Here are some pictures from the April 5 rally on Boston Common against Trump’s power grab.
Yes, I went. Will it make any difference? Probably not. Trump isn’t going to stop his quest for tyrannical power just because a lot of people object, nor will Homan stop inflicting Hell on Boston with his Gestapo-like abductions. But it’s nice to see that people do object, and some of them even have the right reasons.
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Spohr’s late symphonies, the Seventh through the Ninth (or the Tenth, counting the one which he withdrew but didn’t destroy), don’t have the appeal to me of the earlier ones. Still, a complete understanding of his music needs to include these symphonies, and they have some interesting features.
The Seventh, written in 1841, follows an unusual plan. The title is “Irdisches und Göttliches im Menschenleben: Doppel-Symphonie für zwei Orchester” (earthly and godly in human life: double symphony for two orchestras). It’s a kind of concerto grosso, with a small orchestra and a full orchestra. There are three movements, each with its own title.
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In less than three months since he’s taken office, Donald Trump has imposed huge taxes by decree, harassed lawyers and judges, brought federal agencies into chaos, had people abducted from the streets without charges or access to legal counsel, antagonized America’s allies, and hinted at several acts of military aggression and conquest. The economy is already suffering from his actions and is likely to get a lot worse. In spite of this, his approval rating stands at close to 50%. Nearly half of registered voters, according to polls, approve of what he’s doing. Why?
In the past, I’ve discussed a couple of reasons. News media have abandoned objectivity. It’s hard to get just the facts. A second reason is the miserable state of education in the US. Schools turn out students who seldom read and lack critical thinking skills.
Here I’d like to talk about a third factor: the attitudes of the left.
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The “Religion for Breakfast” YouTube channel reported on a survey to determine how often people go to church, eliminating the need for self-reporting and the biases that go with it. The video focused on the numbers obtained, but the way the survey was conducted is disturbing and offers a warning about how much information phone applications collect and pass on to third parties.
According to the video, Dr. Devin Pope of the University of Chicago conducted this survey, obtaining information from people without their knowledge or consent. “Dr. Pope analyzed the movement patterns of 2.1 million Americans, tracking visits to religious buildings on their main day of worship. Think of it like instead of asking someone how often they go to the gym, you just check their gym’s key card records. But let’s pause because I know what you’re all thinking. How can he even know how often people go to a place of worship? Isn’t tracking cell phone data kind of — creepy?” (Yes, it is.)
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A new release of Spohr’s oratorio, Des Heilands letzte Stunden (the Savior’s last hours), is out from Carus-Verlag. The solo singers are Florian Sievers, Johanna Winkel, Maximilian Vogler, Arttu Kataja, Thomas E. Bauer, Felix Rathgeber, and Magnus Piontek. The chorus is the Kammerchor Stuttgart, and the orchestra the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. It covers the same ground as Bach’s Passions, from Judas’s betrayal of Jesus to his crucifixion. A booklet in English and German contains Johann Friedrich Rochlitz’ full text with a loose translation, as well as detailed notes.
This oratorio came after Die letzten Dinge, also with text by Rochlitz. It premiered in Kassel in 1835. The earlier oratorio is a disaster movie in music. This is a more introspective work. Unlike Bach’s Passions, this “passion oratorio” tells the story primarily from the perspective of Jesus’s followers. The numbers are mostly dedicated to showing their reactions to his capture, trial, and crucifixion. Bach tells the story from a cosmic perspective; Spohr’s oratorio gets very close to the people portrayed. Even Judas is somewhat sympathetic as he expresses his terror over the situation he’s gotten himself into.
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A Washington Post article header has drawn outrage on Bluesky. Here it is:
How Trump is blasting through norms and testing limits of his power
Experts say President Donald Trump’s actions have pushed the country into fraught territory. They are divided on whether he has breached constitutional guardrails.
That implies that a significant number of experts think Trump hasn’t “breached constitutional guardrails.” Who are these experts? The one person they cite is Steven Calabresi, a law professor at Northwestern University and co-chair of the Federalist Society. The article says:
He praised Trump’s embrace of a concept called the “unitary executive theory,” which posits that the president has supreme power over the executive branch, including the ability to remove officials.
In particular, Calabresi said, he was pleased with Trump’s moves to dismiss members of the Federal Trade Commission and the National Labor Relations Board.
Donald Trump’s latest decree takes his power-grabbing to a new level. He has commanded the states to alter their laws to require proof of citizenship for voting. He has no legal authority at all to do this. The Constitution lets the states run elections; Congress has a limited ability to set requirements, and the president has no authority without an act of Congress. He is relying on intimidation of state officials and federal judges to get his way. Claiming the personal authority to decide who can vote is the action of a dictator or would-be dictator.
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The situation with harassment of Jewish students and the Trump administration’s actions is a mess where serious wrongs turn up on all sides. It’s vital, and difficult, to evaluate actions on principles rather than on tribal criteria. On the one hand, there is harassment and intimidation that hides under the innocent name of “protest.” On the other, there’s the improper invocation of laws and denial of due process against people accused of doing that.
Governmental overreach is the bigger concern, especially when the current executive branch is aggressively expanding its power. At the same time, intimidation on campus is a serious concern, and downplaying it as mere “protest” only gives the administration’s actions a facade of credibility. An example is a Washington Post article with the headline “New Trump demand to colleges: Name protesters — and their nationalities.”
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Just a few weeks ago I wrote, “I don’t think — though I might turn out wrong — that Trump will be able to break down civil liberties protections enough to make a US Worldcon dangerous to visitors.” Now I’m not so sure. The fannish world is talking about the ICE detention of Becky Burke, a British comics creator.
Here’s the situation, as I understand it. Burke was visiting the US and Canada on an extended hiking trip. She lodged with some families along the way, doing chores in return. When she tried to enter Canada from the United States, she was turned away on a visa issue I don’t know the details of. Going back to the USA, she was detained because of her chores-for-boarding arrangement, which I guess was taking jobs away from good Americans! ICE has held her in a cell under conditions like what a violent criminal would face. A GoFundMe campaign was run to finance her legal expenses, and she has been released, returning to Wales on March 18. She should never had had to experience all this.
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Many people characterize Ayn Rand’s ethical philosophy as based in acquisition as the primary goal. This is a gross misreading that says more about the people who view it that way than about her philosophy.
In John Galt’s long speech in Atlas Shrugged, which expresses her philosophy in the context of the story, she lists seven virtues: “rationality, independence, integrity, honesty, justice, productiveness, pride.” “Getting rich” or any equivalent isn’t in the list. Productiveness can lead to wealth, but getting rich without it is inconsistent with her standards.
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