Mens Rea

(I originally took a picture from the New York Times to post here, but I read some stuff about "fair use" of copyrighted material and although I thought I was in the clear, I still didn't want to infringe on a photographer's right to earn money from her work, so I decided not to include the photo -- if you want to see it, take a look at the New York Times' article written by Charles Blow called "Search Your Souls (What's Left of Them), Republicans" and you'll see the photo I reference here.)

This is a great picture -- from the New York Times -- it's of Mitch McConnell (the leader of the Republicans in the Senate) -- I'm not sure where he is but it is very dramatic, with half of his face obscured as he tries to decide what to do about the latest Trumpian scandal.  I have tried my best to avoid Trump in my blog, because he seems to be everywhere else, but I find this whole latest drama to be intensely dramatic, with Michael Cohen, Trump's "fixer" confessing to the New York state prosecutor's office about the campaign finance crimes he has committed under the direction of "a candidate for federal office".  It is really Shakespearean, with people being stabbed in the back and a leader with endless amounts of hubris (who gave himself an A+ today for the job he's doing -- who gives themselves an A+?) and the guy who said not long ago that he would "take a bullet" for his boss and then the silent Paul Manafort (I don't know if he was silent in court, but I don't think he testified for himself, because the defence didn't call any witnesses) like Iago in the wings (but perhaps, not like Iago, because Trump calls him a brave man who is stoically taking it rather than "flipping" like Michael Cohen).  And then there's little Jeff Sessions who is the worm who finally turned; after months of taking it, he has finally found some self respect and tells us that he is doing a good job (maybe not A+, but good, maybe a B) in the face of Trump's criticisms.

Anyway, I'm not a good enough writer to do it justice, but I wish I was because it would make a great play.  There are so many good characters here - Steve Bannon, what an interesting character he is, all rumpled and red-faced, but imagining himself to be some intellectual powerhouse (and I'm not disputing that he's smart, however repellent he might also be), Jared Kushner, the weasel (who also rarely speaks -- very Becket-like to have these guys who don't really communicate) and Sarah Huckabee Sanders (whyever would she keep the Huckabee?  it just sounds so much like a joke -- that could be some of your comic relief) and Stephen Miller -- oh, what a great role if you got to play him!  He doesn't seem to be good at making eye contact and I remember way back when he was having his confrontation with the reporter, Jim Acosta, about immigration and the Statue of Liberty and he kept saying "Jim" over and over, while Jim went off on him -- that's a great scene.

Anyway, I wondered about whether I could use this photo on my blog.  (You can probably see I am trying to use pictures here now, since I've finally figured out how.)  I looked up the rules about using photographs that are copyrighted and it says that "fair use" means I can use a photo on a limited basis for the purpose of teaching or commenting on the news or things of that sort.  I hope that's correct.  I certainly don't want to use someone's work and not give them credit for it.  I looked up this photo and it is not a New York Times photographer, but rather a Reuters photographer (Reuters is an international news agency and it seems like lots of other news outlets use their material) and the photographer's name is Toya Sarno Jordan.  Anyway, I have no "mens rea" (criminal intent) in my use of the photo, no matter how many other people carry nefarious intents in their hearts (I just finished a Michael Connolly novel about these lawyers trying to impugn Harry Bosch's character as a police officer; the book was called Two Kinds of Truth and if you like mysteries, it was quite an entertaining one.)

I have that great title from the Drama game that I want to use for a play I will write sometime soon -- "Two Truths and a Lie" -- but it's just sitting in my head right now and I have got to sit down and start writing if I ever want it to come to fruition.