Go Set a Lancelot Links

Saturday July 18, 2015

Go Set a Lancelot Links

The plaintive howl coming from the progressive South isn't about the Confederate flag; it's about what's happened to Atticus Finch. Georgia native Candice Dyer asks�“Why, Atticus, Why?”
The answer to her question seems to be: Because Harper Lee's sister and caretaker died and Harper can't speak for herself�but her lawyer, Tonja B. Carter, can.�
Wait! There's more! Another another�Harper Lee book! So says Carter, who could be a good lawyer, and could be a decent person, but is most definitely a lousy writer. Here's the beginning of her Wall Street Journal Op-Ed trumpeting the new book and announcing there may be another: “Accidents of history sometimes place otherwise unknown people in historic spotlights. Such was my fate when last August curiosity got the best of me and I found a long-lost manuscript written by one of America�s most beloved authors.” Holy crap is that bad.
Neely Tucker of The Washington Post goes in-depth on the ickiness of the publication of “To Set a Watchman.” What isn't answered? How Carter became the caretaker of Lee.
In The New Yorker, Adam Gopnik is more interested in whether the book is any good. The verdict? It has its incidental beauties, but...
Others actually applaud the news, as a chance to rid ourselves of the white savior myth that Atticus embodies.
But I still say the best reaction I've read, certainly the best defense of Atticus that takes into acccount all the facts of the case, comes from antitrust attorney Allan Van Fleet of Texas, who became a lawyer, in part, because of the great lesson of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” He's a lawyer, in other words, because of the example of Atticus; and now, as that lawyer, he defends Atticus. And well. �
In other news, Joe Posnanski goes over baseball fans' votes for “the four greatest living players” (Aaron, Bench, Koufax, Mays) and asks, essentially,�What about the last 30 years?
Almost everyone has some comparison to make about the idiotic and insulting presidential campaign of Donald Trump. But Jelani Cobb has the most innovative angle: Donald Trump is a rapper.
Via Rick Perlstein: Bloomberg Business has a good piece on how quickly the U.S. changes its mind�usually in a progressive direction. It tracks the number of states the legalized same sex marriage, interracial marriage, women's suffrage, prohibition and abortion before they became laws of the land. It happens all of a sudden. Yes, Malcolm, like a tipping point.�
Is the Iran nuclear deal a good deal? A nuke expert says yes.
Why is the New York Post writing scathing front-page stories with banner headlines about a homeless man? Apparently because he lives (resides/hangs out) in the same upper west side neighborhood as the Post editor, Col Allen.�
Dear U.S. Post Office: The day you give us�a Harmon Killebrew stamp�is the day I buy 100 stamps.�Maybe 200. Maybe more.