0824

August 24, 2022 

In bed at 10:15, up at 5:00, 5 pss, and one glass of red.  Day 4 of waking up with an aching back.  81 years behind me, what's ahead?  Grilled steaks, baked potato, and fresh Wisconsin sweet corn tonight.  And Sarah said to expect a package delivery today.

    Yesterday's buzz on all the news shows, perhaps excepting Fox et al., was about the May letter from the Acting National Archivist to Trump's lawyer revealing that Trump had more than 700 pages of classified documents, some highly sensitive, compartmented, special access stuff, at Mar a Lago. The letter, extremely damaging to Trump, was published by a guy surnamed Solomon, a big Trump supporter. but Not Too Bright.  A NYT article also revealed that a number of witnesses told the FBI that Trump personally reviewed the documents in the Mar a Lago boxes, which would prove knowledge, agency, and personal responsibility on his part.  The pressure on the AG to indict seems to be relentless.  Will he?  Consequences?  What is going on with the Trump lawyers, one of whom drafted the letter saying all classified material had been returned to the government and the other of whom signed and delivered it?  Lying to the FBI on an important, material fact in a major investigation is hugely consequential, personally, professionally, and financially. How can they not blame Trump?

    Rembert Weakling died yesterday.  He was caught up in the pedophilia scandal, like most other bishops, and is unquestionably culpable for shuffling abusive priests around and concealing their crimes, and he paid a hefty bribe to a former male lover to conceal their relationship, using money the archdiocese received from the sale of Harry John's De Rance Foundation building on Bluemound Road. That said, and my general disdain for Catholic hierarchs notwithstanding, I liked Rembert Weakling.  He was, I suppose, my favorite bishop, the most relatable of a nasty lot.  He was always in trouble in Rome for his too-liberal thoughts which I took as a badge of honor.  I remember sitting next to him and sharing some sort of meal at some sort of gathering and schmoozing with him.  He was a sinner, especially in terms of the pedophile scandal, but he was an amiable sinner unlike so many of the stiffs Rome enfeoffs with lucrative bishoprics, including Rembert's Mr. Joyboy successor and would-be first American pontiff. Timmy Dolan, and now Jerome Listecki.

    Sarah and Christian called on FaceTime this afternoon for a nice long chat and visit with new Siamese cat Max.  We started out with everyone appearing in negative but then Sarah pushed some button or worked some magic in Germany and voila! everything switched to positives.

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    I picked up a copy of Niebuhr's Moral Man in Immoral Society at the library, hoping to pick up some art books I had ordered as well, but not to be.  They arrived this afternoon.  It's not likely that I will read the book.  My eyesight is growing increasingly worse, in large part because of dry eyes for which eye drops provide only partial and temporary relief.  I found myself wondering as I drove to the library whether the dry eye problem will be what eventually leads me to stop driving - shudder.  It was that problem that led me to accept the fact that it would be impossible for me to drive out to visit Kitty, even if I allowed myself many days to make the trip.  In addition to the eye problem, it has become almost impossible to me to read for any extended period of time.  Loss of focus, both of my vision and of my attention.  Going downhill.  In any event, I'm reading the introduction to the book, in small batches, which is interesting in its own right.

1.  No group will ever be dislodged from power solely by persuasion, by arguments, however academically or legally elegant those arguments are.

2. There's a notable difference between the moral behavior of individuals, where there is some possibility of self-sacrifice for others, rare as that may be, and the behavior of groups - families, clans, classes, races, genders, states, or nations.  With communities, the self-interest of the group is inevitably the predominant factor.  . . . There can be without contradiction, the pious slave-owner, the respectable member of a ruling class or aggressive nation, the "moral" member of an oppressive race.  In all these cases, while these persons may appear to be moral as individuals, nonetheless they join with others of their group and act with exceeding self-concern, with oppressive ruthlessness, and with devastating destruction. 

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    Applied a burnt sienna glaze on the knockoff Munch Madonna, covered some unintended glazing on her hair from yesterday's work, applied black paint to the knockoff Modigliani nude's hair and some burnt sienna glaze to skin areas.  

    Geri got a New York strip steak for me for my birthday, huge, and a ribeye for herself.  Eating al fresco on the patio.  Breaking my normal habit of avoiding alcohol early in the evening, seems sinful not to have some red wine with a steak like that.

    I received a nice birthday wish from cousin Christine Klaer in Chicago and a FB HB wish from old pal Caren Goldberg.  Andy stopped over with some Mint M&Ms for my birthday (tried to get Spearmint Leaves but all out) and birthday cards.

    Subscribed to Apple TV to watch Sharon Horgan's newswires, Bad Sisters.  Watched first 2 episodes, falling asleep while watching the second.