WWW.PRESIDENTS"R"US.COM

Taking Nixon’s Name In Vain  

Guantanamo resident Khalid Shaikh Mohammed has a problem.  His captors have no intention of ever releasing him, he craves martyrdom in a jerry-rigged court system which may not be able to deliver, and he feels the courtroom artist drew his nose too large.Mohammed’s response has been to take over his own courtroom defense, and of course blaming Jews.

In the course of trying to impeach  Guantanamo trial judge Ralph H. Kohlmann, Mohammed somehow got around to renowned anti-Semite Richard Nixon

“ “Mohamed said to Kohlmann:If you were part of Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson’s group, then you would not be impartial.” He went on: “Even former President Richard Nixon, in a book called —” at which point he was silenced. After close to two minutes in which we saw the courtroom as a mime, the sound came back and the judge explained that the audio feed was cut because the security officer had mistakenly thought that Mohammed was intending to address topics that could not be addressed in open court. We were left wondering what it was about a Richard Nixon book that was now presumptively classified. We’ll likely never know. “

   Airstrip One 

The votes are in, and the winner of  New York’s  Storefront For Art & Architecture White House makeover contest have been loosed on an anxious world.

And First Prize goes to …Number 834!

  “Revenge of the Lawn” seems to have something to do with cars,  cicadas,  and helicopters, but I invite your interpretation. 

 All Our Yesterdays 

The release of grand jury testimony in the prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg has strengthened the case that she was convicted on perjured testimony by her brother and sister-in-law, and allowed everyone with a piece of the hot Red Spy action to step forward.

Richard Nixon speaks from the grave to offer his [sort of] condolences for the federal government lying in order to whack only the second woman in US history.

“ If I had known–if we had known that at the time–if President Eisenhower had known it, he might have taken a different view with regard to her. In other words, tainted evidence, even though a person is totally guilty, is a reason to get him off.“

The late red-hunter’s consoling belief in Ethel’s guilt might have been undermined by knowledge the prosecution invented Rosenberg  typing documents passed the Soviets.

Nixon stayed strong.

“ I understand why it was done. And let us understand–Mrs. Rosenberg was guilty. This wasn’t a case of somebody not guilty going to the chair.“

Phew!

 

 Back & Bad  

A newly living remnant of the Reagan Era unfurls itself or the nation’s landscape, as a reconstituted version of beloved New York punks Reagan Youth tours this broad land.

A timely reminder of the limits of Gipper Mania, then and now. 

Why exactly? 

The William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library and Museum is officially out of anything to say about the departed leader’s presidency, or anything else of interest.

To mark the occasion the Library is opening an exciting new exhibit of Motorcycle inspired art this weekend. Rounding out their total exaustion of ideas is a concert by moldy Seventies hair farmers Little Feat.

The Matching Shirt Era