymoon, Dinitia Smith. A novel about literary icon George Eliot’s life and last honeymoon. Which was a doozy. See review here. Oscars. Ho-hum. This year.
Unprecedented resistance march on Central Park West. He’s Not My President’s Day rally from 59th to 67th. Even Northamptonites were there. A young kid yelled, “look it’s Steve Bannon!” Ha. It’s going to be a long four years. Fun to watch the throngs gather. 
Better to walk just down the hill to Tavern on the Green’s outdoor garden for a private protest on a sunny warm February afternoon.
A show within a show. Only it’s real. Press conferences. Bill signing photo opps. Dinners at Mar-a-Lago with world leaders. Couples lunch in the White House Blue Room with Bibi Netanyahu. Campaign-style rallies on a Saturday in Florida. Where are Jim Carrey and Scott Rudin when you need them? Keep the klieg lights on call. It’s going to be a surreal soap opera.
Almost as weird is FX new show Legion. Matthew Crawley meets Quentin Collins.
Happy Valentine’s Day From Russia With Love. Putin’s arrow on a dangerous trajectory. Flynn’s ties to Vlad finally results in his demise. What was Trump’s own complicity. Chaos Doctrine front and center. Sure has blown up the White House inner circle. Will it backfire on the disrupter-in-chief himself? Pence could be the next Prez sooner rather than later.
Who is in charge? Nikki Haley gives a strong anti-Russia speech at the U.N. Secretary of Defense off to Japan. Secretary of State takes the helm. They all make their own cases in direct opposition to the President’s. Senators call ambassadors to smooth over commander-in-chief’s nasty phone calls to foreign leaders. Generals crash press briefings with macho proclamations to Iran. Trump whisperers lurking in the White House behind curtains all over the place. Nope. Even Frank Underwood couldn’t make this up.
Steve Bannon. The President In Effect. A guy who made big bucks investing in Seinfeld. Editor of alt-right Breitbart. Conspiracy theorist and closet racist. Puppetmaster of populism. Trump whisperer. National Security Council interloper. Anti-Muslim executive order architect. Xenophobe-in-Chief. Dangerous if left unchecked. Courts and Congress need to take action. Soon.
Post-inauguration day. Feminist marches turned enormous historic rallies. Citizens converted shock into action. Not just women. Impressive. Too bad after Trump is sworn in. First question to all of these protesters to a person. Broken record alert. Did you vote? Second. Michael Moore agrees with me. Get rid of the old guard in the Democrat leadership. The bench is so shallow. New blood needed. But. There has to be a place to rise to. Third. Despite what you say. Trump is your President. How to change that? Run for office in counties that count. Support young candidates who can win congressional seats in 2018.
To make this movement a reality. Pragmatism trumps emotion.
“He was spurred on by the conviction that the world needed his immediate presence.” -Cervantes
Tilting at every windmill. Chasing larger-than-life glory. In gilded armor, Don is saddled up and ready to ride into Washington, D.C. The knight-errant has zig-zagged through life to become El-Jefe-in-Chief. El Hidalgo Trumpo de Queens makes it to the top of the peak. From his White House Castillo with loyal little Sancho Penza in tow they’ll take on foes from far and wide. Will it be Aldonza Melania or Dulcinea Ivanka by his side. ¿¡Viva!? o ¿¡Cuidado!?
Rodney Dangerfield. The comedian famous for lamenting “I don’t get no respect”. This may be the constant rant we hear over the next four years. As our new Petulant Adolescent President continues his knee-jerk – emphasis on jerk – reactions to each perceived disrespect. With Theresa May sounding similar in the UK it could be a dangerous world. Cue TTSD.
On the football field. Will I. Am v. Peeper Creeper. The 2 Rodgers v. the Ryan-Shanahan Fighting Irish. Okay. I say. SuperBowl. Atlanta v. Pats. Atlanta wins.
Joe Biden walked into a White House room filled with his family and friends. President Obama succeeded in surprising his bro Joe with a tribute capped off with giving him the highest honor a civilian can get. It wasn’t just the Medal of Freedom. It was the Medal of Freedom with Distinction. Which like maybe four people have ever received.
Meanwhile we geezers walked sixty blocks. Round trip to Broadway. To see The Present. An early Chekhov adaptation. Script needed a bit of work. Ben Brantley’s NYT review nailed it. But. Worth the shlep and the price to see the incredible talent of Cate Blanchett. Her range from subtlety to sexy to angry to crazy knocked us out of our sore socks.
Rare unexpected gift. Besides being able to perambulate from home to the theater. Seats in front of ours center row E empty!! Oh. And sixty degrees in January.
Side Trek . NYC 