If JD Vance Believes "Jew Hatred is Disgusting" Then Why Does He Associate with Tucker Carlson?

In an interview last week with The Daily Mail, Vice-President JD Vance spoke about anti-Semitism when asked whether Nick Fuentes' supporters should be accepted into the Republican Party fold:

Well, I don't know what that means. I think people are going to vote for us or not vote for us. I think that there are certain things that we should - we should have the moral clarity to condemn. I think Jew hatred is disgusting.

Vance went to say:

You shouldn't hate people because they're white. You shouldn't hate people because they're Jewish. You shouldn't hate people because they're black,

And I don't like anybody who does that or engages in that stuff. So when you say supporters of this or that person, all I can do is say what I believe, take the moral stance and the policy stance that I believe in.

The Vice-President's words ring false.

If Vance truly believes that Jew hatred is disgusting and that one ought not to hate people because they are Jewish, then why does he pal around with Tucker Carlson?

Mind you, Florida Republican Congressman Randy Fine considers Carlson "the most dangerous anti-Semite in America." 

After all, Carlson has seen fit to legitimize Holocaust deniers like Nick Fuentes and Darryl Cooper, legitimize the anti-Semitism of the despised Iranian regime and suggesting Jews were responsible for Charlie Kirk's assassination and likening Kirk to Christ. Where it concerned Carlson's interview with Cooper in September 2024, not only did Vance not condemn the interview he stated he "doesn't believe in guilt by association cancel culture."

Of course, a lot of it has to do with the fact that Vance would not be Vice-President today if not for Carlson. Vance is not about to bite the hand that feeds him even if that hand spreads the poison of anti-Semitism.

As such, I am not inclined to take Vance's claim that he is disgusted by anti-Semitism with any degree of credibility and seriousness when he could not bring himself to mention anti-Semitism let alone Jews during Holocaust Remembrance Day, declined to condemn Young Republicans who exchanged anti-Semitic messages with one another and denying there is a surge in anti-Semitism among both Republicans and Democrats alike.

JD Vance cannot tell us that he finds "Jew hatred is disgusting" all the while ignoring it, minimizing it and giving credence to those who spread it.

Bud Cort is Gone but His Presence Will Remain with Me

After seeing Harold and Maude at The Brattle Theatre in 2022, I had some thoughts and concluded with this one:

I don't know how much time Bud Cort has in this world (or for that matter of any of us) but Harold will thanks to Maude always have his whole life ahead of him.

While Harold will always have his whole life ahead him, Bud Cort had four more years less a day. Cort passed away today at the age of 77 following a long illness. 

While Cort never attained the level of stardom he appeared destined for with roles in Harold and Maude and in Robert Altman's Brewster McCloud with Shelley Duvall, he did carve out a unique place for himself in and out of Hollywood even if it wasn't by his design. 

Some among us see ourselves one way while the world around us sees us in another way and is wedded to that vision. Cort wanted to play Randall McMurphy in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest while the studio viewed him as Billy Bibbit. He didn't want to play Bibbit but the studio wanted Jack Nicholson as McMurphy. Only then did he change his mind, but by that time the role had gone to newcomer Brad Dourif. The thing of it is that Cort probably could have played both roles with equal effectiveness.

So, he would settle for smaller roles such as in Bernice Bobs Her Hair though it did give him an opportunity to reunite with Duvall as well as an uncredited appearance in Columbo though he did share screen time with Peter Falk. Cort spent much of the 1970's living with Groucho Marx which in of itself would be worthy of some letters and some dialogue. It did not help matters that Cort was twice seriously injured in car accidents in 1979 and again in 2011.

Outside of Harold and Maude, I remember a guest appearance Cort made on the 1980's revival of The Twilight Zone in which he played hapless hotel manager who came in possession of a trunk which made all wishes come true though he would not be careful about what we wished. Disappointed by what the trunk brought he went inside the trunk only to be unable to get out of it. 

The ending scene shows a woman alone in an empty apartment now with the trunk. While on the phone with her mother, she says she wished she had a husband and out pops Cort dressed as a groom. I haven't seen that episode since it aired nearly 40 years ago and yet it has stayed with me. It has stayed with me because Bud Cort's presence will never leave. R.I.P.

Verlander Rejoins Tigers; Will Be in Starting Rotation with Skubal & Valdez

Justin Verlander, who spent 13 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, is returning to the team for one last season having signed a 1-year contract worth $13 million. Of that $13 million, $11 million will be paid out through 2030.

Verlander, who turns 43 later this month, spent 2025 season with the San Francisco Giants where he had a subpar 4-11 record with a decent 3.85 ERA over 29 starts. While Verlander is not the ace pitcher he was in 2022 when he won his third AL Cy Young Award, he still has gravitas and could help the Tigers get over the hump in search of their first World Series title since 1984.

He will join a starting rotation which includes back-to-back AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal who last week earned a record $32 million in arbitration before he becomes a free agent at the end of this season and Verlander's former Houston Astros teammate Framber Valdez who signed a 3-year, $115 million contract with the Tigers last week.

Verlander earned two World Series rings with the Astros in 2017 and in 2022 (the latter alongside Valdez) and would like to finish his career with a ring with the Tigers. Of course, Verlander went to the Fall Classic with the Tigers during his rookie season in 2006 and in 2012 but were bested by the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants, respectively.

He enters the 2026 season in eighth place on MLB's all-time strikeout list with 3553. It is conceivable that by season's end he could leapfrog Hall of Famers Don Sutton, Tom Seaver and Bert Blyleven for fifth place on the all-time strikeout list.

Detroit Tigers fans have a lot to be excited about in 2026 and the return of Justin Verlander has just added to that excitement.

A Pleasant Evening with John Sayles

This evening, I had the pleasure of attending a talk given by director, screenwriter, novelist and actor John Sayles at Porter Square Books here in Cambridge.

Sayles, who is 75, was in the area to promote his new historical novel Crucible which is set in both Detroit and Brazil. The novel documents Henry Ford's failed efforts to union bust and to build a rubber plantation in Fordlandia, a town in the Amazon rainforest which bears his name amid Prohibition, The Great Depression and WWII.

Yet when Sayles read a passage from the book, the focus was on baseball. Of course, given that Sayles is best known for directing Eight Men Out, a film about the 1919 Black Sox scandal and his appearance in Ken Burns' Baseball, that he would make baseball a part of this story does not come as a surprise.

In the context of Crucible, the focus was on his protagonists Rosa and Ira Schimmel, a Russian Jewish sister and brother, attending a game at Navin Field (later rechristened Tiger Stadium) between the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox in 1933. 

Sayles noted that the 1933 Tigers weren't very good with a wink in his eye. That year, the Tigers went 75-79 finishing fifth in the American League 25 games back of the Washington Senators who would win their third and final AL pennant. In case you're wondering, the Red Sox were worse finishing ahead of only the lowly St. Louis Browns. However, in 1934, the Tigers would win their first AL pennant in 25 years and their elusive first World Series title in 1935.

The passage focused on Ira and the fans surrounding him trying to teach Rosa about the subtleties of baseball. While Rosa could not understand the difference between the infield fly rule and a double play and didn't understand why the umpire didn't send automatically send the batter down the first base following an intentional walk, she considered Hank Greenberg a hero. So, too, did many other Jews whether or not they lived in Detroit.

Following the excerpt, Sayles opened up the floor to questions. I relayed my experiences growing up rooting for the Tigers in Northwestern Ontario once our TV signals switched from Duluth to Detroit and recounting my experience at Tiger Stadium in August 1999 only a few short weeks before it shuttered. I asked Sayles if he had ever been to Tiger Stadium. He replied that he had not but had been to Fenway Park many times when he lived in East Boston and recounted how he enjoyed seeing the fans on the Blue Line en route to Fenway. His passage is the mark of a great writer. Although he was writing about Detroit baseball in the 1930s, one could easily picture Sayles having sat in the bleachers himself. 

Among the other questions directed toward Sayles focused on his writing process for a historical novel, the difference between writing a novel and a film/TV screenplay and his views on Henry Ford. He also spoke briefly about his next novel which he has also completed writing called God's Gotham which is an account of the point shaving scandal at CCNY involving the school's basketball team in the late 1940's. 

At the end of the evening, Sayles signed books including my own. I told Sayles that my favorite film is Matewan which I saw when I was a teenager not long after it was released. Nearly 40 years after the movie was released, the scene where the hillbillies rescue the unionized mine workers thrown out of the company town still sticks with me. 

When I told Sayles this, he mentioned that the hillbilly elder had been the editor of the local paper in Charleston describing him as an intellectual. But he also noted that this same man had grown up in a mining town. Upon hearing that, I told him how my maternal grandfather spent 43 years as a coal miner in the Crowsnest Pass in Alberta from the time he was 15 to the age of 57 and how he lived to the age of 84. He told me that my grandfather must have had strong lungs. That he did.

With other people waiting in line and not wanting to monopolize his time, I bade Sayles farewell. Trying to balance my book with my bag and my laptop, he gently told me to watch my step which struck me as a thoughtful and considerate gesture. It was a fitting conclusion to a pleasant evening.

Patriots Have Nothing to be Ashamed of in Super Bowl 60 Loss to Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks have just won their second Super Bowl title in franchise history besting the New England Patriots 29-13.

The Seahawks won their previous title in Super Bowl XLVIII a dozen years ago when they dominated the Denver Broncos 43-8. The win also avenges their Super Bowl loss to the Pats the following year.

Neither quarterback had a stellar game. Seahawks QB Sam Darnold and Pats QB Drake Maye both had their struggles. The Seahawks did have a 9-0 lead at the half on the strength of 3 field goals by Jason Myers who would add a fourth field goal in the third quarter to extend the Seahawks lead to 12-0.

Darnold would get his only touchdown in the game with 13:29 on the clock in the fourth quarter on a 16-yard pass to tight end AJ Barner to give the Seahawks a 19-0 lead.

The Pats were in serious danger of becoming the first team to ever be shutout in a Super Bowl matchup. But after a streaker momentarily disrupted the game only to be stopped by Pats wide receiver Kyle Williams, Maye would lob a TD pass to wide receiver Mack Hollins to finally get on the board with 12:27 remaining in the game.

With 5:38 left in the game, Myers then kicked a Super Bowl record fifth field goal to give the Seahawks a 22-7 lead. While some thoughts Myers should have won the Super Bowl MVP, this honor went to running back Kenneth Walker III who carried the ball 27 times for 135 rushing yards with 26 additional receiving yards on two catches.

Despite being sacked in the game 7 times, Maye and the Pats were only down by two possessions. However, Maye would fumble the ball leading to a fumble recovery by linebacker Uchenna Nwosu with 4:37 left in the game to score a touchdown and give the Seahawks a commanding 29-7 lead.

Maye did throw his second touchdown pass of the game to running back Rhamondre Stevenson with just over 2 minutes in the game, a two-point conversion was unsuccessful.

While the outcome was disappointing, the New England Patriots have nothing to be ashamed of at all. I can assure you that in August 2025, the Patriots were not expected to be playoff bound let alone Super Bowl bound.

The Pats exceeded all expectations in this NFL season.

I can tell you that at the office, people thought the Pats overcoming the Seahawks defense was a very tall order and they came precariously close to not scoring at all. Although Walker won Super Bowl MVP honors, there is no question a case could be made to have given the award collectively to the Seahawks defense. 

In a championship game, someone wins and someone loses and tonight the Seahawks were simply the better team. 

There is always next year, and the Patriots have a lot to look forward to in 2026.

In the meantime, congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks.

Along with 3 World Series Rings, Terrance Gore Had More Stolen Bases Than Hits

Former MLB outfielder Terrance Gore, best known for being utilized as a pinch running specialist, died suddenly yesterday following complications from a routine medical procedure. He was only 34.

Gore had a very unusual big-league career. He played in parts of 8 MLB seasons and was primarily a pinch runner and a late inning defensive replacement. Gore would finish his career with more stolen bases (43) than hits (16). Although Gore made his MLB debut in 2014 with the Kansas City Royals where he spent his first four big league seasons, he did not collect his first big league hit until 2018 when he was a member of the Chicago Cubs. That first hit came against future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer when he was pitching for the Washington Nationals. His lone career RBI came the following year when he rejoined the Royals when he belted a triple against Seattle Mariners pitcher Matt Festa. It was also his only career triple.

Although Gore never appeared in more than 37 games in any single season, he earned three World Series rings with the Kansas City Royals (2015), Los Angeles Dodgers (2020) and the Atlanta Braves (2021). 

Even more remarkably, he spent all of 2021 playing with the Braves Triple-AAA affiliate in Gwinnett before earning a spot on the team's post-season roster. When the Braves won the World Series, Gore Facetimed his injured teammate Charlie Morton so he could be a part of the on-field celebrations.

Gore last played in the majors with the New York Mets in 2022. 

All medical procedures have an inherent amount of risk. Nevertheless, one does not expect an otherwise healthy 34-year-old man to die in this manner. Needless to say, one can only imagine the loss Gore's family is feeling right now and will continue to feel for as long as they live. R.I.P.

The Defiant Ones is About Bondage & Brotherhood

 

This evening, I ventured to the Coolidge Corner Theatre to take in a special screening of The Defiant Ones starring Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis.

This screening is one of several being shown in homage of Poitier's work along with Lilies in the Field and A Raisin in the Sun.

Following Poitier's passing in 2022, I attended screenings at the Brattle Theatre for Blackboard Jungle and would then spend a weekend watching Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, To Sir, With Love and In the Heat of the Night. 

I had viewed all four films previously in TV, but never on the big screen. Although I have long been aware of The Defiant Ones and its basic premise, I had never seen it before.

For those who are unfamiliar with the basic premise of The Defiant Ones, Poitier and Curtis portray two prisoners (Noah Cullen and John "Joker" Jackson) who manage to escape when their truck is involved in an accident but are handcuffed to one another. Indeed, it was a template The Fugitive would follow just over five years later to great success.

Of course, The Fugitive only had one protagonist. In this case, the two protagonists are black and white and do not care for the other. This might be old hat to some and DEI to others, but in 1958 this was a groundbreaking film. Indeed, perhaps a little too groundbreaking. Although it was nominated for 9 Academy Awards including Best Picture and a Best Director nomination for Stanley Kramer (who later directed Poitier in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner), it only won 2 Academy Awards - one for Best Writing for Nedrick Young and Harold J. Smith and Best Cinematography for Sam Leavitt. Gigi, which was nominated for 9 Academy Awards, went 9-for-9 setting a then record for a single film eclipsing Gone with the Wind.

Now, I haven't seen Gigi so I cannot judge it on its merits, but given the subject matter in The Defiant Ones, I suspect most Academy voters thought a light-hearted musical was the safer choice. While Gigi might be a good film in its own right, The Defiant Ones undoubtedly has more staying power.

From where I sit, The Defiant Ones is mainly about bondage and brotherhood. As Cullen and Jackson are chained together, they have no choice but to rely on each other for survival even if they both resent this fact. Yet after their chains are broken, their bond is not. Cullen reluctantly parts ways with Jackson after he forms a romantic bond with a lonely divorcee played by Cara Williams. But when Jackson discovers that the divorcee has sent Cullen to his death by sending him to the swamps, he sacrifices the possibility of freedom and a new life to see that Cullen doesn't meet a fatal fate. It is here that the two become brothers.

Poitier and Curtis would each receive Best Actor nominations but lost out to David Niven for his performance in Separate Tables. Williams earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination but was bested by Wendy Hiller also in Separate Tables. I would be remiss if I did not mention Theodor Bikel also earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his portrayal of Sheriff Max Muller. Bikel, too, would not come away with Oscar gold which instead went to Burl Ives in The Big Country. 

I would describe Bikel's performance as a lower key version of Rod Steiger's portrayal of Sheriff Bill Gillespie from In the Heat of the Night nearly a decade later. Sheriff Muller is less volatile yet equally determined to find his men. Bikel portrays Muller with a quiet determined dignity. He will do his duty, but he has no thirst for violence.

Speaking of a thirst for violence, perhaps the scene which had the deeply resonance with a 2026 audience was when Cullen and Jackson are caught by residents of a mining town and are nearly lynched by a mob led by a goon played by Claude Akins. Amid this, Jackson demands to know why they would lynch a white man as if to invoke privilege he did not have the luxury of having. However, the mob is stopped singlehandedly by Big Sam played by of all people, horror movie legend Lon Chaney, Jr. Big Sam dares the town folk to lynch the pair by shaming them with a knife, a rope and a torch. With all that has happened in Minneapolis, we need all the Big Sams we can find.

The Defiant Ones is not only an important part of not only Sidney Poitier's legacy, but among the earliest American films to confront the ugliness of racism in a meaningful way.