Last week in France, the far-right Marine Le Pen was found guilty of embezzling European Union funds with a judgement that included a four-year sentence with two years suspended, to be served under house arrest and barred from running for political office for five years taking her out of the presidential race for 2027, awaiting appeal.
Equally extraordinary, though more predictable, was seeing within hours of the judgement the skewer – to use the French expression – of leaders with shared far-right leanings from various countries posturing for her defense: Viktor Orbán, Jair Bolsonaro, Geert Wilders, George Simion, Dmitry Peskov (for Putin), Salvini, Trump & Musk… Who said they weren’t capable of empathy? The only thing missing was Berlusconi’s tweet from the grave: Hold on tight, Marine.
Meanwhile in the U.S., once again Irony is the lingering house guest: Twice-impeached in his first term, elected as a freak of nature for a second with dozens of felony convictions – essentially upending the world’s economy single-handedly in his first 100 days – is already entertaining an unconstitutional third term. A supposed one-off where no one got the joke, the emperor has commissioned his third line of clothing, and everyone is applauding.
All this with the backdrop of a mass deportation fiasco, forged of false equivalencies. Lady Liberty, or the Mother of Exiles, now deemed a DEI hire, her song reversed and made dictum: Send back the tired, the poor and huddled masses yearning to breathe free, give us your staried pomp, felonies and all. So little left to resemble fairness or dignity.
Today is April 8. A year ago today a total eclipse occurred with its Path of Totality sweeping through North America. It’s as if we were still basking in its shadow.
Breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain. (T.S. Eliot). Today is April 8. On this day was born Danish artist and writer Hans Scherfig (1905), Belgian composer and singer Jacques Brel (1929), and English fashion designer Vivienne Westwood (2002). On this day died Pablo Picasso (1973), artist Sol LeWitt (2007), and Romanian born American artist Hedda Sterne (2011).
Welcome to the 159th edition of Prescriptions. Here is our guide to current events in the arts.
