Sleepless Nights
Politics, politics, and yes, more politics
There’s a new Captain America film opening in theaters this weekend and I highly recommend it. Not surprisingly, antisemites have been trolling it on Letterboxd, IMDb, etc. because of Israeli actress Shira Haas co-starring as Israeli-born Black Widow-turned-presidential advisor. Rather than protest Trump’s stupid displacement plan—which let’s be honest, it won’t lead to peace—they’re going after an Israeli actress starring in a movie!
I finally got around to reviewing Gangsters vs. Nazis: How Jewish Mobsters Defeated Nazis in Wartime America by Michael Benson. It’s essential reading for anyone interested in Jewish or American history. After reading America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War by H.W. Brands, I immediately started on another book by Brands, Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants. I’ll get back to baseball books soon enough now that pitchers and catchers have reported. But for right now, I’m on something of a Brands kick. My review of America First is forthcoming.
I actively wrote a political blog during 2004-2011, before turning it into an outlet for book reviews in 2012. While I miss some of the relationships, I don’t miss that level of grind. But now? I have a voice and a platform as an Orthodox Jewish transgender film critic—with trans rights under attack, I cannot and will not be silent. There are days where something may be more appropriate for Buttondown but I’ll post it on SATM instead knowing it’ll be picked up on Google News and possibly get a wider audience. Here? My readership is not as wide as I would prefer. I’ve seen more people unsubscribe in the last few months.
In the meantime, I’ve had way too many sleepless nights following January 20. It’s gotten so bad lately than I’m getting to bed around 2:30 AM, if only because of writing late at night. When you don’t think it can get any worse, it gets worse. The American transgender population is being treated as subhuman by this admin. I fear that living in a blue city in a blue state will not be enough. I spoke about it in a recent interview with JTA that was published on January 31.
Lawsuits are being filed in every which direction and they can only do so much when the convicted felon’s administration refuses to comply. We’ve seen tweets from his vice president saying that the judges have no power over the presidency. What are they teaching at Yale about checks and balances?!?
If you go online, you’ll see people complaining about Democrats not doing enough to stop this. Listen, House Democrats can only do so much without a majority. The same goes for Senate Democrats, too. Without a majority, America is effectively screwed. Republicans have the presidency, Congress, and the Supreme Court. All it takes to stop the man’s policies—assuming he doesn’t bypass Congress by signing executive orders—is a few Republicans willing to grow a backbone and stand up to him.
Where are those Republicans going to come from? Mitch McConnell has now voted against three cabinet nominees. However, he could have prevented all of this when it came time to convict the insurrectionist in 2021. A conviction would have prevented him from ever running for office again! McConnell is retiring and has nothing to lose but he’s more or less going to vote with the administration.
If there are any Republicans willing to stand up, it’s going to take a profile in courage. It’s going to take knowing that the convicted felon will target them in their re-election campaign. This is what we’re up against. Trumpism is a deranged cult.
For college basketball/NBA fans: We Beat the Dream Team premieres February 17 on HBO/Max. The documentary features many players of the Select Team, including Jamal Masburn and Allan Houston. I could have done without the Laettner footage. No, really, they could have edited it all out and I wouldn’t complain.
Last but not least, I have pulled all my publications from Substack. Dugout Dirt was the last to go but it was a slow process to properly format previously published pieces after importing to WordPress. After all, the ballpark tour pieces had so many photos!