June 19, 2018--Donuts On My Chest All Day

Whenever I write about donuts I always get a big response. One email after my posting last week about the Nobleboro Village Store just said, "Yum."

One can't have enough good sources for donuts and so I am pleased to receive suggestions for other places to try. Like, from one friend, the Willow Bake Shoppe in Rockport, Maine, though I am skeptical about the authenticity of any place that spells shop shoppe.

From all these responses it must be true, as I claimed, that donuts are one of the five essential food groups. Pizza being another.

And thus I was happy to receive a note from a dear friend who is a long-time resident of this area, the Pemaquid Peninsular. Her family owned much of the land near the lighthouse and Jill Davenport comes from a long line of storytellers. She also has a wonderful sense of local history. Including about donuts.

Her Uncle Basil was a scholar, anthologist, and weaver of gothic tales. He also was a sort of pied piper to the local children of Pemiquid who loved to huddle with him as he regailed them with shimmering stories. Acting all the parts.

Her mother, Gwen Davenport was a very widely-read novelist. She was the author in 1947 of Belvedere, which formed the basis for a series of movies, including, my favorite, Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell, and a successful TV series.

And her father, John Davenport, in 1949, in The New Yorker, published an amusing piece, "Slurvian Self-Taught.

He is an excerpt--

Listening to a Hollywood radio commentator the writer heard her say that she had just returned from a Yerpeen trip and had had a lovely time nittly. He readily understood that she had just returned from a European trip and had had a lovely time in Italy. Speaking in this manner is Slurvian. 

The writer has made a study of it and includes a number of examples, including words that when spelled as pronounced make good English words other than the ones they are supposed to be such as bean for human being, form for forum, and lore for lower. 

Then, from Jill Davenport, here is what she wrote about the local donut situation--

The great and worthy donut finds life in small New England kitchens and only faintly resembles its more modern counterpart, the puffy and overly sweet confection found in all its manifestations at Dunkin Donuts.

When I was a small child, my grandmother would sometimes take me to what is now the Seagull Shop, adjacent to the Pemiquid lighthouse, for a breakfast treat. We would sit at the counter and we had donuts. These were small, brown, modest and they ran rings around any donut I've tasted since. 

The old donut was unglazed, looked overdone and its appearance hardly generated the swiftly indrawn breath of anxious expectation which a more spectacular donut might have done. But sink your teeth into its unprepossessing surface and bear witness to a rather juicy crunch imparted by its trip through the hot grease, and to a cinnamonish flavor unequaled in today's world of fat donuts so devoid of character.  

I miss those sturdy New England donuts. 

My father once managed to charm his way onto a lobster boat for a day's fishing. He got up early and had a substantial breakfast before setting out on his adventure. He and the lobsterman spent the morning hauling pots and by noon my father was starving, but the lobsterman seemed unfazed by his long separation from nourishment. 

So my father asked him what he had eaten for breakfast. The lobsterman said, "Two donuts. They sit on my chest and nourish me all day."

March 14, 2018--Our First Female President

At first I didn't know if I should take her seriously. 

When Rona said, "Remember when Toni Morrison referred to Bill Clinton as our first black president?"

"I do remember that and how I thought at the time that though I sort of got it, it sounded way over the top."

"Right," Rona said, "In the New Yorker she said something like, 'In spite of his white skin, he's our first black president. Blacker then any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children's lifetime.'"

"Back then many people thought this was a compliment to Clinton. Later, most came to feel it wasn't that at all but rather a sad commentary that America was so unready to elect an actual African-American person that he was the closest thing to a black person we could elect to the presidency since he at least had some soul."

"You're remembering correctly."

"So what's on your mind about this?"

"As long as you understand in advance that what I am about to say isn't something I agree with--quite the contrary--but rather a perception based on refutable stereotypes."

"This sounds mysterious. I can't wait to hear."

"Not unlike what Morrison said about Clinton, it occurs to me, again, if you believe the stereotypes, that Donald Trump is our first female president."

"What!" I screamed, leaping from my chair as if I had been electrocuted.

Waiting for me to calm down, Rona said, "Make a list of the stereotypes that are applied to women and I think you'll see what I mean."

I couldn't begin to find words to enter into this discussion. So Rona proceeded to make the list--

Children come first (certainly, Ivanka)
Works from home (in Trump Tower or the White House)
Cares more then most men about appearance 
Is vain (Trump's obsession with his hair)
Is Narcissistic
He's fearful
Not as strong as typical men (Trump was a draft avoider)
Is flirty
Emotional
Impulsive
Intuitive
Instinctual

"Especially," Rona said, "in regard to his inclination to make emotional and impulsive decisions, his behavior as president is stereotypically 'female.' In fact, he prides himself on having the 'best' instincts."

I was flabergasted. "And so?"

"And so what?" I finally managed to stammer.

"So, by these stereotypes he comes off as pretty feminine. Again, not that I agree with stereotyping. But as they apply to Trump or to men and women in general, though they are becoming more and more outdated, he's as much like a 'traditional' woman as a stereotypical man."

"But he also fits some male stereotypes," I said, "Like he's macho, a braggart, chauvinistic, a male supremacist, thinks with his genitals  and is full of bluster and bravado.  How, for example, he preposterously said after the Parkland School shootings that he would have entered the building to protect the children even if he was unarmed."

"In any case, it's another way to think about him. Another way to help understand his appeal to so many."

"True."

"But most important, and ironic, is that the very qualities he has in abundance--his impulsiveness, his inclination to lead by emotion and instinct (alleged female characteristics)--are the very things men used to cite--and many continue to do so--as the reasons why women are unfit to be trusted to serve as CEO's much less commander-in-chief."

"Interesting," I said. 

"In other words," Rona said, "how it was felt that by nature, by temperament, women are not qualified to be president, especially when menstruating. Remember all that about PMS? But here we have Trump, who is more emotion-driven than almost anyone I know--male or especially female--sitting at the head of the table in the Situation Room."

July 14, 2106--Searching for Trump Supporters

A friend who is remarkably up-to-date with reading the New Yorker, knowing I am always at least three months behind, sent me a link to the very, very long piece by fiction writer George Saunders, "Who Are All These Trump Supporters?" (Two parts July 11th and 18th.)

The first third touches the familiar bases--the people who attend his rallies are ill-informed (I'm being kind), make up their own facts, are undereducated (kindness again), semi-coherent, bullying, violent, and at least borderline racists and bigots.

So I skimmed through that. Been there, heard that.

The middle third is more nuanced, even empathetic, and thus gets closer to the complicated truth.

It does leave out one significant part of the diagnosis--how Trump followers (and Bernie's as well) feel duped, lied to, and manipulated by both political parties. What's the Matter With Kansas remains the classic statement of that insight.

I hung on until the end of the article though in the final part I began to glaze over--the same reaction I have to Saunders' over-mannered fiction.

But it does include a dense and brilliant quote from Norman Mailer's 1960 Esquire piece about the emergence of John Kennedy at the Democratic national convention--"Superman Comes to the Supermarket." Title aside, Mailer too was a better reporter than novelist.

I leave you with it at the risk of your plaintively asking as I do--where is Norman now that we need him?

American presidential campaigns are not about ideas; they are about the selection of a hero to embody the prevailing national ethos.  Only a hero can capture the secret imagination of a people, and so be good for the vitality of his nation; a hero embodies the fantasy and so allows each private mind the liberty to consider its fantasy and find a way to grow. Each mind can become more conscious of its desire and waste little strength in hiding from itself.

I love it as does Saunders who asks--

"What fantasy is Trump giving his supporters the liberty to consider? What secret have they been hiding from themselves?"

This, like so much else, is still to be determined. It may be that our very future depends on the answers to these questions.

Norman Mailer

June 6, 2016--"He's Not Hitler . . . But"

A very liberal friend sent me the link to an article by New Yorker staff writer Adam Gopnik with the ominous title, "The Dangerous Acceptance of Donald Trump."

The dangerous part is by now a familiar theme to writers on the left--he'll encourage Japan and South Korea to develop nukes of their own, he will trample on the First Amendment, he will not respect separation of powers, and so forth.

The acceptance part is newer and describes how Trump went from being regarded as a joke and an entertainer to being embraced by most of the Republican mainstream. On Friday, for example, House Speaker Paul Ryan came around to saying he'll vote for Trump in November.

Clearly not familiar with Godwin's Law which alerts us to how Nazi references pop up quickly during disputatious political discussions, toward the end of his piece, unable to resist, Gopnik writes--

"He's not Hitler, as his wife recently said. Well, of course he isn't. But then Hitler wasn't Hitler . . . until he was."

Impressive--three Hitlers in fewer than 25 words. Perhaps a New Yorker record.

But enough with the Hitler, Mussolini, and fascism references.

Trump is ridiculous and terrible enough without having to go there. And, electorally, labeling him a crypto-fascist only makes his supporters crazy and further motivates them to get out and vote for him, including dragging to the polls family members and friends who haven't voted for decades, or ever.

In the meantime, I'm losing family and friends who feel I have gone over to the other side. And saying that they don't just mean politically but also in sanity terms.

So here's what I propose--

For those of you who think my struggle to understand the Trump phenomenon (and can we at least agree that it is that, a phenomenon?) is a not-so-tacit endorsement of his candidacy (it isn't), let's make the following deal--

If once, if just one time Adam Gopkin or Robert Kagan or David Brooks or Paul Krugman gets out of his New York or Washington bubble and spends real time wandering around in Donald Trump's America, if only one time, after doing a lot of roaming and listening, really listening (putting aside their conformation biases), if after spending more time on Staten Island and Toledo than in Georgetown, the Upper Eastside, or the Hamptons, if after that they write one column, just one, that expresses understanding, compassion, and empathy for the sense of betrayal Trump's supporters feel, their fears and anger, the residual belief they retain in the American Dream (in spite of the evidence from their own and their children's lives)--and of course their resentments and xenophobia, if you can point me to that one article of that kind I will cease and desist writing as I have been about the remarkable ad disturbing ascendence of Donald Trump.

All confusion about what I have been attempting to do will end. I will stop writing about HIM. Please, point me to that one column or op-ed piece because I am weary and bored with myself when it comes to thinking about our politics. It will at once relieve and release me.

And while you're searching for that confessional article, see if you can find another from anyone on the left who fesses up to how privileged she or he is, how out-and-out lucky he/she is to have their lives. Particularly how since the 1980s they have been beneficiaries of conservative polices. Economic policies, for example, such as the current tax system that they publicly oppose, citing its contributions to growing inequality, but which over the last three to four decades has reduced their marginal tax rates.

See if they confess that they do not know anyone who has volunteered for military service. Family or friend. How they do not know anyone who has been killed or grievously injured in conflicts that they for the most part at first supported.

See if they confess that though millions struggle to pay for health insurance, they have gold or platinum polices supplied and largely or wholly paid for by their employers or by their own businesses.

See if they will tell us that their children for the most part are enrolled in fine colleges and that there is not much problem handling tuition. I doubt if Adam Gopnik has a child at Brown that she or he has incurred any student debt,

See if they acknowledge that not only aren't their homes underwater becuase they can't afford to pay their mortgages, but if and when they decide to sell them they will most likely experience a hefty capital gain. I, for example, have seen the value of our Manhattan coop apartment increase ten-fold in less than 25 years.

And if I decide to sell it (in my building, apartments on average sell at full asking price or higher in less than a month) I will pay only 15 percent in capital gains tax, down from Bill Clinton's 20 percent as the result of the Bush (Republican) tax cuts.

And if and when one receives a sizable inheritance, again thanks to Bush, up to $5.45 million will be tax exempt. A much higher tax-free amount than during the Clinton years. During his presidency only $600,000 was untaxed.

If one of my progressive friends opts to terminate a pregnancy, no matter where one lives, if one has significant savings, is mobile, and willing to pay cash, there is no problem having one in a safe medical environment.

My privileged compatriots and I also have done well in the stock market and for the most part, again thanks to the booming economy for the well-off and Republican tax policy, for our retirement we have secure 401(k)s and other forms of savings.

And, of course, like me do you doubt that Gopnik, Kagan, and Brooks have weekend houses to escape too and have no problem with car payments or gas prices?

Much of this I and they fear will be threatened if Donald Trump is elected. Aren't we as concerned about our own privileges as we are about cuts to Medicaid and food stamps?

Again, please send me links to confessions and acknowledgments of this kind. Especially if the self-assigned word hypocrisy appears, all right, just twice in 25 words. That too would be a record and better dispose me to those worrying about how, because of Trump, the Constitution is threatened and fascism is coming to America.

January 21, 2016--TRUMP and the Palins

Sarah Palin is back and everyone is having fun with her. Or making fun of her.

Not just because her son, Track, two days ago was arrested for domestic violence and on the same day her Dancing-With-Stars daughter, Bristol Sheeran, gave birth to a second out-of-wedlock baby.

It was because she bounced up on stage in Ames, Iowa on Tuesday to give a semi-coherent speech in support of Donald TRUMP's candidacy.

Seeing her again, still looking hot, I was reminded just how much I miss Sarah and her wonderfully-named dog-patch brood. Other children of Sarah and Todd ("First Dude") are Willow Bianca Faye, Trig Paxon Van, and Piper Indy Grace. The latter named for the Indy 500.

If politics these days is about entertainment as much as policy, she's the perfect reality-show complement to The Donald.

And on the political front, she may help tip the Iowa caucuses to TRUMP, which in turn would lubricate his path to the ultimate nomination.

Pretty much all the liberals I know are chortling about the TRUMP-Palin roadshow. The jokes are flying, very much including in The New Yorker's "Borowitz Report." A humorous column that appears on-line.

The one the other day was, "Palin Endorsement Widens Trump's Lead Among Idiots," with the snarky title telling it like a lot of us think it is.

But is it?

There must be an increasing number of idiots out there among the electorate because even before the Palin encomium, TRUMP's lead among almost all demographic groups was widening. Most interestingly, according to Tuesday's New York Times, with evangelicals.

They seem to be feeling that God will take care of TRUMP's personal indiscretions (three marriages and who knows what else) but are saying that among the candidates he is most likely to bring about needed, radical change.

To my Manhattan friends this is just more evidence that there are a whole lot of idiots out there. I feel compelled to mention these friends also believe anyone who is religiously devout is by definition an idiot.

But, I wonder, are TRUMP's and Palin's supporters idiots because they are idiots or idiots because they don't agree with us?

Those of us who think of ourselves as liberals should be the first to be feeling good about widespread political participation. Haven't we traditionally been in the forefront of advocating the expansion and protection of voting rights? But, for idiots too? That's a push. But, to be consistent  . . .

Look, I've been having a lot of fun at various candidates' expense, very much including TRUMP's, but those of us who would prefer to see Bernie or Hillary elected or Jeb Bush, Joe Biden or George Pataki, in addition to enjoying the fun and scribbling of the likes of Andy Borowitz, we also had better be working hard to elect the candidates we support or we will wake up literally a year from today with Donald and Melania TRUMP in residence in the White House and Sarah Palin nominated to be Secretary of Defense.

January 24, 2014--"Who's this Calhoun?"

At the Delray News Shop the other morning an elderly man asked Richard, one of the owners, if he had a copy of this week's New Yorker. He had heard about David Remnick's long article about Barack Obama and wanted to read it.

"I heard about it too," I said, "the one where, among other things, Obama talks about being a black president."

"That's the one," the man said. "Outrageous."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"That he views himself that way. And blames all his failures and the criticism he deserves on people who he accuses of being anti-black."

"That's hard to believe," I said, "If anything, Obama plays down his blackness and gets criticized for that by some African-American leaders."

Richard didn't have the issue yet and, since I too wanted to read it, did so on-line.  I also had seen excerpts from the article in which there were a few quotes from the president about how some people don't like him because he's black. The Fox News folks jumped all over that, claiming this as evidence of Obama's own racism and hatred for white people.

So, if you haven't seen the article, here is the full quote from the Remnick piece so you can make up your own mind:

Obama’s drop in the polls in 2013 was especially grave among white voters. “There’s no doubt that there’s some folks who just really dislike me because they don’t like the idea of a black President,” Obama said. “Now, the flip side of it is there are some black folks and maybe some white folks who really like me and give me the benefit of the doubt precisely because I’m a black President.” The latter group has been less in evidence of late.

“There is a historic connection between some of the arguments that we have politically and the history of race in our country, and sometimes it’s hard to disentangle those issues,” he went on. “You can be somebody who, for very legitimate reasons, worries about the power of the federal government—that it’s distant, that it’s bureaucratic, that it’s not accountable—and as a consequence you think that more power should reside in the hands of state governments. But what’s also true, obviously, is that philosophy is wrapped up in the history of states’ rights in the context of the civil-rights movement and the Civil War and Calhoun. There’s a pretty long history there. 

"And so I think it’s important for progressives not to dismiss out of hand arguments against my Presidency or the Democratic Party or Bill Clinton or anybody just because there’s some overlap between those criticisms and the criticisms that traditionally were directed against those who were trying to bring about greater equality for African-Americans. The flip side is I think it’s important for conservatives to recognize and answer some of the problems that are posed by that history, so that they understand if I am concerned about leaving it up to states to expand Medicaid that it may not simply be because I am this power-hungry guy in Washington who wants to crush states’ rights but, rather, because we are one country and I think it is going to be important for the entire country to make sure that poor folks in Mississippi and not just Massachusetts are healthy."

I doubt if people such as Sean Hannity read the full article preferring, for his ideological purposes, to quote it out of context. Of if he had, I wonder if he would know anything about the history Obama refers to.

"Who's this Calhoun?" I could hear him hollering at his staff. "Some Chicago pal of Obama's?"

I also wonder what the New Yorker was doing, also quoting Obama by releasing very selected out-of-context excerpts of only the most controversial material. I guess for them it's also all about selling copies and making money.

October 21, 2013--Ladies of Forest Trace: Senator Cruel

"I only have a minute. I'm watching C-Spanish." My 105-year-old mother was calling from Lauderhill.

I knew she meant C-SPAN. These days she's been glued to the TV. So much is going on in Washington.

"And it's making me depressed."

"What else is new," I said, "My recommendation is that you watch something entertaining. C-SPAN  and CNN and Fox News," the other things she watches, "will make you crazy."

"C-Spanish I also find entertaining. Most of what they say there is not to each other but to people watching on TV. Only when there is an important vote is anyone there. But it is making me crazy."

"So why . . ."

"Why? I may be on my last legs but I have my mind and things that I care about. That includes our country. America. You know I came here from a shtetl in Poland?"

"Of course I do. With your mother and sisters and brother. You've often told us that your father came to America first, saved enough money, and then sent for the rest of you."

"He would be turning over in his grave if he had a TV."

"Good that there aren't any where he is in Mount Lebanon."

She let that one pass and said, "One of the girls I have dinner with told me she read in the Yorker that that senator from Texas, Ted Cruel who filibustered for 20 hours against the president, Obamacare, said he is going to read it."

"I heard that too," I said, "He's finally going to read the bill itself. Someone passed the article along from the New Yorker--that's its name--about Senator Ted Cruz--that's his name."

"If you say so. But wouldn't you think before speaking 20 hours that he would do his homework? How can you talk for so many hours about something you don't know anything about?"

"They do it all the time. As you said, Mom, it about being entertaining. He is that--a political entertainer. Like Sarah Palin. By being so outspoken about Obamacare, even though like her he doesn't know anything about it, guarantees that he gets to be on television and as a result he has become a household name. He's been in the Senate for less than a year and is now more famous than others who have been there for decades. I bet more people know who he is than know about John McCain."

"And like that woman Palin he is probably making a lot of money and getting ready to run for president."

"I'm certain about that."

"Why do they hate him so much?"

"Senator Cruz? His constituents back in Texas still seem to like him even though he almost ruined our economy and failed to get Obamacare defunded."

"I meant the president. Obama. Why do they hate him so much?"

"What do you think?"

"On TV they should talk about that. About the real reasons."

"Which are?"

"It's not because he doesn't talk with Congress. He should do more of that. The way Reagan talked with that Tipper person and Clinton with that Grinch."

"Tip O'Neill and Newt Gingrich."

"Yes. Them. But that is not the real problem."

"Which is?"

"He's smarter than they are and enjoys pointing that out. As they say on TV, he's the adult."

"I agree with this too. He isn't good at the schmoozing and backslapping and never misses the opportunity to demonstrate he's the smartest person in the room."

"But he is the smartest person and that's part of the problem too. But only part."

"And the other part is?"

I think I knew where she was headed; but for someone her age, who can handle the challenge, it's important not to put words in her mouth or finish her thoughts. If she can it's more stimulating and even healthy for her to have to think things through. And the miracle is that she very much can.

"They don't talk about it enough."

"What's that?"

"His color."

"His color?"

"Because he's black. Millions can't stand that idea. That there is a black president. Not that they have a black president--but that there is a black president."

"I get the distinction."

"And one smarter than almost all the rest of us. That only makes it worse. If he was just ordinary that would be better for them because that's the way they think about black people. That they are inferior to white people. They even believe that black people who went to Columbia and Harvard are inferior to white people who just went to high school."

"I agree with that analysis."

"That's why Donald Trumpet wanted to see Obama's college transcript. He couldn't believe that there was a black person who could be better educated that he is. Even one who became president. Which, remember, he tried to do and made a fool of himself."

"I can't say I disagree with you."

"There's more."

"More what?"

"More to say about this. About white and black there are many complicated things. Remember, I'm almost old enough to remember slavery."

"That's an exaggeration. You only 105."

"And four months. Now like a baby I keep track of how old I am by counting months."

"But still . . ."

"It may have been 150 years ago when it ended but with something this terrible it takes longer than that for all whites and blacks to get over the cruelty and the family memories. Remember Bessie Cross, who worked for us? Who took care of you when I was teaching? Her grandfather was a slave and told her all the stories. And she told her son, Henry, who lived with us for awhile and was like an older brother to you."

"I remember them both very well. But they protected me from that history. Henry never said anything about his great-grandfather."

"Bessie told me everything." I heard my mother sighing at the memory. "And she told me other things too."

"What where those?"

"About how she was raising Henry. She knew that there were still separate black and white worlds. This, remember was after the War. The 1940s."

"There was still official segregation," I said, "Jim Crow laws in the South and unofficial segregation in most of the North. Including in New York. And in Brooklyn where we lived. There were separate black neighborhoods and in my school, PS 244, there were no Negros. But what did Bessie say about raising Henry?"

"She was a very proud and fearless person. And she wanted her son to have a safe and successful life. What the times would allow. She did not want him to expect or demand more than what was possible. In her heart she knew this was not right, not the way for things to be, but she accepted them. Though they made her angry and she did things to protest. She was active in colored organizations."

"The NAACP?"

"Yes that. But there were problems, violence, lynching as Negroes after the War asked for, demanded their rights."

"I too am old enough to remember that."

"But like every other mother Bessie wanted to protect her son. Even if necessary from his own desire to want to live in the white world."

"That is sad to hear, but I understand."

"But she knew that was what he wanted. Not to be white but to have the same opportunities. And to have them he might need to study and work among white people. And to do that successfully he needed to behave in certain ways so as not to make things worse for himself because to live this way would be bad enough."

"Which meant?"

She whispered, "Often compromise."

I could hear my mother's labored breathing. Remembering this and those days was painful, but I didn't attempt to distract her. I knew it was important to her to finish what she had called to discuss and that she could handle the intensity of the recollected feelings.

"For Henry to stifle himself at times. Yes, do that if it was necessary. Remember when this was."

"I do. And now? You raised all of this when talking about Obama. Why so many hate him and how he reacts to that."

"He is not from Henry's generation, thank God, and he had a white mother, which made it additionally complicated for him to figure out who he is and what he wanted to be. He wrote about these things."

"In Dreams from My Father."

"So, do you think this puts more pressure on him about the right ways to behave among white people?"

"Say a little more about this."

"That what we see as his willingness to compromise, even when he may not have to, could be a problem that comes from the way he thinks about himself--I know he thinks about himself as black--and how he feels a black person should behave among white people."

"This is indeed very complicated and not easy to talk about. I think especially for white people. Even liberals. I don't expect to see this discussed on TV or written about in the newspapers.

"Like Bessie Cross taught Henry, does Obama see the need to compromise, to stifle himself as part of what is necessary for a black person to do to be successful among white people?"'

"Some would call this a race-identity issue."

"And maybe a problem."

"Maybe."

"So, they hate him because he is black--that needs to be said and exposed--but also maybe by some of his behavior as president we still see what remains of segregation and even slavery. That we have made many things better; but even when someone becomes President of the United States, someone who was elected and reelected both times by more than 50 percent, the pain remains. The wounds are still there."

"Could be," I said. "One thing I am sure about."

"What's that?"

"That hard as it is we need to talk about this."

"That would be good," my mother said. I could sense that she was exhausted and I didn't want any longer to keep her from lying down. "Even if everything I said is wrong."