Suppose it were Friday clxxiii: A valentine

      Dresden

Jens Buettner
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
February, 2020

Origins of Wednesday cx: Objects of government

Announcement, appearing on the gates of Postman's Park in the City of London, June 2002 --


Postman's Park is Closed until       further Notice

This is to allow a sparrowhawk chick to fledge undisturbed, having left the nest early and committed itself to ground dwelling. 

We apologize for any inconven-ience caused and anticipate that the garden will be open within the next few days.


       City Gardens
       Corporation of London

John Julius Norwich
The Big Bang
  Christmas Crackers
  2000-2009
The Dovecote Press, 2010©

Leaning Klobuchar

In this year's American electoral cyc-

le, I do not expect to write actively

or with superfluous energy to recom-

mend the replacement of the Party in

control of the White House, the Sen-

ate, and the Federal Courts. It isn't

likely that anyone not sharing these

preferences would stumble into this

paragraph long enough to consider it.

Garry Kasparov contributed an invalu-

able essay to The New York Review not

long ago, on an urgency of clear think-

ing in the conduct of coalition polit-

ics, which I do commend to anyone in-

terested in having to choose a nominee.

My own feeling is that Amy Klobuchar, 

a Senator from the Midwest, could well

forge a coalition of the requisite di-

versity, for sustaining an effective

challenge to the offending Party. I can

defend this suggestion, but so can she;

and I advance it less to win assent 

than to substantiate her eligibility.

I cannot say quite the same thing for

certain other candidates, more promin-

ently ranked today in the polls; but

coalition politics compels me to ac-

cept the selection of the Party. This

is not only morally justified, it is

morally obvious. 

To so much as lean toward a personal

preference, in the case of Klobuchar,

is to lean first in favor of the con-

duct of a magnanimous but energizing,

dare I say infectious politics. I do

admire this virtue, this year, very

considerably more than I value the

most shining chimera of a star of any

greater glory. And, to those who sa-

vor a dash of wit in a candidate, she

spares one a leap toward inexperience.

Mildly as it moves one to mention it,

I don't think one can fault her for

being of the gender that flummoxes 

the Party to be defeated, given that

she reflects half of its supporters.

Let us all become comfortable with

her in the vanguard of our coalition.

Max Yavno
untitled
San Francisco
1947