Cheese and Chalk
- 8 minutes ago
- 6 min read
As you might have guessed, if there was a week that would send me back to the keyboard, this was it. Assassination attempt, Royal visit, ballroom buzz, and Comey, love letters in the sand indictment. Wow.
As to the assassination attempt, all I’ll say is this. With every one of these we seem to learn more lessons. Allowing a hotel guest to bring firearms to the same building where the entire upper echelon of government will be dining? Even the would-be assassin said he was shocked. He came one flight of stairs away from the President and if he had been carrying a bomb (which likely would also have gone undetected), the end of the story would have been very ugly.
Could this endless string of “new lessons” be reflective of the clown car chain of command in our Homeland Security and Judicial agencies. Please remember that it was Sean Curran who headed the Presidential Protection Detail at Butler, PA and escorted the wounded President off the stage. Because of his “courage”, he was named head of the Secret Service after the election. Given the countless mistakes that led to two fatalities and one wounded President, many said that Curran should have stepped down or been fired. But in a world where courage trumps brains, he was rewarded.
And to whom does the Director of the Secret Service report? Up until last month, Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security. If you’ll recall Kristi did not lose her job for utter incompetence, for accusing assassinated American citizens of being domestic terrorists, for having an open affair with her chief of staff, or even for providing inadequate oversight over the Secret Service. No, she lost her job for getting more favorable publicity than her boss. Had she spent that money to have an AI-generated Marlboro Man Trump ride into the sunset, she’d still be sleeping with Lewandowski on the departmental aircraft and encouraging violent deportation.
But thank God she’s gone and we have a new person overseeing all threats against America, domestic and foreign. No wait. It’s now Markwayne Mullin, former plumbing company owner?
First, his first name sounds like something his mother yelled out the screened door when his ass was in big trouble. And weren’t “the Plumbers” Nixon’s gang who couldn’t shoot straight? Markwayne’s the plumber who’s going to keep us safe? The Secret Service will surely be held accountable by this guy. At least, no leaks. (yuk, yuk)
And then right in the middle of all of the feel-good vibes of a Royal Visit (which I will address in a moment), the Department of Injustice announces the indictment of another dangerous criminal; a man who dedicated his entire life to public service and the rule of law as a ruse to set up an assassination attempt on the President, thinly disguised as an innocent walk on the beach. Yes, James Comey caught red-handed and sandy toed posting a call to arms for a Presidential assassination.
We must change the idiom coined by Judge Sol Wachtler that the prosecutorial advantages in our system are so stark that you “could indict a ham sandwich.” This indictment is on stale bread with the ham far past its sell-by date. Maybe we change it to a “bad ham sandwich” or even a “Kosher ham sandwich?”
Our Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has joined his predecessor Pam Bondi as the two attorneys most likely to lose their law licenses on or about 2028, unless impeachment by a Democratic congress gets them first. Todd is auditioning for the top job with every vengeful indictment he can muster. The question is how long it takes before a Federal Judge makes it clear that the judiciary has had enough.
But on a brighter note, this week we witnessed the visit of Charles the Third, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith. He was accompanied by Queen Camilla.
Let me say at the outset, as a second generation British American with deep roots in Wales, England, and Scotland, I have always been fascinated by the Royal family. My British family offers a full range of opinions from support to neutrality (to “bloody idiots.”) But I have studied the British monarchy and from time to time admired their service and integrity (with obvious exceptions).
Charles arrived in Washington amongst divided British opinion as to the prudence of his visit. Countless foreign dignitaries have learned that standing next to Donald Trump on the world stage is a dangerous place to be. The “say anything that comes to mind” history of Trump is well known. But the fractious recent dialogue over British entry into Trump’s war with Iran seemed to require the quiet diplomacy that Charles could bring to the table.
I watched the welcoming ceremony at the White House with trepidation but was pleasantly surprised. Under British-like overcast skies, the speech written for the President was well composed and nearly perfectly read save a couple harmless hiccups.
Why is it that he feels duty bound to repeat phrases that he likes, when the power of the words speak for themselves? Lincoln: “the brave men both living and dead...Trump: “yes, those both living and those dead, the ones walking around and those who aren’t walking around anymore.”
The pomp and ceremony was Trumped up a bit, but still British-lite. We far-outnumber them, but they march better than us and throw in beautiful horses and gleaming bearskin hats. And all that shouting of unintelligible commands is damned cool.
But the highlight of the day was the King’s Speech before Congress.
First, the contrast before he uttered a word.
The King in a beautiful bespoke suit from Anderson & Sheppard stands at the podium and over his right and left shoulders stand JD Vance and Mike Johnson wearing their suck-up suits of navy blue with Trump-red ties. Tweedle dee and Tweedle dumb meet the King of England. Gravy versus gravitas.
What Charles said was the perfect blend of humor, grace, resolve, and courage for the occasion. It showed that statesmanship can bring the entire chamber to its feet in raucous applause. The unity in that historic chamber brought tears to my eyes.
And most importantly the King touched all the bases:
· The roots of our shared history.
· The depth to which we have been influenced by the Magna Carta.
· The vital importance of NATO.
· The solidarity of European support post 9-11.
· Our duty to support the Ukraine.
· Our vital eternal duty to protect our planet.
And (drum roll) the importance of checks and balances and PARTICULARLY the check on executive authority. And folks, to that they all stood and applauded, even Vance and Johnson. Just being polite? I think not. It was a surprising peek inside their conflicted brains.
Maybe my favorite moment was at the State Dinner when the King’s humor poked a dagger between the ribs of the President. Not many have picked up on it for what it was but knowing that Charles is a preservationist of the highest order, I feel certain that it was intentional.
The welcoming ceremony for the King was in the shadow of the cranes that hover over the construction of the Trump Ballroom and the weekend news was filled with the MAGA talking points of a required fortress for future Presidential events. So, at the State Dinner, it was the Golden Gorilla in the room.
The King noted that this project had been born after the Trump’s visit to England (dig #1: the poor American cousins trying to imitate the Kingdom). But the roundhouse, knockout punch in my mind was his next reference:
“I cannot help noticing the readjustments to the East Wing, Mr. President,” adding, “I’m sorry to say that we British, of course, made our own small attempt at real estate development of the White House in 1814.”
Laughter followed, but to me, this was a zinger that would go right over the hair sprayed head of Donald Trump.
As a preservationist, “readjustments to the East Wing” is sarcasm of the highest order. A wrecking ball is not a tool of readjustment, but a tool of destruction. In other words, I noticed that you destroyed the East Wing, Mr. President.
And the reference to a parallel action by the British of attempting to burn the building down, while funny, is also a reference to what a preservationist would think about the aesthetic effect of an enormous ballroom being attached to a beautiful building.
A fire could have no worse effect.