Month: April 2016

Categories
News News Blog

Zoo Plans Temporary Greensward Marker for Saturday, Hires Off-Duty Cops

CREDIT: Brandon Dill

Brandon Dill

The Memphis Zoo will place temporary stanchions on the Greensward tomorrow to mark the line of its overflow parking and has hired a few off-duty officers from the Memphis Police Department (MPD) to monitor the scene.

Many groups have planned events on the Overton Park Greensward Saturday. Some of them are in protest of the overflow parking situation and some not. See Thursday’s story about it here.

“As we mentioned yesterday, the zoo will maintain the original footprint as we park cars on an as-needed basis,” said zoo spokeswoman Laura Doty. “To provide a better divide between cars and park-goers, we’ll be using temporary stanchions to increase safety for everyone.”

Doty said MPD will have a presence Saturday “as we usually do on busy weekends.” The MPD officers the zoo hired are from MPD’s special events department, she said.

MPD Interim Director Michael Rallings said he respects the Constitutional rights of citizens but he won’t allow disruption Saturday.

“The leadership of the MPD respects and welcomes the expression of First Amendment rights of all citizens in a law-abiding manner,” Rallings said in a statement. “During a public assembly or protest, MPD’s lawful obligation is to provide public safety for every citizen.

“MPD understands the history and sensitivities associated with the Overton Park Greensward; however, we will not allow the disruption of business, or the interference of a citizen’s right to enjoy the park.”

Overton Park Conservancy (OPC) officials urged protestors to avoid direct contact with cars.

“We do not have a concrete timetable for the end of the mediation process, but as it continues, we urge citizens to express their opinions about this issue in a way that is respectful of all parties,” said OPC executive director Tina Sullivan. “We’re asking that as visitors come to the park this weekend, please avoid direct conflict with cars.

“We encourage you to gather in the park, have fun, and enjoy the beautiful weather. But for your safety, we would ask that you please avoid blocking or impeding vehicles.”

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Stoney River’s Deviled Eggs

Yes, Stoney River is known for their steaks, but you shouldn’t ignore the other items on their menu.

I stumbled upon one of their starters, deviled eggs ($8). These are deviled eggs with a twist, finished with sugar-cured bacon and homemade pickle relish. The deviled eggs taste similar to a creamy egg salad. Thanks to the bacon on top, there’s a crunchy factor that you don’t expect and it’s sweet. If you like deviled eggs that taste like creamy, smooth candy, these are for you.

Categories
Intermission Impossible Theater

What’s Up With Midtown Opera Festival’s Tragedy of Carmen?

“A stage space has two rules: (1) Anything can happen and (2) Something must happen.” — Peter Brook

Opera Memphis’ General Director Ned Canty has never been one to mince words. “If a singer can’t act it’s hard for me to hear them sing,” he says. Canty developed the Midtown Opera Festival as an opportunity to present works that benefit from the intimacy of a small space, and give singers a real chance to show off their acting chops. That’s what makes Peter Brook’s The Tragedy of Carmen — a condensed, uniquely theatrical distillation of Bizet’s popular opera — such a good fit.

Brook, a compulsively progressive artist, famous for his work as head of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s experimental wing, had strong ideas about the strengths of opera, and the weaknesses of the art form. He developed The Tragedy of Carmen as an experiment to see how opera could be more theatrical. To do so he focused on just the four main characters, making them as believable and real as possible and spent 9-months rehearsing the piece in his usual collaborative style.

What’s Up With Midtown Opera Festival’s Tragedy of Carmen?

Joshua Borths, who directed The Tragedy of Carmen for Opera Memphis likes how Brook played with audience expectations, re-arranging the score for a smaller orchestra, but calling for a recording of the full orchestra playing the overture at the end of the show.

Brook has always seen words as the castings of impulse, and understood how even the finest points of view are relative, expiring shortly after they’re expressed. To that end, he’s shown a special gift for using context and theatrical devices to sharpen edges dulled by changing sensibilities.

“While it is all the same music and the same characters it’s a very different theatrical experience than seeing the full Carmen with a chorus and ensembles that bring a lightness to the piece,” Borths says. “This is a much darker take on the story.” And that’s saying something, considering how shocked French audiences were by the immorality, and lawlessness on display in Bizet’s original. 

Categories
Music Music Blog

Weekend Roundup 57: Dirty Streets, Oblivians, Weedeater

CREDIT: Jamie Harmon

Jamie Harmon

The Oblivians play Newby’s this Saturday night.

Welcome to the 57th edition of my Weekend Roundup. I regret to inform you that the Mayor has put a ban on all live music this weekend, and that any individual caught attempting to play an electric guitar or drums will be incarcerated. April fools! Here’s everywhere you need to be this weekend

Friday, April 1st
Alice Variety Show, 7 p.m. at Minglewood Hall, $15-$20.

Steve Selvidge, 7:30 p.m. at Bar DKDC, $7.

Weekend Roundup 57: Dirty Streets, Oblivians, Weedeater

The Dirty Streets, 9 p.m. at the Young Avenue Deli, $10.

Weekend Roundup 57: Dirty Streets, Oblivians, Weedeater (2)

Eric Hughes Band, 10 p.m. at Lafayette’s Music Room.

Saturday, April 2nd. 
Unknown Hinson, 9 p.m. at the Hi-Tone, $10

Weekend Roundup 57: Dirty Streets, Oblivians, Weedeater (3)

Oblivians, Jack O and the Sheiks, Leather Uppers, 9 p.m. at Newby’s, $15.

Weekend Roundup 57: Dirty Streets, Oblivians, Weedeater (4)

Morgan Page, 10 p.m. at the New Daisy, $15-$25.

Weekend Roundup 57: Dirty Streets, Oblivians, Weedeater (5)

Soul Track Mind, 10 p.m. at Lafayette’s Music Room. 

Sunday, April 3rd
Brent and Kirby, 5 p.m. at The Buccaneer, $5.

Lord Dying, Weedeater, Today is the Day, Author & Punisher, 8 p.m. at the Hi-Tone, $15.

Weekend Roundup 57: Dirty Streets, Oblivians, Weedeater (6)

Categories
Style Sessions We Recommend

2016 Memphis Fashion Week EMDP Emerging Designers

As Memphis Fashion Week (MFW) celebrates its 5th year, the Emerging Memphis Designer Project (EMDP) continues the cultivation of local talent with more designers than any other year — 16 selected from almost double the submissions than last year.

“This year’s group has blown us away,” MFW director Abby Phillips says. “The age demographic is the most diverse that we’ve had, as is the experience level. All designers have worked hard to learn and become better at their designs and the sewing. The part that impresses me the most this year is how many designers are creating their own textiles through dying, painting, and weaving unconventional materials.”

These emerging designers will show their custom designs on the runway at the Memphis College of Art Saturday, April 9th at 8 p.m. Former EMDP designer/winner Tara Skelley of Dilettante Collection will also show her spring collection following the EMDP show.

MFW supporter and stylist Augusta Campbell will be this year’s guest judge along with designer Andra Eggleston of Electra Eggleston. They’ll decide which designers will receive a scholarship to the Memphis College of Art Continuing Education classes.

Tickets to this runway show and other MFW events can be purchased at www.memphisfashionweek.org.

Learn more about each designer below.

[jump]

ANDREA FENISE
Concrete Rose is a love story. It’s a visual expression of the process of love. Blending texture in sequin and soft flow-y crepe-back satin to visually express evolving and growing through love was the idea for my collections 

The Andrea Fenise woman is modern, unconventional, and contemporary. 

I want my designs to express what women love, what interests them — using personal style as an expression. It’s my hope to design clothes for the fashion industry that tell a story not just hang on a rack. 

Years designing: 3 years 

AVIANNE ROBINSON
My garment is a blend of the 1990s and 1800s fashion. I used elements of both eras to make a garment that pays tribute to history as well as incorporates some of the more modern-day looks.

I was designing for the modern-day online influencer. I could see a fashion editor or street style blogger wearing this.

I hope to bring a unique style of clothes that is able to incorporate elements of other time periods In a fashion-forward way.

Years designing: 5 years, but I have always done some form of art.

CASEY BECK
My pieces are simple, clean designs created from rich suede and silk. My pieces represent my personal design style which features simple, well-crafted staple pieces with sparks of intrigue and individuality. 

I design for a woman who is on-trend but adds her own individuality to achieve a personal style. She is always growing, meeting new people, and traveling to different places. Her style is simple but strong, and her experiences help add a uniqueness to her wardrobe. 

What I hopes to bring to the fashion industry? Staple pieces with hints of intrigue and individuality.  

Years designing: 1 year

CHRISTINA DANG
I like cleanliness and structure. My mini collection has a lot of hard lines and color blocking, creating a nice pristine and crisp look. I like boldness and for things to make a bold statement because fashion is bold. It communicates with confidence. I played on hard and soft in textiles and color to maintain that spring/summer feel. 

[I design for ] definitely someone who’s edgy. Someone who loves oxymorons and does not play safe. Spring/summer is often light and airy, and my collection is heavy with vinyls. There’s no reason to conform; I like to have fun. 

Other than more originality, I hope to bring a new face to the industry. Especially within the ethnic community. Representation is so important to me, especially growing up in the U.S. from an immigrant family. It’s nice to be able to look up to someone who looks like you and can relate to you and it’s nice to be able to be that for someone. 

Recently, in the past two years, I’ve been trying to expose myself to the industry more in attempt to spark something. Although I’ve been drawing for a long time, my sewing/design skills are not as developed. Other than a home economics class in high school, most of my skills are self taught through books and YouTube. EMDP has allowed a platform for me to expose myself to fashion design more and provided resources to grow and develop professionally. 

DARA BRANSON
My inspiration came from a book of medieval fashions. I borrowed some of the shapes and the idea of embellishment as a form of armor and made the look more modern and feminine. The sheer materials and pastel pinks soften the overall look for an almost ethereal feel.

My designs are more formal, but elements can easily be taken and worn more casually. This woman is feminine and enjoys following trends. She loves dressing up for special occasions, but also needs pieces that are comfortable and versatile.

I think a lot of modern fashion is more gender neutral and focused on comfort rather than style. I want to make clothes that are just as comfortable as they are beautiful, and I want to embrace and celebrate femininity.

I began sketching clothes sometime in middle school, around 12-13 years ago, doodling in my class notes. In high school I began designing in earnest, learned to sew, and made my senior prom gown in 2009. I decided to study Apparel Design at Purdue and earned my B.S. In 2013.

DENISE BECKETT
My theme is young ladies having a night out in town.

The person who is wearing the outfit should have a bold, strong, and confident attitude. The ideal person would be around the age of 18-25. Someone who loves bold and bright colors.

I hope to bring a sense of confidence, that you don’t have to dress trashy to feel good about yourself and fit in.

I have been designing for 9 years going on 10.

KATHRYN HEARD
For EMDP 2016, I created custom, hand-dyed fabric and removable feather embellishments inspired by the Northern Lights.

I design for the sophisticated woman who appreciates one-of-a-kind statement pieces.

I hope to bring a positive light to the fashion industry.

Years designing: 3

LINDSAY CHASTAIN
Technique: bright, colorful embroidery

Theme: whimsy; based on woodcut designs found in the children’s book “Drummer Hoff”

Designing for a bold woman on a day about town.

I hope to bring playful and imaginative designs that draw from nature and art.

Years designing: 3 years

LINDSEY WIDICK
The piece is designed for a night out. It is bright, bold, and edgy. However, the train makes the design more formal and also adds softness and a touch of femininity to the piece

My design is for a woman who likes to take risks with her fashion and standout in a crowd. 

I love designers like Mara Hoffman because of the bright and bold patterns she uses, and I love designers like Zuhair Murad because of the intricate and beautiful designs he puts on the runway.  I could only hope my design falls somewhere in between. 

This is my first year in design. 

MARY AMBROSE
Each design in my collection was inspired by birds, specifically the woodpecker, the jay, cedar waxwing, grackle, and the tawny frogmouth. Each bird is interpreted in the garment design by use of feathers or reproducing the feather somewhere in the garment. I also use a signature feature in all the garments through the use of bicycle inner tubes. Some garments are completely made of inner tubes with some fabric accents. I enjoy proving that inner tubes can be crafted into a beautiful garment that looks as chic as leather. 

This collection was designed for a confident woman. I like to incorporate elements of soft and hard, to create a sensual edgy look. She doesn’t mind being different and wants a one-of-a-kind garment.

I enjoy creating the wow factor, so at times I have to edit so it doesn’t go too costume. I really enjoy pulling out all the stops from the garment itself to the jewelry, shoes, hair, and make up. I love to see what Lady Gaga is wearing because it always has a wow factor. I love that the fashion industry is becoming more accepting of nontraditional materials. You see more and more designs using items such as pearls, drapery tassels, metal cuffs and eyelets, orange snow fencing, and even molded plastics.

My first designs where entered in Curb Couture and Trashion Shows two years ago. I have gradually incorporated more fabric into the design but using unconventional items really makes fashion fun and stretches the designers creativity. Just think outside the box. That’s what I try to do with the rubber inner tubes. I love to see how amazed people are when the see a garment created out of something unexpected. 

MEGGY MULLER
The dress has many cutouts on the dress. The back has cutouts, as well as the side of the dress.

It’s a formal dress for a girl who wants a high-low dress.

I hope to bring something different and creative to the fashion industry.

This past summer when I went to Scad [Savannah College of Art and Design] and I learned more about fashion design. This is my first real year of designing and making dresses, since I am only a sophomore in high school. This summer I am going to Parsons to further learn more about fashion design. 

MEREDITH OLINGER
All of my materials are either handmade or hand painted. I like to use recycled materials, when I can, and for this collection I used a lot of old t-shirts and recycled paper.

For this collection, I was thinking about a woman who is not afraid to be a little over the top. She always goes for one more accessory, one more print. She is comfortable with who she is and knows what she wants. 

I’m really interested in how things get made, and I like to innovate with new materials and new processes. 

I’ve been designing clothes since I started drawing. Fashion is my first love and it is what made me want to become an artist. But I’ve only been creating my designs for about two years now. 

RACHEL KUPERMAN ECHNOZ
My singles collection is inspired by mosaics and bright colors. For all the looks, I hand-painted silk.

The girl I am designing for is someone who has a unique sense of style.  She loves clothes that are classic with a modern twist.

I would love to bring a new perspective of design to the fashion industry.

I have been sewing and designing since I was 10 years old. I am so appreciative to Memphis Fashion Week for giving me the opportunity to showcase my designs on the runway.

SHAKIA COUCH
The theme that describes my collection is youthfulness. 

I would be designing for a very fun and energetic person. Clothes that are not revealing, but where everyone can feel as equally beautiful covered.

TIENA GWIN
I am designing for the ultra-feminine woman who wants designs that expresses her true eclectic self.

I hope to bring to the industry clothes that create a positive emotional response. Clothes that pull at your heart strings. 

I have been designing since 2011. 

Zoe Vu
Theme or technique that identifies my design: geometric shapes and a nod towards athleisure.
 
I am designing for a girl who loves style and comfort equally.
 
In the future I hope to create a clothing line full of pieces that are made from hand-printed fabrics and that can seamlessly transition between athletic wear and everyday fashion.


Years designing: 1 year

///

Photos by Faith Pool and Sophorn Kuoy. Shoot location: Memphis Slim House.
Congratulations and good luck to all these emerging designers. See you at fashion week!

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Categories
News The Fly-By

New Charter Lays Framework for Tackling Blight

CREDIT: Brandon Dill

As the revival of a handful of high-profile formerly blighted properties — the Crosstown building, the Chisca Hotel — is underway, there are still thousands of rundown homes, long-vacant apartment buildings, and abandoned storefronts scattered across the city.

The problem may seem massive and unmanageable, but as of this month, the city now has a roadmap of sorts for getting a handle on the blight problem. The Memphis Blight Elimination Charter, developed by a team from the public and private sector and coordinated by Neighborhood Preservation, Inc., sets up a framework for tackling the issue and paves the way for the development of a blight elimination team and action plan.

Blight fighter Brandon Gaitor took a few minutes to discuss the city’s problem, the charter, and what comes next.

— Bianca Phillips

Brandon Dill

Brandon Gaitor

Flyer: The charter’s intro says Memphis is facing a “blight epidemic.” How bad is it?

Brandon Gaitor: Blighted property in Memphis is currently worse than it has ever been. Both the amount of blight and the scale of its negative impact on quality of life has truly challenged Memphis. Frayser, Orange Mound, Whitehaven, and the Klondike/Smokey City area stick out in my mind as parts of our city that have the greatest challenge. These areas are predominantly African-American neighborhoods that are also challenged by a slew of other social issues like poverty, crime, divestment, and challenges associated with inadequate public transportation and access to fresh produce.

Why do we need a charter to help us deal with the blight problem?

Local government, the private sector, civic groups, nonprofit, and residents are realizing that Memphis’ challenge with blighted property is far too great to fix without coordinated collaboration. This means organizations sharing information that impacts us all. This means aggregating resources — human and capital — in a way that scales the impact of our efforts.

If blight had a motto it would be “divide and conquer.” As long as we are disjointed in our efforts, no progress will be made. This charter is our moral compass in blight elimination efforts in Memphis. But admittedly this is only the first step. Mere words can’t revitalize our communities. It will take years of ongoing efforts to implement the goals and principles of the charter. The second step in this process is finalizing an action plan that assigns specific tasks to various groups in pursuit of manifesting the ideals on paper into an increase in Memphis’ quality of life.

What are some examples of strategies that haven’t worked?

Underfunded code enforcement, disjointed organizations competing for the same resources for the same areas, unorganized neighborhood revitalization, an outdated tax foreclosure protocol and tax sale system that is too often exploited by out-of-town investors. We have to create incentives that allow good property owners to excel and bad property owners to fail.

Brandon Dill

Blighted property in South Memphis

What can residents do when dealing with a blighted property in their area?

The best thing that residents can do is organize. Take advantage of the Neighborhood Preservation Act. Take advantage of the Shelby County tax sale and the overstock of vacant land and property owned by Shelby County. Get to know the designated code enforcement field officer for your neighborhood and coordinate with them to bring blighted properties into compliance with city code.

Is Memphis a pioneer in creating a charter for dealing with blight?

Memphis is the first and only city to produce a charter of this scale, but cities like Flint, Michigan, and Cleveland, Ohio, have adopted blight-elimination frameworks or other collaborative efforts that have successfully seen an impact beyond what they could do in organizational silos.

When will the blight elimination team be organized? What would be their primary duty?

The blight elimination team will be the topic of discussion at the steering committee’s April meeting. I believe that the team will be finalized within the next few months. Their primary duty would be to implement and create the action plan, which gives specific tasks for various organizations with benchmarks and metrics to measure our impact.

Will they start by surveying all the blight in Memphis?

That blight survey has already been done thanks to the Bluff City Snapshot. Every parcel in the city of Memphis has been surveyed to assess property condition, litter, occupancy/vacancy, etc. This is a huge resource for all blight fighting efforts.

Categories
Film Features Film/TV

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

The problem with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is right there in the title.

Granted, there are a lot of problems with Zack Snyder’s $250 million epic of super conflict, but the biggest one is that DC and Warner Bros. have tried to mash two films into one. The first film is Batman v Superman: Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill) are set on a collision course by the machinations of Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg). The second film is Dawn of Justice — Batman discovers the existence of hidden “metahumans,” and gets the idea of uniting them into a super team — a “Justice League,” if you will — to protect the world from extraterrestrial threats. Both plots have the potential of forming the spine of a good movie, but, in a cowardly move that is all too typical of contemporary corporate filmmaking, the producers have tried to make a movie that is all things to all people and delivered a soggy mess.

Henry Cavill

Batman and Superman are supposed to be two very different characters. Batman is a brooding, tortured soul haunted by the loss of his parents. Superman’s disposition is sunny, optimistic, and virtuous, the result of some exceptional child rearing by Ma and Pa Kent in Smallville. Ben Affleck does a pretty good job as Batman/Bruce Wayne — at least he’s no George Clooney. Henry Cavill, on the other hand, plays Superman as a brooding, tortured soul, haunted in his dreams by the loss of his father (Kevin Costner) and the deaths of innocents in the climatic battle of Man of Steel. This isn’t Batman v Superman. It’s Batman v Batman. But the biggest miscalculation is Jesse Eisenberg playing Lex Luthor as a cross between Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network and a twitchy, 12 Monkeys Brad Pitt, when he should have been portrayed as a megalomaniacal Elon Musk by someone other than Eisenberg. There’s more than a whiff of Heath Ledger’s Joker in this Luthor, another symptom of Batman Poisoning.

Ben Affleck

The women fare a little better. Amy Adams is inoffensive as Lois Lane, but she’s wearing the same grim countenance as everyone in this dark nightmare. When she and Cavill share the screen, there’s no hint of the explosive chemistry between Margot Kidder and Christopher Reeve that propelled the Richard Donner Superman. Gal Gadot makes a big impression as Wonder Woman, but there’s simply no reason for her to be introduced in this super mixture rather than in her own headlining picture. In the post-Katniss Everdeen era, there’s no excuse for Wonder Woman to play third fiddle.

Snyder’s direction is a cavalcade of bad decisions, beginning in the opening sequence with the baffling notion that we needed to see Bruce Wayne’s parents die again, when the second sequence, where we see the battle between Superman and General Zod (Michael Shannon) from Bruce Wayne’s point of view, is so much stronger. Multiple dream sequences and momentum-killing digressions, including one trip into a parallel universe, pad out the running time to a grueling 151 minutes. Snyder’s good at composing an interesting image, and the top-billed Bats/Supes throwdown delivers the goods before its emotion is dispelled by the completely unnecessary team up with Wonder Woman to fight Kryptonian mutant Doomsday.

To be fair to Snyder, who has produced one of the greatest comic book movies in 2009’s Watchmen adaptation, Batman films have been overstuffed messes since Tim Burton left the franchise. There hasn’t been a decent Superman movie since the Carter administration, and the decision to glom the Justice League origin story onto the Batman v Superman story probably came from the corporate level. But none of that excuses the fact that this film is just no fun. DC vs. Marvel is the closest thing to a sports rivalry in the geek world, and while DC fans are still showing up in droves, they now know what it feels like when their team is in a rebuilding year.

Categories
Opinion Viewpoint

GOP: Thinking Small

One of the oddest documents in a very odd political year is the transcript of an interview conducted by NPR last week with Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. He had previously endorsed Mike Huckabee for the Republican presidential nomination and later Marco Rubio, and now he was “without a candidate” and, it seems, without much in the way of political integrity, either. He did not rule out endorsing Donald Trump.

Hutchinson set out his priorities. “Who’s the best person to win in November?” This is apparently different from who would make the best president and, as you can see, more important.

Next came “Who can bring our party together?” Again, never mind the sort of person Trump is, the candidate he’s been, and the kind of commander in chief he would make. Hutchinson even noted that Trump had picked up “a lot of momentum” after his recent wins. He did not note, however, that he had picked up any wisdom or, while we’re talking miracles, humility.

To be fair, Hutchinson has his qualms about Trump. He had previously noted Trump’s failings — disagreement over trade policy and, in the words of NPR’s Robert Siegel, “you spoke of temperament, circus atmosphere in the primary, salesmanship in place of serious discussions. Have your concerns about Mr. Trump diminished? Have they grown larger? Have they stayed the same?”

There I was, all ears, as I waited for Hutchinson to summon his inner gag reflex, to say that things had gotten worse, that now there was the threat of violence and the disturbing admission by Trump that when it comes to foreign policy he talks to himself, presumably pacing Mar-a-Lago staring at his own portrait (“to be or not to be . . .” president).

But instead, Hutchinson noted how well Trump was doing. It was clear that he did not like Trump. But winning in November, Republican Party unity — these things mattered most of all. Putting an ignorant demagogue in the White House — well, that would somehow take care of itself. An unambiguous statement of revulsion and repudiation and a full-throated denunciation of bigotry were not uttered that evening. Like Trump, I started talking to myself.

Hutchinson is the canary in the Republican mine. Of course, he cannot abide Trump, but then he cannot abide getting on the wrong side of the possible nominee, either. Already, you see others inching ever so much closer to Trump, not necessarily endorsing but certainly not condemning. In fact, only one Republican member of the Senate, Ben Sasse, has said he will not vote for Trump. I will follow him into battle.

The rest of the Senate is mute, frozen in terror, their spines turning to Jell-O as Trump approaches the number of delegates needed for the nomination. Across Washington and elsewhere, job-famished Republicans — deprived of key positions for the eight years of the Obama presidency — are starting to see some virtue in Trump. Of course, many in the foreign policy arena have in fact denounced him, but Trump has no idea who they are anyway. As we now know, these things can be negotiated.

Some Republicans have already endorsed Trump. Chris Christie, every once in a while the governor of New Jersey, led the parade. He’s either angling for a job in the Trump administration — it is hard to type those two words — maybe attorney general or something to do with bridge closures, or maybe he wanted to get back at Marco Rubio, vengeance and self-regard being Christie’s true passions. Either way, he was rewarded by having to stand behind Trump for what seemed like hours as Trump droned on and Christie looked like a sadly deflating parade balloon of himself.

Governors Rick Scott of Florida and Paul LePage of Maine have also looked at Trump and have seen a president. So have a former governor (Jan Brewer of Arizona) and a former senator (Scott Brown of Massachusetts) and what looks like the touring cast of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”: Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter, and Phyllis Schlafly.

The Hutchinson text is the document of our times. It lacks moral or even political indignation and has so many implied or stated equivocations that it might have been drafted at the United Nations. Say what you will about Trump; he’s separating the men from the boys. On the radio the other day, you could just hear Hutchinson shrinking.

Richard Cohen writes for the Washington Post Writers Group.