Yes, it’s still free to subscribe to this nearly daily newsletter! Greg Mitchell is the author of fourteen books and director of five films for PBS since 2022. In a previous life, he was a longtime editor at the legendary Crawdaddy.
As you may have heard, the Pope took on A.I. yesterday, Steve Brodner:
USA Today:
CBS has backed off copyright claims about Stephen Colbert‘s surprise appearance on local access TV – at least for now.
On May 22, after signing off from “The Late Show,” the comedian made an unexpected return to “Only in Monroe,” a Michigan-based local access show. He once guest-hosted the show before taking over David Letterman’s CBS spot in 2015. But after Colbert’s “Only in Monroe” appearance, CBS sparked backlash when it sent copyright notices to YouTube channels that were sharing the episode.
Note from my son last night, a fellow long suffering Mets fan: “Pretty grim. The new mantra I see circulating is: ‘You gotta believe, but you don’t gotta watch.’”
Heather Cox Richardson:
The House and Senate will come back on June 2, and Trump clearly would like to have an agreement with Iran in place before they do.
Trump’s social media account over the weekend was active. He twice posted an image of himself leering over Greenland with the caption “Hello, Greenland!” and repeated suggestions that “China Loves Trump.” He posted an AI image of Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) as a devil (I think), calling him a “SLEAZEBAG” and a “Dumocrat,” and an image of eight lawmakers or officials in orange jumpsuits (except for Obama’s tan one), claiming they had “Caused tremendous damage through Weaponization!” And he posted a number of images of colorful fountains.
Meanwhile, Thomas Massie says he plans to publicly read the names of Epstein clients before leaving Congress.
Paul Krugman:
On Memorial Day the New York Times published an article with the headline “Trump is the only person who can save America, according to his cabinet.” The article offered a quantitative analysis of senior-official sycophancy. As the article notes, Donald Trump likes to hold long, televised cabinet meetings. In these meetings, according to the Times, “On average, at least one of every six sentences either flattered Mr. Trump, gave him credit or criticized his political opponents.”
This “Dear Leader” treatment is unprecedented in American history. Regardless of how successful, no previous president has been showered with this kind of obsequiousness and deification.
But Trump isn’t the first public figure to seek self-aggrandizement in an attempt to fill his inner emptiness. The important question is why the American right — not just his pathetic cabinet, but the whole movement, including the 6 extremistsRepublicans on the Supreme Court — has been so willing to empower him. And that’s a question much bigger than Trump himself.
At last there’s a new doc coming on often overlooked primal rock ‘n roll founder Eddie “Summertime Blues” Cochran:
Music Picks
The jazz giant Sonny Rollins has died at 95. I’ve run this clip before, but it remains one of the great moments in music on TV: Sonny backing up, then taking over, Leonard Cohen on “Who By Fire” in 1989.
Patti Smith a few days ago offered a birthday wish to Dylan with his “One Too Many Mornings.”
Koterba:
Rogers:
Anderson:
Kamenssky:
Heller:
Photo Finish
From my camera to you: “An Impressionist Spring Morning at Monet’s Garden, Giverny”
The photo at the end is remarkable. Very impressionistic.
Ahhh, such a beautiful springtime picture, which we need to refresh our spirits as our nation suffers through this lying, greedy administration!