Tin Soldiers and Nitwits Coming?

Another Kent State anniversary, with Jason Isbell and David Crosby, plus Pete Seeger with Johnny Cash, John Oliver and Stephen Colbert and our usual cartoons.

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. You can also show appreciation by pledging a small sum if we go partly “paid” one day.

John Oliver last night on non-regulayion of boner pills and other alleged boosters at your local gas station and convenience store.

Stephen Colbert, now in his final three weeks at CBS show, is now rolling out brief web extras looking back at highlights and lowlights of past decade:

From NY Times newsletter Mail Bag today:

Is it true that there will be an automatic draft registration for men between the ages of 18 and 25 starting in December? | Kathy Edelen | Cincinnati, Ohio

Yes, under a rule pending final approval. No one has been drafted since the all-volunteer military was established in 1973 — and that’s not going to change anytime soon. But young men (yes, it’s only men) have been required to register for the draft, just in case the military needs them. Now, instead of filling out a form online, they’ll be automatically enrolled by the government.

And some shorts:

• The West Bank: With the world’s attention focused on war with Iran, extremist Israeli settlers have stepped up attacks on Palestinians in the territory.

• Russia: Recruiting companies are promising jobs to Africans who say they are then forced to fight in Ukraine.

• Taking away phones in school didn’t do much to improve academic achievement, a major new study found.

Trump's disapproval just reached a new high in the Post-ABC-Ipsos poll. Disapproval of Trump on: 62% his job as president, 76% cost of living, 72% inflation, 66% situation with Iran, 65% relations with U.S. allies, 65% the economy, 59% immigration.

Gas prices jumped more than thirty cents a gallon last week. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), regular gas averages $4.44 a gallon. Two days before the Iran war began, the average price per gallon was $2.98.

Heather Cox Richardson:

On Wednesday, Trump talked to Russia’s president Vladimir Putin for an hour and a half—the twelfth phone call between the two leaders since Trump took office a second time—and just hours later posted about removing U.S. troops from Germany. Putin has wanted to weaken the U.S. commitment to Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for a long time. As Jack Detsch, Paul McLeary, and Stefanie Bolzen of Politico note, European officials worry that Putin is making plans to attack a NATO country.

On Friday the Defense Department said it was pulling 5,000 troops from Germany and was cancelling a plan formulated under the Biden administration to put an artillery unit equipped with missiles in Europe. The U.S. had increased its European presence after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. These moves will take U.S. forces back to where they were before the invasion. As scholar of authoritarianism Timothy Snyder wrote: “You can apply lots of normalizing frameworks or you can just make a timeline of his calls with Putin. We don’t have a sovereign foreign policy. We have superpower suicide.”

Music Pick

For the annual marking of the Kent State massacre, Jason Isbell and David Crosby at Newport with a rousing “Ohio.”

We missed Pete Seeger’s birthday yesterday but will mark it today with this remarkable 1966 low-rent TV show he hosted with guests Johnny Cash and June Carter. Johnny, as usual, not bothered one bit by Pete’s politics, for which he was still suffering some Red-baiting and blacklisting.

From Tunes to Toons

Sheneman:

Boris:

Telnaes:

Bramhall:

Luckovich:

Photo Finish

From my camera to you: “The Louvre, After Dark, In the Rain”