WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2026
...when we saw Psaki speak with Pat Ryan: The late John Frankenheimer began his career with several remarkable movies. We'll let the leading authority explain:
John Frankenheimer
John Michael Frankenheimer (February 1930 – July 2002) was an American film and television director, known both for his social dramas and his action/suspense pictures. Among his best-known theatrical film credits are Birdman of Alcatraz, The Manchurian Candidate (both 1962) [and] Seven Days in May, The Train (both 1964).
And so on from there. We recall being moved by Birdman of Alcatraz down at The Palm, when it came out, back when we were 14. That said, wow:
He had made the complex and brooding Manchurian Candidate when he was barely thirty. And then, just two years later, he made the highly convincing Seven Days in May.
We flashed on that last film just last evening. Once again, the authority explains:
Seven Days in May
Seven Days in May is a 1964 American political thriller film, directed by John Frankenheimer and written by Rod Serling, who adapted Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II's 1962 novel. It is about a military–political cabal's planned takeover of the U.S. government after the president negotiates a disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union. The film stars Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March, and Ava Gardner.
Written by Rod Serling! It even starred Ava Gardner, who had plainly been cast in the Ava Gardner role.
The authority calls it a "political thriller;" you can spot its topic yourself. We'd call it remarkably convincing, and we'd call it a very strong warning for us at this very dangerous time.
But yes! Seven Days in May convincingly shows Burt Lancaster in the role of a charismatic, angry Air Force general who is planning a coup d'etat with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Luckily for the fate of the world, Kirk Douglas was in the film too.
The well-made film remains quite convincing. We thought of this very good movie just last evening as we watched The Briefing with Jen Psaki.
Late in her hour, Psaki interviewed Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY), a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
Ryan served as a military intelligence officer in the U.S. Army from 2004 to 2009. Before his election to Congress in 2022, he served as county executive in New York's Ulster County.
Ryan is quite solid. At this time, he's concerned about what could be on the horizon:
PSAKI (9/1/26): I could answer this myself, but I'm more interested in your thought. I mean, we're six months into this war. It seems like the only person who hasn't been fired is Pete Hegseth. Why do you think that is?
RYAN: This is the question that actually, legit, keeps me up at night, which is why do you keep around a totally incompetent, clueless clown, frankly? And like, there aren't many good reasons to do that. There are some really scary reasons that allude to your question about troops being deployed under the Insurrection Act or, God forbid, around elections.
So that's what really scares me. Not only are we losing this war, which pains me to say that, but we have to be honest that we are. But he's keeping around this guy, I think, for really dangerous, un-American contingencies. And so, we have to just up the pressure now.
Ryan is nobody's dope. Is that why Hegseth remains where he is? "God forbid," for the possibility of having troops deployed in connection with some unnamed year's elections?
Ryan is nobody's dope. We thought of a very convincing "political thriller" as we watched his full session with Psaki.
Hegseth is an outstanding Secretary of Defense, er, War. Possibly the best ever.
ReplyDeleteHe makes my tanned balls jizz in my pants 🩳 a little bit. Especially when he is tossing an axe while high stepping.
DeleteHegseth is a fellow sexual predator, one of the main reasons Trump keeps him around, for now.
ReplyDeleteBirds of a feather flock together.
Trump'll throw Hegseth under the bus if it at some point it serves Trump, and he won't think twice about it.
Hegseth will be facing criminal charges after this administration, and he'll have less of an ability to protect himself than Trump does.
Our Armed Forces have never been so lean and mean. Of course, we had to get rid of the gays, the blacks, the women, and the trannies. But Hegseth certainly knows as no one else does that we must also get rid of any army officer who believes in honesty, integrity, experience, competence and rules of engagement. Abolishing the very idea that there’s any such thing as war crimes has been a major step forward for our country.
ReplyDeleteThere are war crimes, but always committed by the enemy.
DeleteI guess those sailors deployed to support the bombing of Iran are feeling lean and mean, but at the expense of morale. Seems to me they know the origin of at least some MAGA-inspired rage.
DeleteIt should be a war crime to starve your own troops out of incompetence.
Hegseth is talking about running for president in 2028. The behind-the-scenes cabal running Trump and the rest of the government may consider him a desirable patsy as a successor to Trump. We have no idea whether there is a Hegseth (Nazi Christo-fascist racist) faction vs a Vance (tech bro) faction in conflict within our govt. No one seems to care about winning the war, but they are making fistfuls of money, enacting their anti-immigrant policies, implementing data collection on the entire populace to implement authoritarian control via infotech in order to be a dictatorship, and plundering whatever isn't nailed down.
ReplyDeleteIn view of all that, the movie seems naive and simplistic. A military coup is small potatoes compared to what has been happening here. I am not sure what Somerby gains by minimizing our national tragedy.
Then there is the stupidity factor. The military portrayed in the film were competent, just disagreeing about policy and willing to use violence to get their way. The people in Trump's sphere, down to the human printer, are stupid, ignorant, credulous believers in nonsense, incapable of achieving anything without errors. They are the keystone cops version of a coup. Even 1/6 was so poorly executed that everyone got caught and Trump's participation was obvious. It was Congress that couldn't get the job done of removing Trump, or they would ALL be in jail. Given that the right wing is so incredibly incompetent, I find it hard to work up as much anxiety as Somerby thinks we should feel.
Finding a dozen Republicans who believe treason against the United States of America is an impeachable offense was always going to be a tough road to hoe. Having all dozen be sitting United States Senators was impossible from the git-go.
DeleteThat's row to hoe, not road.
DeleteIf he wants to hoe roads, let him.
DeleteIt will be tough!
DeleteThat well-made film is enjoyable as a snapshot of the past, but it is not at all realistic about current times. For example, there is no equivalent to the ridiculous scene when Hegseth accidentally sent strategic planning info to a journalist via snapchat (an insecure platform to begin with). There is no need for spies to operate in the USA because our president regularly tells our enemies everything, including Iran (via Putin). Our economy is collapsing and there is no way for anyone taking over the military in a coup to replenish our weapons or oil.
ReplyDeleteThe scenario most consistent with what is happening is that Putin has whispered bad ideas into Trump's ear in order to destroy every strength and capability of the US. This has been going on so long, that our national resources are depleted, we are no longer militarily strong or a leader in any field of research, and we have no capacity to attain military victory anywhere. So, we are no longer a "superpower," Russia has its revenge and Putin can do what he wants with impunity. NATO recognized that happening and has been planning for Putin's invasion ever since they realized Trump's vulnerability to flattery and his massive stupidity. So, our country is being sold out, but not in the way any film has portrayed yet.
Somerby really wants us to believe Ryan's speculation (I've never seen so much praise lately, other than his gushing over Anne Frank), so he has reasons to be pushing Ryan's ideas. I think it is a distraction from what has really been happening -- Trump sold us all out before he ever took office and it is the Russians we need to fear, not internal military coups. That may have been what Trump told Hegseth, however, in order to get him to fire all the officers, at Putin's directive to Trump, transmitted via movies since no one on Trump's team reads anything. Hegseth will be the easiest to knock out when Putin makes his move on the USA. And Canada and Mexico are so angry at us that they will just shrug and look away.
Russian immigrants who fled in 2022 are being deported back to Russia, including dissidents against the Ukraine War. Russian asylum requests are being denied in record numbers. This seems likely to be a favor to Putin.
DeleteElecting a Russian asset to be President of the United States of America, for the sole reason that he is a gigantic bigot, was the downfall of The American Empire.
DeleteHas Somerby ever read “ it can’t happen here “? There are quite a few parallels to present day America. Although, to be fair, the author does not preach pity and compassion for the fascistic authoritarian figure who takes over in that novel.
ReplyDeleteLoved Angela Lansbury’s performance as the villainess in Manchurian Candidate
ReplyDeleteFuck you you nasty piece of shit troll.
DeleteAngela Lansbury's father, Edgar Lansbury, was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) as well as the Labour Party.
DeleteAh yes, the movie about a conspiratorial plot to take over the United States Government gets an up vote for the actress’s performance in the movie.
DeleteNo wonder she was good in Manchurian Candidate:
Delete"Among Lansbury's accolades are six Tony Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Award), six Golden Globe Awards, two honorary BAFTA Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award, an honorary SAG Award, and the Academy Honorary Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards, 18 Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award. In 2014, she was made a dame by Queen Elizabeth II."
Fuck you, David, you fascist freak
DeleteHey, guess what, David? Angela Lansbury considered herself a Democrat and a "proud socialist" rather than a traditional liberal.
DeleteGuess she was evil.
She has lived in the UK since 1970.
DeleteThank you, 3:31, but Angela Lansbury was a citizen of the United States as well as Great Britain. She lived in the United States for decades and she also voted in the United States, as a democrat. You’re welcome.
DeleteAnd, by the way, Dame Angela died 4 years ago.
DeleteMy point was that being a Socialist and a Labour supporter means something different in the UK than in the USA.
DeleteThere is quite a bit in common between British and American socialism. My point was that she never viewed herself as conservative, and never disavowed her father’s membership in the communist party. Right wingers like David don’t draw any distinction between the different flavors of socialism around the world.
DeleteAnd of course I agree she was outstanding in the Manchurian candidate.
DeleteHere is Somerby being fatuous again:
ReplyDelete"Written by Rod Serling! It even starred Ava Gardner, who had plainly been cast in the Ava Gardner role."
Somerby's own quote says: " written by Rod Serling, who adapted Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II's 1962 novel." That means the substance, plot, characters of the film were provided by two well-known novelists while Serling adapted their work into screen format suitable for filming.
Then Somerby meanly dumps on Ava Gardner who was at the top of her career. She plays a woman capable of thwarting the coup by warning the president, in the film. It is fine if Somerby doesn't recall her name, but he should realize that she had one. So what does he mean when he says Ava Gardner was cast in the Ava Gardner role? She has played a wide variety of characters in her many films, won a few awards and been nominated for an Oscar. Implying that she was stereotyped as a sexpot ignores her acting skills and the serious dramatic and musical roles she played. But Somerby must be nasty toward women. Ava Gardner was most likely in that part because she had previously appeared with Burt Lancaster in a break-out role in The Killers.
Ava Gardner was a well-known progressive active in politics, which endears her to me.
DeleteI find black-and-white films less convincing than color. The theme of military honor has been entirely undermined by Hegseth, but it always seemed unrealistic to me that the military was full of men of integrity who would stand up in difficult situations, when such men do not exist anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteI considered the film to be a pro-military propaganda film to reassure the public that the military is trustworthy during a time of cynicism and fears of nuclear war (arising by mistake or intentionally). It came out the same year as Fail Safe and Dr. Strangelove. The Bay of Pigs and the U-2 scandals occurred just before the novel came out and the movie was being produced. The first cold war James Bond movie appeared in 1962.
This time period is called the Golden Age of American film.
The character of Jack Ripper in Dr. Strangelove was supposedly modeled after real life general Curtis Lemay. I’m wondering if the people that hegseth is getting rid of from the armed forces actually represent a moderating or liberalizing force in the army and he wants to take it back to the way it was in the 1960s?
DeleteSomerby always tries to recruit old movies and actors in support of his own views, focusing only on the parts that help him and not looking at the work as a whole, taking films out of context. Today is no different.
ReplyDelete