This is a quirky, absurdist play. It has been compared to Waiting for Godot, which I have read. I like this play better though.
It is interesting that it focuses two minor characters from Hamlet. Hamlet, Ophelia, Polonius, Claudius, and Gertrude are only minor characters that fill the background.
It seems that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are quite bewildered and confused most of the play. They ramble and talk nonsensically, unable to comprehend themselves or the world around them. On occasion they delve into philosophical musings. Mostly, I found the story boring, though. However, it did make me laugh a few times. The humor can be quite fun, like Laurel and Hardy.
I have read Stoppard's Arcadia, which I enjoyed much more, although Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead is probably more famous.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
John Updike - My Father's Tears and Other Stories
I enjoyed this last compilation of John Updike short stories. Updike writes mainly from the vantage point of the last years of his life. A man goes back to the town of his youth to meet some old high school friends. He gets lost and finds the meeting awkward. In "Personal Archaeology" a man rummages through the back pages of his life and finds treasures. In "Varieties of Religious Experiences" we experience the varying religious expressions of those affected by 9/11. All in all, the stories represent the final ruminations of a supreme writer in the 7th decade of his life.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Richard Wolffe - Renegade (2)
I finish this book---certainly the best book for understanding Obama to date. This book will be the first draft of the history of the presidential election of 2009.
To understand Barack Obama you have to understand where he comes from: a Kenyan father who abandoned him and his mother when Obama was 2, a white mother from the Midwest who was an anthropologist and what we might call a bleeding-heart liberal, living in Indonesia for a time but raised by his maternal grandparents in Hawaii. Along the way he experienced a wide diversity of peoples and cultures. His world-view derives mostly from his real-world experience on other countries and cultures rather than from books
His basic political approach is to first seek common ground with his adversaries. I take it that he is alway willing to consider compromise---better to get something done rather than nothing. What is interesting is that this approach can eventually disarm his opponents as the Republicans are discovering to their chagrin.
Like him or not, Barack Obama is truly a different kind of politician. We can say for sure that he is a pragmatic centrist. The nonsense about "socialist" and "fascist" is laughable except for the morons who spout such rubbish.
For the good of all of us, I hope he succeeds.
To understand Barack Obama you have to understand where he comes from: a Kenyan father who abandoned him and his mother when Obama was 2, a white mother from the Midwest who was an anthropologist and what we might call a bleeding-heart liberal, living in Indonesia for a time but raised by his maternal grandparents in Hawaii. Along the way he experienced a wide diversity of peoples and cultures. His world-view derives mostly from his real-world experience on other countries and cultures rather than from books
His basic political approach is to first seek common ground with his adversaries. I take it that he is alway willing to consider compromise---better to get something done rather than nothing. What is interesting is that this approach can eventually disarm his opponents as the Republicans are discovering to their chagrin.
Like him or not, Barack Obama is truly a different kind of politician. We can say for sure that he is a pragmatic centrist. The nonsense about "socialist" and "fascist" is laughable except for the morons who spout such rubbish.
For the good of all of us, I hope he succeeds.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Dumb Doctors
Perhaps I expect too much from medical doctors. I've learned that most of them (I think) are just average intelligence people who just happened to get into medical school probably because their fathers were MDs or they had some other connection to get them into med school.
I'm reminded of this today when I try to have a discussion with our family doctor about impending changes in our nation's medical insurance structure. Dr. Smitherman makes a passing comment about people who do not have medical insurance, wherever they are he says, as if he wonders if there are such people who do not have medical insurance.
We hear all of the time that these people number 30 or 40 million. I wish I had the guts to say to him, "Why don't you spend some time at the ER at Shelby Baptist and I suspect you'd see people all day coming to the ER without insurance." But I did not say this. Or: You think maybe some of those 9% of Americans who are unemployed maybe don't have medical insurance. You think?"
Then there's his dreaded fear of the US turning into an England or Canada. Yes, I can understand his fear since it would remove the incentive for doctors to become venture capitalists.
I get a sense of the powerful and entrenced special interests in this country that make reform so difficult. Part of it is that so many doctors are just plain dumb.
I'm reminded of this today when I try to have a discussion with our family doctor about impending changes in our nation's medical insurance structure. Dr. Smitherman makes a passing comment about people who do not have medical insurance, wherever they are he says, as if he wonders if there are such people who do not have medical insurance.
We hear all of the time that these people number 30 or 40 million. I wish I had the guts to say to him, "Why don't you spend some time at the ER at Shelby Baptist and I suspect you'd see people all day coming to the ER without insurance." But I did not say this. Or: You think maybe some of those 9% of Americans who are unemployed maybe don't have medical insurance. You think?"
Then there's his dreaded fear of the US turning into an England or Canada. Yes, I can understand his fear since it would remove the incentive for doctors to become venture capitalists.
I get a sense of the powerful and entrenced special interests in this country that make reform so difficult. Part of it is that so many doctors are just plain dumb.
Richard Wolffe - Renegade
I am reading this book now---the first of many Obama books I'm sure post-election. Once upon a time a journalist named Theodore White wrote a landmark book called "The Making of the President 1960." This was the first modern account of a US presidential election. White followed with volumes for 1964, 1968, & 1972. This Wolffe book strikes me as a continuation of that White series, written in the same vein. Barack Obama has to be understood in context, in his complexity; otherwise, you get the distortations of both the left and the right. This book is the best I've found yet for understanding the man whatever your personal political convictions.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Lives on the Boundary: A Moving Account of the Struggles and Achievements of America's Educationally Underprepared by Mike Rose
Anyone concerned with education should read this book. It poignantly describes the failures of American education, especially as they relate to poorer and marginalized peoples who have fewer opportunities to succeed.
Rose effectively argues that those typically underserved by education are ripe with potential and ability, and teachers should understand how to better reach them and help them excel. Unfortunately, the typical American educational curriculum fails these sorts of people, and they are left deemed unworthy or deficient somehow. Rose shows that this is simply untrue.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who cares about education in America.
Rose effectively argues that those typically underserved by education are ripe with potential and ability, and teachers should understand how to better reach them and help them excel. Unfortunately, the typical American educational curriculum fails these sorts of people, and they are left deemed unworthy or deficient somehow. Rose shows that this is simply untrue.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who cares about education in America.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
What Toni Morrison Says
"We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives."
- Toni Morrison
qtd. in Time, 1996
- Toni Morrison
qtd. in Time, 1996
Bill Russell - Red and Me
The Lakers win the NBA Championship. Phil Jackson wins his 10th. He has now passed Red Auerbach, who won 9 with the Boston Celtics. Is Phil Jackson the greatest NBA coach of all time? Maybe so, but let's not forget Red Auerbach.
Jackson may be the greatest with his 10 rings, but the greatest winning player of all time is Bill Russell, the Celtic center for 13 years. During those 13 years, the Celtics won 11 NBA titles. No other player can claims any where near such a record of success. In addition, the Univ. of San Francisco won the NCAA championship Russell's last two years. That's 13 championships in 16 years of NCAA and NBA competition. Case closed.
In this book Russell writes of his 50 year friendship with his coach. It is quite a story.
Bill Russell and Red Auerbach changed the face of basketball. When Bill Russell came to the NBA, it was felt that good defense meant not leaving your feet. Russell changed all of that. He was the first vertical player. He dominated the game with defense, rebounding, and blocking shots. He invented a new version of basketball.
Russell and Auerbach and the other Celtic players melded into the most successful and dynamic NBA franchise ever. Auerbach more or less let Russell play the way he wished. He did not so much coach Russell as stay out of his way.
Jackson has won his 10 with 2 teams. Auerbach won his 9 with the same team. And oh yes, Auerbach won 8 NBA championships in a row! Jackson has his 10, but Auerbach has his 8 in a row.
Let's just say that they are without doubt the two greatest. But there is no doubt that Russell is the greatest winning player.
If I could pick ONE player first in my fantasy all-time basketball team, I'd start with Bill Russell. Michael Jordan would be a close second. Kobie would be my first pick amongst active players. But give me Red Auerbach and Bill Russell to start with and I'd be happy.
Jackson may be the greatest with his 10 rings, but the greatest winning player of all time is Bill Russell, the Celtic center for 13 years. During those 13 years, the Celtics won 11 NBA titles. No other player can claims any where near such a record of success. In addition, the Univ. of San Francisco won the NCAA championship Russell's last two years. That's 13 championships in 16 years of NCAA and NBA competition. Case closed.
In this book Russell writes of his 50 year friendship with his coach. It is quite a story.
Bill Russell and Red Auerbach changed the face of basketball. When Bill Russell came to the NBA, it was felt that good defense meant not leaving your feet. Russell changed all of that. He was the first vertical player. He dominated the game with defense, rebounding, and blocking shots. He invented a new version of basketball.
Russell and Auerbach and the other Celtic players melded into the most successful and dynamic NBA franchise ever. Auerbach more or less let Russell play the way he wished. He did not so much coach Russell as stay out of his way.
Jackson has won his 10 with 2 teams. Auerbach won his 9 with the same team. And oh yes, Auerbach won 8 NBA championships in a row! Jackson has his 10, but Auerbach has his 8 in a row.
Let's just say that they are without doubt the two greatest. But there is no doubt that Russell is the greatest winning player.
If I could pick ONE player first in my fantasy all-time basketball team, I'd start with Bill Russell. Michael Jordan would be a close second. Kobie would be my first pick amongst active players. But give me Red Auerbach and Bill Russell to start with and I'd be happy.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Hold the Fries
This is a fun article about Barack's eating habits. I like that both he and Michelle enjoy Five Guys Burgers and Fries!
BY Maureen Dowd
Even as he grows arugula in the White House vegetable garden, Barack Obama never again wants to be seen as the hoity-toity guy fretting over the price of arugula at Whole Foods.
That is why the president ends up sending mixed signals on food.
He clearly feels strongly about nutrition and fat. The child who looks a little chubby in that famous picture of himself with his long-lost father in Hawaii grew up to be extremely careful about eating and drinking in a healthy way.
The willowy commander in chief urges out-of-shape and overweight aides to go to his Chicago trainer who now works part-time at the White House — and even offers to treat especially recalcitrant cases.
On a date night this spring with Michelle at the Georgetown restaurant Citronelle, the president showed how calorie-conscious he was when, over a three-hour meal, he managed the impossible feat of nibbling only one French fry. “He wants to stay skinny, you know?” chef Michel Richard mischievously told “Extra” afterward.
On the campaign, Mr. Obama seemed an organic proselytizer for healthier eating, telling black audiences to stop serving their kids cold Popeyes chicken and “give ’em some breakfast.”
It was easy to imagine a scenario where the president and his body man, Reggie Love, would have their own early-morning TV show called “Downward Facing Dawn,” coaxing a reluctant nation into a regimen of yoga and yogurt.
When he talked to the American Medical Association on Monday, the president again urged Americans to make their children “step away from the video games and spend more time playing outside” and cut “down on all the junk food that’s fueling an epidemic of obesity.”
When he talked to the American Medical Association on Monday, the president again urged Americans to make their children “step away from the video games and spend more time playing outside” and cut “down on all the junk food that’s fueling an epidemic of obesity.”
But often, when the cameras are rolling, Mr. Obama puts his organic tea aside and makes a show of heading for the nearest greasy spoon.
He boosted the business of Ray’s Hell Burger in Arlington, Va., after he took Joe Biden there in a monster motorcade for lunch and ordered a cheeseburger with Dijon mustard (a spicy detail that amused Republicans).
When Brian Williams did his day-at-the-White House special two weeks ago, the president took the anchor to a Five Guys burger joint. He ordered himself a cheeseburger and fries and, in an extravagant attempt to prove his meaty regular guydom, brought back $80 worth of burgers and fries in a greasy bag for White House staffers. (After a tour of the Sphinx in Egypt, the president evoked his love of red meat again, saying “Five Guys was good. This is better.”)
Michelle sometimes takes her staff on impromptu lunch trips to Five Guys or other burger and barbeque spots.
But Tuesday, when schoolchildren were harvesting crops in the White House vegetable garden (though not the Thomas Jefferson lettuce, which had gone to seed), they were brushed back from fried food by Michelle and her associate chef, Sam Kass.
“This is a healthier version of fried chicken,” the first lady, wearing orange jeans, said as the kids prepared their own baked chicken snack.
Kass added: “Breaded and baked is the new fried.”
Michelle said she had wanted the organic garden as a way to underscore the need for better nutrition.
“Nearly a third of the children in this country are either overweight or obese, and a third will suffer from diabetes at some point in their lifetime,” she said. “In Hispanic and African-American communities, those numbers climb even higher so that nearly half of the children in those communities will suffer the same fate.”
She said America has become so unhealthy because too many kids “are not eating right and they’re not moving their bodies at all.”
When she was growing up, she recalled that desserts and fast food were rare: “It was a special treat. And we would beg to get it, and it was exciting if we drove into a fast-food place and got a hamburger. We were thrilled. It was like Christmas. ... If we got pizza on a Friday night, that was a treat.”
Mr. Obama ostentatiously treats himself to fries and burgers to beef up his average-Joe image (even though he’s anything but). Yet maybe when Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer come next week to broadcast a special on health care from inside the White House, the president should forgo the photo-op of the grease-stained bovine bag and take the TV stars out for what he really wants and America really needs: some steamed fish with a side of snap peas.
BY Maureen Dowd
Even as he grows arugula in the White House vegetable garden, Barack Obama never again wants to be seen as the hoity-toity guy fretting over the price of arugula at Whole Foods.
That is why the president ends up sending mixed signals on food.
He clearly feels strongly about nutrition and fat. The child who looks a little chubby in that famous picture of himself with his long-lost father in Hawaii grew up to be extremely careful about eating and drinking in a healthy way.
The willowy commander in chief urges out-of-shape and overweight aides to go to his Chicago trainer who now works part-time at the White House — and even offers to treat especially recalcitrant cases.
On a date night this spring with Michelle at the Georgetown restaurant Citronelle, the president showed how calorie-conscious he was when, over a three-hour meal, he managed the impossible feat of nibbling only one French fry. “He wants to stay skinny, you know?” chef Michel Richard mischievously told “Extra” afterward.
On the campaign, Mr. Obama seemed an organic proselytizer for healthier eating, telling black audiences to stop serving their kids cold Popeyes chicken and “give ’em some breakfast.”
It was easy to imagine a scenario where the president and his body man, Reggie Love, would have their own early-morning TV show called “Downward Facing Dawn,” coaxing a reluctant nation into a regimen of yoga and yogurt.
When he talked to the American Medical Association on Monday, the president again urged Americans to make their children “step away from the video games and spend more time playing outside” and cut “down on all the junk food that’s fueling an epidemic of obesity.”
When he talked to the American Medical Association on Monday, the president again urged Americans to make their children “step away from the video games and spend more time playing outside” and cut “down on all the junk food that’s fueling an epidemic of obesity.”
But often, when the cameras are rolling, Mr. Obama puts his organic tea aside and makes a show of heading for the nearest greasy spoon.
He boosted the business of Ray’s Hell Burger in Arlington, Va., after he took Joe Biden there in a monster motorcade for lunch and ordered a cheeseburger with Dijon mustard (a spicy detail that amused Republicans).
When Brian Williams did his day-at-the-White House special two weeks ago, the president took the anchor to a Five Guys burger joint. He ordered himself a cheeseburger and fries and, in an extravagant attempt to prove his meaty regular guydom, brought back $80 worth of burgers and fries in a greasy bag for White House staffers. (After a tour of the Sphinx in Egypt, the president evoked his love of red meat again, saying “Five Guys was good. This is better.”)
Michelle sometimes takes her staff on impromptu lunch trips to Five Guys or other burger and barbeque spots.
But Tuesday, when schoolchildren were harvesting crops in the White House vegetable garden (though not the Thomas Jefferson lettuce, which had gone to seed), they were brushed back from fried food by Michelle and her associate chef, Sam Kass.
“This is a healthier version of fried chicken,” the first lady, wearing orange jeans, said as the kids prepared their own baked chicken snack.
Kass added: “Breaded and baked is the new fried.”
Michelle said she had wanted the organic garden as a way to underscore the need for better nutrition.
“Nearly a third of the children in this country are either overweight or obese, and a third will suffer from diabetes at some point in their lifetime,” she said. “In Hispanic and African-American communities, those numbers climb even higher so that nearly half of the children in those communities will suffer the same fate.”
She said America has become so unhealthy because too many kids “are not eating right and they’re not moving their bodies at all.”
When she was growing up, she recalled that desserts and fast food were rare: “It was a special treat. And we would beg to get it, and it was exciting if we drove into a fast-food place and got a hamburger. We were thrilled. It was like Christmas. ... If we got pizza on a Friday night, that was a treat.”
Mr. Obama ostentatiously treats himself to fries and burgers to beef up his average-Joe image (even though he’s anything but). Yet maybe when Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer come next week to broadcast a special on health care from inside the White House, the president should forgo the photo-op of the grease-stained bovine bag and take the TV stars out for what he really wants and America really needs: some steamed fish with a side of snap peas.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Summer Reading? Beach Reading?
It always amuses me to read articles about "summer reading" and "beach reading" as if this is a separate category of reading. Not so with me! Summer reading is just like fall reading, winter reading, and spring reading.
Who wants to read on a beach anyway? I am not one to lie on a beach, but even if I were, I would not be lying there r-e-a-d-i-n-g. I'd be enjoying the ambiance.
The other thing is the insinuation that people read different, probably lighter, books in summer. Not so with me! I read the same kind of books year round.
Who wants to read on a beach anyway? I am not one to lie on a beach, but even if I were, I would not be lying there r-e-a-d-i-n-g. I'd be enjoying the ambiance.
The other thing is the insinuation that people read different, probably lighter, books in summer. Not so with me! I read the same kind of books year round.
Joseph O'Neill - Netherland (2)
I'm two for two in recent days in novels: "Serena" and now "Netherland." Both are outstanding.
Netherland is a first-person narrative (great author's voice) about a man in his mid-30's, Dutch, married to an English girl, a young son, his marriage floundering, the story taking place mostly in New York City after 9/11. Separated from his wife, he stays at the Chelsea Hotel with a motley crew of well-to-do residents (our narrator makes good money) including one Turkish man who dresses each day like an angel.
We experience vicariously the multicultural drama of contemporary New York where people of various nationalities are trying to make it in America. The great melting pot is still New York.
One of the these people is Chuck, a Gatsby-like character, who hails from Trinidad, and who has grandiose dreams of building a Cricket stadium while apparently running an underworld numbers game to finance his dream. Do you know anything about the game of Cricket? Do you know where the country of Trinidad is? Well, neither did I before reading this book.
Trinidad is the Southernmost Island in the Carribbean, just a few miles from Venezuela. I've thought that Cricket was a sissy version of baseball. Not so! I still don't understand the game after reading this book and looking on Wikipedia, but I get the impression that it's a serious, hard game. This novel says that Cricket is widely played in the NY area and that it is played in more than 100 countries.
Read this novel for a magical tour through contemporary New York City and its aspiring immigrants, for hearing a strong author's voice, for learning about the international game of Cricket, and for strongly developed and felt characters. I highly recommend it.
Netherland is a first-person narrative (great author's voice) about a man in his mid-30's, Dutch, married to an English girl, a young son, his marriage floundering, the story taking place mostly in New York City after 9/11. Separated from his wife, he stays at the Chelsea Hotel with a motley crew of well-to-do residents (our narrator makes good money) including one Turkish man who dresses each day like an angel.
We experience vicariously the multicultural drama of contemporary New York where people of various nationalities are trying to make it in America. The great melting pot is still New York.
One of the these people is Chuck, a Gatsby-like character, who hails from Trinidad, and who has grandiose dreams of building a Cricket stadium while apparently running an underworld numbers game to finance his dream. Do you know anything about the game of Cricket? Do you know where the country of Trinidad is? Well, neither did I before reading this book.
Trinidad is the Southernmost Island in the Carribbean, just a few miles from Venezuela. I've thought that Cricket was a sissy version of baseball. Not so! I still don't understand the game after reading this book and looking on Wikipedia, but I get the impression that it's a serious, hard game. This novel says that Cricket is widely played in the NY area and that it is played in more than 100 countries.
Read this novel for a magical tour through contemporary New York City and its aspiring immigrants, for hearing a strong author's voice, for learning about the international game of Cricket, and for strongly developed and felt characters. I highly recommend it.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Those Republican Jokesters (ha, ha, ha)
15.06.2009
Oh, I See. It Was a Racist Joke
In a brilliant attempt to confirm the vague suspicions of much of the country that the Deep South remains a hotbed of retrograde racist sentiment, GOP activist and ex-chair of South Carolina's elections commission, Rusty DePass, recently joked on Facebook that an escaped gorilla from the local zoo must be an ancestor of FLOTUS Michelle Obama.
When confronted, DePass responded with a non-apology even more pathetic than most: "I am as sorry as I can be if I offended anyone. The comment was clearly in jest."
Well d'uh. Of course it was "in jest." No one thinks DePass actually believes the gorilla to be a relative of the First Lady. I'm sure even the Obamas recognize the crack as a joke--and a thuddingly racist one at that.
In my repressive society, all apologies of the goodness-me-I-never-dreamed-anyone-would-be-so-delicate-as-to-be-offended-by-my-grosteque-behavior variety would be punishable by hard labor. Those that failed to make a lick of sense would call for something considerably more medieval.
--Michelle Cottle (from The New Republic online)
Oh, I See. It Was a Racist Joke
In a brilliant attempt to confirm the vague suspicions of much of the country that the Deep South remains a hotbed of retrograde racist sentiment, GOP activist and ex-chair of South Carolina's elections commission, Rusty DePass, recently joked on Facebook that an escaped gorilla from the local zoo must be an ancestor of FLOTUS Michelle Obama.
When confronted, DePass responded with a non-apology even more pathetic than most: "I am as sorry as I can be if I offended anyone. The comment was clearly in jest."
Well d'uh. Of course it was "in jest." No one thinks DePass actually believes the gorilla to be a relative of the First Lady. I'm sure even the Obamas recognize the crack as a joke--and a thuddingly racist one at that.
In my repressive society, all apologies of the goodness-me-I-never-dreamed-anyone-would-be-so-delicate-as-to-be-offended-by-my-grosteque-behavior variety would be punishable by hard labor. Those that failed to make a lick of sense would call for something considerably more medieval.
--Michelle Cottle (from The New Republic online)
Joseph O'Neill - Netherland
I am currently finishing this fine novel and hope to have a lot to say about it. It is predominantly a novel of "voice" rather than "plot" meaning that the narrator's voice dominates as there are no plot twists and turns.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Obama Hating is Turning Nasty & Violent
The policies of President Obama deserve public scrutiny and debate in our democratic country (as did those of previous Presidents). Sometimes he will be right; sometimes he will be wrong. Rational public debate is what it's all about. But the Right Wing irrational hatred of Obama is something else. At its core is RACE and the demise of white supremacy as the country changes demographically. The Hannitys, the Limbaughs, the O'Reillys etc. see the country changing, and they are coming unglued. Further violence will be forthcoming---there will be blood. Right Wing nut jobs proliferate by the hour abetted by the Hannitys, the O'Reillys etc.etc.etc.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
The Big Hate
The Right Wing Hate Machine is in full operational mode now. Look for it to get much worse.
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: June 11, 2009
Back in April, there was a huge fuss over an internal report by the Department of Homeland Security warning that current conditions resemble those in the early 1990s — a time marked by an upsurge of right-wing extremism that culminated in the Oklahoma City bombing.
Conservatives were outraged. The chairman of the Republican National Committee denounced the report as an attempt to “segment out conservatives in this country who have a different philosophy or view from this administration” and label them as terrorists.
But with the murder of Dr. George Tiller by an anti-abortion fanatic, closely followed by a shooting by a white supremacist at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the analysis looks prescient.
There is, however, one important thing that the D.H.S. report didn’t say: Today, as in the early years of the Clinton administration but to an even greater extent, right-wing extremism is being systematically fed by the conservative media and political establishment.
Now, for the most part, the likes of Fox News and the R.N.C. haven’t directly incited violence, despite Bill O’Reilly’s declarations that “some” called Dr. Tiller “Tiller the Baby Killer,” that he had “blood on his hands,” and that he was a “guy operating a death mill.” But they have gone out of their way to provide a platform for conspiracy theories and apocalyptic rhetoric, just as they did the last time a Democrat held the White House.
And at this point, whatever dividing line there was between mainstream conservatism and the black-helicopter crowd seems to have been virtually erased.
Exhibit A for the mainstreaming of right-wing extremism is Fox News’s new star, Glenn Beck. Here we have a network where, like it or not, millions of Americans get their news — and it gives daily airtime to a commentator who, among other things, warned viewers that the Federal Emergency Management Agency might be building concentration camps as part of the Obama administration’s “totalitarian” agenda (although he eventually conceded that nothing of the kind was happening).
But let’s not neglect the print news media. In the Bush years, The Washington Times became an important media player because it was widely regarded as the Bush administration’s house organ. Earlier this week, the newspaper saw fit to run an opinion piece declaring that President Obama “not only identifies with Muslims, but actually may still be one himself,” and that in any case he has “aligned himself” with the radical Muslim Brotherhood.
And then there’s Rush Limbaugh. His rants today aren’t very different from his rants in 1993. But he occupies a different position in the scheme of things. Remember, during the Bush years Mr. Limbaugh became very much a political insider. Indeed, according to a recent Gallup survey, 10 percent of Republicans now consider him the “main person who speaks for the Republican Party today,” putting him in a three-way tie with Dick Cheney and Newt Gingrich. So when Mr. Limbaugh peddles conspiracy theories — suggesting, for example, that fears over swine flu were being hyped “to get people to respond to government orders” — that’s a case of the conservative media establishment joining hands with the lunatic fringe.
It’s not surprising, then, that politicians are doing the same thing. The R.N.C. says that “the Democratic Party is dedicated to restructuring American society along socialist ideals.” And when Jon Voight, the actor, told the audience at a Republican fund-raiser this week that the president is a “false prophet” and that “we and we alone are the right frame of mind to free this nation from this Obama oppression,” Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, thanked him, saying that he “really enjoyed” the remarks.
Credit where credit is due. Some figures in the conservative media have refused to go along with the big hate — people like Fox’s Shepard Smith and Catherine Herridge, who debunked the attacks on that Homeland Security report two months ago. But this doesn’t change the broad picture, which is that supposedly respectable news organizations and political figures are giving aid and comfort to dangerous extremism.
What will the consequences be? Nobody knows, of course, although the analysts at Homeland Security fretted that things may turn out even worse than in the 1990s — that thanks, in part, to the election of an African-American president, “the threat posed by lone wolves and small terrorist cells is more pronounced than in past years.”
And that’s a threat to take seriously. Yes, the worst terrorist attack in our history was perpetrated by a foreign conspiracy. But the second worst, the Oklahoma City bombing, was perpetrated by an all-American lunatic. Politicians and media organizations wind up such people at their, and our, peril.
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: June 11, 2009
Back in April, there was a huge fuss over an internal report by the Department of Homeland Security warning that current conditions resemble those in the early 1990s — a time marked by an upsurge of right-wing extremism that culminated in the Oklahoma City bombing.
Conservatives were outraged. The chairman of the Republican National Committee denounced the report as an attempt to “segment out conservatives in this country who have a different philosophy or view from this administration” and label them as terrorists.
But with the murder of Dr. George Tiller by an anti-abortion fanatic, closely followed by a shooting by a white supremacist at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the analysis looks prescient.
There is, however, one important thing that the D.H.S. report didn’t say: Today, as in the early years of the Clinton administration but to an even greater extent, right-wing extremism is being systematically fed by the conservative media and political establishment.
Now, for the most part, the likes of Fox News and the R.N.C. haven’t directly incited violence, despite Bill O’Reilly’s declarations that “some” called Dr. Tiller “Tiller the Baby Killer,” that he had “blood on his hands,” and that he was a “guy operating a death mill.” But they have gone out of their way to provide a platform for conspiracy theories and apocalyptic rhetoric, just as they did the last time a Democrat held the White House.
And at this point, whatever dividing line there was between mainstream conservatism and the black-helicopter crowd seems to have been virtually erased.
Exhibit A for the mainstreaming of right-wing extremism is Fox News’s new star, Glenn Beck. Here we have a network where, like it or not, millions of Americans get their news — and it gives daily airtime to a commentator who, among other things, warned viewers that the Federal Emergency Management Agency might be building concentration camps as part of the Obama administration’s “totalitarian” agenda (although he eventually conceded that nothing of the kind was happening).
But let’s not neglect the print news media. In the Bush years, The Washington Times became an important media player because it was widely regarded as the Bush administration’s house organ. Earlier this week, the newspaper saw fit to run an opinion piece declaring that President Obama “not only identifies with Muslims, but actually may still be one himself,” and that in any case he has “aligned himself” with the radical Muslim Brotherhood.
And then there’s Rush Limbaugh. His rants today aren’t very different from his rants in 1993. But he occupies a different position in the scheme of things. Remember, during the Bush years Mr. Limbaugh became very much a political insider. Indeed, according to a recent Gallup survey, 10 percent of Republicans now consider him the “main person who speaks for the Republican Party today,” putting him in a three-way tie with Dick Cheney and Newt Gingrich. So when Mr. Limbaugh peddles conspiracy theories — suggesting, for example, that fears over swine flu were being hyped “to get people to respond to government orders” — that’s a case of the conservative media establishment joining hands with the lunatic fringe.
It’s not surprising, then, that politicians are doing the same thing. The R.N.C. says that “the Democratic Party is dedicated to restructuring American society along socialist ideals.” And when Jon Voight, the actor, told the audience at a Republican fund-raiser this week that the president is a “false prophet” and that “we and we alone are the right frame of mind to free this nation from this Obama oppression,” Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, thanked him, saying that he “really enjoyed” the remarks.
Credit where credit is due. Some figures in the conservative media have refused to go along with the big hate — people like Fox’s Shepard Smith and Catherine Herridge, who debunked the attacks on that Homeland Security report two months ago. But this doesn’t change the broad picture, which is that supposedly respectable news organizations and political figures are giving aid and comfort to dangerous extremism.
What will the consequences be? Nobody knows, of course, although the analysts at Homeland Security fretted that things may turn out even worse than in the 1990s — that thanks, in part, to the election of an African-American president, “the threat posed by lone wolves and small terrorist cells is more pronounced than in past years.”
And that’s a threat to take seriously. Yes, the worst terrorist attack in our history was perpetrated by a foreign conspiracy. But the second worst, the Oklahoma City bombing, was perpetrated by an all-American lunatic. Politicians and media organizations wind up such people at their, and our, peril.
UAT Football Now on Death Watch
Start spreading the news. . . U of Alabama football is now officially on Death Watch for the next 5 years. Is the end in sight?
Scarbinsky: Does Alabama president care one Witt about integrity?
Posted by Kevin Scarbinsky -- Birmingham News June 12, 2009 5:00 AM
The last thing Robert Witt wants to do at a press conference is answer questions, even on a day when the integrity of his institution has been called into question.
Again.
Mark Almond/Birmingham NewsUniversity of Alabama President Robert Witt speaks at Thursday's news conference - but he didn't answer any questions.
Instead, the president of the University of Arrogance chose merely to read a statement Thursday afternoon. In those 256 words, he made a statement that helps explain why his school leads the Football Bowl Subdivision with four major infractions cases in the last 14 years.
Through multiple presidents, athletics directors, coaches, administrators, student-athletes, boosters and sports.
Alabama has what Nick Saban might call a cultural problem.
It's a culture that demands doing the right thing -- but only after you've been caught doing the wrong thing.
Again.
The names and faces change.
The attitude never seems to adjust.
Witt put the latest public face on the problem Thursday when he said he was disappointed.
Not in the 201 different student-athletes who violated textbook distribution policies and thus broke NCAA rules.
Not in the athletic department administrators who failed to notice a 30 percent spike in textbook charges over a two-year period and thus failed to monitor that program.
Not in an athletic department that will have spent 16½ out of 19 years in the NCAA's repeat-violator window, from June 3, 1995, through Jan. 31, 2007, and from June 11, 2009, through June 10, 2014.
No, Witt pointed his disappointment in only one direction -- at the NCAA Committee on Infractions.
"We're disappointed in the severity of the penalties," he said.
Now that is disappointing.
When is someone in a position of authority at Alabama going to get sick and tired of appearing before the Infractions Committee?
When is the school going to raise its standards from expertly cleaning up its own messes to actively preventing them in the first place?
Perhaps when the CEO can see beyond the goal line.
Athletes from 16 different sports at Alabama broke NCAA rules in this case. Witt mentioned only one of those sports by name.
Football.
It's important to note what he did and didn't say about his beloved football program.
He didn't mention that the four highest amounts of impermissible benefits in the textbook case, ranging from $2,714.62 to $3,947.19, were run up by football players.
He didn't mention that football stands to vacate 21 victories from the 2005, 2006 and 2007 seasons, or 20 more team victories than any other sport will be forced to give up.
He didn't mention that only one sport at Alabama has been implicated in three of the school's four major infractions cases in the last 14 years -- and that sport is football.
This is what Witt emphasized: "It's also important to note that the penalties imposed affect the past. They do not impact our future. They in no way affect the ability of our football team to compete fully, without competitive disadvantage."
Roll Tide.
For that reason alone, Witt should've applauded the Infractions Committee members. Unlike their counterparts in 2002 -- current chairman Paul Dee was the only holdover to hear the rogue booster and textbook cases -- they didn't stop Alabama from competing.
Have they stopped Alabama from cheating?
Sorry, but Dr. Witt's not taking questions.
No doubt he's busy contemplating an appeal and a championship parade.
Scarbinsky: Does Alabama president care one Witt about integrity?
Posted by Kevin Scarbinsky -- Birmingham News June 12, 2009 5:00 AM
The last thing Robert Witt wants to do at a press conference is answer questions, even on a day when the integrity of his institution has been called into question.
Again.
Mark Almond/Birmingham NewsUniversity of Alabama President Robert Witt speaks at Thursday's news conference - but he didn't answer any questions.
Instead, the president of the University of Arrogance chose merely to read a statement Thursday afternoon. In those 256 words, he made a statement that helps explain why his school leads the Football Bowl Subdivision with four major infractions cases in the last 14 years.
Through multiple presidents, athletics directors, coaches, administrators, student-athletes, boosters and sports.
Alabama has what Nick Saban might call a cultural problem.
It's a culture that demands doing the right thing -- but only after you've been caught doing the wrong thing.
Again.
The names and faces change.
The attitude never seems to adjust.
Witt put the latest public face on the problem Thursday when he said he was disappointed.
Not in the 201 different student-athletes who violated textbook distribution policies and thus broke NCAA rules.
Not in the athletic department administrators who failed to notice a 30 percent spike in textbook charges over a two-year period and thus failed to monitor that program.
Not in an athletic department that will have spent 16½ out of 19 years in the NCAA's repeat-violator window, from June 3, 1995, through Jan. 31, 2007, and from June 11, 2009, through June 10, 2014.
No, Witt pointed his disappointment in only one direction -- at the NCAA Committee on Infractions.
"We're disappointed in the severity of the penalties," he said.
Now that is disappointing.
When is someone in a position of authority at Alabama going to get sick and tired of appearing before the Infractions Committee?
When is the school going to raise its standards from expertly cleaning up its own messes to actively preventing them in the first place?
Perhaps when the CEO can see beyond the goal line.
Athletes from 16 different sports at Alabama broke NCAA rules in this case. Witt mentioned only one of those sports by name.
Football.
It's important to note what he did and didn't say about his beloved football program.
He didn't mention that the four highest amounts of impermissible benefits in the textbook case, ranging from $2,714.62 to $3,947.19, were run up by football players.
He didn't mention that football stands to vacate 21 victories from the 2005, 2006 and 2007 seasons, or 20 more team victories than any other sport will be forced to give up.
He didn't mention that only one sport at Alabama has been implicated in three of the school's four major infractions cases in the last 14 years -- and that sport is football.
This is what Witt emphasized: "It's also important to note that the penalties imposed affect the past. They do not impact our future. They in no way affect the ability of our football team to compete fully, without competitive disadvantage."
Roll Tide.
For that reason alone, Witt should've applauded the Infractions Committee members. Unlike their counterparts in 2002 -- current chairman Paul Dee was the only holdover to hear the rogue booster and textbook cases -- they didn't stop Alabama from competing.
Have they stopped Alabama from cheating?
Sorry, but Dr. Witt's not taking questions.
No doubt he's busy contemplating an appeal and a championship parade.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Incendiary, Racist, & Stupid
This pretty well sums up people like Glen Beck and his fellow idiots.
I can see why these cretins are entranced by Hitler and Nazism.
Yesterday afternoon Glenn Beck and two of his guests argued that Adolph Hitler and the Nazi Party were "leftwing"; that "political correctness" led the committed white supremacist, James Von Brunn, to shoot a security guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC; and that ultimately President Barack Obama is the one responsible for the violence because his "bailouts" and "Socialistic" policies are engendering widespread anger. Beck denounced those who claim he is "churning the pot" because, he says, "the pot is already boiling."
Seeing this spectacle with subtitles at the gym led me to wonder if there are any laws on the books against using the public airwaves to incite violence. Because that is clearly what Beck is doing. I only caught about ten minutes of the show (about all I can stand) and it was a white reactionary tour de force -- incendiary, stupid, and racist.
In Beck's world President Obama brings "identity politics" and "political correctness" to the White House, and it's the "Left" that is "racist" because unlike conservatives, who judge people only on their individual merits and character (the three white men sitting at Beck's table nodding in agreement), all liberals see is people of different races and classes and genders, which "divides" America. And Obama's "socialistic" policies are leading people of dubious sanity to become unglued, and therefore the outbreak of right-wing violence is Obama's fault. Talk about spin! Only through a conscious and disingenuous effort could anyone link the shooting at the Holocaust Museum to President Obama.
Beck and his guests at the opening of his show all agreed that the Nazis were not rightwing but a bunch of leftwingers (like Obama and Nancy Pelosi). That is pretty weird when you think about how that tidbit of agitprop must disappoint a lot of white supremacists. All those white guys who hail Hitler and the Nazis because they were so good at kicking the crap out of Socialists, labor unionists, Communists and Soviets, women who didn't know their place, and even "degenerate" Dadaists and surrealists, and don't forget the Jews. What self-respecting Neo-Nazi or Ku Klux Klansman (or good ol' boy at the Council of Conservative Citizens) wants to hear that Hitler was like Michael Moore and Al Franken? But it doesn't matter because Beck is not appealing to his viewers' brains but to their guts. And all those "isms" sound the same to 'em anyhow.
And since this James Von Brunn guy targeted a museum where the murder of millions of Jews is memorialized Beck took the opportunity to run a short audio clip of an interview he had with Benjamin Netanyahu three years ago. He then segued into a riff on how our currently tough economic times will lead some people to scapegoat Jews and that means that Israel should bomb Iran right away. Somewhere behind Beck's talking points there is real thinking going on. No one should dismiss Beck as a hack or "entertainer." He is a propagandist.
It's also clear that Beck and his fans just can't get over the fact that a black man is now their president.
The television and radio producers behind Beck's shows are bright, highly educated Republican strategists at FOX News who are expert at calculating each talking point for the host to pull on the jingoistic heartstrings of his viewers. And it works. Beck's writers are creative people because they've found numerous ingenious ways to denounce Obama because he's black but in ways that don't sound racist.
Beck's good at what he does. I'm sure his viewers get fired up during every show. He's also dangerous. He talks up a grand conspiracy of liberals and "Socialists" who are destroying everything that makes America great and constantly uses alarmist rhetoric as if the whole country is falling apart around us. He does so by emoting on command and with practiced histrionics. If I were Beck I wouldn't have guests who bring up the Third Reich to elucidate their views about what America is currently going through.
I can see why these cretins are entranced by Hitler and Nazism.
Yesterday afternoon Glenn Beck and two of his guests argued that Adolph Hitler and the Nazi Party were "leftwing"; that "political correctness" led the committed white supremacist, James Von Brunn, to shoot a security guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC; and that ultimately President Barack Obama is the one responsible for the violence because his "bailouts" and "Socialistic" policies are engendering widespread anger. Beck denounced those who claim he is "churning the pot" because, he says, "the pot is already boiling."
Seeing this spectacle with subtitles at the gym led me to wonder if there are any laws on the books against using the public airwaves to incite violence. Because that is clearly what Beck is doing. I only caught about ten minutes of the show (about all I can stand) and it was a white reactionary tour de force -- incendiary, stupid, and racist.
In Beck's world President Obama brings "identity politics" and "political correctness" to the White House, and it's the "Left" that is "racist" because unlike conservatives, who judge people only on their individual merits and character (the three white men sitting at Beck's table nodding in agreement), all liberals see is people of different races and classes and genders, which "divides" America. And Obama's "socialistic" policies are leading people of dubious sanity to become unglued, and therefore the outbreak of right-wing violence is Obama's fault. Talk about spin! Only through a conscious and disingenuous effort could anyone link the shooting at the Holocaust Museum to President Obama.
Beck and his guests at the opening of his show all agreed that the Nazis were not rightwing but a bunch of leftwingers (like Obama and Nancy Pelosi). That is pretty weird when you think about how that tidbit of agitprop must disappoint a lot of white supremacists. All those white guys who hail Hitler and the Nazis because they were so good at kicking the crap out of Socialists, labor unionists, Communists and Soviets, women who didn't know their place, and even "degenerate" Dadaists and surrealists, and don't forget the Jews. What self-respecting Neo-Nazi or Ku Klux Klansman (or good ol' boy at the Council of Conservative Citizens) wants to hear that Hitler was like Michael Moore and Al Franken? But it doesn't matter because Beck is not appealing to his viewers' brains but to their guts. And all those "isms" sound the same to 'em anyhow.
And since this James Von Brunn guy targeted a museum where the murder of millions of Jews is memorialized Beck took the opportunity to run a short audio clip of an interview he had with Benjamin Netanyahu three years ago. He then segued into a riff on how our currently tough economic times will lead some people to scapegoat Jews and that means that Israel should bomb Iran right away. Somewhere behind Beck's talking points there is real thinking going on. No one should dismiss Beck as a hack or "entertainer." He is a propagandist.
It's also clear that Beck and his fans just can't get over the fact that a black man is now their president.
The television and radio producers behind Beck's shows are bright, highly educated Republican strategists at FOX News who are expert at calculating each talking point for the host to pull on the jingoistic heartstrings of his viewers. And it works. Beck's writers are creative people because they've found numerous ingenious ways to denounce Obama because he's black but in ways that don't sound racist.
Beck's good at what he does. I'm sure his viewers get fired up during every show. He's also dangerous. He talks up a grand conspiracy of liberals and "Socialists" who are destroying everything that makes America great and constantly uses alarmist rhetoric as if the whole country is falling apart around us. He does so by emoting on command and with practiced histrionics. If I were Beck I wouldn't have guests who bring up the Third Reich to elucidate their views about what America is currently going through.
Peter Irons - A People's History of the Supreme Court
This is a splendid history of the Supreme Court, appropriate because of the impending confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor. The approach of this book is progressive, focusing on the individuals whose lives intersected with the high court and led to the decisions that determine the way we live in this country.
The drift of constitutional intepretation in the US has been progressive. Conservatives will never admit it, but it is the truth.
Like all progressives, I favor an expansive interpretation of the Constitution, favoring the liberty of the individual over the power of the state. Conservatives these days certainly support an expansion of governmental power at the Constitutional level while phonily bemoaning "Big Government."
A "strict constructionist" by conservative standards means stick it to the individual and more power to big business. Let Big Business run the country says the strict constructionist.
I support the First Amendment. This is the cornerstone of our freedoms. Conservatives will whittle away at the First Amendment as much as they can.
We do have a living Constitution despite what Scalia says. Let us move forward and not slip back into the 19th century like the right-wingers wish.
The drift of constitutional intepretation in the US has been progressive. Conservatives will never admit it, but it is the truth.
Like all progressives, I favor an expansive interpretation of the Constitution, favoring the liberty of the individual over the power of the state. Conservatives these days certainly support an expansion of governmental power at the Constitutional level while phonily bemoaning "Big Government."
A "strict constructionist" by conservative standards means stick it to the individual and more power to big business. Let Big Business run the country says the strict constructionist.
I support the First Amendment. This is the cornerstone of our freedoms. Conservatives will whittle away at the First Amendment as much as they can.
We do have a living Constitution despite what Scalia says. Let us move forward and not slip back into the 19th century like the right-wingers wish.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Which is why
From Andrew Sullivan
10 Jun 2009 10:24 am
Quote For The Day
"What Fox did is not just create a venue for alternative opinion. It created an alternate reality," - Charles Krauthammer.
Which is true, and which is why I no longer talk to movement conservatives---the Obama bashers who bash him for irrational, uneducated, & nonsensical reasons for example---because they ARE in an alternate reality which is not real. Let's live in the real world based on facts, evidence, and reasoned discussion.
10 Jun 2009 10:24 am
Quote For The Day
"What Fox did is not just create a venue for alternative opinion. It created an alternate reality," - Charles Krauthammer.
Which is true, and which is why I no longer talk to movement conservatives---the Obama bashers who bash him for irrational, uneducated, & nonsensical reasons for example---because they ARE in an alternate reality which is not real. Let's live in the real world based on facts, evidence, and reasoned discussion.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Seeing Senator McGovern
It was my distinct and delightful pleasure to attend a book signing in Montgomery yesterday featuring former Senator George McGovern. The Senator was at Capitol Book to autograph his latest book, a biography of Lincoln.
Senator McGovern is one of the great Americans of our time. He represented South Dakota in the Senate from 18 years until January of 1981 and he was the Democratic nominee for President in 1972. He was a decorated bomber pilot in World War 2. For all of his career he was one of our leading progressive voices. Too bad he wasn't elected in '72 because he was RIGHT about Viet Nam and who knows how many young Americans would be alive today if he had been elected.
Hunger has always been one of his primary concerns and at age 87 he is till working on this issue. He has an organization with Senator Bob Dole to fight world hunger amongst children.
George McGovern---Great American, Great Human Being!
Senator McGovern is one of the great Americans of our time. He represented South Dakota in the Senate from 18 years until January of 1981 and he was the Democratic nominee for President in 1972. He was a decorated bomber pilot in World War 2. For all of his career he was one of our leading progressive voices. Too bad he wasn't elected in '72 because he was RIGHT about Viet Nam and who knows how many young Americans would be alive today if he had been elected.
Hunger has always been one of his primary concerns and at age 87 he is till working on this issue. He has an organization with Senator Bob Dole to fight world hunger amongst children.
George McGovern---Great American, Great Human Being!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
About Writing
"We write to taste life twice, in the moment, and in retrospection."
- Anaïs Nin
qtd. in Write for Insight by William Strong
- Anaïs Nin
qtd. in Write for Insight by William Strong
As If We Didn't Already Know that Bush and Rove are Liars
If George W. Bush is an avid reader, then I'm the King of England. Maybe Rove is an avid reader for all I know. I wouldn't know about Rove because I despise him and try NOT to think about him. I can, though, believe that Bush had the time to read in the White House because he obviously didn't work very hard.
Can Obama keep up with Bush's reading pace?
(CNN) — It appears President Obama has to step up his reading pace if he wants to beat his predecessor in one particular measure: how many books a president can polish off a year.
In an interview with the BBC Tuesday, Obama said he is currently reading Joseph O'Neill's 270-page novel "Netherland," a book Obama first said he began back in April.
If Obama is close to finishing the novel, that puts him on less than a 10 book-a-year pace, far less than the close to 100 books President Bush was reportedly able to finish in the same amount of time.
According to former top Bush aide Karl Rove, he and the former president engaged in a friendly wager every year to see who could read more books.
In 2006, Bush read 95 books to Roves 110: a Herculean pace of nearly two books a week — in an election year to boot — for the ex-president. But, according to Rove, Bush's reading slowed a bit in the final years of his presidency, finishing a not-too-shabby 51 books in 2007 and at least 40 in 2008.
And if that's not impressive enough, Rove also said Bush found time to read the Bible "from cover to cover" every year.
While Obama may have had to put aside “Netherland” last month in favor of pages of court briefs with a Supreme Court vacancy to fill, it nevertheless appears the president has some summer reading to do.
Filed under: President Bush • President Obama
Can Obama keep up with Bush's reading pace?
(CNN) — It appears President Obama has to step up his reading pace if he wants to beat his predecessor in one particular measure: how many books a president can polish off a year.
In an interview with the BBC Tuesday, Obama said he is currently reading Joseph O'Neill's 270-page novel "Netherland," a book Obama first said he began back in April.
If Obama is close to finishing the novel, that puts him on less than a 10 book-a-year pace, far less than the close to 100 books President Bush was reportedly able to finish in the same amount of time.
According to former top Bush aide Karl Rove, he and the former president engaged in a friendly wager every year to see who could read more books.
In 2006, Bush read 95 books to Roves 110: a Herculean pace of nearly two books a week — in an election year to boot — for the ex-president. But, according to Rove, Bush's reading slowed a bit in the final years of his presidency, finishing a not-too-shabby 51 books in 2007 and at least 40 in 2008.
And if that's not impressive enough, Rove also said Bush found time to read the Bible "from cover to cover" every year.
While Obama may have had to put aside “Netherland” last month in favor of pages of court briefs with a Supreme Court vacancy to fill, it nevertheless appears the president has some summer reading to do.
Filed under: President Bush • President Obama
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Ron Rash - Serena (2)
Let me say unequivocally that this is a BRILLIANT novel. The author combines a compelling narrative with the historical flavor of the 1930's---the depression, Applachia, cutting timber from virgin land in the face of the beginning of the national forest system, greed, etc. One thing I should mention is the way Rash uses the locals, the poor people who put their lives on the line every day, to advance the narrative. This is quite effective.
One thing I wish is that I had not read the dusk jacket! Otherwise, I would not have guessed what was going to happen when Pemberton and Galloway went hunting at the end. But I knew what was coming because I was prepped beforehand. Bad!
The Coda is perfect! George does die; it is JACOB who gets the ultimate revenge at the end. Right?
Serena. Bad, bad, Serena. Ultimately this is a character study. Is she a sociopath? What is the appropriate word other than evil?
One thing I wish is that I had not read the dusk jacket! Otherwise, I would not have guessed what was going to happen when Pemberton and Galloway went hunting at the end. But I knew what was coming because I was prepped beforehand. Bad!
The Coda is perfect! George does die; it is JACOB who gets the ultimate revenge at the end. Right?
Serena. Bad, bad, Serena. Ultimately this is a character study. Is she a sociopath? What is the appropriate word other than evil?
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