When I set out to learn about my mother's bridge club, the Jewish octogenarians behind the matching outfits and accessories, I never expected to fall in love with them. This is the story of the ladies, their game, their gen, and the ragged path that led me back to my mother.I came of age during the Watergate era. The journalists were the heroes. Politicians were gross. I adopted an air of apathy toward government, which made it easy not learn anything or try to change anything. Look how well that turned out. So today as I consume my 14th Diet Orange Crush and channel surf, I’ve been thinking about the writer’s responsibility. What do we owe ourselves, our readers, and the larger world. Are we under any obligation to be part of the literary community? Give back? And if so, what does that look like. Honestly, I’ve always liked the part of being a writer where you got to stay in your hole and watch the shoes and hems shuffle by.
How are we going to write about this day?
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Betsy Lerner 
Thank you for this post. I saw it in the middle of the night when I most needed Newman and Redford and Lerner. If we can manage to search for the truth, metabolize it, and then share it we will be on the right side of karma, I hope.
“Betsy’s In The Basement/Mixing Up The Medicine . . .” Loving Social Distancing: Is Dylan President Yet? As The Late Great Jim Carroll Said: “I’d Rather Be Reading Rilke.” Hang Tough & Look After Yourself. Semper Fi, Sean X. Heaney
If this isn’t literary community then I don’t know what the fuck is.
I was gobsmacked when Reagan was elected. I was also young and taking for granted much of the societal change I had grown up benefiting from in the 70s. I thought the fight had been fought and was over and we had won. Then came November 1980.
I don’t know what obligation any writer is under to be part of any literary community. A writer who is writing for others to read is, by that action, part of some literary community. A writer who is writing for no one to read is experiencing psychological difficulties.
If you put politics first in your writing, you’re a propagandist. That is a kind of writer, though not one I want to be.
How do we give back? I do it by my writing. I’m selfish that way. But hey, when I’m good, I’m pretty good.
We will write about this day as we need to, as we are compelled to, as we want to — and how we are all those things, too — how we need to, etc. If we don’t need to or want to, so be it. The writing’s the thing — wherever it comes from, whatever it’s about or purports to be about or appears to be about — the writing’s the thing.
It’s 6 am. Do you know who the president is?
I was a journalism major back in the Watergate days and the school was flooded with wanna be Woodward’s and Bernstein’s, but what’s been horribly lost since then is objectivity. If you go back and read All the President’s Men, not only will you see good writing, but also hard work and objective reporting. Believe it or not, at one time opinions were only expressed on the opinion page; a good, investigative report would contain FACTS. The beauty of Bob Woodward’s writing, to this day, is he lets the reader make the judgement by presenting the evidence, the reality. For the most part journalism these days is many voices screaming to be heard and hopefully we’ll someday allow the voices with quiet facts once more hold the floor.
As for politics, now more than ever we need politicians to work together for the people, you know, to have elected men and women uphold the oath they’ve taken and serve for the good of the people and the country. Trump will not go quietly. The likes of McConnell and Graham are still here. Money dominates righteousness. Things might change, but we have a long way to go. And there are many stories to tell, so keep writing everyone!
Dance in the streets we did.
This day has extended into this week. On Saturday I nearly cried because there was hope. I’m not ready to celebrate just yet because the current administration is so corrupt I still fear this tempered joy could be shattered. I don’t think it will be over until Mitch McConnell says it is; the motherfucker is that powerful. Trump is doing everything to twist Pennsylvania, trying with the help of the Attorney General of the US to make 45,000 ballots disappear. If the Dept. of Justice can muck things up enough to toss the electoral college votes of PA and rely on an elector (Republican) to have the say of who won the state, then maybe it would go to the Supreme Court. 4 of the 9 justices are in Trump’s pocket and newbie Coney Barrett owes a favor. So Pennsylvania falls. Emboldened, Trump goes after Michigan; he really hates Gov. Whitmer (a woman, intelligent, strong; wouldn’t hesitate to crush his marble-sized orange balls) and it’s a battle. As long as Lindsay Graham and his cronies have his back, Trump knows he can jerk off all over the Statue of Liberty and no one will question his patriotism. Maybe the military (Who will be the new defense secretary — a Trump loyalist perhaps? Or maybe Don,Jr.?) gets called in at some point to restore order due to the massive protests that erupt all around our CoVid land. The race that was declared over is suddenly in jeopardy* and Democrats are nervous as shit when it becomes clear that democracy is up against the Dept. of Justice, the Supreme Court, power hungry Republicans and an insane maniac.
I like to think this election is over, but I just don’t know. There’s still no sanity. Unsure? Let’s see how the Supreme Court does today.. How much sense does it make to wipe out the ACA and deny people medical coverage during a pandemic? How affordable will the vaccine be with no Copay?
Like me rambling today, it just goes on and on and on.
*Rest in Peace, Alex Trebek