A few weeks ago I glanced up at the new building looming on the corner of Harlem and South Boulevard. I gasped. Suddenly it was no longer in bits and pieces and different colors. It was finished.
It looks like a prison, except I think they’re usually in small towns. Anyway, there were no gun turrets — yet. Maybe a hospital, but even new hospitals have interesting architecture and setbacks. Certainly not a residence. The only word for this building is “facility.” It is some kind of a facility, and it is godawful. To the people who pushed for and approved this building, I know you meant well, but you have done Oak Park a grave disservice. Please stop now.
I’d like to offer some humorous chit-chat about what’s going on in the White House, but I can’t. Well, just the words “Rudy Giuliani.” OK? Donald Trump’s cravenness looms larger every day. The constant ineffectual reaction is a screen with very bright people interviewing each other over and over again. But those who could really stop him are playing “chicken” with our country’s safety.
Imagine this: If he loses on the shutdown, and North Korea goads him with a too-close-for-comfort nuclear test, who or what will stop him from starting a war? I hope someone in the defense department is working on a secret plan for how we take him down. I just don’t know what the uncross-able line is. He’s bullied his way through so many.
By the way, did I miss Mitch McConnell’s funeral?
And yet there is Balm in Gilead. Maybe because of Trump, these last few weeks have also offered some stunning events in the “I’m glad I lived long enough to see this” category. Nancy Pelosi and her large and diverse group of killer Girl Scouts have taken over the belly of the beast. Their sheer numbers demand attention. I loved the photo of new House members with the first few rows filled with colorful business wear and ethnic costume tributes. I guess my favorite is Lauren Underwood of Naperville, the youngest black woman ever elected to Congress. I love her face and her smile and her confidence.
I fussed a bit about her age, but clearly Nancy Pelosi is in the right place at the right time. Her knowledge, political instincts and experience are superb. And she’s afraid of no man. Just think — she’s third in line to the presidency.
Apparently she can no longer control the lighting when she’s photographed, so the facial lines have revealed themselves. Her wardrobe is perfect: the same flattering dress made up in almost every color. I even saw a photo of her wearing stilettos, which I think is crazy. We don’t need her sidelined with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, although if they shared a rehab room, I hope it would be bugged. Conversations between NDP and RBG could really “drain the swamp”!
Above all, when the Speaker called her grandchildren and all the other grandchildren to the dais at her swearing-in, I wept. What a lift.