All the president's men...

One of whom apparently wanted to firebomb the Brookings Institution.

I've been reading All the President's Men, by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. The definitive account of the Watergate break-in and the subsequent hunt for the truth that lead to President Nixon's resignation, it is amazing in it's breadth and detail. But strangely, despite the veritable laundry list of felonies and almost-crimes committed by members of the White House staff and approved by the freaking President of the United States of America, what gets to me the most is the fact that burning down the Brookings Institution was tossed around as a potential game plan by the Watergate conspirators.

This is pretty much how it went down: a member of Henry Kissinger's staff (who, incidentally, also had his phone wiretapped illegally by the White House... you know, no biggie) left the Secretary of State's office to join the Brookings Institution, a policy think-tank in DC. He was believed to have taken some classified documents with him when he left, and certain members of the White House wanted them back. Break-ins were a real popular method of political espionage and sabotage around those parts back then, but the White House needed a way to cover it up. I can just imagine how this goes: a whole bunch of whitebread, clean-cut government officials sitting around a White House office, smoking cigarettes and tossing out ideas. And then some bright soul (Chuck Colson, specifically!) says, "hey, I know, why don't we set it on fire?!"

Apparently his suggestion freaked some people out and they backed off from the plan entirely, but still. I mean, the White House was operating in such a way in which a trusted member of the team, someone who had a DIRECT line to the President, could suggest firebombing an American organization and no one would think twice about it. I am going to repeat this, so you can experience the full import of it: firebombing the Brookings Institution. FIREBOMBING. It's so absurd, and yet terrifyingly possible! I just... I am floored.

Colson went on to deny that he had suggested burning the Brookings Institution down as a way to cover up their break-in (in fact, he jokingly said that he'd actually been talking about setting the Washington Post on fire, because that's just a side-splitter right there) but many sources claimed that he was lying.

I know this shouldn't astonish me - after all, these men were committing crimes left and right. Still, there is something so brazen, so viciously open and brutally honest about planning to firebomb a building on American soil that really drives home the powerful can't-touch-me attitude that these men had. It reminds me of one of my favorite lines in last year's Frost/Nixon, where the now-resigned and bitter ex-President Nixon yells at reporter David Frost, "Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal!" But really, what should I expect? As a source tells Woodward in All the President's Men, "the President is... well, a felon."

All of this is to say: if you haven't read All the President's Men, do it. And then call me, so we can get worked up about the subversion of the democratic process and the importance of checks and balances, law and order, and having a government that respects the laws that constrains it. Good times, y'all.

I don't think cupcakes have an opinion on abortion.

So apparently today, this lovely October 9, is National Pro-Life Cupcake Day. A day when school children should bring brightly decorated cupcakes into classrooms and when their classmates flock to the treats and ask, "whose birthday is it?" They can respond with "NOBODY'S, BECAUSE THE BABIES HAVE ALL BEEN ABORTED BEFORE THEIR BIRTHDAYS." Or something similarly capslocky. And then apparently the cake will go dry in their classmates' mouths (it's magic cake, triggered to automatically dry out by the mention of the word "abortion") and they'll realize the magnitude of the national mistake that was Roe. V. Wade.

Or maybe, because they are children who have been faced with sugar, they will shrug and stuff their faces with more cake.

Listen, I don't care what your opinion is about abortion. But for goodness sake, can't we leave cupcakes out of it? I mean, will no one think of the baked goods?

Story via Jezebel, which obviously has a bias (one that I agree with, but a bias nonetheless.)

The tell-tale wombs of Lewiston, Maine

I spend a large portion of my working hours in a basement filled with boxes upon boxes of clothes. It's a little like being at a perpetual rummage sale, only you can't touch, try on, or buy any of the objects. And because I spend so much time in a basement, carving ethylfoam and cutting muslin to make costume mounts, flouncing ruffles and vacuuming dust out of pleats, and struggling with stacks of boxes filled with 19th century bicycling outfits (surprisingly adorable, PS), I also listen to a lot of radio.

Specifically, NPR. The radio in the South Costume Storage (the fancy name for my basement lair) is an analog dial radio, which means that changing the frequency is an exercise in dread, trepidation, and ultimate futility. To avoid the heartache of listening to static as I gamely turn the dial in search of music, I usually just keep it on NPR all the time. That means I get a lot of depressing BBC World Service stories (sorry, my British brethren, but your news, while poshly-spoken, is a bit of a downer), more pledge drives than I can shake a stick at, The Story from North Carolina (underappreciated and very interesting!) and, at 3 pm, All Things Considered.

All of this is meant as a lead-up to this announcement: if you haven't listened to the All Things Considered story on healthcare (part 1 of scheduled 3) that broadcast yesterday, DO IT. "The Tell-Tale Wombs of Lewiston, Maine," besides having a totally creepy and awesome title, is a fascinating look at why the heck healthcare in America costs so damn much, using the town of Lewiston as a case study. Maybe it's just that I don't actually know that much about the healthcare debate (except that as a technically unemployed young person, I'd like some, pretty please!) but I found it full of fascinating facts, disturbing realities, and strongly persuasive in addressing the need for a really dramatic overhaul of the American healthcare system.

So nu, what are you waiting for? Go! Listen! And tell me what you think!