Now Listen Maxine
Just hit the send button and call it a day.
Happy Monday friends!
Happy birthday to my mother, Sara Kate! Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs! Mad props to everyone who has done their civic duty and voted! Madder props to those who are phone banking and texting! Madder still to those who’ve long been organizing for a better world!
It’s a chilly and cloudy day here in NYC and I’m hoping the use of exclamation points will help liven things up (Carole WS please forgive me) because today has a definite Groundhog Day vibe for me. In the absence of any kind of inspiration for writing, I’m just going to share a few things that mattered to me this week.
Here’s the first one.
I believe Amy Coney Barrett should say no to this. I believe she should hit the pause button, knowing that a majority of the country believes it should not happen before the election. I believe that if she were the sort of Christian she purports to be, she’d act like she really believed that God was all-knowing and all-powerful and could seat her on the SCOTUS without the aid of a rammed-through confirmation process.
As a palate cleanser, allow me to share this brilliant piece of writing by pastor and theologian John Piper. Do you have family or friends who are voting for DJT because of faith reasons? Please share this extraordinary essay with them.
I disagree with John Piper about multiple theological issues, but his life and his faith line up. There’s no hint of scandal or influence peddling. This essay gets at every corner of how people of faith might think about voting and holds far more weight as a result of its messenger.
When a leader models self-absorbed, self-exalting boastfulness, he models the most deadly behavior in the world. He points his nation to destruction. Destruction of more kinds than we can imagine.
It is naive to think that a man can be effectively pro-life and manifest consistently the character traits that lead to death — temporal and eternal.
I early voted on Saturday. The line was almost all the way around the building but folks were cheerful and kind to each other and the entire process took 90 minutes. It felt good to have it done, especially since I’m going to be a poll worker on election day! My daughter and I got assigned to the same polling location (without any special requests which made it all the more fun) and though it’s a very long day, I’m thrilled to be participating in the democratic process in this way. Some people in New York had to wait five hours to vote and that’s already happening in other places, pretty much all of them low-income. Folks standing in the rain, holding babies, sitting in wheelchairs, just to exercise their constitutional right to choose our leaders, are incredibly inspiring to me. Folks who do their best to lighten spirits at the same time, well there’s a special place in heaven for them.
Joy to the Polls is such a group. Saturday they traveled to polling locations with long waits in Philly, bringing music and a reminder that we do this for each other.
I know it’s entirely possible that we won’t have election results on November 3, so I’m steeling myself for delayed knowledge, but here’s my hottest tip for now through whenever this is done. Follow @Taniel on Twitter. I honestly don’t know how he does all he does, but he has his finger on the pulse of everything to do with elections and there is no drama whatsoever - just the facts, ma’am.
I’m not sure how I’ve missed the Progressive ads about not turning into your parents, but I saw my first one during last week’s Chiefs game and I’m obsessed with how clever they are - the writing, the acting, the insight - pure gold. Forgive me if you’ve seen and grown weary. Lord knows I’m late to the game, but it’s just too much fun.
“You don’t know them.”
*chef’s kiss*
This thread made me smile. One of my favorite things on Twitter is when corporate accounts take on a personality. The several years ago Atlanta Hawks were one of the first I remember doing this, but it’s still a delight every time I see it. I’ve never eaten a McRib in my life and haven’t been to McDonald’s in years, but I promised myself a visit after reading through this delightful conversation. Scroll through the initial hanger-on comments until you get into the heart of the convo when HBO, IBM, and Walmart weigh in. :)
Finally, I loved this David Brooks piece about aging well, featuring none other than The Boss himself. Kyle, my childhood next door neighbor and still-friend, is the hugest Springsteen fan I’ve ever known, but could not convince me to listen until I was a whole grown up. May we all continue evolving, creating, and growing up as well.
Thanks for reading. I’m considerably cheered after writing this and promise a proper missive next week. If you missed the mid-week thread about biases that went out last Thursday, I’ll be posting a new one each week until we’ve covered all thirteen and become the most aware, least biased corner of Al Gore’s internet. Love y’all.
I have to admit I am surprised DT hasn’t claimed he invented the internet- nice of him to leave that to Gore since DT denies climate change it’s kind of a trade off
You are absolved for the exclamation points. We’ll discuss penance later:)
But the becoming your parents commercials...I happen to love a lot of pillows on my sofa (burgundy sofa of course) and on my sectional (black) They direct part of one of these commercials directly at me- I looked up pics in Architectural Digest to prove to my husband the pillows were fashionable. No I don’t have an avocado color frig but think I used to:)