Minion: a servile underling, sycophant or crony to someone powerful or, put more crudely, an ass-kisser, toady or suck-up.
Originally from Middle French meaning darling, it was adopted by the English in naming filet mignon. Appearing in Shakespeare’s MacBeth,it came to refer to a subordinate favored due to his cloying loyalty. Merriam-Webster.com uses this quote from Boston Globecorrespondent John Powers to illustrate: “Rocky Marciano came into his prime and popularity in the early 1950s when boxing, now both televised and controlled by mobster Frankie Carbo and his minions, hadn’t had a white champion since James Braddock in 1937.”
“Minions” (2015) is a prequel to the “Despicable Me” animated movies. Evolving from single-celled organisms, the diminutive yellow creatures, according to the premise, have been at the service of villains throughout history and in 1968 follow the bidding of Scarlet Overkill (voiced by Sandra Bullock) until they get on her bad side and end up following a scoundrel called young Gru (Steve Carell).
Barbara Walter, representative for The Papers, picked up the camera-ready files for volume 48 of Steel Shavingson a DVD-R plus a print-out of the 324 pages. A big Bob Seeger fan like me, she will soon turn 65 and retire but may keep a few favorite clients, me included. My final 2018 blog entry contains these words: “Trump has shut down the government over his damned wall. So many senior Republican Senators have retired, the only one apparently left with half a spine seems to be Utah’s Mitt Romney, perhaps hoping, like Ike 70 years ago, to save the GOP from extremists.”
On the Senate floor, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, following a long telephone conversation with Trump, announced that the president would reluctantly sign the compromise Congressional legislation funding border security but then declare a national emergency in order to expedite construction of his wall. McConnell has been against this tactic, believing it would set a terrible precedent, but caved rather than stand up to the White House bully. Perhaps he’s hoping the judicial branch has more guts in stopping this fiasco than his Republican colleagues. On “Morning Joe” a New York Times analyst compared to McConnell’s performance to one of the yellow-bellied creatures in “Minions.” Here’s Ray Smock’s take on these troubling events:
President Trump just snatched Nancy Pelosi’s purse. Over on the Senate side, Mitch McConnell handed over the Senate’s wallet without a struggle. If the president gets away with this constitutional grand theft, you can kiss the American Republic goodbye. The only thing standing between a Banana Republic president and rule by presidential decree is the power of the purse, which belongs to Congress, not to any president.
In one of the most rambling and embarrassing performances of an American president, Donald Trump spoke for 53 minutes about his declaration of a state of emergency on our border with Mexico. His stream of unconsciousness in the Rose Garden today undermined his own case when this gets to the courts. He said on several occasions that he had more money than he knew what to do with. He lamented the small amount Congress appropriated for wall building and repair, but readily admitted Congress gave him more than he asked for in other parts of border security, including funds for better monitoring of ports of entry.
Virtually every member of Congress and the officials of the executive branch know that drugs are smuggled mainly through ports of entry and that it is a huge multi-billion-dollar enterprise conducted by sophisticated criminals, not families seeking asylum. Just this week the most notorious drug kingpin of recent times, El Chapo, was sentenced to life in prison. And just last week two large shipments of drugs were stopped at ports of entry. Trump fails mention such things.
In questioning from the press, Trump said, in effect, that he is declaring a national emergency to deliver on a campaign promise. That is his emergency, not the nation’s. He will use this national emergency declaration, win or lose, to show why he needs to be re-elected. He deserves another term so he can continue to fight for the wall. The wall is the symbol for stopping the browning of America. It is an appeal to racism and fear, which were the hallmarks of his campaign and his presidency.
John Dowd
Bob Woodward’s “Fear,” about Trump’s first year in office, concludes with loyal attorney John Dowd resigning from the Mueller probe defense team. Even though Dowd believed that the president had not colluded with Russia nor obstructed justice, he knew that if he agreed to be interviewed by the special counsel under oath, he’s likely end up in “an orange jump suit.” Woodward, whose 1999 book “Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate,” dealt with past abuses by special prosecutors, wrote:
After 47 years, Dowd knew the game, knew prosecutors look for the perjury trap. They built cases, could string things together, something that would look bad. And in Trump he had seen the tragic flaw. In the political back-and-forth, the evasions, the denials, the tweeting, the obscuring, crying “Fake news,”the indignation, Trump had one overriding problem that Dowd knew he could not bring himself to say to the president: “You’re a fucking liar.”
“Fear” rings true even though Dowd and other Trump advisers have denied saying things attributed to them. John Kelley, for instance, claims he never called Trump an idiot. Rightwing past Trump supporter Ann Coulter recently did just that, quite publicly.
Mark McPhail
Former IUN administrator Mark McPhail spoke at Miller’s Gardner Center about his upcoming book “Shades of Crimson and Cream: A Diverse People’s History of Indiana University.” A couple years ago, he resigned as Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs when frustrated at every turn by an Old Boys network of senior faculty anxious to hold on to their power. It will be interesting to see if he takes his revenge out on them in print. On the program with Mark was the South Shore Dance Alliance.
At bowling a woman was giving away cookies topped with heart-shaped icing, and several others were exchanging Happy Valentine’s Day hugs, including Sheryl Burrill and Mikey Wardell. “Giving away hugs?”I asked Sheryl. After a slight hesitation, she opened her arms and gave me a squeeze. Even though the Engineers bowled above average, we only won a single game from We’re Here, as Steve Huffman rolled a 632 series with 2 games well over 200.
James and Deborah Snyder
Portage has a new acting mayor, Sue Lynch. A jury found Jim Snyder not guilty of accepting a bribe in return for putting a company on the towing list, the originally rationale behind the federal government probe at a time when their main target was Lake County sheriff John Buncich. The jury did find Snyder guilty of receiving $13,000 that he claimed was a consultant’s fee from a company that sold the city five garbage trucks. At the time Snyder was financially strapped, owing back taxes, and did not adequately report the income, hence a second conviction for obstructing the IRS. Snyder is facing up to ten years in prison for something that normally would have resulted in a fine had not the U.S. Attorney chosen to go after him with both barrels and coerced others, including his own brother, to testify against him or face stiff penalties themselves. The government paid informants to secretly record conversations where they tried to get Snyder to make incriminating statements. Perhaps Snyder’s being a Republican entered the equation so the prosecutor could not be accused of partisanship.
I only met Mayor Snyder once, at a Portage Historical Society banquet, and was not impressed but figured the guy, not yet 35 years old, must have had something to offer the voters. While I admired Snyder for supporting steelworkers during a 2015 dispute with management and volunteering Portage snow plows to clear streets in Gary’s Miller neighborhood after a huge storm (they shop in Portage was his retort to critics), I would not have voted for him. Still I resent the U.S. Attorney having the power to pick and choose whom to go after regarding political fundraising methods that are virtually universal. Compared to consultant fees paid Republican law firms downstate or bribes Trump paid Hoosier lawmakers in order to secure a casino boat in Gary, $13,000 is chump change. Snyder may have been a scumbag and acted ill-advisedly, but I admire his decision, foolhardy in retrospect, to defend his reputation even though the odds were stacked against him. U.S. Attorneys, after all, win over 95% of cases that go to trial. I took it as a bad sign when Snyder did not take the stand to defend himself. He could have vigorously rebutted the main charges and admitted misrepresenting his income to the IRS while under great duress, to which he sincerely regrets. After the trial, one juror indicated that Snyder mishandling the $13,000 consultant fee caused them to conclude that he really didn’t earn it. The jurors admitted having trouble getting used to not being able to use their iPhones.
We saw “Shrek: The Musical” at Memorial Opera House, which I loved, much to my surprise. Based on the 2001 movie, “Shrek: The Musical” opened on Broadway a decade ago. The acting was terrific, from Jonathan Owens as Shrek and Robert Starks as the donkey to the many young folks who played Pinocchio, Peter Pan, and other characters from childhood tales.
above, Alex Voeller; below, Emmie Reigel, photo by Ray Gapinski
Alex Voeller, who played 3-foot-tall Lord Farquaad on his knees, turned out to be the tallest cast member. Emmie Reigel as the Wicked Witch danced with such abandon, reminding me of Tanice Foltz, that I could hardly take my eyes off her during the production numbers. The Sunday matinee was a sell-out, with many youngsters were in the audience. The musical numbers were delightful, culminating in the Monkees hit “I’m a Believer” by the 33-member cast. At Presto’s Restaurant afterwards, I noticed former Geology professor Bob Votaw at the next table with three young people who turned out to be his grandchildren. I recall a Votaw cast member being in a previous play, so they must have come from the theater. Bob taught until age 75 and was in great shape; in fact, he gave me a big hug that almost took my breath away. My lasagna entrée was delicious and so huge I barely made a dent in it.
Bob Votaw
Prior to book club at Gino’s I reread parts of British author Helen Rappaport’s “The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra.” The Czarina’s refusal to split up the family or consider fleeing into exile proved to be a tragic one: according to Rappaport, Alexandra’s “abiding virtue – and one that, perversely, destroyed them all in the end – was a fatal excess of mother love.” Here’s how “The Romanov Sisters” begins:
They day they sent the Romanovs away the Alexander Palace became forlorn and forgotten – a palace of ghosts. All 40 doors of the rooms inside had been sealed, the palace kitchens were closed, everything was locked. Only the 3 cats remained in a deserted Alexander Park, the last remnants of a family now heading hundreds of miles east into Siberia.
Here’s how the book ends:
In 2007 after considerable and protracted legal wrangling, the Russian Prosecutor General’s office finally saw fit to rehabilitate Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia Romanov, their parents and brother, as “victims of political repression.”
Helen Rappaport has written about Russia during the last days of the Romanovs in “Caught in the Revolution” and “The Race to Save the Romanovs.” Thus it was understandable, albeit disappointing, that “The Romanov Sisters” did not go much into detail about events that caused the Czar to be called “Nicholas the Bloody” (anti-Jewish pogroms, the Khodynka stampede killing 1,300 at his coronation, and the mass shooting of peaceful demonstrators during the 1905 revolution). Speaker Nancy Kevorkyan provided information about these tragic events. Severe losses during the Great War precipitated the forced abdication of Czar Nicholas and a subsequent civil war that compelled the Bolsheviks to liquidate the entire royal family. Lecherous faith healer Grigory Rasputin figures prominently in the narrative, as the Czarina became convinced that his alleged powers were essential in treating son Alexey’s hemophilia. The Observerreviewer Lara Feigel wrote:
What is most surprising in this story is quite how unsuited the family is to power. They all live chiefly for each other. Alexandra finds the business of state “a horrid bore”that keeps her husband away from her. Nicholas comes home for the children's bath-time every night and records episodes of teething and weaning in his diary. When Nicholas abdicates, his first thought is that now he can “fulfil my life's desire – to have a farm, somewhere in England.”
Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia are bright, willful girls who are devoted to their parents and to their precious little brother Alexey. For all four sisters, the ideal life would be one of quiet middle-class domesticity with a soldier husband. Infantilized by Alexandra, they are allowed to run wild with the soldiers who escort them on their annual holiday to Crimea. Even as teenagers, they play boisterous games of hide and seek with the handsome young officers; at one stage 10 people crammed into a wardrobe. Everything changes in the first world war when Alexandra, Olga and Tatiana train as nurses (typically modest, they take the titles of Sister Romanova numbers 1, 2 and 3). Now at last the girls have the contact with the outside world they have longed for as they change dressings and help with operations. But again it's the ordinariness they most love. “It's only at our hospital that we feel comfortable and at ease,” Olga tells one of her patients.
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