On Trump, Judgment at Nuremberg, American Made and Waco.
Pondering things while recovering from surgery
So on Friday I went to an Urgent Care clinic with abdominal pains. I don’t have a primary care physician, since 1) There seems to be a lot of turnover in that area of health care, 2) even when I see a doctor for a physical or whatnot, I’m usually told “That’s not really necessary unless something’s wrong,” and 3) it’s costly. Anyway, I went to the clinic and was immediately sent to the ER with what resulted in a vascular blockage of my small intestines. After outpatient surgery, I was left at home to recover over the weekend and into this week.
So I’m slowly off the painkillers and am eventually coming around to what is going on in the world again. I don’t have a singular issue post this week, just a bunch of small short items collectively put out there for the multitudes of subscribers to ponder.
On The Oscars
I predicted much of it right, but underappreciated just how much Everything Everywhere All at Once was going to win. I figured some of the cinephile voters would side with Tar on some things but even they must have found it as dry and off putting as I did. A couple other surprises (Jamie Lee Curtis, All Quiet on the Western Front, Elvis not winning for Costume Design) but for the most part, it went according to plan.
On Trump’s Indictment
I kind of see this in the same vein as the John Edwards story. That ended up with multiple indictments, an acquittal on one charge and a hung jury on several others. There really is nothing better I can say about it than Jonathan V. Last says here about it:
All in all, I’m indifferent to this particular issue. The Grand Jury in Georgia though to me is an outright and obvious crime for which he should be indicted, but that’s for another day.
Things I’m Watching
When you are recovering from surgery, you get stuck on a couch without much to do. I’m tired of College Hoops (what happens when the team you had winning it is out after the 2nd round) and you channel hop.
So yesterday I watched one movie, after another, after another.
First up was the classic Stanley Kramer film “Judgment at Nuremberg.” If you’ve never seen it, do yourself a favor and watch it right now. Spencer Tracy and Burt Lancaster were never better and Maximillian Schell won the Best Actor Oscar. It’s one of the finest films ever made, dealing with some of the most important, ethical issues a society can face.
I followed that up with one of Tom Cruise’s best films of the past decade, America Made, where he plays Bobby Seal, a pilot at the crux of shady deals between the Columbian Cartels, Nicaraguan Contras, the CIA and others in the late 70s and early 80s. Cruise is great in it, most of all because he sheds the Ethan Hunt/ Invincible Hero persona to play an incredibly flawed and hilariously out of his depth character. Fun movie.
I followed THAT up with Fight Club. Now, I’ve seen it from beginning to end maybe three or four times, and have a habit of catching it probably dozens of times somewhere in the middle. There are some things I like about it and others that are just meh, but I hadn’t realized until yesterday how much of the first 20-30 minutes of the film is just unnecessary. Just kind of one off jokes, snark about IKEA or unimportant stuff to pad time. Something about it this time made me just enjoy it less than I had in the past. Nonetheless, I can see the popularity of this movie coming back as it hits on particularly populist themes.
The last thing I watched yesterday was the most recent version of The Amazing Race. I like this as a nice family friendly show that my son likes too, particularly as he gets more into geography and cultures. I used to like it much more when the contestants were more interesting, and not just random YouTube personalities or pairs who feel like were just thrown together.
Admittedly, the show has lost a lot of its step since COVID. They all travel to new cities together now and its staggered start/stops and certain protocols have to be followed. Frankly, I’d love to see a straight up US Only Amazing Race, where they travel to different areas (some even rural) of the United States and bring attention to many out of the way places. I think it would be cool myself.
What I’m Reading
I had a hard time finding something to read lately. I hate political books. Too much of what is getting pushed out these days are pundit crap. I like history books but they tend to focus on the same events and I can only read about the Civil War, World War II and the Founding Fathers so many times.
So it was interesting when last week I came across this book by Jeff Guinn on Waco, the Branch Dividians and David Koresh
https://www.amazon.com/Waco-Koresh-Branch-Davidians-Legacy/dp/1982186100
For the uninitiated, David Koresh was a cult leader in the 80s and 90s who built a compound in Waco, TX. A lot of bad things were going on there leading to the ATF, with the approval of Attorney General Janet Reno, staging a raid on the ranch. The Davidians were tipped off on the raid and fought them off, and it became a huge inflection point for the right wing, libertarian, gun wielding, “Don’t Tread on Me” types. It should be no surprise that a young Timothy McVeigh was there and that he used the anniversary of the final seige as the day he detonated a truck bomb in Oklahoma City.
However, most couldnt tell a “Branch Davidian” from a Hare Khrishna. Most people, even then and now, know anything about who David Koresh even was other than he was a religious fanatic who took indulgences with young women. Most know very little about the day to day events at the compound or the case the ATF and FBI had built up against Koresh and the Davidians.
So if you like True Crime, Historical Events, Religious Cults and interesting writing, this is a good book for you.
Footnotes and Parting Thoughts
I’m taking the rest of the week off as I recover from this surgery. I’ll be back with my 2-3 posts a week schedule starting again next week. Until then, enjoy spring!
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