Alan Grayson: “Well, listen, I didn’t call names. What I said is true. The Republicans have even nothing resembling a plan. And when you don’t have a plan, what that means is your plan is ‘Don’t Get Sick.’”
The Call by Yannick Murphy: The always interesting author of Here They Come and Signed, Mata Hari returns with a novel that whips up a worldview from a rather quirky set of limitations: namely, the call logs that a veterinarian maintains as his son is unexpectedly put into a coma and an unforgiving economy denies him work. What emerges is a surprisingly optimistic, often funny, and very moving account on how one family uses acceptance and forgiveness as a way to atone for hard knocks. (Bat Segundo interview with Murphy)
Birds of Paradise by Diana Abu-Jaber: Forget Franzen and Eugenides. If you're looking for a social novel that counts, Diana Abu-Jaber is the author you're looking for. Building from the free-form exploration of consciousness and identity in Crescent and the gripping procedural structure of Origin, Abu-Jaber's latest novel is her finest, equally fluent with gutterpunk culture and smarmy real estate men. It has been suggested by The Washington Post's Ron Charles that you will likely gain some pounds while reading this novel. This is certainly true. Abu-Jaber's description of food is so precise that it often made me want to do more cooking. But I very much admired the way in which Abu-Jaber presents all her characters as unwitting victims of rough capitalism, which permits them some dignity even as they perform terrible acts.
The Last of the Live Nude Girls by Sheila McClear: This memoir isn't so much about the decline of the Times Square peepshow, as it is about one young woman's efforts to pull herself up by by her bootstraps when presented with few economic options. Filled with self-introspective candor and a quiet dignity, McClear's story is one that might befall any of us in these volatile times. While McClear does get back on her feet, her book leads one contemplating the terrible fates of other young women now moving to New York and falling into deadlier vocations. (Bat Segundo interview with McClear)
What strikes me is how either clueless or disengenuous Wolf and the other CNN panel members are. They seem to think he’d naturally wish to apologize; after all, he’s a Democrat. Only Republicans get to talk about the other side creating “death panels” or “pulling the plug on grandma” without apology. After all, Democrats think they’re having a discussion; Republicans know they’re having a fight.
The truth is that our health care plans are not working for us and the insurance companies are screwing us left and right. The Republican lawmakers are taking the insurance companies’ money (which originally came from us) and sticking a knife in our backs. That’s going to cost them in the end.
hurray hurray someone is telling the truth. the republicans and a few democrats will unfortunately prevail and the plan will be bogus. shame on Wolf…is he that clueless? he needs to watch the rachel maddow show or even john stewart to get his news.
dr marc a blais