Literary Exercise
When I was thirteen, I got my first official introduction to art history. I read two different novels written by Irving Stone, about two great artists. One was A Lust for Life about Vincent Van Gogh, a massive (for me) 512 page novel. And the second was The Agony and the Ecstasy, about Michelangelo and more specifically, the painting of the Sistine Chapel. It was even longer with over 700 pages.
Completing books of that bulk was an adolescent achievement at the time, and opened me to the summer reading tomes of James Michener (The Covenant, The Source, Hawaii, The Drifters) and Leon Uris (Exodus, Trinity, The Haj). “Big books” were no longer scary; and as a growing teenager, the sheer weight of the novels didn’t intimidate me anymore either. Reading became a physical workout as well as an intellectual exercise.
All to get to this: in the Agony and Ecstasy; as Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling in excruciating detail, Pope Julius II kept coming in to see if he was done. “When will you make an end?” the Pontiff would cry from the floor, yelling up into the scaffolding where Michelangelo was doing his work. “When I am finished!” was always the artist’s infuriating answer. He spent four years laying on his back on the top scaffold, paint dripping into his eyes and face, crafting the intricate details of God touching Adam and giving him the spark of life. (That literary moment became a pivotal scene in the Hollywood blockbuster movie, with Charlton Heston as the artist and Rex Harrison as the Pope.)
Anticipation
My news feeds are full of anticipation. Former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows cut a deal with Special Prosecutor Jack Smith. He testified to the Grand Jury and agreed to plead guilty to lesser crimes. Did he talk about the Mara Lago documents, about the Insurrection; we don’t know. What we do know is that if Smith reached Meadows, he’s only “one move” away from the former President himself.
Smith also called his Washington, DC Grand Jury back into session this week, after a several week hiatus. My “TV” Prosecutors, all former Justice Department officials, prognosticate that the Smith “team” has prepped its final case for the Jurors, and are ready to call for indictments. We are all holding our breath, is TODAY INDICTMENT DAY?
And we discovered a whole other Grand Jury, meeting in Miami, dealing with the document case. That makes sense, the documents were in Southern Florida, the search of Mara Lago was in that jurisdiction, and, if there were crimes committed (lying to the FBI, hiding classified documents, obstructing justice) many of those actions were also in South Florida. But we didn’t know about the Miami end of the probe. Is THIS where the document indictments will come down? Is the DC Grand Jury just dealing with the Insurrection?
Boiling
Trump lawyers met with the Department of Justice, with the Smith “team” on Monday. We “know” they were told Trump was a target of the investigation, the last step before he becomes a defendant in a Federal Court. Of course, the former President tweeted he wasn’t indicted. But, he is a target, but the Grand Jury arrow hasn’t been released … yet.
Meanwhile, the “pot is boiling” in Atlanta. State charges seem to be pending for Trump and others, dealing with election interference. Is South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham included? Are the false electors who signed onto the fake Georgia petition to Congress? Prosecutor Fani Willis warned local law enforcement to be ready for a July or August announcement, will that be the next “shoe to drop” on the twice-impeached, once defeated former President?
Smith
And finally, we actually saw video, real live images, of Jack Smith himself, walking to work. The haggard man in the drooping suit looks like the long-worn Michelangelo, beard and all. And where is the security for a man who might bring down the pivotal figure of our time, Donald Trump? Just that one guy beside him with a vest? Don’t they realize how crazy this whole thing could, will, get?
And Jack Smith’s answer to shouted media questions: silence. He has nothing to say to the public, to the American “Popes” waiting on the floor of our judicial chapel. We will see his work, his own “Creation”, on his terms. We must wait for him to complete it, to finish. Then we’ll know. It’s either a masterpiece, or it needs painting over.
