erik lundegaard

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Monday June 15, 2020

Lancelot Links

Last time I did one of these we weren't even in the midst of a global pandemic. Imagine. Onward.

  • Jonathan Chait over at New York Magazine compares Gen. Michael Flynn's ramblings in a recent Op-Ed to the paranoid “fluids” talk of Col. Jack D.  Ripper from “Dr. Strangelove.” Apt. And sad. I hope someday Flynn gets the prison sentence he deserves rather than the one Trump needed.
  • Also at New York mag: What it's like to find yourself a social media pariah for a crime you didn't commit? Dude went for a bikeride and found himself accused of being the bike-riding dude who accosted the teenage girls putting up #BLM signs. Which he wasn‘t. But the world is full of amateur sleuths now and police—even as the police are daily being demonized.
  • The New York Times talks to Bob Dylan upon the release of his latest album, “Rough and Rowdy Ways.” Fun fact: That 17-minute JFK song he released last year? It was the first No. 1 single he’s ever had. Disclaimer: I don't know what having a No. 1 single means anymore. When I was 10, 20, 30 or more, it meant something. Now? Is there a new Top 40 countdown show? Dylan's still in good form, btw. He's always straightfoward and honest. And that's tough for a Minnesotan.
  • Related: Martin Scorsese's great documentary “No Direction Home,” is streaming on Netflix. It's a must for any Dylan fan, music fan, Scorsese fan. It's the only document that's ever made me believe in a collective unconscious. Patricia and I watched it last week—me for the ... third time? I could watch it again right now. (Fun fact: Joan Baez does about the best Bob Dylan imitation I‘ve heard.)
  • John Bolton has a new book out that would’ve helped during the impeachment hearings. Yeah, fuck that guy. (Profit before country, John.)
  • Good god, do i miss Jon Stewart. (Glad NYT is embracing the Q&A format more.)
  • I‘ve never really thought much of Melania Trump. Not disparagingly, I just don’t blame one spouse for the other spouse. But if a new book about her is accurate, and she's the reason Donald decided to run for president, she's on my forever shit list. Not-so-fun fact: Melania is the first immigrant First Lady since 1829—Louisa Adams, John Q's wife. A bit ironic given DT's stance on immigration. Seriously, how the fuck did we let all of this happen?
  • Related: P and I are watching “Babylon Berlin” and the shocking thing is how relevant 1929 Weimar Republic is to current-day United States. Shocking and sad. And worrisome. 
  • Baseball's on hold but Yankees suck.
Posted at 05:34 PM on Monday June 15, 2020 in category Lancelot Links