Bliss Is Where You Find It

Senryu

in the bookshop queue

I feel that I've awakened

from a too-long nap

-- Michael Boiano

(photo by author)

A photo of a Black woman surrounded by members of a white supremacist group on a Washington, D.C., train has gone viral, with several users suggesting it’s the “defining” picture of America today.

The photo, taken on July 4 by Reuters photographer Cheney Orr, depicts a Black woman sitting on a Washington Metro train while surrounded by members of the Patriot Front, a white nationalist group. Hundreds of Patriot Front members marched through Washington Saturday afternoon as the nation celebrated its 250th anniversary.

And now, social media is abuzz with reactions to the photo.

“I feel like the photo of this Black woman surrounded by dozens of masked, anonymous, white nationalists is going to be a defining picture of this moment in America for a long, long time,” Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health, wrote on X.

“Your great grandchildren will see this photo in their history books. This is a defining image of the era of American history we live in,” liberal commentator Dean Withers said.

Content creator Mike Nellis wrote: “This feels like the type of photo your grandkids will see in a textbook someday.”

Actor Wendell Pierce, best known for playing Bunk Moreland on The Wire and James Greer on Jack Ryan, also chimed in. He re-shared the photo on X, writing: “An instant Pulitzer Prize winning photograph.”

Hundreds of Patriot Front members marched through Washington Saturday afternoon, chanting “reclaim America” and “life, liberty, victory,” as they carried American and Confederate flags. Several members were seen traveling by train and exiting Metro stations as they prepared to march near Capitol Hill.

Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department didn’t report any arrests, The Independent previously reported.

“MPD recognizes the rights of individuals to peacefully express their views and remains committed to maintaining public safety and security for D.C. residents and visitors,” a department spokeswoman said.

When asked Sunday if he condemns Patriot Front, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told CNN’s Dana Bash: “What they stand for is nothing that I could possibly agree with. But one of the foundational principles of the United States which makes democracy messy is free speech.”

The setup: Larry David's new HBO Max show, Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness. A George Washington sketch. Reiner in full colonial costume, beard shaved off, playing the founding father who chose to walk away from power after two terms because he could have been king and refused.

That single act of restraint is what launched American democracy. Every peaceful transfer of power since has traced back to it.

David's character starts poking holes in the whole plan.

What if a future president refuses to leave? What if he's a narcissistic asshole who ignores the Constitution?

Washington says Congress and the Supreme Court would stop him.

David presses. What if the Court is stacked with yes-men and Congress is full of cowards who care more about party than country?

Washington can't imagine such men existing.

So David lays out the rest. A president who won't accept a fair election. Who foments an insurrection to cling to power. Who uses the office to enrich his family. Who sends federal troops into American cities to terrorize citizens.

Who attacks universities and silences the free press. Who runs cover for his friendship with a known pedophile. Who whines and throws tantrums like a big baby the second anyone dares mock him.

Sound familiar? Every line describes Trump's actual record.

The sketch was kept a total secret. Yanked from press screenings. Held back until July 3, the 250th Fourth of July weekend.

Reiner shot it on November 13 at the Universal lot. A month later, he and his wife Michele were killed in their Brentwood home. The bit sat locked in an edit bay while the country mourned him.

The kicker: after Reiner died, Trump got on Truth Social to trash him. Called him "once very talented." Real classy from the guy Reiner spent his career warning us about.

At the end of the sketch, still in the George Washington costume, Reiner turns to the camera. Looks dead into it, to say:

A Kitty Being Mobbed by Seagulls by Giovanni Segan-kitty