I dreamed that Milton's spirit rose, and took

From life's green tree his Uranian lute;

And from his touch sweet thunder flowed, and shook

All human things built in contempt of man,―

And sanguine thrones and impious altars quaked,

Prisons and citadels…

―Percy Bysshe Shelley

Greetings from the Far Left Coast. This may come as a surprise to some: Not every waking moment is devoted to elitist intellectual pursuits such as critiquing Kant's analysis of the synthesis of the manifold of apperception or pondering Heidegger's take on the question of Being. I read mysteries for diversion. A lot of mysteries. Louisa Luna is a new favorite. Her Alice Vega novels, Two Girls Down and The Janes, are knockouts. Vega is a former bounty hunter who finds missing persons, mostly children. Her partner, Max Caplan, is an ex-cop turned PI. Cap's teenage daughter Nell is something of an unofficial third partner whose insights and observations have Cap slapping his forehead, wondering, duh, why didn't he think of that. My old history teacher Mr. Mandel would say Vega is a real tough baby. You do not want to be on her bad side, and you would be well advised to watch your step in any case. When she breaks out the bolt cutters…

Return visitors to Portable Bohemia's home page may notice a few tweaks. I added links from the Quill & Parchment archive page to three poems representative of my work to make them a tad more accessible. I intend to rotate Q&P poems in and out from time to time to keep it fresh. (We all know which road is paved with good intentions.) I also added a link to two poems published in Tryst in 2003.

A blog feed listing the three most recent blog posts now appears on the right side of the page below the introductory material. An announcements section that has not been used in ages was deleted. 

Charlie Sykes over at The Bulwark laments the decline of invective.

We really need a better class of insults. Our expletives have grown tired, our language of abuse dumbed down and reduced to twitter slaps. Among his more deplorable legacies, Trump has shrunken the vocabulary of our democracy to the level of a badly-educated sixth grade mouth-breather.

Mea culpa, since we are all affected to some degree. We have been known to refer to the former president, for example, as The Orange One. But that’s weak tea. (The Poltroons of Texas, October 12, 2021)

My own references to the twice-impeached former president likewise leave something to be desired. Sykes suggests we look to the Bard for guidance:

A most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise breaker, the owner of no one good quality. —William Shakespeare, All’s Well That Ends Well (Act 3, Scene 6)

That trunk of humours, that bolting-hutch of beastliness, that swollen parcel of dropsies, that huge bombard of sack, that stuffed cloak-bag of guts, that roasted Manningtree ox with pudding in his belly, that reverend vice, that grey Iniquity, that father ruffian, that vanity in years? —Henry IV Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 4)

invective.

Thou sodden-witted lord! Thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows. —Troilus and Cressida (Act 2, Scene 1)

I am taking this to heart and will try to do better.

Fiona Hill is making the rounds promoting her new book, There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century. The nation's introduction to Hill was one of the good things that came out of the first impeachment hearings. It comes as no surprise that she does more than shill for the book in Judy Woodruff's interview on the PBS NewsHour last Friday (Fiona Hill reflects on impeachment testimony, Trump presidency and opportunity in America). 

Hill relates her personal story of growing up the daughter and granddaughter of coal miners in the northeast of England during a time of mass unemployment that left no future for young people and speaks eloquently of lessons learned carving out a career in an almost all-male profession, among them the importance of mentorship and assistance 

to give you a hand up, not a handout in life, but a hand up, because I didn't really do all of this on my own. Of course, I worked hard at school. I was very focused on basically all of my studies. I wanted to pursue an education as far as it would take me. And it took me to Harvard University and many other things besides.

That career took her to the highest levels of government as national intelligence officer for Russia in the Bush and Obama administrations and deputy assistant to the president and senior director for European and Russian affairs on his National Security Council staff under Obama's successor. Her observations about Trump and analysis of the perils facing the country are spot on.

Trump's greatest weakness as president, she says, was his vulnerability to manipulation, a consequence of his fragile ego, susceptibility to flattery, and readiness to take offense to any kind of criticism. She sees the US following a political path similar to the one followed by Russia under Putin after wrenching economic and political periods in the 1990s, warning that "danger is increasing by the day, because we're constantly seeing other political figures trying to emulate Trump. We're now in a situation where lies and deceit have become the coin of governance."

That Hill, retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, and others of their caliber were driven from government service is among the more grievous offenses to be laid at the distended paunch of that scabrous sack of pus and venom that previously befouled the White House—and competition for a place on the list of most grievous offenses is fierce. 

Kurt McGill is a graduate of UC Berkeley (MA in Fine Arts), flash fiction writer, poet, visual artist, and author of two atmospheric noir novels: Ode to Blackwell Wren and The Late Afternoon of a Chinatown Detective (per bio note for his story The Merry Wink, Akashic Books, November 2018). He sometimes contributes comments to Portable Bohemia blog posts that are worth taking a look at if you have not noticed them before. We are often on the same page about subjects under discussion though maybe in different paragraphs. Our perspectives tend to be kindred, but he comes at it with his own slant that is interesting and thought provoking. Kurt McGill's most recent comment comes at the end of the new blog post:

Civility, Integrity, Moral Example, and Other Quaint Notions, October 13, 2021. The Sinema affair at Arizona State University was a minor kerfuffle that nonetheless illustrates Joe Biden's penchant for speaking off the cuff when more thoughtful remarks would be advisable, for which he has long been notorious. The tendency to rattle on before his mouth logs on with his brain… read more>>

Keep the faith.

yr obdt svt

Pictured below: the new backpack from The Bulwark Store