Elizabeth Grey Writes

Elizabeth Grey Writes

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Elizabeth Grey Writes
Elizabeth Grey Writes
Smirking in Germany

Smirking in Germany

No, it's not a band. It's a very bad vice-president.

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Elizabeth Grey
Feb 17, 2025
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Elizabeth Grey Writes
Elizabeth Grey Writes
Smirking in Germany
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I used to play a lot of poker. It was the only way I could make money during the decade I was virtually unemployable anywhere else.

Consequently, I’m a student of the human face. I like to read them. It’s a hobby I can do wherever I am, and a way to entertain myself no matter my circumstances.

I do it automatically. If you’ve been in my company, I’ve read yours.

I’m convinced certain traits show up on faces, like intelligence. Intelligent faces are the ones of which I’m most fond. No matter the arrangement of features, they’re always attractive.

There are times I’ve read a face, guessed information about a person, and told them. This does tend to freak people out, so it’s usually best to keep my observations to myself.

But not today.

We are in a grim situation in the United States. There’s a lot of material Republicans hand us freely, and it can be used against them. I just wish Democratic leadership would use it.


Yesterday I saw a photo of JD Vance. It’s been bothering me ever since.

It’s not the first time his face has disturbed me. He was easy to read when the Episcopalian Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde asked Trump for mercy in National Cathedral. Vance’s visage was most ominous. I wrote about it at the time, most struck by the feeling of,

“I’ll deal with you later.”

JD Vance is an ambitious man. He’s got goals, and he’s taking notes on people who cross him. He’s not the first person I’ve met who thrives on resentment.

People like that are dangerous.


In the photo I saw, he’s smirking. In Germany. Although “Smirking in Germany” might be an excellent band name, you’ve got to question the motives of someone who just visited a concentration camp and is able to smirk afterwards.

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