John Bolton and the 1st Amendment — The Great — Moscow Mules
Today is Juneteenth and Father's Day is Sunday.
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The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads as follows:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Lately, these words have seemed somewhat aspirational. The violent crackdown against Black Lives Matter protests speaks to a general disdain of these concepts within all levels of our government. The recent attempts by the Trump administration to suppress former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s new book are equally troubling, though less dramatic and heart wrenching.
To recap, John Bolton is an old school GOP hawk who worked for Reagan and both Bushes and served as U.N. ambassador under W. President Trump appointed him National Security Advisor, a job which he accepted largely, it seems, because it was a venue by which he could push longstanding conservative foreign policy goals such as ending the Iran nuclear deal. For a while, Bolton was best known as Washington’s man with a walrus stache, but the House impeachment investigation of President Trump threw Bolton into the spotlight when he refused to testify unless subpoenaed to do so. (Nevertheless, he had already submitted a manuscript of his book detailing his allegations for review by the White House). This was weird because the stance strongly implied that he had something to testify about without him ever actually testifying.
Now, Bolton is finally publishing his book, dubbed The Room Where It Happened (Seriously, a Hamilton reference?), for which he secured a $2 million advance from Simon & Schuster. At least we know his price. As House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff noted: “Bolton's staff were asked to testify before the House to Trump's abuses, and did. They had a lot to lose and showed real courage. When Bolton was asked, he refused, and said he'd sue if subpoenaed. Instead, he saved it for a book. Bolton may be an author, but he's no patriot.”
Nevertheless, Bolton had a lot of things to say — including some pretty serious allegations about similar abuses of power directed by Trump at foreign governments including Chinese President Xi Jinping — but he chose not to share with Congress because, he now argues, he didn’t like how limited their investigation was. Bolton reportedly wrote in the book that “had the House not focused solely on the Ukraine aspects of Trump's confusion of his personal interests, there might have been a greater chance to persuade others that 'high crimes and misdemeanors' had been perpetrated.”
Square that circle: Bolton didn’t share additional information because the investigation was limited.
Venality aside, Bolton’s claims are still quite damaging to the president, and The Room Where It Happened is on its way to being a flashpoint in the ongoing battle against the Trump administration over free speech issues. The Trump Administration sued Bolton for breach on contract on June 18 in an attempt to block the planned publication of the book on June 23. Simon & Schuster dismissed the suit as “nothing more than the latest in a long running series of efforts by the Administration to quash publication of a book it deems unflattering to the President,” according to the Wall Street Journal. Indeed, Bolton’s attorney says the National Security Council approved the book in April.
It remains to be seen whether Bolton’s book will see the light of day, but if he or his publisher cave to the government’s pressure, it will be a profound loss for freedom of speech in the United States. As PEN America notes in an amicus brief filed on Bolton’s behalf, “the Supreme Court has never upheld a prior restraint on pure speech implicating matters of public importance, even in the Pentagon Papers case, which provided a much stronger case for an injunction.” PEN’s attorneys further note that “The President also has claimed that every conversation with him is classified. It is not difficult to see what is going on: The President is employing the apparatus of the federal government to punish his political enemies, thwart freedom of speech, and pursue his political interests in an election year.”
Bolton may be greedy and self-serving, but it is of vital importance that his book reach the public. It is important in part because of how it may affect the outcome of the November election. In the long run, though, the suppression or censorship of The Room Where It Happened would profoundly damage the right to freedom of speech in this country.
Now Showing: The Great (2020)
Imagine if a 19-year-old girl married the despotic emperor of Russia and then decided to topple him from power with the help of her poet boyfriend, a dyspeptic bureaucrat, her disgraced chambermaid and an overweight, alcoholic general. It sounds crazy. But it is a (mostly) true story and the basis of the truly fantastic Hulu show The Great, created by Tony McNamara, the screenwriter behind 2018’s critically acclaimed Yorgos Lanthimos costume drama The Favourite.
The Great stars Elle Fanning in the role of Catherine, the young bride of a despotic and childish dictator, Peter, played with daffy genius by Nicholas Hoult. Over the course of a 10 episode season, Catherine finds love (although not with Peter), discovers the joys of sex, meets Rousseau, is gifted a bear and resolves to murder her husband and take the throne for the betterment of all Russia and to fulfill what she has come to believe is her destiny.
There’s no guarantee of success, however, and Catherine walks a razor’s edge. It’s quite evident that Peter is willing to murder or torture literally anyone on a whim, that the church and its leaders loath her, and that she knows far less than she thinks she does. At many turns, Catherine’s only savior is her chambermaid Marial (Phoebe Fox), and she’s always ready with a cunning stratagem ranging from the prophylactic use of lemons to the value of well placed slap in quelling sniping among the women at court. A false birthmark in the shape of Russia — tastefully positioned on Catherine’s inner thigh — helps seal the deal at one point.
The brilliance of the show comes both from its performances — Hoult and Fanning are well on their way to being some of the most in-demand talents in Hollywood — and from the brilliance of the writing. The Great manages to be a costume drama without being dreary or out of touch, and the show mixes witty dialogue with revolting behavior and shocking violence to create a cocktail of dark humor and high drama. The show is as much about the nature of power and the difficulty of reforming broken politics and systems of thought as it is a drama about intrigue in the Russian court. A particularly striking episode follows the introduction of the first printing press in Russia and Peter’s misguided invention of the anonymous comment box. Both go off the rails almost immediately. As much as we are on Catherine’s side about the need to modernize the court, the swiftness with which the printing press was used to publish pictures of people fornicating with animals means Peter has the leverage to shut it down.
Yet The Great avoids the pitfall of turning Catherine into a simpering advocate of 20th century liberality up against a conservative old order by dent of the fact that Peter is malleable. He’s not stuck in his ways or some kind of religious nut (although there are a few of those at court), rather, he’s just a tyrant, which means he can be as passionate for reform as for torture, depending on his mood. He’s a gourmand and a pig, just as Catherine is equal parts naive and brutal. The combination is toxic and alluring, and The Great is a clear contender for the best show of 2020.
The Great is streaming on Hulu.
Cocktail Hour?
In honor of The Great and the brink of summer, why not mix up a batch of Moscow Mules? They’re not actually from Moscow, but they are tasty and somehow still make an appearance in the show. Enjoy.
Pour the following ingredients in a copper cup (a tumbler will do if you don’t have one), and then give a gentle stir.
1.5 oz. vodka (I’ve been enjoying Albany Distilling’s vodka, or Grey Goose is always good option.)
0.5 oz. lime juice (Just squeeze a lime and splash some in.)
Lots of ice.
0.5 cups of ginger beer (don’t use ginger ale!)
Garnish with a slice of lime.
Reading List:
USAToday, of all places, has a great roundup of 25 films for Juneteenth. Ranging from Killer of Sheep to Black Panther, this list has something for everyone.
Over at British sci-fi magazine Clarkes World, there’s a fantastic short story, “Own Goal,” by Dennard Dayle. It’s not long, and it is incredibly well written.
One of my favorite books from last year was Jay-Z: Made in America by Michael Eric Dyson. It looks at Jay-Z’s life from a historical and musical perspective, and Dyson argues —I think correctly — that Jay-Z is one of the greatest living American poets. Available at Barnes & Noble.
Benjamin Reeves is an award-winning screenwriter, journalist and media consultant based in Brooklyn, New York. Follow him on Twitter @bpreeves or write to him at breeves.writer@gmail.com.