1. Arlen Specter
When I had just moved into this house I had a lot of Capitol Hill staffers as clients. I haven’t seen any of them in years; is there a statute of limitations on confidentiality? I mean we are only talking about semi-public anecdotes. One of the ladies who spent time on my table distinguished herself by fungooing Arlen Specter during the Anita Hill hearings. (I remember a Libertarian client who was wide-eyed with disbelief when I explained to him that I, too, had had my ass grabbed or the like by a male supervisor in every straight job I ever had until I went to work for a Catholic women’s college.)
It was a low point in a good career. Specter was willing to piss off anybody if he thought it was necessary, and if he got the Anita thing wrong, by my reckoning, he put in the effort to make it up to us.
If I could have an hour’s talk with him in the Beyond I would ask him about that Single Bullet thing, really. There are convincing conflicting theories.
2. Malala
Right as you are reading this, unless it is three in the morning, there is some high school girl who should be doing her assignments but is fucking off on Twitter or Facebook.
I hope there is a Ghost Of Graduations Future or something like that prepared to appear to her. Or them. You know what I mean.
Malala is an inspiration.
The whole business makes me miss being fourteen. When you’re fourteen you’re brave enough for anything.
Amazing girl, Malala.
And I also miss being fourteen
It’s alarming to think how easy it once was to imagine that you could do anything. And to remember that you really did have the spirit to carry it through.
Malala is a wonderful girl…but I would go back to 14 even if it were possible.