By Jace, a Trail Mix Contributor
Please forgive me. Sunday should be a day free from politics, but the GOP’s Faustian bargain appears to be coming due,
One of the most wonderful duets in all of opera literature, and perhaps rather appropriate. Enjoy the music, and enjoy your Sunday!
More Posts by Jace
jace, thank you. and similarly benet’s “the devil and daniel webster” can be likened to today’s misery. (I envision Hillary as Webster but there are many other interpretations that could be made) wiki capsulizes it for us:
Farmer Jabez Stone, from the small town of Cross Corners, New Hampshire, is plagued with unending bad luck, causing him to finally swear “it’s enough to make a man want to sell his soul to the devil!” Stone is visited the next day by a stranger, who later identifies himself as “Mr. Scratch,” and makes such an offer in exchange for seven years of prosperity. Stone agrees.
After seven years, Mr. Scratch comes for Stone’s soul. Stone bargains for an additional three years; after the additional three years passes, Mr. Scratch refuses any further extension. Wanting out of the deal, Stone convinces famous lawyer and orator Daniel Webster to accept his case.
At midnight of the appointed date, Mr. Scratch arrives and is greeted by Webster, presenting himself as Stone’s attorney. Mr. Scratch tells Webster, “I shall call upon you, as a law-abiding citizen, to assist me in taking possession of my property,” and so begins the argument. It goes poorly for Webster, since the signature and the contract are clear, and Mr. Scratch will not compromise.
In desperation Webster thunders, “Mr. Stone is an American citizen, and no American citizen may be forced into the service of a foreign prince. We fought England for that in ’12 and we’ll fight all hell for it again!” To this Mr. Scratch insists on his citizenship, citing his presence at the worst events of the US, concluding, “though I don’t like to boast of it, my name is older in this country than yours.”
Webster demands a trial as the right of every American. Mr. Scratch agrees after Webster says that he can select the judge and jury, “so long as it is an American judge and an American jury.” A jury of the damned then enters, “with the fires of hell still upon them.” They had all done evil, and had all played a part in the formation of the United States [….]
The trial is rigged against Webster. He is ready to rage, without care for himself or Stone, but he catches himself: he sees in the jurors’ eyes that they want him to act thus. He calms himself, “for it was him they’d come for, not only Jabez Stone.”
Webster starts to orate on simple and good things – “the freshness of a fine morning…the taste of food when you’re hungry…the new day that’s every day when you’re a child” – and how “without freedom, they sickened.” He speaks passionately of how wonderful it is to be human and to be an American. He admits the wrongs done in the course of American history but points out that something new and good had grown from them and that “everybody had played a part in it, even the traitors.” Mankind “got tricked and trapped and bamboozled, but it was a great journey,” something “no demon that was ever foaled” could ever understand.
The jury announces its verdict: “We find for the defendant, Jabez Stone.” They admit, “Perhaps ’tis not strictly in accordance with the evidence, but even the damned may salute the eloquence of Mr. Webster.” The judge and jury disappear with the break of dawn. Mr. Scratch congratulates Webster, and the contract is torn up.
from above, repeated for emphasis:
“Mr. Stone is an American citizen, and no American citizen may be forced into the service of a foreign prince. We fought England for that in ’12 and we’ll fight all hell for it again!”
and on the more recent Russia/WikiLeaks dump exposure of Hillary’s “dream is a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders”… you know, open trade and open borders with mexico, south and central America just like our neighbors to the north, our relationship with Canada. how is that different and supposedly repugnant when the other is not?
oh yeah, forgot… Canadians for the most part aren’t persons of color or Hispanic and therefore okay.
I love some operas, not all, and Faust is one I love because of the story. And you are right, that’s one great debate.
And the devil and Daniel Webster – great story. Both of those are right up there with Robert Johnson and his “Crossroad Blues” deal and of course as modified and bastardized by Charlie Daniels in “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”. Of course neither quite matches up with Faust.
oas or aka Organización de los Estados Americanos was founded in 1948… so not such a new idea or dream butcould use some tweaking and learn from the troubles troubling the European Union.
Well so much for the BID theory about NBC holding the Access America footage until after the debate. They had it for 4 days and wouldn’t release it because the lawyers were reviewing it and WaPo simply scooped them.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a hemispheric trade zone as an idea. Creating one in the face of environmental & wage concerns would only be the beginning of the problems that includes drug cartels, dictators, violence, overpopulation, and rampant poverty. The trouble with great ideas is that they so often fall apart with confronted by human flaws and failings.
Thank you Jace
Magnificent contribution to our Sunday as always.
Did everyone enjoy Kellyanne Conway’s Day Off? The fact and the SNL takeoff were refreshing.
https://youtu.be/Zjbc15X1zSM
Jamie, thanks and here’s alec’s Donald again
https://youtu.be/5sYGjoUcusM
I loved the cold open – wondered how they would approach it. I thought it was brilliant. And Kelly Ann’s day off was similarlyterrific.
jace, i “app ala jize” as donalec would say for messing up your lovely sunday atmosphere with crudity. similar to little donald’s but his crudités are more like pigs-in-a-blanket kind.
pogo, you’re mil was right. wapo: More Trump tapes surface with crude sex remarks
Jace, a very appropriate choice, well done! And our poor Faustian Donald. Despite his experiences in Atlantic City and LV, he keeps begging Mephistopheles for the chance to double down on his last (expiring) bargain. What a fool.
Donald, come look at my back yard all full of shredded green leaves ripped from their trees. That, young man, is your future. Our Lady of the Harbor, not the Devil, is coming to collect–now.
I have the wine. Someone give me a drinking word for tonight’s 90 minute debate that won’t have me missing the last hour. lol
Jamie,
Drinking word? Did I hear the scumbag describe his daughter as “…a piece of ass.”?
I don’t drink when I’m angry.
A little something to keep on hand from now until after election, the next time some Fox Viewer, Breitbart reader, right wing meme spouter says “Benghazi”
House Benghazi Report Finds no new evidence of Hillary Clinton Wrongdoing From April of this Year.
The taxpayers don’t need to pay millions more for delusions, fantasies and wishful thinking.
I hope that lying sack of sh-t, Kelley Ann Condom has lots of days off
Technically it was that famous gentleman’s gentleman Howard Stern who used that description. The Trumpeting Trump just sort of mumbled yes after discussing the size of her breasts.
Jamie, perhaps the debate drinking game word/phrase “i’m sorry” would be good for those not wanting to over imbibe or even drink. can’t imagine that being said very often.
Trump/brietbart playing Juanita Broaddrick tape on a loop
Broadderick’s story is complicated by her own denials that anything happened and the fact that she was having an affair which led to a divorce and a second marriage which also failed due to her philandering.
Her accusation about Hillary CLinton trying to silence her is based on the voices only she hears.
Bill Clinton has behavior issues with women but this woman is a psycho and Trump should be ashamed of using a mentally unbalanced person..kind of like the benghazi mother he shamelessly trots out.
;
one of my favorite programs gets a new old face.
cbs sunday morning Passage: Jane Pauley returns to morning TV
This week marks the 40th anniversary of the day a young newswoman from Indiana took her place as co-anchor of the “Today” show. And now, almost 40 years to the day, Jane Pauley takes over as host of “CBS Sunday Morning,” following in Charles Osgood’s footsteps.
Great choice, Jace!
We had a great time discussing the state of the Republican party this morning at breakfast with our friends. All of them except for one are Hillary supporters. The one conservative said he was disgusted by Trump and will be voting for Gary Johnson.
And thinking of music. The play we went to see at the Ogunquit Playhouse this past Thursday was “The Million Dollar Quartet”. One night in 1956 just before Christmas, a chance meeting of 4 great musicians happened at Sun Records… Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis. They played their songs together and had a party. The sound guy flipped the switch, recorded it, and put the tape in a vault where it was discovered 25 yrs. later. One of the best shows we’ve ever seen… the musicians did them all justice. Wish you all coulda been there.
ben stein this morning on cbs:
I disagreed with Trump on many things. But I stood up for him on TV and in print because he was a force for change, and he was not afraid to be non-PC.
But this latest is too much. [….]
The hour is desperately late. At this rate, Mr. Trump is leading my party to catastrophe, to a whipping at the hands of a radicalized Democrat Party in the White House and in Congress.
But if Mr. Trump can do the right thing, drop out; if the party can elevate Pence; and get a great Veep candidate, all can still be saved.
Donald Trump, for once do the right thing. Take your boasts and your swindles and your dirty jokes and your jet and go back home, and let our great party try to save itself and the nation.
Ben Stein a little late to doing the right thing he’s a disgusting twit
he worked for Nixon
proud of California the state where trump has the least chance of winning (no chance)
the goops rushing to abandon ship are so disingenuous
Trump a force for change? such utter bullshit sort of the same bullshit when the slavering media was calling him a populist
what in anything of the few concrete things he proposed was a change….any change?
right message wrong messenger –no Ben Stein wrong message and the best messenger the goops have to offer
the Republicans are exposed for the craven assholes they have always been
Where is that legislative proposal that all the hedge fund managers would hate –did kelley ann condom eat it?
In a similar vein. From Marlowe. New republican prayer. ‘Run slowly slowly horses of the night that time may cease and election day never come.’
Ah, Faustus,
Now hast thou but one bare hour to live,
And then thou must be damned perpetually.
Stand still, you ever-moving spheres of heaven,
That time may cease and midnight never come.
Fair nature’s eye, rise, rise again, and make
Perpetual day; or let this hour be but
A year, a month, a week, a natural day,
That Faustus may repent and save his soul.
O lente, lente currite noctis equi!
[O slowly, slowly run, horses of night!]
The stars move still; time runs; the clock will strike;
The devil will come, and Faustus must be damned.
O, I’ll leap up to my God! Who pulls me down?
See, see, where Christ’s blood streams in the firmament!
One drop would save my soul, half a drop!”
A radicalized democratic party? What universe does Stein inhabit?
Ms Cracker singing the song of my people……
Patd,
Not to worry. There is crude and then there is Trump. Vulgar, crass, demeaning and small minded. A pubescent child in a 70 year old body.
RR,
Oh but to have been a fly on the wall in that studio!
Fed-up with Trump nation
the people who post tohis twitter account are just plain stupid with a wad of ignorance for brains. He has filled them up with misinformation and flat out lies — they are like landmines all over the country
Jamie,
I think that the word should be unstable. I hope Hillary uses it a lot. If she does I will be drinking steadily if not responsibly.
Despite his experiences in Atlantic City and LV, he keeps begging Mephistopheles for the chance to double down on his last (expiring) bargain. What a fool.
Flatus,
Boy have you got that right. What a fool!!
Jace, once again, thanks for a great Sunday sublime….
Read this am that there were over 850 dead in Haiti.. sent a small donation…and will again dedicate my energy vibrations, thoughts and meditations for them…..
Pat, Ben S. is such a putz…….I remember the very first time that i heard him….he made so much sense to me….he was talking economics….then i got to know him a little better……..now he makes me want to reach into the screen and slap him around a little……what a flea-head….later going to the park….looks like a great day….sunny and a little cool……
Pogo,
Ask and it shall be given. Enjoy
Million Dollar Quartet Session on You Tube. Also available for download or CD. Gets muddy in spots and over talking while discussing songs.
https://youtu.be/GyHsQp1X4xE
Jerry Lee Lewis just celebrated his 81st birthday on September 29.
Crossroads duel from film with Steve Vai and Joe Satriani dubbing for the actors.
“Despite his experiences in Atlantic City…”
flatus, and despite the messes he left there.
new jersy online: Trump Taj Majal closing shuffles another N.J. attraction to bottom of deck
The closing of the Trump Taj Mahal casino on Monday will cost thousands of workers their jobs and bring a final end to Donald Trump’s legacy in the seaside resort, but it will also mean the closure of what was once one of the premiere destinations for poker outside Las Vegas.
ozymandias = donald drumpf
Ozymandias
Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1792 – 1822
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
nytimes: Inside Trump Tower, an Increasingly Upset and Alone Donald Trump
It has been his pride and his palace, a soaring black skyscraper overlooking Manhattan that seemed to match Donald J. Trump’s ambition and ostentatiousness.
But Trump Tower, since Friday afternoon, has become a kind of lonely fortress for its most famous occupant, who holes up inside, increasingly isolated and upset, denounced almost every hour by another Republican official.
Mr. Christie and Mr. Priebus told Mr. Trump that the situation with other Republicans was becoming dire. Other advisers assured Mr. Trump that attacking Mrs. Clinton over her husband’s behavior with women, and over reports that she had defended his behavior, would help rally Republicans again.
from the times article
what advisors might those be — the people whose whole life has been devoted to destroying the Clintons? there is no chance for him and the republicans who are only now running away too late for you too
Experience keeps a dear school…..
So the condom, who has heard worse from and about Trump, is now backing away. And using her Christian faith as the excuse. Dear Kelly Ann Condom you will never get the stink of lying for Trump off you.
First they came for the clowns,
And I said nothing.
Because I was a mime.
debate night and SNL handled the tape and VP debate masterfully…blending the two stories.
I noticed your comment, RR. Unfortunately, gary johnson also had a zipper problem. Our first lady, Dee, was a lovely woman. I sat at her table during a woman’s event in Las Cruces in 1995. I found her delightful…smart, warm and genuine. She was part of the reason Gary did so well…along with Bill Clinton in the WH? The New Mexico economy was thriving and the state experienced a building boom starting at that time. Ironically, Dee was successful in stopping smoking in the state capital, but gary wanted other smoke…it remains the cornerstone of his popularity here. Here is the divorce and obit info…gary took-up with one her friends. Dee died of a broken heart, many say. Today, gary has a different partner and is not yet married.
I have noticed with the men, they use different phrasing when they are in pursuit of a women behind their wives’ back. I think I will start a list in case hubby comes up with some new activity. Here are two…I am sure there are more.
I am going furniture shopping.
I am hiking the Appalachian trail.
solar — I am going camping.
Good post Jace!
I thought the Conway skit was great.
Hell or Highwater is a very good movie…Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine, and Ben Foster do a great job…
Blondi……im going camping……
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> did not work well with my wife Judy………..all of a sudden, she loves camping…..
patd, great KO vid…solar, you are on the list.
I thought the potential FLOTUS and FGOTUS were off limits during the election season. My hope is that both attend tonight as I was unable to find out if Bill will be attending. If trump goes goes south to juanita? It would be great if Bill was there — he handled a heckler shouting ‘rapist’ at an event and was very cool headed. Just an unusual optic tonight.
roger stone, wikileaks and comey.
I’ll post a debate thread for tonight, event starts 9pm ET
bw, that’s newsworthy enough to be repeated… again and again.
NADLER: I’d like to ask you a few questions. The letter said this and I quote. “On August 8, 2016, Roger Stone, a Donald Trump confidant, revealed that he has communicated with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange about the upcoming release of additional illegally hacked Democratic documents. Mr. Stone made these statements during a Republican campaign event while answering a question about a potential ‘October surprise.’”
Obviously if someone is stating publicly that he is in direct communication with the organization that obtained these illegally hacked documents, I assume the FBI would want to talk to that person. Has the FBI interviewed Roger Stone about his communications with Julian Assange or his knowledge of how WikiLeaks got these illegally obtained documents?
Jace: Thank you for the music! (ABBA fan, couldn’t resist) Timing couldn’t be better for that Faust piece!
Jamie: How many times do they investigate the same things before those who base their opinions solely on headlines finally get it? Here’s a thought, learn to read so you can read actual reports instead of big bold headlines! How come nobody notices how much taxpayer money has been wasted on these frivolous vendettas that go nowhere? PS: did you notice in the Million Dollar Quartet video image, Elvis is at the piano instead of Jerry Lee? I don’t think people even knew he played piano in ’56, so that would have been a very rare image!
Renee: I hope one of our local theater groups does that show. It sounds amazing.
Pat: Someone should tell Ben Stein that the GOP hasn’t been “great” since the ’60s, They should wake up and smell the cyanide! At this juncture they should form a new party excluding the white supremacists. That group can join the teapartiers or the clan. PS: love Jane Pauley!
Olberman on what Hillary should do tonight “just treat him like a guy that just escaped from someplace” LOL! She shouldn’t have any problem doing that because he is likely to self-destruct for all of us to see-She won’t have to do much.
Roger Stone paid the New Jersey bomber just what some people are saying
o’liely on faux news was discussing the story of the racist watters piece on Chinatown. I saw it live and it was jaw dropping juvenile racism. O’liely then stated that he didn’t think anyone even called the network about the story. Really? I have the 888-369-4762 number to faux news for comments…it never works as the mailbox is always filled, but you can sure call it and faux news has to pay the toll…I sometimes call…ask for tucker, kellyann…just for fun…foolish, juvenile, but not racist on my part.
craig, did your dad say how toby reacted to the stormy weather? does she have problems with air pressure change, big wind blowing stuff around and thunder?
I feel so sorry for pets during stressful times like that was… at least with children one can explain what can be expected or why they’re being evacuated, that thing’s will eventually be okay and what’s happening is only temporary.
Just received a polling call…wanted to know if they reached a cell phone or land line, also wanted to know if I will vote, wanted to know my party registration, who I will vote for in the presidential election and am I enthusiastic?? I told her I was an 11 (on a scale from 1 -10, with 10 being the highest). Finally, a voice.
from realclearpolitics piece re fox interview video below:
Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, whose private emails were leaked Friday by WikiLeaks, said Sunday that Hillary Clinton has never said anything in private that she did not say in public. “She said all throughout this campaign she will crack down on Wall Street,” John Podesta told ‘Fox News Sunday’ about comments made to banks in secret.
“There’s nothing that she said that she hasn’t said in private that she doesn’t say in public,” he continued. “She’s put forward the most aggressive Wall Street plan of any candidate.”
“She won’t let Wall Street wreck main street again.”
“That’s hardly a revelation,” Podesta said about Clinton’s comments that the people who know Wall Street best are the professionals. “There’s nothing exceptional in there.”
roger stone also paid the 1000 cheering Muslims that trump claims he saw in NJ after 9/11.
Thanks for the debate thread notice, Craig, I wonder if trump will have his usual bowl of tic tacs backstage.
maybe can see how drumpf is losing florida from this excerpt of a neat story in Miami herald:
It was 42 minutes after midnight Friday, and CNN had aired the tape of Trump himself — uncensored — Friday afternoon. But hearing Navarro repeat it upset another panelist on air, Trump surrogate Scottie Nell Hughes.
“Will you please stop saying that word?” she asked. “My daughter is listening.”
That unleashed Navarro — not that she’d reined herself in to begin with.
“You know what, Scottie? Don’t tell me you’re offended when I say ‘pussy,’ but you’re not offended when Donald Trump says it,” Navarro yelled. “I’m not running for president. He is.”
For anyone familiar with Navarro, her blunt reaction was hardly surprising. Since long before CNN hired her in 2012, she’s delivered unfiltered political opinions, even — or perhaps especially — when it comes to criticizing her own party.
She was among the first Florida Republicans to hammer then-Gov. Charlie Crist for backing President Barack Obama’s $700 billion stimulus plan. She revoked her endorsement of Bill McCollum in the 2010 gubernatorial campaign for adopting a hard line on immigration. She urged Gov. Rick Scott to prolong early-voting hours in 2012. She pounded Mitt Romney on his lackluster Hispanic outreach.
Navarro, who moved to Miami from Nicaragua when she was 8, has been a longtime Jeb Bush loyalist and was one of Marco Rubio’s early backers for the U.S. Senate. She lives in Coral Gables with her partner, Democratic fundraiser and Biltmore Hotel chief Gene Prescott. And she’s a prominent holdover from the “Never Trump” movement that tried to stop Trump from winning the GOP nomination.
In August, Navarro slammed fellow Miamian Helen Aguirre Ferré, the Republican National Committee’s Hispanic communications director who is also of Nicaraguan descent, for defending Trump after spending much of the primary opposing him.
“I’m old enough to remember when you used to tweet against Donald Trump!” Navarro said. “I’m old enough to remember when you used to be as offended as I am by the things Donald Trump used to say! That was before he was the nominee, before you had an RNC job!”
above miami herald link concludes with:
“Ana, for you to sit here and call Donald Trump a flat-out racist is outrageous,” Republican strategist Michael Caputo said.
“Well, let me do it again, and let me do it in two languages,” Navarro said. “Es un racista. He is a flat-out racist, and it’s what he’s played on for 16 months. He is a bigot. He is a racist. He is a misogynist. He has said horrible things about women. He has said horrible things about immigrants, about Hispanics. He has yet to say one good thing about immigrants.”
“Republicans need to speak up,” Navarro concluded, “and people need to know that not all Republicans are represented by the hostile, vile voice of Donald Trump.”
patd, roger stone was banned from CNN earlier this year because of his racist tirades on Ana Navarro. Media matters from February. Warning…racial rant. CNN finally banned him 2 days after this piece ran.
We Navarros are like that……..Ana is great….later
Julian you waited too long and your guy has so much worse. What a skank
https://driftingthrough.com/2016/10/06/an-open-letter-to-donald-trump-from-some-angry-women/
This letter is priceless. Hillary should use it as her opening statement and then leave the stage. Debate over.
Hillary is going to beat him like a conga drum…….
This has been a long time coming.
I’m not some Tammy Wynette over here baking cookies……
—Hillary Clinton, on Sixty Minutes
Well, I planted mums and officially did the last grass cutting today and am transitioning to leaf mulching with the next cutting.
Just watched trump’s senior adviser Senor(it)a Delgado talking about Trump’s character. Good god. Can’t see how releasbig tapes of the Apprentice would help show drumpf didn’t harass women on it because “you can’t prove a negative.” Translation – “Are you out of your fucking mind? They would kill us.”
Trump is holding news conference with Paula Jones after running Breitbart Broaderick tape all day. Pass the barf bag.
Trump is appearing with Bill’s accusers before the debate. Who’s running for president again?
I need a shower after watching that.
Betcha 5 that the settlement with Jones had a confidentiality clause. Mrs. P says Bill should sue her after the election.
There is no excuse for what Trump just did.
What’s next mooning, He could have talked about issues that would have changed the subject
It’s time for the RNC to formally concede the election and strip Trump from the rolls of the Republican Party. There is no other meaningful way for them to hold on to their Grand Old Party moniker.