Meanwhile...

[selenak]

The things you learn: seems Samantha Bee of tv comedy fame is a Call The Midwife fan. A woman of taste, which is not new.:) As the unspeakable creature in the White House brings us closer to WWWIII by the tweet and finds condemming Nazis as Nazis too much of an effort, I can see why watching CdM is a good way to maintain sanity.

(Sidenote: I usually avoid calling present day people Nazis because the term is flung around far too often and sometimes in bizarre contexts - see: "grammar nazi" - but if they scream about blood and soil, give the fascist salute and throw the occasional Sieg Heil in, there's absolutely no reason to call them anything else. No more of this "Alt-Right" nonsense.)

But to return to "Call the Midwife", here's a lovely new story, a terrific portrait of Shelagh/Sister Bernadette that follows her through her life to that most crucial of years to her, 1958: life, and breath, and all things.

And here's a Black Sails rec:

The Fields of Elysium: the story of Thomas Hamilton after the 2.05 flashbacks until and including his reunion with James in the finale.

Comments

[rachelmanija]

No, I mean, they are LITERALLY Nazis. It's really not complicated. I'm also fine with calling them white supremacists. But "alt-right" is bullshit. It sounds like a Mac command, not a term for people who LITERALLY want to murder me.

[chelseagirl]

There were numerous Nazi flags being carried at the event, so these white nationalists (as they choose to call themselves) seem to be forcing the comparison. This is beyond terrifying. I know people who have connections with Charlottesville -- UVa alums, someone whose in-laws are professors there, etc. They are boggled that this could be happening in a space so familiar to them.

Also, Call the Midwife is delightful and the only show I just am honest about pulling out the box of kleenex for . . .

[gabolange]

Oh, thank you so much for the rec!

[selenak]

Quite. And you know, even the handwaving and euphemizing and weak and vague disclaimers have their historical parallels. (See also: judges who lauded the murderers of Walter Rathenau and Kurt Eisner for their "patriotic intentions", who let Hitler go with a slap on the hand in 1923 because of "patriotic intentions", and of course Hindenburg & co.

[selenak]

Well deserved, and thank YOU again for writing the story!

[selenak]

I'm currently going between being terrified and being angry (again) at all the non-voters and those but-her-emails-voters who were and partly are still mouthing "but Hillary would be as bad/worse" equations. I want them to look at this and say "this is what you did, you as much as Trumps actual admirers! This is whom you empowered!

[chelseagirl]

I feel really helpless. All of my friends are posting about Charlottesville on Facebook, but we're only speaking to each other. I wish there was something we could really *do* -- the midterm elections next year provide a possibility for action, but I've read analyses that suggest because of all the redistricting the Republicans have snuck in, there's not likely to be nearly the turnover that public opinion would suggest should occur.

I literally do not think there is anyone in the country less qualified to be President than Trump. But New Yorkers have had a front row seat for decades, so we've been on the despising-him train for a long, long time. (Hillary took 87% of the vote in Manhattan, and third-party candidates another 3% -- usually hometown candidates carry the vote.)