SICK SOCIETY

ERIC LONDON—The judge refused to unseat a female juror when information surfaced that the individual had lied to the court during jury selection about the content of a book she had authored. The juror said the book was merely about the relationship between parents and young adult characters. In fact, it depicts three girls who are victims of predatory older men. Burke allowed the prosecution to show photographs of Weinstein’s naked body to humiliate the defendant and reinforce the notion that no Hollywood starlet could possibly consent to have sex with a physically unattractive man.

ED CURTAIN—Chencho is a catechist who secretly moves under darkness of night from one small Christian base community to another, encouraging the campesinos to keep the faith because God is with them, la gente, los pobres, the people, the poor. He says to Carolyn,Listen to me, hermana. We are brothers and sisters in Christ, and Christ is moving through the world now, through us. He is acting through us in the struggle against injustice, poverty, and oppression. To be with God now is to choose the fate of the poor, to be with them, to see through their eyes and feel through their hearts, and if this means torture and death, we accept. We are already in the grave.

GILBERT DOCTOROW—However, it is also possible to see the Kremlin announcement as presaging Russia’s taking absolute strategic military superiority over the United States, i.e., appropriating to itself what it accuses the United States of having tried to achieve vis-à-vis Russia with encirclement and the move of NATO to Russian borders.

ERIC LONDON—Throughout the #MeToo campaign, the Times and the proponents of identity politics have advanced the line that all accusers “must be believed” and that anyone who demands corroboration before judgment is “victim blaming.” Smollett, like so many affluent #MeToo accusers, saw a career opportunity in this political climate and hoped he could advance himself by playing the “victim.”

R S AHTHION—merican exceptionalism is a key component to explain of how saturated and soaked in ideology the average American is. It means George H W Bush (May He Rest In Piss) can get up and say he “doesn’t care what the facts are!” and that he won’t ever “apologise for America!” even when America has just murdered 290 people (66 of whom were children) and Americans will stand up and cheer for him.