Open Thread September 17, 2023

Yesterday, the radio opera was “La fille du régiment,” by Donizetti. This is a cute and funny opera, which is known outside the opera world for two reasons. For one, it is the opera which contains the aria which gave Luciano Pavarotti his nickname, “king [or admiral] of the high C’s.” (In this recording, it was, as it often is, encored. And then, just for a little more fun, in Marie’s singing lesson, they substituted “La Vie en Rose” for Donizetti. (It really isn’t possible to go over the top with this opera, since it’s over the top to begin with.) The other is that it is the opera in which Ruth Bader Ginsburg was given her first speaking cameo. {I’ll spare you the search – the link on her name is to the review, and here are links to video of the beginning and the end of the cameo. She wrote her own lines and spoke in English. Her reference to Marie’s birth certificate is not in the libretto, but is a poke in the eye at “birtherism.”) The comic plot centers on Marie (the daughter of the regiment) who was found as a baby and adopted by the regiment and raised as a tomboy. All grown up now, she falls in love with a local boy, Tonio, while the regiment is atationed in the Tyrol, and he with her. But the Regiment has sworn that she may only marry a member of the regiment. So Tonio signs up – just as a noblewoman (the Marquise of Berkenfeld) discovers that Marie is actually her illegimate daughter (though she says “niece” at first), and sweeps her away. Her mother hopes to get her married to the son of the Duchess of Krakentorp (which is where RBG comes in.) This would be a horrible fate, but it is sabotaged by Marie herself, her lover, the rest of the regiment, and especially the senior sergeant of the regiment, Sulpice (a charming role for a baritone – they are so often stuck playing the bad guy.) So all ends well. While I was listening, and checking my email, Robert Reich also cracked me up. He apologized profusely for missing his regular Saturday column, listing all the reasons why (all beyond his control, but he insisted he should have foreseen them) and ended by saying his New Year’s resolution is “to stop blaming myself for events over which I have no control, and to recognize when I have no control.” Right. Good idea, Bob.  Good luck with that.

Cartoon – 17 new Norton (+JNY)

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – Plans For A Trump Dictatorship Are Already Drafted
Quote – There’s enough precedent — both historical and current — to show how dangerous this moment is, and what lies on the other side of the tipping point. It would be checkmate for democracy, perhaps permanently. I don’t think this will happen, at least not this time around. But the blueprint for seizing the reins of power has been in plain sight for some time. Then last week, an article in the Associated Press (AP) put it on the front burner.
Click through for details. It links to the AP story, should you want to pursue it further. Sorry it’s such a downer. But if we don’t know, we can’t fight it.

NBC News – Rep. Mary Peltola’s husband dies in plane crash in Alaska
Quote – “We are devastated to share that Mary’s husband, Eugene Peltola Jr. — ‘Buzzy’ to all of us who knew and loved him — passed away earlier this morning following a plane accident in Alaska,” Peltola’s chief of staff, Anton McParland, said in a statement. Responding to requests for comment, the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board said in separate statements that a single-engine plane crashed after takeoff around 8:45 p.m. Tuesday near St. Mary’s, a small city in western Alaska.
Click through for story. I suppose there are things happening which affect more people, but what hurts an at-large Democratic Congresswoman from a state with two Republican Senators and IIRC a Republican Governor hurts us all.

Food For Thought