HUNGRY GERALD

So, Der Trumperer is going to get a big time military parade. The expensive show will be at taxpayer expense, of course. Dreams come true. Putin, Stalin, Hitler, Kim Jong, Mussolini all had many big parades with marching corps, missiles, tanks, guns, etc.. It is the signature move of any dictator worth his salt. Of course, Der Trumperer’s parade will be the best, the biggest, most watched extravaganza ever (as DT will loudly proclaim and tweet). Meanwhile, a Nazi is a Republican congressional candidate in Illinois. To paraphrase “The Producers”: “Don’t be a dummy, be a smarty, come and join the Republi-nazi party.” All of this made HG log into Youtube and listen to “Springtime for Hitler and Germany” from “The Producers.” (Google the lyrics, please). There’s a Yiddish saying: “lacht mit yashikehs”. It means laughing with tears. That’s what HG did. Was Mel Brooks prescient? Meanwhile, the stock market is “correcting” dramatically. Der Trumperer claims the plunge is a big mistake. His tax bill will put the United State in trillions of dollar in debt and his Mexican Wall madness will cost billions. Obviously, the oft times bankrupt Trumperer has never heard of the consequences of this: Inflation. Investors throughout the world seem to have gotten the inflation message.

Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt are professors of government at Harvard and authors of “How Democracies Die.” They point out that the extreme polarization of the two American parties, Republicans and Democrats, is not “A traditional conservative-liberal divide. People don’t loathe each other over taxes or health care.” In a New York Times article (Sunday, Jan. 28), the professors state “the roots of today’s polarization is racial and cultural.” Decades ago, both parties were predominantly white and worshiped a Christian God. “Advances in civil rights, immigration and the migration of Christian conservatives to the Republican Party have given rise to two fundamentally different parties: one that is ethnically diverse and increasingly secular and one that is overwhelmingly white and predominantly Christian.” America’s “once dominant” white Christians are in decline. Year by year, America becomes more multi-cultural and multi-racial. The Republican white Christians are furiously fighting back and damaging (if not destroying) the American democracy. The Mexican Wall and the immigration battle are part of their effort to block blacks, browns, Asians, muslims, Hispanics from entering the United States. In HG’s opinion, armed conflict has not begun but Americans are nonetheless engaged in a civil war. The outcome is in doubt.

The result is pleasure when HG/BSK cook together. Teamwork is flawless. Last night produced a meal of Salmon A’ L’unilateral (salmon cooked on one side in a cast iron pan), haricot verts with shallots, boiled potatoes with sour cream dusted with zaatar (middle eastern spice). Except in very good restaurants, salmon is overcooked into tastelessness. The first time HG ever tasted properly cooked salmon (reddish pink in the middle and slightly quivery) was at the Cafe Luxembourg on West 70th Street in Manhattan. After that experience, HG/BSK enjoyed proper salmon at Quatorze (closed) on 14th Street and Raoul’s in Soho. HG purchased last night’s Norwegian salmon at Trader Joe’s (splendid fish at a bargain price). Lightly oiled a decades-old cast iron pan. Turned up the heat. Cooked the salmon into the desired medium-rare state and finished with a simple sauce of melted butter, lemon juice and capers. (One of the blessings of cooking Salmon A’ L’unilateral is the delicious crisp skin filled with lush and healthy oils). Meanwhile, BSK boiled potatoes and made magical haricot verts. In Paris restaurants, haricots verts are cooked into mush while steaks are browned but raw (go figure). Trendy New York restaurants serve the vegetable almost raw. BSK steamed the slim string beans to the proper consistency and then finished them in a pan with shallots sautéed in butter. Drank pleasant Spanish red Rioja. After 54 years of marriage, teamwork with BSK remains a joy.

June 9, 1954. Army-McCarthy hearings. Sen. Joseph McCarthy had charged the U.S. Army with lax security at an Army base. Army hired Boston attorney Joseph Welch to represent t them at the hearings. The Senator charged that a young colleague of Welch’s had communist affiliations. Welch responded: “Until this moment, Senator, I never truly gauged your cruelty and recklessness.” When McCarthy continued his spurious attack, Welch said: “Have you no sense of decency?” The hearings were on national television. Welch’s comments ended McCarthy’s popularity and influence. He died at age 48. HG asks Republican Senators and members of Congress when they do not respond to Trump’s spewing of racist filth: “Have you no sense of decency?”