By Sherman Frederick/Properly Subversive

Martin Luther King, in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” said breaking an unjust law and accepting the penalty shows the highest respect for the law by demonstrating a higher moral law at stake. (Emphasis mine.)

Sherman Frederick

It’s a lost concept these days.

Consider Phoebe Plummer, above, a Just Stop Oil protester, sentenced to 26 months in prison for throwing tomato soup on Van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting.

Her stated aim: “Nonviolent direct action to resist the destruction of our communities as a result of climate breakdown.”

As she left court, she told the judge she accepted her sentence “with a smile.”

But did she?

No, she quickly turned that smile upside down and appealed for a lighter sentence, calling herself a “political prisoner” sentenced too harshly.

Waaaaah, poor baby!

Look, I’m not saying anything about Ms. Plummer or her cause. I’m only stating the obvious: Phoebe Plummer ain’t no MLK and her whining calls into question her conviction and her cause.

If I’m wrong on this, let me know.

MELANIA

I promised to watch “Melania” when it hit streaming services, and I did so over the weekend. A lot of friends — good friends, in fact — raved about it when it made its theatrical debut on the big screen.

For me, it seemed ruthlessly sterile, which rendered it pointless.

The doc did a fine job presenting Melania as a beautiful creature with a refined sense of fashion. No part of the film featured the First Lady in downtime or in unguarded moments. It was all scripted, edited, and packaged — admittedly with elegance and propriety — but scripted nonetheless. How much of the film must we see of Melania walking in high heels and interacting with a fawning dressmaker who attends to the details of her wardrobe, before we stand up and cry, “Uncle, enough already”?

As the credits rolled at the end of the movie, I found myself wondering what this woman might be like in my local pub, quaffing a pint, and eating wings and fries.

Might she tell a bawdy joke with a wink and a nod, or hold the table spellbound with a funny anecdote about you know who?

Look, if they do a Melania II, and that’s part of it, I’m in. Otherwise, count me out.

Sherman R. Frederick is a longtime Nevada journalist and a member of the Nevada Press Association Hall of Fame. You can read more from him at shermanfrederick.substack.com.