Events overseas galvanized the world this week as the famed Cathedral of Notre Dame burned. It was like the end of the World War Two movie when the Germans wanted to know if the city was in flames as they fell back in the face of Patton’s advance.

Thankfully, the conflagration was not as destructive as it appeared at first, though there is dismay that fire-fighters were not able to harness the water from the river that surrounds the Isle de City to quench the flames that spread through the 850-year old edifice.

I thought hard about my last visit to the church, and the sidewalk cafe down the block where I slaked my thirst after touring the place and admiring the magnificent stained glass. Those may have survived, and President Macron swears the building will be restored in five years.

Everyone insists this was caused by a short circuit or some construction mishap, but the times being what they are, I will withhold judgment until the authorities make a pronouncement. I am hoping this is not a metaphor for Europe. Or Culpeper.

On this side of the Pond, we await the release of the Mueller Report tomorrow, complete except for redactions. Attorney General Barr has made quite a splash in his first weeks on the job, and this will be entertaining. The internecine battle in the Democratic Party as the fifty or sixty candidates jockey for position as the front-runner.

The mayor of South Bend, a charming fellow named Pete Buttigieg (how do you pronounce that?), is the new media darling. He checks all the blocks, or at least most of them. He will be featured until they decide to destroy him like Beto and anoint someone else. You cannot make this stuff up.

Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here.

Copyright 2019 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com