Dawn on a February Morning

A particularly stunning dawn in Fort Lauderdale:

A Private Party

I am celebrating, privately and alone, some exciting personal news.  Can't say what, but I can share these photos of the elements - some champagne, my journal, strawberries, a baguette, and some humus.   Oh yes, and that is incense ash.  

And beams of sunshine.  

Finally, after much longing, some sunshine in my life.  Yeah!   

Retooling at the White House

This is worth a read. I've always liked and admired Plouffe. And this made me laugh out loud:

Plouffe’s take is a bit more sanguine, but far from Pollyannaish. “The president right now is sitting with a job approval rating of just over 50 percent, despite the economy,” he says. “In a presidential-election-year electorate, the Latino vote is playing a stronger and stronger role. So from an Electoral College standpoint, right now I’d rather be us than the other side. That said, we live in an enormously close, 50-50 country. So we should assume—and it may be hard for me to take this approach if Sarah Palin is their nominee, but I will try—that whoever runs against us is a deadly serious threat and we’ll be in a very close election. You have to assume that you’re gonna have to do everything right to get 270 electoral votes.”

The article, the cover story of New York Magazine, is a good piece of reporting, not withstanding that the author was one of the two authors of Game Change (which can never be the definitive report of the campaign because it omitted entirely the Michigan and Florida delegate controversy)

What has Obama Learned?

And does he like his job?

Interesting bits about Larry Summers lack of self-awareness (though he was good on Fareed Zakaria's GPS this past weekend), about how the activity of the lame duck session begs the question of the effect of Emmanuels' absence, and that poll! All in the context of a review of Richard Wolfe's book Renegade.

You can read in full here

Happy 150th Birthday Vassar!

Yeah! Happy Birthday Vassar!

This video is actually pretty and fun to watch. With Meryl and Lisa too.

Why Roots Are Important

This film is beautiful and cool. Enjoy!


Growing is Forever from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

FM on Los Angeles CBS News

check this out:

World War I Officially Ends Today

Very intriguing bit of history - of the past and, as it turns out, the present.  Today Germany makes the last of reparations as set forth in the Treaty of Versailles of 1919. 

Check out the full implications of the first World War.  Pretty remarkable when seen in summary like this. 

Science Fiction Predictions That Came True

h/t The Daily Dish.  Here are 11 sci-fi predictions that have seem to come true.  Not surprisingly HG Wells and Arthur C. Clarke have the most...they are fun to read and contemplate, which you can do here.

Ignorance about History, Religion and the Constitution

I find the discovery from Pew that anesthetists know more about Christianity than Christians do - not all surprising, unfortunately.  Even Catholics, nearly a majority, don't understand the doctrine of transubstantiation. 

Here the Atlantic Wire gathers up the various accounts for why this may be. 

It's very disturbing yet mirrors the ignorance of history and the writing of the US Constitution as recounted by Bradford Plumer in The New Republic's story The Revisionaries - The Tea Party's Goofy Fetish for Amending the Constitution. 

Ignorance is not a badge of honor.  

Is ME/CFS a type of AIDS?

St. Paul's Music Program

Here is a video about the wonderful music at my church. 

"I Love Lucy" Clip - More REAL

Time Lapse Sunset in Sunnyside of Queens, August 18, 2010 (19:49 - 20:35)

New Apartment at 22 West

Well today was the closing on my new apartment.  My dad didn't come.

All went smoothly.   Mark and Libby came over early and did my home blessing with me.  Prayers, saging and holy water.

Here is a photo of the special items I brought that first day:

Yoga mat, champagne, yankees cap, candles - one lavender scented and one in lotus dish, sage, compass, red bowl (for prosperity), Amercian flag and an album of photographs of my mom.

Later, Lorenzo and Adam came, and Ali S. and Gabriel.  We sat on the empty floor and drank champagne.  Thanks guys!

Re British Election

"You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment" 

 !!!!

Wow.  

(reference here)

Up the Mayan Sun Temple

This site is in Belize, where I travelled for the wedding of a very dear friend who is a native. I spent a day alone with a guide exploring Mayan ruins. And took a few videos, of which this is one.

FM Stories Featured at NYTimes web site

Here's a New York Times forum that features audio clips (about 2 minutes each) explaining and describing what it is like to live with FM. 

Click here.

Frankly, for me, listening to others' stories saddens me.  One says she'd rather feel the pain of being beaten with a bat.  I know what she means!  No energy to do simple things. 

Money In and Out of Health Care Law

Great visual chart from the New York Times on the Health Care Law (I love writing Law instead of bill or reform).  The graph shows money in and money out.   Cost containment, for me, is still a concern.  If only more Dems win so we can get a public option.

You can see chart here.

Based on CBO (Congressional Budget Office) and shows effect on budget and deficit.

Amanpour's Interviewing Skills

Any one doubting Amanpour's interviewing skills, check out this extended clip where she interviews Marc Thiessen (actually a class mate of mine from Vassar whom I don't remember).  He defends the Bush torture program.  

You can watch here. 

I believe her selection to host ABC's This Week is going to be interesting and certainly a better call than that made at NBC.

Ukrainian Artist Interprets '41-'45 Occupation

A friend who always sends me the most amazing things forwarded this video to me while I was away. Germany was the occupier.

Here are the notes:
Kseniya Simonova is a Ukrainian artist who recently won the "Ukraine's Got Talent" competition. She uses a giant light box, dramatic music, imagination and "sand painting" skills to interpret the invasion and occupation of her country from 1941-1945.

Joke - Republican v. Democrats

This joke was just sent to me by a good friend. Enjoy!

Subject: LOST WOMAN

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.

"She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be an Obama Democrat."

"I am,"replied the man. "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."

The man smiled and responded, "You must be a Republican."

"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You've risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it's my fault."

The Economist: Obama Doesn't Lack Steel

Check out this defense of Obama in The Economist:

Most of these barbs are bunk. Yes, Mr Obama favours trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of September 11th 2001, in a civilian court. But that is not a sign of weakness. Several terrorists were successfully prosecuted in civilian courts under George Bush. And though Mr Obama is willing to admit his country’s failings, he is quite ruthless about blowing its enemies to scraps. American drones fired missiles at suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan’s tribal areas 55 times last year, killing hundreds of jihadists and who knows how many civilians. This year, the killing has accelerated; so far more than a dozen strikes have been reported. Mr Obama orders assassinations at a far brisker pace than George Bush ever did. For some reason, his habit of blowing up alleged terrorists and bystanders from the air causes less global outrage than the smothering of a lone Hamas operative, allegedly by Israel, in a hotel room in Dubai. But whether you think it justified or not, it is hardly evidence that the president is “against killing terrorists”.

Emphasis mine.

The whole thing is worth a read: Is Obama Tough Enough? The essay ends with a note about Iran.

Charlie Wilson Forthright Letter

Politico's playbook today highlighted this, saying it was making the rounds. I see why - refreshing.

Live Blogging the Health Summit

10:45 am
Good choice to pick Lamar Alexander to lead the repugnants. Gosh there is so much broken trust. And now they're issuing an ultimatum right from the start. Alexander is lying when he says there has never before been a huge bill pushed through reconciliation. Says "we don't do comprehensive well." What? Because Republicans label anything big as a scary government takeover and/or expansion. Has to be comprehensive - can't eliminate "pre-existing conditions" and not have mandate. Obama says he'll address some of Alexander's points regarding process. Good. Many need to be addressed!

10:50 am
Here is NPR's "Health Care is No Stranger to Reconciliation"

10:55 am
Wah, wah, wah. The conventional wisdom that politicians need to cite specific examples grows tiresome. Reid is telling a story I already heard. I think on NPR this morning. Who cares? Point is - stop wasting time telling these stories. We know it's a problem. Get to work. Stop telling these horror stories. We KNOW. It SUCKS. Now Reid is pleading that the discussion is based on facts. Yeah - good point! Now making point about process - noting accurately that reconciliation has been used, mostly used by Republicans. TRUE. It's as if there's "a different set of facts from the reality." Noting Dodd (Chair of HELP) committee and Baucus (Finance) incorporate hundreds of amendments from the Republicans, representing "significant imput" from Republicans. Now citing Harvard study about deaths and bankruptcies due to excessive health care costs, even those who have health insurance. Boy this is depressing.

11:05 am
Obama addressing Alexander. Many of the items you suggested are in the bill. Your characterization would not be mine, understandably. Suggests they "discuss the substance and we might surprise ourselves and that might help to dictate how we move forward." If not, then take it from there. Graciously spurning the ultimatum.

11:09 am
Alexander and Obama getting into it over what is factual. Whether premiums would go up or down, according to CBO. Gosh, my mom would have LOVED this debate! Obama now pointing out that buying insurance across state lines IS IN THE BILL.

11:25
I'm behind. Have help over to move somethings around the house given that I can't walk today. Coburn is now speaking for the Republicans. He's a personal friend of Obama. Suggesting that we are treating the symptoms and not the disease and that's bad medicine (he's a doctor). Says there needs to be more prevention. (There is a lot of prevention). Now citing Harvard and saying 20% is fraud. Obama making note. I bet he's got a team of fact checkers in the back. Colburn is taking about the need costs are driven to minimize risk and that needs to be addressed too. Ried points out the Colburn is filibustering. Funny!

11:45 am
Okay - I can't do this live blogging and deal with the movers/helpers, so I'll have to pick up later. MSNBC sucks btw. They've interrupted Hoyer to provide "analysis" and go to commercials. To be continued.....

1:10 pm
Obama is responding to Cantor. Shaming him for use of prop (stacks of paper - the bill). Obama also makes the point that if we only implemented Republican ideas - there'd be a bunch of papers too. Now, making argument for effective government. Food would be cheaper without meat inspectors and regulations. Drugs would be cheaper with out the FDA. This point was in response to Eric Cantor raising the fear that BUREAUCRATS would decide rates. I'd rather government do it than insurance executives.

"The courage that my mother had"

Here's a poem for St. Valentine's Day

"The courage that my mother had"

The courage that my mother had
Went with her, and is with her still:
Rock from New England quarried;
Now granite in granite hill.

The golden brooch my mother wore
She left behind for me to wear;
I have no thing I treasure more:
Yet, it us something I could spare.

Oh, if instead she'd left to me
The thing she took into the grave!--
That courage like a rock, which she
Has no more need of, and I have.

By Edna St. Vincent Millay

Condescending Liberals - The Atlantic Politics Channel

http://politics.theatlantic.com/2010/02/condescending_liberals.php

Sent from my iphone
Cassandra Marcella
Google voice # - 505-333-8850

The 'Devil' Writes Pat Robertson A Letter

Check out this link.

Monday January 18 2010

A few moments later

January 18th 2010

Sunrise January 17 2010

Christmas at the National Cathedral

Test from iPhone

Let's see if this works!

Obama Visits Section 60 at Arlington

This report from the New York Daily News is very moving. I just saw the author, James Gordon Meek, on MSNBC and will post the video if/when it becomes available.

It's especially so, when aware that afterward, from 2:30 to 4:50 pm he met with his team to weigh the options for Afghanistan.

Read the whole thing, but here's a taste:

"Well, we appreciate his service very much," Obama told me.

I then told him I'm a reporter for the Daily News - but was just there to visit friends.

"Well, James," he said, looking me in the eye, "just because you're a journalist doesn't mean you can't honor your friends here."

The First Lady smiled and squeezed my hand. I thanked her for coming to Section 60.

Her face opened up into a smile filled with warmth and comfort, a welcome antidote for the weather and sadness around her. She said there was no finer place to be on Veterans Day.

Oprah Previews Palin Interview

Won't broadcast until next Monday, but here's the official Oprah preview:



Regarding Levi Johnson, US Magazine has a bit more -

Of Johnston badmouthing the family to press, the former Alaska Gov. says: "We don't have to keep going down this road of controversy and drama all the time. We're not really into the drama. We don't really like that. We're more productive. We have other things to concentrate on...."

Sure - that's why she responds to every thing Levi says - to NOT keep it going.

Sean Hannity Admits Wrong

"As much as it pains him," Sean Hannity admits Jon Stewart caught him red handed. Called it inadvertent. Sure, just like the labeled Sen. Specter as a Democrat (before he actually became one).

Facts matter not. Here's the video:

FOX - Liar, Liar - Caught With Pants on Fire

One of the two messages I still have from my mother is her saying good-bye to me, a message left at a point when I was driving back to DC.  After saying you good bye, she added - "Did you hear that Fox News identified Mark Foley as a Democrat.  Can you believe that outfit?!?  Bye"

Well Mom - I know you'd appreciate this: 

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Sean Hannity Uses Glenn Beck's Protest Footage
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Daily Show Mocks Beck Brilliantly

This was so funny, I laughed until I cried. Probably only funny if you've actually seen Beck's show. Stewart's satire is a relief (and no worse than Affleck mimicking Olbermann on SNL).

"The Communists who want to socialize your Nazism." blissful ignorance indeed.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The 11/3 Project
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Ricky Gervais on the Graham Norton show

I love Ricky and I love the Graham Norton show. Enjoy a laugh

Poetry about Michael

These words, by Maya Angelou, a poem entitled "We Had Him" were relayed by Queen Latifah. Very moving.

We Had Him by Maya Angelou

Beloveds, now we know that we know nothing, now that our bright and shining star can slip away from our fingertips like a puff of summer wind.

Without notice, our dear love can escape our doting embrace. Sing our songs among the stars and walk our dances across the face of the moon. In the instant that Michael is gone, we know nothing. No clocks can tell time. No oceans can rush our tides with the abrupt absence of our treasure.

Though we are many, each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone.

Only when we confess our confusion can we remember that he was a gift to us and we did have him.

He came to us from the creator, trailing creativity in abundance.

Despite the anguish, his life was sheathed in mother love, family love, and survived and did more than that.

He thrived with passion and compassion, humor and style. We had him whether we know who he was or did not know, he was ours and we were his.

We had him, beautiful, delighting our eyes.

His hat, aslant over his brow, and took a pose on his toes for all of us.

And we laughed and stomped our feet for him.

We were enchanted with his passion because he held nothing. He gave us all he had been given.

Today in Tokyo, beneath the Eiffel Tower, in Ghana's Black Star Square.

In Johannesburg and Pittsburgh, in Birmingham, Alabama, and Birmingham, England

We are missing Michael.

But we do know we had him, and we are the world.

Brooke Shield quoted The Little Prince -

"What moves me so deeply about this sleeping little prince is his loyalty to a flower--the image of a rose shining within him like a flame within a lamp, even when he's asleep... And I realized he was even more fragile than I thought. Lamps must be protected. A gust of wind can blow them out."

And -

Eyes are blind, you have to look with the heart, what is most important is invisible.

Brooke did the best at humanizing Michael Jackson.

He (and Brooke) were came of age when I did - in the 80s. Not just his music, yes, that. But his dance moves. His magic moves greatly influenced the choreography I danced and performed as a teenager ; I see it now in the videos. And later too, just for fun, on the Mug floor. He was of my age.

Now he belongs to the ages.

"Feeling, Soul and Know. He Had a Lot of Know"

"He had to know something to sing that song like that."- Smokey Robinson

After a video of the Jackson 5 performing “Who’s Lovin’ You,” Smokey Robinson, who
wrote it, marveled at the 10-year-old Michael’s ability to sing these lyrics -

Who’s Lovin’ You

When I had you, I treated you bad and wrong my dear

And girl since, since you went away

Don’t you know I sit around with my head hanging down

And I wonder who’s lovin’ you

I,I,I,I,I should have never ever, ever made you cry

And girl since, since you’ve been gone

Don’t you know I sit around with my head hanging down

And I wonder who’s lovin’ you

Life without love is oh, so lonely

I don’t think, I don’t thin I’m gonna make it

All my love, all my love, yeah, belongs to you only

Come on and take it, girl, come on and take it

Because I, all I can do, all I can do

Since you been gone is cry

And you, and ever wonder or worry your pretty little head

“Bout what I do

Don’t you know I sit around with my head hanging down

And I wonder who’s lovin’ you

Who’s lovin’ you

Who’s lovin’ you

Who’s lovin’ you

Near Miss

Wow.

Last night Olbermann assembled a medley of Palin moments from over the last 11 months. Quite frightening to see all together and quite a sense of just missed disaster. And a reminder of what a remarkable campaign it was.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Enjoy!

Two Smart Ladies Have It on Palin, Sanford & More

Here's Michelle Goldberg, whose essay at The Daily Beast I highlighted over the weekend, and Ann Althouse discussing Palin, Sanford and Edwards.




(Yes, that Ann Althouse who met her husband online, via the comments section of her blog. See Commoner Captures Princess, Blog Version from The New York Times, April of this year.)

View of Caesar Augustus' Home

My mom loved Steven Saylor's mysteries set in ancient Rome. And it was her favorite city to visit. As a lover of history she'd appreciated this report from the BBC (h/t The Washington Note):



This BBC news video, from March 2008, offers a tour of four restored rooms in Emperor Caesar Augustus' first home on the Palatine Hill. Pretty amazing.

That Mark McKinnon Helped Palin

To me, one of the most surprising revelations of Todd Purdum's It Came From Wasilla was the role Mark McKinnon played in preparing Palin for the Vice Presidential debate last fall.

By this point, Palin’s relations with Nicolle Wallace—a veteran of the Bush White House and a former CBS News analyst who had tried to help Palin get ready for the Couric interview, and whom Palin blamed for the result—were so strained that campaign aides cast about for someone who could serve as a calming presence: Palin’s horse whisperer. They settled on Mark McKinnon, a smart, funny, soft-spoken former Democrat from Texas. McKinnon had long admired McCain, and had begun the Republican primary season helping him out—though warning that he would never work against Obama in the general election. But now McKinnon, whose role in helping prepare Palin has not been previously reported, and who declined to elaborate on it to V.F., changed his mind and quietly signed on.

Well, I'd admired him, for his anti-Rove posture. Turned out to be false.

McKinnonwrites now for The Daily Beast and shared more information about his role, how he rationalized it (having said he'd do nothing to attack Obama), and what he knows about How Her Mind Works. First his rationalization (and a peak of how desperate they were)

I spent a total of three hours of the entire campaign with Palin. A week before her debate, I got a call out of the blue asking if I could spend the next week helping run Palin’s debate preparation. There was clearly an emergency at hand. But, cognizant of my pledge not to campaign against Obama because I didn’t want to be the tip of the spear attacking him, which led to my departure from the campaign in June, I was worried that this exercise would inevitably drag me into uncomfortable territory. So, I said no. My friends, clearly in a desperate situation pleaded with me to reconsider. I didn’t want to totally let them down, so I compromised in a way that satisfied my own conscience. I agreed to spend one initial session, about three hours, with Palin talking about basic debate techniques and fundamentals. But, made clear that I would not participate in any discussions about strategies to attack Obama.

This take gives me no comfort:

She is one of the most fascinating women I have ever met. She crackles with energy like a live electrical wire and on first meeting gets about three inches from your face. Her instant subliminal message is: “I don’t know you very well, but I’m very clear about who I am.” She reeks of moxie and self confidence. And she’s fearless.

Well, she was mostly fearless when I intersected with her. But, she was also a week out from a nationally televised debate with Joe Biden, and she knew she was in trouble. She knew she wasn’t prepared. And she knew it would be difficult, maybe impossible to be ready. And the brief session I witnessed, verified as much and I was convinced the debate would be a disaster. But, despite the crushingly stressful situation in which she found herself, and despite the aching vulnerability, she squared up in her uniquely Palin way and made it clear to all of us in the room that she was going to bear down, get ready, and was not, under any circumstances, going to let John McCain down. But, I frankly thought she would.

But damned if she didn’t. I watched the debate on television from Austin and was stunned. The difference in the person I’d seen just five days earlier and the woman I saw step onto the stage with Joe Biden was a complete transformation. Granted, expectations were low, but she cleared ‘em.

Politicians and Narcissism

Michelle Goldberg, writing over at The Daily Beast originally titled this Is She A Narcissist, and then after Palin's strange resignation updated the piece and changed the title: Palin Has Really Gone Rogue.

Politics has always attracted the deeply screwed up, but our current political system seems to do so more than most. Perhaps that’s because healthy people looking to make their mark on the world don’t want to subject themselves to the inquisitorial media attention or crushing vapidity of modern campaigning. The gloriously sane Barack Obama is the exception that proves the rule—watch people wonder at his unfeigned affection for his family, the fact that he doesn’t seem desperate for praise. Success in our politics often requires a voracious, antinomian egotism, a sense that rules are for others.

Obama is no exception to that egotism, but he is more normal and smarter than most politicians. People with his talents rarely go into public service.

Here's the interesting take:

The Alaska governor shares the personality flaws of many of her male peers, but there’s no evidence she express them via the preferred method of politicians like John Edwards or Mark Sanford—by being sexually reckless....Palin may have gone rogue on John McCain, had public feuds with her grandson’s teenage father, turned on loyal aids, flubbed interviews, spent tens of thousands of other people’s money on clothes, told countless lies and now walked away from her responsibilities, but as far as we know she hasn’t cheated on her husband. If congenital narcissists dominate our politics, Palin may still be just the narcissist the GOP needs.

Palin Hits 30 (Public) Lies

Andrew Sullivan has been tracking the lies of Sarah Palin and he's now up to thirty. He is quiet opinionated and pithy and sharp, which I appreciate even when I disagree with him (which isn't often).

Here he is on the 30th lie, the about the band-aid

The point is not that this is a grave sin. It isn't. Most of her lies aren't (with a few exceptions). They are just a function of someone who makes stories up all the time, who says things that may momentarily impress but that are inconsistent with past statements and with, you know, reality. That's why I'm such a skeptic about everything she does. And why I've come to believe that you need documentation to verify every strange story she tells.-- AS (like you didn't know)

Unfortunately, I know others like this so witnessing the unraveling of her lies has been instructive.

The Sarah Palin Debate Flow Chart

It's worth the re-posting The Sarah Palin Debate Flow Chart, after that announcement yesterday, and this new twist on her debate prep.

Does Palin Still Matter?

Here's a summary from Politico on the infighting amid the GOP regarding Todd Purnam's piece in Vanity Fair - Sarah Palin Story Sparks Republican Family Feud.

What's concerning is that if the emotions are still so strongly felt, and they're all fighting about her, she's still deemed relevant.

The vitriol also suggests the degree to which Palin remains a Rorschach test not simply to Republicans nationally but within a tight circle of elite operatives and commentators, many of whom seem ready to carry their arguments in 2012. Was Palin a fresh talent whose debut was mishandled by self-serving campaign insiders, or an eccentric “diva” who had no business on the national stage? Going forward, does she offer a conservative and charismatic face for a demoralized and star-less party? Or is she a loose cannon who should be consigned to the tabloids where she can reside in perpetuity with other flash-in-the-pan sensations?

The end of the piece had me laughing out loud. Purnam answered exactly as I would have. In fact, I've used Google to check out the symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Kristol only reveals himself as completely out of it - hmm, not that "well educated."

In his post, Kristol also criticized Purdum for writing that several Alaskans had told him during the reporting of the piece that they had checked the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders definition of “narcissistic personality disorder” and found it fit their governor.

“Is there any real chance that ‘several’ Alaskans independently told Purdum that they had consulted the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders?” Kristol wrote. “I don’t believe it for a moment. I’ve (for better or worse) moved in pretty well-educated circles in my life, and I’ve gone decades without ‘several’ people telling me they had consulted the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.”

In response, Purdum, a Princeton graduate, wrote of his Harvard-degreed critic: “I'm not nearly as well-educated as Bill, but the great Irving Berlin taught me that ‘you don't have to go to a private school not to pick up a penny near a stubborn mule.’ In the age of Google, I'm confident that plenty of Alaskans know more about finding medical reference works – and all sorts of other knowledge – than Bill thinks they do.”