The 215 Festival is happening this week in Philidelphia. Wish I lived just a bit closer because there are going to be a ton of exciting readings and performances.
Light breaks where no sun shines
by Dylan Thomas
This story is so fucked up. A reporter at Fox News apparently posted a fake news item on the netowrk web site and he’s been “reprimanded” and Fox has apologized:
Officials for Fox, which has been criticized for being biased towards Bush’s Republican party, decline to explain how the spoof article ended up on the network’s website.
Naturally, Kerry and his campaign are taking the high road and not crawling up Fox’s ass too much about it.
For my money, Peter Beinart spells it out clearly in his recent editorial, “Speech Impediment”:
By suggesting that Kerry – in the course of a presidential campaign – should view Bush primarily as our commander-in-chief rather than as an opposing candidate, and that he should not seek to bring him down, Miller is implying that there is something disloyal about an aggressive effort to defeat an incumbent president in a time of war. This anti- democratic vision of the 2004 election is the natural extension of the Bush campaign’s anti-democratic suggestion that John Kerry should not criticize the war in Iraq. It is the most demagogic argument of the campaign so far. A more decent president would be ashamed.
Read Beinart’s October 11 editorial on t r u t h o u t or at The New Republic.
Maud Newton, who always has something fascinating in her blog, had two exceptional bits this week–an interview with editor and critic, Chris Lehmann and installment #1 of The Secret Agent.
I was glued to the debate last night. GLUED. Thought Kerry did a stellar job–except that he didn’t look into the camera enough. I wanted him to make eye contact with America by staring into that damn camera like Bush did. But Allen made a good point–that when Kerry was making a exceptional point and in the very last bit of his final words, he looked into the camera. I know it’s not the sort of thing one should worry about but I do believe that it would help to boost his likeability.
I find Kerry likeable, but then I live in New England and am used to people who keep close to the chest and who are not afraid to speak with strength and intelligence. Kerry proved that he would make a fine president; one who can speak intelligibly, who can maintain facts in his head, who understands issues greater than his own backyard.
Basically, I thought Kerry was spot on. His voice was calm and clear, his points lucid and his hand gestures firm and empathetic (is it possible for a hand gesture to be empathetic?).
Bush was all slogan and no substance. He kept repeating the same anti-Kerry slogans over and over again so that those of us who are sensitive to that sort of thing can suck it up. We were impressed, though, that the one time he said nuclear, he managed to pronounce it correclty (ever notice how he avoids saying it and says “weapons of mass destruction” instead? Of course, that could also be part of his Bible rhetoric).
Anyway, can’t wait for the rest of the debates. The VP one should be very interesting!
While we’re waiting, how about checking out this Editorial from Bush’s hometown newspaper, endorsing Kerry.
The Dressmaker’s Child
William Trevor
Oh William Trevor, OH! “The Dressmaker’s Child” in this week’s New Yorker is sublime. Sublime! He’s sort of raised the bar. Given us something to strive for.
What a bleak story and a beautiful one. Cahal lies to his dad and does not tell the truth to the Spanish couple who want to see the weeping virgin of Pouldearg (which is not a miracle, after all. Just condensation from the trees above). He brings the couple (and the woman is one he feels lust for—her lips, her hair, her teeth in his rearview mirror) to see the tilting statue and on the way back does—or doesn’t—hit the dressmaker’s child with his car (a girl who is obsessed with the road is this child–she throws rocks at cars, runs into them–as if willing herself to be hit. She seems to know her fate). He drives on. Turns out the dressmaker’s child is found dead several days later and the awful truth of how she came to be (according to village gossip she was her grandfather’s daughter) is revealed.
Cahal cannot escape what he’s done—even though no one knows that he was involved or questions the child’s death as her mother was neglectful—because the dressmaker knows and has covered his tracks. She has redeemed him, then. She is his weeping virgin. Her daughter died for both their sins and so they are drawn to each other and in the end this is the one thing Cahal knows for sure.
Wow, what a story. We need more stories like this one. Oh yes we do.
Sequestered Writing
by Carolyn Forché
I love Carolyn Forché’s poetry. I love her integrity, her sense of voice, her honesty. Her work is refreshing, mind-blowing. I was first introduced to her about 15 years ago by a boyfriend who handed me The Country Between Us and told me to read it. I believe her teaching statement, says a lot about who she is as a human being and a writer.
myfanwy collins 