Feminism is back in the news, thank you, Donald. Trump’s announcement at the last debate that he would appoint Supreme Court justices who would repeal Roe v. Wade got me thinking back to my much younger days and my brush with that particular mindset. This occurred when I was twenty-five, not too long after grad school. At that time I was married. We were living in Louisiana. I had occasion to visit a gynecologist for treatment of endometriosis. I didn’t inquire as to his religious or political affiliation, and as it turned out, I should have. When I awoke from the procedure, his first words to me were, “Congratulations, you can still children!” His priority was NOT relieving me of my misery but preserving my child-bearing capability! I ended up going back to the gyno in my university town who was outraged at his treatment of me and performed a hysterectomy posthaste. (For the record, my then-husband and I had discussed the issue of children before we were married. Neither of us wanted to reproduce. End of discussion.) The first doctor I mentioned was Republican, a foe of Roe v. Wade, AND Catholic…all of which came to influence his medical treatment of me-a secular Democratic feminist Jewish female (at the time). When I confronted him later in his office, he readily admitted that he wanted me to have children-and when I sarcastically asked who would FATHER said children, as my husband had had a vasectomy, he calmly replied, “I’m sure you could find a way!” I walked out of his office, never to return! I was furious. He cost me time, an unnecessary medical procedure, and a fair amount of expense. He had come highly recommended in that small (mainly Catholic and Christian) town. It took an out of town, indeed, an out of state, trip to actually get my hysterectomy, but my gyno where I went to grad school came through with no problem, even though I was young (25). I spent 3 days in the hospital recuperating, had an appendectomy thrown in while they were in there, and received excellent care. Have I ever regretted it? Not for a minute! I kept in touch with that particular doc for a long time just b/c he was such an awesome person. I would give him updates on how I was doing (and never fail to say thank for a pain-free life, vis a vis the hysterectomy) and he would catch me up on what he was into. We lost contact in the early 2000s. I miss him.
-
Relocation
Come Thanksgiving I will be moving. I will leave my quirky cool little town for the red state of Oklahoma. As I’ve been informing folks about this, I’ve been surprised by the reactions I’ve been getting. People are really going to miss me! One of the transit drivers has been going out of his way to ensure that he picks me more often just so he can see me before I depart. (Our transit system is a little odd.) Other passengers have said that they wished I weren’t going. This past weekend I told my landlord. He knocked on my door last night and wanted to talk. He said that, while not wanting to overstep boundaries, he and his wife had talked about my situation and were concerned. They proposed that I go to Oklahoma for a month to see if I liked it. If it worked, then stay, no worries. BUT they would keep my apartment for me for a month or two, and should it not work out, I would have a place to come back to that was home. I am very touched by this. He and his family have become part of my extended family while I’ve lived here. I joke that that they give Christians a good name. His kids are absolutely amazing, and I’m looking forward to seeing them progress into adulthood. My colleagues at the library are also sad to see me go and say that the shelves are never going to look good again, lol. Probably true, b/c I was the one who stayed on everyone about shelving and “dammit, this is the correct way to do it!” But being chronically ill by oneself is not easy, and I want to see what it is like actually having someone else for companionship, so I’m going to brave the tornadoes and Republicans and give this a go. Miss P will have another whippet for company and plenty of room to run. I’ll have my best friend and someone for whom to cook. She’s promised to take me to the library as often as necessary. When she’s not working, we’ll get out and about. I’ll do things around the house and help take care of the animals. No yard-work, though. I don’t cut grass, muck stalls, or toss hay. Not my purview. My urban limits can only stretch so far.
-
Surrender, New York By Caleb Carr-A Review
If you haven’t read anything by Caleb Carr, now is the time to start! Surrender, New York is a superb literary thriller that features Dr. Trajan Jones, a criminal psychologist in the upstate town of Surrender. He is the foremost authority on Dr. Lazlo Kreitzler (hero of Carr’s book The Alienist, also excellent) and follows in his unconventional footsteps throughout the winding paths of this novel. If you follow shows that like CSI or Bones, then you will definitely want to read this, as much for the protagonist’s trenchant views on forensic science, as for the plot. The plot is intricate, involving throwaway children, politicians, and the wealthy in New York City. But this is no simple matter, and Carr has a very deft way of surprising you. I’m a long-time mystery reader, and and I didn’t see the plot development in this one. I was impressed, I must say. Highly recommended! ( The book has also lead me to do some research on the troubling topic of runaway parents. I had no idea this was such a burgeoning problem. Smh.)
-
Surrender, New York By Caleb Carr-A Review
If you haven’t read anything by Caleb Carr, now is the time to start! Surrender, New York is a superb literary thriller that features Dr. Trajan Jones, a criminal psychologist in the upstate town of Surrender. He is the foremost authority on Dr. Lazlo Kreitzler (hero of Carr’s book The Alienist, also excellent) and follows in his unconventional footsteps throughout the winding paths of this novel. If you follow shows that like CSI or Bones, then you will definitely want to read this, as much for the protagonist’s trenchant views on forensic science, as for the plot. The plot is intricate, involving throwaway children, politicians, and the wealthy in New York City. But this is no simple matter, and Carr has a very deft way of surprising you. I’m a long-time mystery reader, and and I didn’t see the plot development in this one. I was impressed, I must say. Highly recommended! ( The book has also lead me to do some research on the troubling topic of runaway parents. I had no idea this was such a burgeoning problem. Smh.)
-
The Making Of Donald Trump By David Cay Johnston-A Review
David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, documents Donald Trump’s rise to prominence, giving an account of his business dealings that indicates Trump regularly engages in shady and disreputable business practices, not to mention business associates. This probably comes as no surprise to most, save to those of Trump’s supporters, who will no doubt decry the book as slanderous, but Cay has been following Mr. Trump for many years and can back up every claim that he makes with cold hard proof. Unfortunately, as we saw in the past debate, that does not stop Trump from lying about anything. He is fully capable of denying that he said something, when he can be presented with evidence that he did. Or his memory, which as we all know, is “the greatest in the world”, will fail-again and again and again. The book is a sad testament to a businessman who schemed his way to the Republican nomination by nickel and diming and cheating, when he had every chance to actually do it right. He CHOSE to act the way he did, because that is his vaunted temperament, revenge being one of his prime motivating factors. (That, and over-weening narcissism.) A good biography of Donald Trump that will help you understand his journey to power. Put it, however reluctantly, on your list.
-
The Making Of Donald Trump By David Cay Johnston-A Review
David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, documents Donald Trump’s rise to prominence, giving an account of his business dealings that indicates Trump regularly engages in shady and disreputable business practices, not to mention business associates. This probably comes as no surprise to most, save to those of Trump’s supporters, who will no doubt decry the book as slanderous, but Cay has been following Mr. Trump for many years and can back up every claim that he makes with cold hard proof. Unfortunately, as we saw in the past debate, that does not stop Trump from lying about anything. He is fully capable of denying that he said something, when he can be presented with evidence that he did. Or his memory, which as we all know, is “the greatest in the world”, will fail-again and again and again. The book is a sad testament to a businessman who schemed his way to the Republican nomination by nickel and diming and cheating, when he had every chance to actually do it right. He CHOSE to act the way he did, because that is his vaunted temperament, revenge being one of his prime motivating factors. (That, and over-weening narcissism.) A good biography of Donald Trump that will help you understand his journey to power. Put it, however reluctantly, on your list.
-
Which America?
I’ve been thinking about the two very different views of America offered at the debate last night. Trump and Clinton paint radically different pictures of the world around us, and I believe this reflects their constituencies, as well. This is important, because the debate was not just about politics. It was about which America we are going to inhabit, that of Trump or that Clinton.
The America of Trump is, quite frankly, a frightening place. I saw it described in an op-ed piece in the NYT as the “Republican Party’s Apocalypse Now.” Trump talks about a bankrupt America that is failing in so many ways that he can’t enumerate them, a place where gangs of criminal immigrants stalk the streets, and African Americans and Hispanics live in dire straits in our inner cities. He speaks of the need for law and order, for stop and frisk policing. Our allies are uncertain (because they don’t pay their fair share of the burden); our enemies, many, and our best hope lies in retreating behind a strong physical border and barricading ourselves from the rest of the world. We can only measure our strength by our net worth (money), and right now America’s value is at an all-time low. If you were to make a film of Trump’s America, it would have to be in black and white, with strong noir qualitites.
Clinton’s America is not nearly so bleak. Race IS an issue-it will always be an issue, I’m afraid-but there is hope that we will be able to make progress by working together to tackle that. In response to the dire picture of the African American community painted by Trump, Clinton countered by saying that strength of the black churches and of movements like BLM show its vitality instead. She said that she would work to empower the middle and working class, fund clean power, and rebuild the infra-structure. She spoke to reassure our allies, who might justifiably be made nervous at the thought of an America that would cease honoring treaties and alliances on the whim of a unstable President.
Trump, should he be elected, will not have unlimited power. He will not be a dictator, only POTUS. But he WILL get to decide quite a bit, including the nomination of one or more (probably more) U.S. Supreme Court Judges. Clinton, the same. You need to think carefully about which America you want to dwell in, and choose accordingly. For me, it comes down to choosing hope. I go with Clinton.
-
The Debate
I have to address the debate. I streamed it from the NYT. I wanted to have an actual debate party, maybe with drinking involved (not on my part, as I don’t imbibe), but all my friends who would be eagerly watching are either located elsewhere or coupled. I did try to do it by phone, but the acoustics set up a feedback, so we disconnected. I’m sure we’ll go over the debate this weekend, though. Anyway. here goes:
The bar was set much differently for each candidate from the start. Trump would be applauded if he just didn’t implode, melt down, show his abysmal ignorance of any real political information, or walk off the stage in a huff. For Clinton, though, the expectations were different. She was supposed to somehow transform herself into someone that you’d want to make your BFF, feel warm and fuzzy about, show her compassionate side, etc. The moderator had to rein both political animals in, when they got rowdy.
Trump started off the debate in a somewhat subdued manner-for Trump. That is to say, he was only speaking in a normal tone, though he was still almost loud as he spoke about trade. He employed his usual tactics of deflection often and rarely seemed to answer the question he had been asked, something that Clinton called him on. He interrupted Clinton, spoke over her, and shook his head. Later in the debate he reverted to classic Trump, blustery and full of self-praise for his own temperament, criticizing Clinton’s stamina and saying how good his relations with the African Americans were. He exited on weirdly back-handed threat of what he could have said about Clinton and her family-but didn’t. Factually, he espoused about what you’d expect: the birther lie ( that Hillary was responsible for the whole birther campaign); that he opposed the war in Iraq before it began; that NATO never opposed terrorism until Trump brought to their attention; Ford is leaving the US; Clinton is responsible for ISIS; there are more. Listening to him last night, most of what I heard was MONEY MONEY MONEY….with a little Law-N-Order thrown in for good measure. But running a country is about so much more that dollars. It’s about government and politics and people and history, not to mention OTHER COUNTRIES. Trump failed to convince me that he has anything near the ability necessary to lead the US last night.
Clinton. For the most part, she kept her cool. She was restrained, factual, and actually answered the questions she was asked. But, unlike Trump, Clinton has experience at debates and knows what she is about. The contrast between the two was glaring. Trump said once during the debate that it was “all sound-bites” in reference to Clinton’s replies, but in truth, that is all that TRUMP provided, as he gave little of substance and much of what sounded good. He told the audience they could go to Hillary’s website and read her positions-have you ever been to TRUMP’S site? No positions, just videos-with sound-bites! He tried to attack her on stamina; she came back with a stinging reminder of her schedule as Secretary of State and followed it up with an attack on his remarks on women. She started out mild but in the end did what the moderator should have been doing-calling him out. She showed herself to be fierce and not to trifled with-good job!
Will the debate change anything, though? Trump was clearly playing to his core constituency-white uneducated male (with some female) voters whom he hopes will sweep him into the White house. This group is what I term “true believers” and sometimes I think that they are so mesmerized by Trump that they just don’t care what he does. Confront them with words from his own mouth confirming that he has lied again and again-doesn’t matter; show lawsuits, bankruptcies, debt -doesn’t matter; he professes admiration for the leader of Russia, a ruthless dictator-doesn’t matter. What does matter is that he exudes strength, promises to make the country great (again), and seems to be an outsider in a political system that many view with suspicion. Clinton, by offering us a politically savvy opponent who had actual facts at her command, had to reach the voters who were wondering, “why her?” If watching this debate didn’t clarify THAT issue, then I shake my head. I’ve got more to say on the debate and the vision of America presented by each of the candidates, but that will be an issue for another time.
-
Fates And Traitors: A Novel Of John Wilkes Booth By Jennifer Chiaverini-A Review
Fates and Traitors recreates the story of one of America’s most famous men-John Wilkes Booth-through a skillful portrayal of four women surrounding him. As we follow Mary Ann Booth (his mother), Asia Booth (his sister), Lucy Hale (the woman he courted), and Mary Surratt (his supporter and Confederate sympathizer), we come to know Booth himself as he grows to manhood, becomes an actor, and eventually assassinates President Lincoln. The book shows a man gripped by an obsessive fixation on Lincoln as a means of solving, on way or another, the problems faced by the South at the end of the Civil War. He deceives those he loves in the employment of the Cause, with the bitter and tragic result that history records. A good read, especially for any of you Civil War buffs! (On a personal note: when I was an undergrad working my first library job, one of my co-workers was a descendant of Dr. Mudd. He was most insistent that Dr. Mudd was innocent and had treated Booth not knowing what he had done. Very interesting fellow.)
-
Manitou Canyon By William Kent Krueger-A Review
Autumn seems the perfect setting for the latest (#15) Cork O’Connor book from William Kent Krueger. I like my settings to correspond, and so when I’m reading a novel that is set in the fall in a mountainous region, and I’M living in a mountainous region in the fall, it makes me oddly happy. Add to this that I read his previous book at this same time last year, and my OCD pattern yearnings are really satisfied! These things aside, the book is well worth reading, both as a stand-alone thriller but especially if you follow the series. There is a fast-paced plot with some interesting turns and twists. The characters that have appeared in previous O’Connor novels are here, plus a few new additions that we might be seeing later. The way Krueger writes about Minnesota’s Northwoods is itself reason enough to read his books-he truly makes the landscape an integral part of the story, and indeed it is part of the plot. This is a great book to take to bed as the leaves fall and the nights grow cooler!