Blowhard, Esq. writes:

• Funny how a 131-year-old statue has suddenly become a “nuisance.” Another historical nuisance that must be removed lest we poison another impressionable soul.
• And I guess vandalism and suppression of free speech are alright so long as you’re on the side of the angels.
• Hard for me to believe that the average BuzzFeed reader has the slightest clue who Clark Gable or Loretta Young are, or cares much about an event that took place eight decades ago. Given the timing the story and the fact that it’s based on revelations from 1998, this strikes me more as a collateral attack on GONE WITH THE WIND.
• Ta-Nehisi Coates — heir of James Baldwin, anointed by Toni Morrison, anatomist of black bodies — is the new liberal media darling.
• A win for due process and the presumption of innocence — two ideals that progressives used to cherish.
• Camille Paglia on what it would take to be the first female American president.
• A plan so preposterous only an architectural grad student would think it’s a good idea.
• Anthony Bourdain loves KFC’s mac ‘n cheese.
• A visit with the great John Boorman.
• A bunch of idiots bloviating about art and politics while drinking coffee? I would’ve fit right in.
• On Bastille Day, allow me to recommend this excellent Great Courses series on the French Revolution and Napoleon. It’s not on sale now, darn it, but when it is it’s about $50 for the audio-only download, or about $1 lecture. An absolute bargain. I ripped off the series for this post.
• Fremont Street in Vegas, sometime in the ’50s.