 Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee back in the day Alas, Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will not be able to attend the State of the Union speech Tuesday evening because she has a speaking engagement at the Roger Williams University School of Law in Rhode Island. (Williams is one of the great early Americans, remembered for “advocating separation of church and state in Colonial America. His views on religious freedom and tolerance, coupled with his disapproval of the practice of confiscating land from Native Americans, earned him the wrath of his church and banishment from the colony,” according to one history site. Make of this what you will.) The justice, age 84, has given clear recent signals that she intends to remain on the highest court for the foreseeable future. https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/01/27/us/politics/ap-us-justice-ginsburg-staying-put.html Good move, Madam Justice. I can’t speak for her – nobody should dare – but speaking strictly for myself, I don’t want to observe that generally affirmative evening soiled this this time around. For the inauguration a year ago, some of us in the family went to an Afghan restaurant on Long Island on the theory that the event would not be on the tube, and we were right. Aushak all around, for starters. As for the State of the Union speech and the bustle surrounding it, I’m going to listen to Terrance McKnight on WQXR-FM instead. Much healthier. (I ducked out on the Grammies after 10 minutes Sunday night; guys in fatigues and boots? Where were Stevie Wonder and Dolly Parton? What ever happened to songs?) Of course, I could be missing a one-time-only event Tuesday night. A year ago, I predicted 18 months from inauguration for this guy; it is still a possibility, given the collusion and money-laundering and racial slurs and general debauchery and ignorance emitting from the White House. But I’ll read about the event in the Times the next morning. What is the over/under (gambling term) for how many times he says “no collusion, no collusion?” Or waves his stubby fingers and says, “Truthfully….” I always enjoy the State of the Union because, even with the loyal opposition sitting on its hands for much of the speech, there is a sense of vestigial dignity to the evening. Plus, I love the way some public officials hang over the railing to shake hands, get an autograph, or offer sage if truncated advice. I always love to spot my fellow Jamaica High School grad (a few decades younger than my crowd), Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, engaging President Obama or President George W. Bush from her adopted state of Texas. I just discovered that Rep. Lee and her companions are known as “aisle hogs” because they line up hours and hours before the big event, to get up close with the President. The latest information is that Rep. Lee is undecided about attending Tuesday night. Old habits die hard. I’m guessing she will be there, perhaps to eyeball this office-temp president. Take a good look. Next year we might have President Pence – I know, I know -- not that he would want to get too close to a female legislator. Anyway, I’ll be listening to classical music Tuesday evening. I think Roger Williams would approve.  “Talk! Or we’ll make you watch the State of the Union.” David Sipress, The New Yorker, Jan. 29, 2018
Alan D. Levine
1/29/2018 09:54:24 am
You should also acknowledge the Senate's JHS grad, Richard Blumenthal. I'll watch because I love to get off on my own outrage. Or at least I'll watch until Sandy shuts it off because I'm screaming too loudly at the screen.
bruce
1/29/2018 12:44:16 pm
george,
Alan D. Levine
1/29/2018 04:13:44 pm
I'll tell you one good thing about the Grammys--my son, who's a Local One stagehand is having a bunch of good paydays working on the load-in and load-out, as are many of his union brothers and sisters. January is usually a dead month in his business. The Grammys have been good for a lot of area families.
Wally Schwartz
1/29/2018 03:21:38 pm
Now that I've retired after nearly 36 years as a Village Justice, I can at last publicly state my views of this administration: PU. And what an embarrassment it is to you, Alan and myself that we grew up just a few blocks away from the current occupant of the oval office. So, I, too, will find other, better ways to occupy my Tuesday evening. Jamaica High has had many illustrious alumni, but here's one other former student who must have attended at least one State of the Union address: John Mitchell. Whatever happened to him? As if we didn't already know! 1/29/2018 04:13:12 pm
George--a good listen would "Carnival of the Animals".
Joshua Rubin
1/29/2018 05:11:34 pm
The Notorious RBG, as she is lovingly called by her millenial fans (hopefully some of you will get the reference), spoke informally at NYU during my first year of law school. Almost no one showed up to hear her, so Dean Sexton ran around the halls recruiting random students to come in and make a bit of a crowd. She recounted her first days as a Harvard law student, when, at a dinner for incoming students, she was asked by a professor why she was wasting a man's spot in the law school. She is a quiet presence but far too many have made the mistake of underestimating her ferocity and intellect. Here's wishing her l'chaim!
Steve Jellinek
1/29/2018 05:32:02 pm
Great blog, George. We’ll be watching the last episode of Season 2 of Stranger Things on Netflix. Scary, but not as much as our disgraceful President.
Gene Palumbo
1/29/2018 06:21:57 pm
Joshua Rubin:
Joshua Rubin
1/29/2018 06:53:22 pm
It's a play on the name of a well-known hip hop artist, the Notorious B. I. G. Some law students started it and it went viral. An internet meme, as the kids say.
Shelley
1/30/2018 11:33:48 am
I infer that you prefer classical music to opera buffo? Policy wonks to buffoons?
George Vecsey
1/30/2018 03:27:31 pm
Hi, Shelley: exactly. I was trying to think of Shakespearean fools and clowns that bridged the gap, but nothing funny about this guy, no transformations or revelations. In this play or opera, Bottom the Ass remains Bottom the Ass. Thanks for the insight. GV
Joshua Rubin
1/30/2018 06:55:36 pm
Perhaps Eight Songs of a Mad King, by Peter Maxwell Davies.
Ed Martin
1/30/2018 07:56:02 pm
Ever since I broke the bad habit of driving nails into my skull, I have been able to avoid listening to one word offered by trump, (lower caps intended.). In the rare instance he and his Goebbels say anything news worthy that might be true, I will read the headline in the NYT, or other fake news site. I have been amazingly facile at hitting the change station button, even on NPR, which should really give one of those warnings about horrifying content coming up.
George Vecsey
1/30/2018 08:38:28 pm
Good ones, everybody.
George Vecsey
1/31/2018 08:42:18 am
Wednesday morning:
Ed Martin
1/31/2018 12:11:29 pm
Did you notice there was nothing of substance reported, just rhetoric. It took me about 10 seconds to “get the news.”
George Vecsey
1/31/2018 01:18:44 pm
Ed: I did not notice. I react to him the way I do with the guy babbling to himself in the subway, except that this guy is cosmically more dangerous. Meantime, best to ignore, maybe to keep an eye on him without watching. It's a NYC subway skill....one he never mastered, what with the family chauffeur driving to school until he got thrown out.
Brian Savin
2/2/2018 09:55:52 pm
Justice Ginsberg is tired of trying to stay awake, as she has been widely reported as snoozing through the last few. No political statement, but honesty.
George Vecsey
2/3/2018 02:19:35 pm
Brian, welcome back. Can't blame somebody for snoozing.I've seen a few SOTU speeches that had me napping. For that matter, I dozed once while interviewing a member of congress in his office (I had played hoops on LI the night before) and once while interviewing a rabbi in his study (it was a warm day, study did not have AC) Comments are closed.
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