Today's a Good Day to Think About Charlie Chaplin

Remember to laugh at the clowns

Scene from The Great Dictator.

Just a quick one this morning to remind you amidst today’s “shock and awe”: You are not the crazy ones.

As they jockey for access and favor, much of the political/media world may memory-hole Trump’s ugly, insane campaign. They may pretend that he is not a serial liar and fraudster who revels in cruelty and wields bullshit like a cudgel.

They may gloss over the fact that the new president is a convicted felon, who tried to overturn the last election, and was found liable for sexual assault. They may neglect to recall that his top aide called him a fascist, or that he once called for terminating the Constitution¹ so he could be restored to power. (The same Constitution he will take an oath to “defend and protect”.)

But we remember.

Happy Monday.

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Charlie Chaplin as Adenoid Hynkel.

As one who lives in a glass house, I throw no stones when I note the steady stream of earnest, grim, angry, often despairing rants that are clogging my feed. Trust me, I feel them all.

But, all things considered, I’d rather think about Charlie Chaplin today.

In a much darker time than our own, Chaplin remembered to laugh. Not because he didn’t take the threats lightly, but because he understood that humor was not just essential for sanity — it was also a powerful weapon.

Chaplin fully understood how dangerous the tyrants of the age were. But he knew they were not supermen — that they were, in fact, ludicrous, cosplaying clowns and juvenile narcissists. And that’s the way he portrayed them in The Great Dictator.

The Great Dictator is a masterpiece that isn't just a delightful comedy and a grim agitprop drama, but a spookily accurate insight into Hitler's psychology….

The message is that [Chaplin’s character] Hynkel is not a brilliant strategist or a mighty leader. He is an overgrown adolescent – as demonstrated in the sublime set piece in which he dances with an inflatable globe, dreaming of being "emperor of the world".

He is an insecure buffoon who bluffs, cheats, obsesses over his public image, manhandles his secretaries, revels in the luxury of his extravagant quarters, and reverses his own key policies in order to buy himself more time in power.

"To me, the funniest thing in the world is to ridicule impostors," wrote Chaplin in his autobiography, "and it would be hard to find a bigger impostor than Hitler."

Despite the comedy, it’s important to remember that Chaplin was a deeply serious man who had no illusions about the evil he was confronting.

[The] US press nicknamed him "The 20th-Century Moses" because he funded the escape of thousands of Jewish refugees. When he started work on the film initially titled "The Dictator", he was "a man on a mission", says [Simon Louvish, the author of Chaplin: The Tramp's Odyssey.]

"Some of his contemporaries, like Laurel and Hardy, just wanted to make funny movies and make money. But Chaplin was very serious about what he wanted to say. The Great Dictator wasn't just a film. It really was something that was required."

Even as the world was falling under Hitler’s shadow, he created a film “in the zany tradition of the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup.”

(Jack Oakie's Napaloni is the kind of hearty Italian wise guy played by Chico Marx.) The dictator's crimes aren't ignored: on a whim, Hynkel orders 3000 protesters to be executed. But Chaplin concentrates on the character's vanity, stupidity and childishness. In one throwaway visual gag, the towering filing cabinet behind his desk is shown to have no drawers at all, but several concealed mirrors instead.

And this was my father’s and my favorite scene:

When Napaloni pays a state visit from the neighbouring country of Bacteria, the two men compete to have the higher chair while they are being shaved, and to have the more flattering position when they are being photographed.

Hynkel and Napaloni each want the highest seat.

**

Yes, a clown with a flamethrower still has a flamethrower. But never forget that he is also still a clown.

Don’t forget to laugh at them.

**

UPDATED BONUS: The incomparable Ann Telnaes reminds us why political cartoonists are so invaluable.

Pre-emptive pardons

Brace yourself for a torrent of news. But we start the day with President Biden’s pre-emptive pardons for folks who did nothing wrong. Here’s the full (free) NYT account.

Among those receiving the pardons were Gen. Mark A. Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the longtime government scientist; and all the members of the bipartisan House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, including former Representative Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming.

“I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics,” Mr. Biden said in a statement. “But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing. Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of targeted individuals and their families.

“Even when individuals have done nothing wrong — and in fact have done the right thing — and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances,” he added.

Prepare for a day of whiplash.

His action offered a dramatic testament to how radically power will shift in Washington at noon when Mr. Trump takes the oath to succeed Mr. Biden.

In the morning, the outgoing president used his pardon authority to protect those who investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. In the afternoon, the incoming president has said he will pardon many of those who mounted the attack.

**

We can debate the wisdom of the pardons and the precedent they set. But they are not based on paranoia… Trump really was coming after the targets.

For F.B.I. director, he has named Kash Patel, a firebrand operative who has vowed to “come after” Mr. Trump’s critics in the media and identified his own list of 60 people he considers “deep state” obstacles to the incoming president.

Mr. Trump has said on social media that Ms. Cheney “should be prosecuted for what she has done to our country” and that the whole Jan. 6 committee “should be prosecuted for their lies and, quite frankly, TREASON!” He has suggested that General Milley deserved execution because he called a Chinese counterpart after Jan. 6 to warn Beijing against taking advantage of the crisis in Washington.

Dr. Fauci, who served in government for half a century and as the nation’s top infectious disease expert for 38 years under multiple presidents of both parties, was targeted by Mr. Trump’s far-right allies for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s former strategist, has said that Dr. Fauci, General Milley and others should be prosecuted. “You deserve what we call a rough Roman justice, and we’re prepared to give it to you,” Mr. Bannon said on election night.

Winter dogs

It’s cold here. Not DC wimpy cold; Wisconsin cold. It’s minus-4 degrees this morning. Which is why we needed a two-dog night.

1. Via CNN: “Do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION? A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,” Trump wrote in a post on the social network Truth Social and accused “Big Tech” of working closely with Democrats. “Our great ‘Founders’ did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!”