We've gone from The Plot Against America to Goodbye, Columbus.
George Will. James Mattis. Time magazine. Episcopal bishops.
The White House is starting to resemble Versailles in the 1790s.
Listening to Mariann Budde, Episcopal bishop of the District of Columbia, express her disapproval of Trump’s use of St. John’s Church for a photo op – after he had protesters tear gassed in Lafayette Park – I was reminded of Leo Frade, former bishop of Southeast Florida, who said that he became an Episcopalian in the ’60s because, instead of a collection of elitists, he found people who were socially conscious and politically engaged.
There’s been a stream of fine books by immigrants about their experiences in the U.S. (memoirs, novels, essays) but no corresponding flow of books by Americans about their experiences abroad. Yes, we’re a country of immigrants, not travelers. But the imbalance strikes me as the result of self-absorption – Enough about us. What do you think about us? – and laziness. We’re OK with the foreign when it comes to our shores, but – even as readers apparently – we’re not going to go out and discover it for ourselves.
Most people, on hearing the name Fort Lauderdale, still think 'spring break.' The exception are older tennis fans, who think 'Chris Evert.' The Elbo Room, the physical symbol of spring break, is closed, while the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center (named for Chrissie's father, who taught generations of children, including his own, on the green clay courts) has reopened.
Proof that, even in a pandemic, it's better to get exercise than to get blotto.