Last month I posted a letter I’d written to my gastroenterologist after being told that I would not be able to wait for my examination outside the building. Below is a follow-up letter I sent him yesterday, for anyone who is curious as to how the whole thing turned out. . . .
Author: Paul Knight
Vaccine Skepticism
There is an interesting article in the Science Times section of today’s New York Times about Dr. Heidi Larson, an anthropologist and the founder of the Vaccine Confidence Project in London. Her life’s work involves understanding why people resist vaccination. I was interested because skepticism about vaccination could present a big obstacle to ending the coronavirus pandemic, and also because a good friend of mine — an intelligent, educated, thoughtful mother of three — is one of those who is skeptical about the safety of vaccines. . . .
Could Trump Succeed at Undermining the Election?
As everyone knows, Donald Trump has repeatedly refused to commit to honoring the results of the November 3rd election or to ensuring a peaceful transfer of power if he loses. I wrote in August about concluding that I might need to go to Washington to participate in street protests if he tries to subvert the election. In the past few days I’ve seen two very different perspectives on that possibility. . . .
A Birthday Card for 2020
A friend of mine has a birthday in December. This is the card I’m going to send him.
Trumpty Dumpty
I’m enjoying John Lithgow’s new book, Trumpty Dumpty Wanted a Crown: Verses for a Despotic Age, a sequel to his 2019 book, Dumpty: The Age of Trump in Verse. Lithgow did both the writing and the illustrations, including the one shown here. Here’s the title verse . . .
My Town Has a Mayor. Who Knew?
Alright, this is embarrassing. My mother asked me this week if the town I live, Lawrence Township, NJ, in has a mayor. She knew that some towns have executives with other titles, like First Selectman. I’ve lived here for five years, and when she asked me that question I realized I didn’t know. I had to Google it. . . .
What Worries Me Most about Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court
Most of the buzz about Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court (aside from the fact that Mitch McConnell refused to consider Merrick Garland’s nomination but wants to rush to confirm Barrett) is that she could vote with the other conservative justices on the court to overturn Roe v. Wade. But that’s not what concerns me most about the prospect of a 6–3 conservative majority on the court. . . .
A History of Anti-Populism
I just finished reading a book that blew my mind: The People, NO: A Brief History of Anti-Populism, by Thomas Frank. The title is a play on a slogan of the People’s Party in the late 19th century: “The People, Yes!” As the book explains, the People’s Party was the first true populist movement in America, a coalition of farmers and laborers, blacks and whites, looking to topple the hegemony of wealthy capitalists and reclaim a fair share of the fruits of the American economy. Since then, Frank explains, populism has been widely maligned by corporate leaders, academic elites, journalists and others. . . .
An Unusually Meaningful Vice-Presidential Debate
So . . . President Trump has Covid-19 and God only knows what his prognosis is. The White House certainly isn’t saying. And Joseph Biden is the oldest American every to run for a first term as President, and is campaigning amidst a deadly pandemic. I’m not the first person to note that this combination makes Wednesday’s vice-presidential debate of much greater interest that it would ordinarily be. We can’t help thinking as we watch, one of these people could become President of the United States really soon.
Watching Less TV
Here’s an unexpected development: I’ve more or less stopped watching television. . . .
And I suspect it’s not just because I have other things to do; I have a hunch it’s also, ironically, because there’s so much TV to watch. . . .