Portable Bohemia Newsletter Oct 15, 2025

Greetings from the Far Left Coast where I sometimes put aside mysteries read for diversion and take up more substantive fare. Of late that has been The University in Ruins (1995) by Bill Readings, a comparative literature professor at the Université de Montréal, and another Sigrid Nunez book, Mitz: The Marmoset of Bloomsbury.

The University in Ruins remains timely and thought provoking thirty years after publication. Readings is well-versed in currents of European intellectual history running from the German Idealists, Kant, Fichte, Humboldt, Schiller, up through Marx, Adorno, Habermas, Derrida, etc., and it shows in text peppered with terms and concepts like Wissenschaft, Bildung, metalepsis, aporia, dereferentialization, the radical heterogeneity of individuals, communicative transparency. He is also familiar with critiques by precursors of today’s culture warriors against woke and DEI such as William Bennett, E.D. Hirsch, and Allen Bloom and Herbert London, “who see their University threatened by raving harpies.”

Readings traces changing visions of the University (capitalization is his), which within modernity “held a central place in the formation of subjects for the nation-state, along with the production of the ideology that handled the issue of their belonging to the nation-state (culture).” For Kant reason served a particularly unifying function for the university. The German Idealists replaced reason with culture as the unifying idea. In the current University of Excellence intellectual activity and culture are being replaced by pursuit of excellence and performance indicators. Excellence “names a non-referential principle that allows the maximum of uninterrupted internal administration.” The president becomes a bureaucratic administrator “who moves effortlessly from the lecture hall, to the sports stadium, to the executive lounge.” The question of value is put aside in favor of measurement; questions of accountability or responsibility are replaced with accounting solutions.

This brief description provides no more than some flavor of the book’s argument, and I do not know what to make of much of it, least of all where Readings is left at the conclusion. There is a good deal here to stir thought about the role and place of the university as the Trump regime moves to assert control over it. The University in Ruins was a slog I think worthwhile, maybe, but still a slog.

Mitz is wholly a delight. The sickly little monkey came into the household of Virginia and Leonard Woolf and thus the Bloomsbury group in 1934, hanging out with John Maynard Keynes and Tom Eliot, whose Murder in the Cathedral Leonard found less that captivating. Mitz became particularly attached to Leonard, often perching on his shoulder at home and on walks, and she saved their bacon during an ill-advised road trip through Germany to see what the Nazi stuff was all about. Things could have taken a bad turn when they found the highway blocked by an enthusiastic crowd awaiting the appearance of some high-ranking Nazi official with signs and banners reading “Jews Out of Germany.” Fortunately, the Germans were so captivated by the “cute little thing” that they neglected to pay attention to Leonard, who happened to be Jewish.

My acquaintance with the Woolfs and Bloomsbury is for the most part second-hand. I may have read something by Virginia Woolf long, long ago, but if so, do not recall it. Upon finishing Mitz I picked up A Room of One’s Own at Powell’s. I read the first few pages this morning before taking up the task at hand and anticipate I will enjoy it.

I was struck by Nunez’s account of the Virginia Woolf’s work habits and astonishing literary output, which left me feeling terribly slack, although I know that each of us goes about the writing work in his, her, or their own fashion. Mine is more akin to the spirit of Anna Akhmatova, who had it that poetry is a catastrophe, not the kind of work where one gets up in the morning, sits down at the desk, well, I’ll immerse myself. The way of poetry differs from the way of essays and newsletters, where I just dither before getting down to it.

My spirit brightened in recent weeks as I wrote two poems that I feel pretty good about. One will appear in the November issue of Quill & Parchment. I am a little surprised by how much this has boosted my spirits. Don’t worry. I’m not about to dive into armchair self-psychoanalysis. Sometimes an observation is just an observation.

The ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages is significant, happy talk about the end of terrorism and peace in the Middle East premature, to say the least. As Charlie Sykes noted yesterday at To the Contrary, “a rather important reminder seems to be in order”:

• The Mideast is still the Mideast.

• Hamas is still Hamas.

• Netanyahu is still Netanyahu.

• And Trump is still Trump, a Vesuvius of corruption, cruelty, and recklessness. (In a World of Gangsters and Thugs…)

What comes next for Palestinians is as up in the air as ever. Netanyahu has not backed off from his declaration that there will not be a Palestinian state. He and fanatics in his governing coalition remain committed to a Jewish state from the river to the sea. Quite apart from the monumental task of rebuilding Gaza with some prospect of Palestinian self-determination ahead, a fantastic leap of imagination or disingenuousness is required to suggest a scenario where Jewish settlers in the West Bank who have violently attacked Palestinians, stolen their flocks, driven them from their homes, and taken their land would accept living in a Palestinian state. What then is left for Palestinians? A one-state solution with second- or third-class status, apartheid by any other name? Removal to other Arab countries or some African desert?

• How Israel’s West Bank strategy aims to bury Palestinian statehood, Reuters, September 22, 2025

• Israeli settlement activity accelerates in the West Bank, Security Council told, UN News, September 29, 2025

Release of Israeli hostages is rightly celebrated. Trump met with the families and relished their applause. The 1900 Palestinians freed by Israel remain faceless and beneath the notice of Trump, Vance, Witcoff, Huckabee, and even many Americans otherwise critical of the regime. Of those 1900, 250 were prisoners. The rest, many of them women and children, were swept up in Gaza after the October 7 attacks and detained without charge for use in a future hostage exchange. This is standard Israeli practice.

• Hamas frees living hostages and Israel releases prisoners as Trump visits the region, AP, October 13, 2025

Trump urged Israel’s president to issue a pardon for Netanyahu, who has been charged with bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in three separate cases. What’s a little corruption among friends?

• Jamie Dettmer, Cigars and Champagne? Pfft! Trump’s call to pardon Netanyahu stuns Israel, Politico, October 13, 2025

• Barak Ravid, Trump urges pardon for Netanyahu during Gaza address to Knesset, Axios, October 13, 2025

Has it occurred to anyone else that photos of armed and masked federal agents on the streets of American cities bear a striking resemblance to photos of armed and masked Hamas fighters in Gaza?

As of Monday, The Guardian had identified eight instances where military veterans have been prosecuted or sought damages after being detained by federal agents. In an incident outside Chicago a 70-year-old air force veteran was charged with felony assault after he allegedly “made physical contact with an agent’s arm while the agent attempted to extend the safety perimeter” at an ICE detention facility. At the same facility a 35-year-old marine veteran who served as a combat infantryman in Afghanistan was tackled by masked agents and held for nine hours “in a cell with walls covered by blood, hair and mucus.”

“Their conduct was completely unprofessional in my experience in combat infantry,” Cerrone said. “Even in Afghanistan, we had very clear rules of engagement. The conduct of these agents was such that if it occurred in Afghanistan, they would be removed from the front line. They would be court-martialed.”

“Cerrone was released after receiving a citation for ‘exhibiting disorderly conduct on federal property’, a misdemeanor under federal law, which he plans to contest.”

A member of the Illinois national guard running as a Democrat for a seat in the state legislature said she has seen ICE agents “with their fingers on the trigger of real M16s, pointing M9s directly at people. Trigger-happy. No trigger discipline…with this level of escalation and incompetence, people will die.”

• Aaron Glantz, Growing number of US veterans face arrest over Ice raid protests, The Guardian, October 13, 2025

Sunday’s emergency naked bike riders and Portland’s unipiper, on his unicyle in full regalia with kilt, Darth Vader helmet, and bagpipes, joined protesters in a variety of costumes responding with mockery and ridicule to Trump’s order to deploy the military and administration figures who lie about conditions in the city. These symbolic gestures will not drive ICE from Portland or prevent military occupation when Trump’s Supreme Court gives him a green light to send in the troops. The protests matter though as visible, tangible signs of resistance by the people at a time when too many business executives, heads of powerful law firms, and university administrators are keeping their heads down.

There are notable exceptions to the ones who are lying low. Credit and support are due for news organizations and journalists who declined to sign “an unprecedented Defense Department document, which warns that journalists may lose their press credentials for ‘soliciting’ even unclassified information from federal employees that has not been officially approved for release.” Tom Bowman at NPR explained in a heartfelt opinion piece yesterday why he is turning in the Pentagon press pass he has held for twenty-eight years: “That policy prevents us from doing our job. Signing that document would make us stenographers parroting press releases, not watchdogs holding government officials accountable.”

No reputable news organization signed the new rule — not mainstream outlets like NPR, The Washington Post, CNN, and The New York Times, nor the conservative Washington Times or the right-wing Newsmax, run by a noted ally of President Trump. Some 100 resident Pentagon press will be barred from the building if they don’t sign by the end of business on Tuesday. (Bowman, Opinion: Why I’m handing in my Pentagon press pass, NPR, October 14, 2025)

Saturday’s No Kings demonstration in Portland is organized by 50501, Indivisible Oregon, and other Indivisible groups in the area. These groups are committed to nonviolence. This statement of principle appears on the Indivisible Oregon website:

We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values.

Non-violence doesn’t mean backing down. It means standing firm in our values, channeling our anger and our hope into action, and refusing to become what we’re fighting against. We are up against a movement that feeds on fear and chaos. Our answer is a movement grounded in courage, solidarity, and the unshakable belief that a better, more just democracy is worth fighting for—together.

Indivisible Oregon posted a notice on Facebook yesterday clarifying that it and 50501 are not affiliated with an event being promoted under the “No Kings” name at the ICE detention center on Macadam Avenue at the same time as the Indivisible/50501 No Kings demonstration and march are to take place downtown.

Indivisible Oregon is not affiliated with this action. Our event planned with 50501 Portland Oregon and partner Indivisible groups—like the original No Kings march—will gather at the Battleship Oregon Memorial, with Grand Entry marches leading in.

The ICE facility has repeatedly been a site of violent federal response, including tear gas and arrests of peaceful protesters. We’ve heard serious concerns from immigrant justice groups that demonstrations there may increase risks for the very communities we aim to protect.

We’re not telling anyone how to protest—but as organizers, we will not lead or endorse a march to the ICE facility. Our priority is keeping our community safe and unified.

The Republican line is that No Kings is a “hate America” rally that will draw the “pro-Hamas wing” and “antifa people” (Mike Johnson’s words). House Republican Tom Emmer says Democrats are prolonging the shutdown until after the rally in DC because they have caved to the party’s terrorist wing. This is ridiculous, detached from reality, but many people will believe it.

• Courtney Sherwood, Naked bike ride protest caps week of Portland demonstrations, more ahead, OPB, October 13, 2025

• Gregory Svirnovsky, Johnson describes planned No Kings rally as ‘hate America,’ ‘pro-Hamas’ gathering, Politico, October 10, 2025

Recommended reading: Cathy Young, 9 Stupid Things People Are Saying About Antifa: A terrorist organization? A fiction? All Democrats? None of the above, The Bulwark, October 15, 2025

I was not enthusiastic about the prospects for a government shutdown when it first became a serious possibility and am less so now. I understand Democratic arguments for taking this stand but do not see an endgame that turns out well for them or the country. Too many Republicans in the White House and congressional leadership welcome a shutdown they see as an opportunity to ramp up dismemberment of the federal government apart from the military and the national police state.

Diane Keaton (1946–2025) was one of the finest actresses of my generation. In a lengthy tribute, Woody Allen wrote, “A few days ago the world was a place that included Diane Keaton. Now it’s a world that does not. Hence, it’s a drearier world. Still, there are her movies. And her great laugh still echoes in my head.” He credited her singular influence on his films: “As time went on I made movies for an audience of one, Diane Keaton. I never read a single review of my work and cared only what Keaton had to say about it” (quoted by Catherine Shoard, ‘I cared only what Diane Keaton had to say’: Woody Allen pays tribute to late actor, co-star and former partner, The Guardian, October 13, 2025).

Sonny Bunch, who covers movies at The Bulwark, concluded his tribute with these words:

The two greatest crime dramas of all time [The Godfather and The Godfather Part II] and two of the greatest romantic comedies of all time [Annie Hall and Manhattan], in a single decade, all of which have Keaton at their center. That’s not a bad legacy, particularly when forty-five more years were to follow. Rest in peace. (Diane Keaton, 1946–2025)

Nothing more need be said.

Keep the faith. Hold the line.
Stand with Ukraine.
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