The red and the black

Back in January, it was
dawning on us that we
were being given a can-
didate for office who
was having trouble ex-
pressing any interest
in it, apart from add-
ing it to a collection.


   To this day we ponder: is
   it for her head she wants
   to be known, or for being
   at the center of our gaze?


At long last her cam-
paign has settled upon
the mission of furnish-
ing a conclusion, to a
career in favor of fair-
ness to families and
children - exceedingly
commendable objectives
if ever there were any.

Yet not page-turning,
as regards the office
being sought, which is
expected to rise to o-
ther demands. How lit-
tle this mission can
capture the initiative
in the contest under
weigh, we see in the
dilettante late-night
antics of a mountebank,
free to dabble in the
principal challenges of
our time with flippant
idiocy, yes, but undeni-
able intrusiveness.

They say, a frozen time-
piece is accurate twice
a day; but they forget,
the globe is made up of
many time zones. Even a
staggering nitwit, offer-
ing any sort of motive, 
enjoys dozens of chances
a day, to re-set the nar-
rative of leadership. 

It could be said, hers
was the disadvantage of
Hubert Humphrey, justify-
ing an incumbent, which 
led to that acrid polar-
isation and descent in-
to caustic casuistry for
which we honor the mem-
ory of Richard Nixon. We
are sitting through the
interminable rotation of
the globe, pleading for
the ball to land on the
red, for all the direc-
tion it is given by the
most qualified apprentice
of a fitful energy system.

Mark Rothko

Black on Maroon

Commission for 375 Park Avenue

Gift of the artist to the Tate Gallery

Marco van Rijt

Roberto Sipos