Time, Be a Friend of Mine

My second mentor in the world of law as practiced was an associate at a big firm where I worked as a summer associate between second and third years. I was sent to her by a compassionate secretary for help with a knotty assignment from a fierce partner. She not only helped me but became a beloved friend with whom I remain close, lo these *ahem!* several years later.

Martha was and remains a talented musician, and when I saw her this past Sunday, she revealed to me that she had been posting music both old and new that she made online. Here is my favorite of the songs of her youth, and a new recording she has made:



And the new:



I've known Martha through many (though not all) of the phases she documents in the second video, and she has been a steadfast friend and companion through my own evolution from eager young aspirant to the law to...what shall I say? Aspirant to the Diaconate? Anglocat on the Prowl? Fox Without a Brush?

We have many facets, and our dear friends are, among many other things, the light by which we discover those facets hidden from our own knowledge. So here's to Martha Radclyffe Rix, who taught me that a lawyer need not forsake the creative life.

Spectre of the Gun

From today's Times, summarizing the state of affairs in the wake of the shootings in Newtown

In Washington State, where gun control supporters have already collected 225,000 of the more than 244,000 signatures needed for a ballot initiative on requiring background checks for private gun sales, their opponents have begun their own, dueling initiative, which would prevent the state from requiring background checks that are more restrictive than federal standards.

Gun rights supporters in other states are also focusing on legislators. In Nevada, for instance, a recall campaign has already begun against State Senator Justin Jones, a Democrat who led the successful passage in June of a bill to strengthen background checks. Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican, vetoed the bill.

In the decade before the Newtown shooting, state after state had gradually extended the rights of gun owners. But the push for new legislation that followed the massacre inspired a new burst of energy on the other side.

Angered by talk of a renewed assault weapons ban and fearful of increased government oversight, opponents of tighter restrictions increased their efforts.

Ammunition and semiautomatic rifles flew off the shelves of gun stores. Second Amendment groups welcomed a flurry of new members. Dave Trahan, the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, said the group’s membership had grown 120 percent over the last year, gaining 70 to 100 new members each month. The alliance, he pledged, would fight any attempt to place an initiative for background checks on the state ballot.

Meanwhile:

gun rights groups have continued to make inroads in many Republican-controlled states. Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina and about two dozen other states passed measures this year allowing people to legally carry guns in churches, elementary schools and casinos, on college campuses and at other venues; made state records of concealed carry permits confidential; expanded self-defense statutes; or otherwise increased gun owners’ rights.

And although Missouri lawmakers last week failed to overturn a veto by Gov. Jay Nixon of a bill that would have prevented the enforcement of federal gun laws in the state, a modified nullification law was enacted in Kansas. Gun rights groups in other states are pushing for similar statutes.

****

Dave Workman, communications director for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, said gun owners feared that the background check initiative could lead to “a de facto gun registry.”

“There are two reasons you want to register all the guns in a community: either to tax them or ultimately to take them,” he said.

Oh, I know a third reason: to trace them when a homicide is committed. Why is there such a strong belief in the right to shoot anonymously?

Moreover, all this fear comes out of nowhere. What did the Democrats in fact propose in the wake of Newtown? A revised and updated assault weapons ban, one that would not automatically expire. And the President hardly attacked the Second Amendment and demonized gun owners; in fact, he said:

Now, let me be absolutely clear: Like most Americans, I believe the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms. I respect our strong tradition of gun ownership and the rights of hunters and sportsmen. There are millions of responsible, law-abiding gun owners in America who cherish their right to bear arms for hunting or sport or protection or collection.

I also believe most gun owners agree that we can respect the Second Amendment while keeping an irresponsible, law-breaking few from inflicting harm on a massive scale. I believe most of them agree that if America worked harder to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, there would be fewer atrocities like the one that occurred in Newtown.

The President's proposals were all pretty moderate, adding (1) background checks; (2) a ban on assault weapons updated from the expired ban; (3) researching the causes of gun violence; (4) funding local initiatives on gun safety and school safety; and (5) providing federal funding to efforts to treat the mentally ill who might turn to violence. This last one, by the way, was the NRA's one proposal, other than more guns everywhere.

While there has been some progress in the wake of Newtown, today we suffered another mass shooting--ironically bare days after two Democratic lawmakers were recalled for their support of gun regulation.

So, gun rights activists, congratulations. Thanks to your unceasing efforts, your hobby is safe, and the cost in human lives? Well, seemingly we as a society are ok with that. But responsible gun owners, if you don't want the government involved, then it's own you to lead. Lead the way in stigmatizing irresponsible gun use. The fact that David Keene, whose son shot at another driver in a road rage incident and drew a ten year jail term, was the face of the NRA until 2013, and neither he nor it have proposed anything to address the issue of irresponsible gun owners leaves this little problem on your doorstep.

Your move. Fix it, since you won't let us try.

Focus of Unity?

From Thinking Anglicans:

THE CHURCH IN WALES’ DECISION ON WOMEN BISHOPS: STATEMENT BY FORWARD IN FAITH

Forward in Faith regrets the decision of the Governing Body of the Church in Wales to authorize the ordination of women as bishops without first agreeing arrangements for those who, for theological reasons, will not be able to receive episcopal ministry from them.

We cannot see how a female bishop could be what a diocesan bishop should be – a Father in God and a focus of unity for all within his diocese. This vote therefore makes the question of the provision of episcopal ministry for those who continue to uphold catholic faith and order in the Church in Wales even more pressing.

Experience in Wales and elsewhere does not give us confidence that the promised ‘code of practice’ could offer the level of assurance that would encourage growth and flourishing – so sorely needed in Wales – or the degree of certainty that would remove the possibility of damaging and distracting disputes.

Our brothers and sisters in Credo Cymru will seek to enter into dialogue with the Welsh bishops. We can only hope that their representations will be met with the generosity of spirit that ought to be the hallmark of Christian episcopacy. Meanwhile, we continue to pray for and with our Welsh sisters and brothers, encouraging them to follow St David in being joyful and keeping the faith.

+JONATHAN FULHAM
The Rt Revd Jonathan Baker, Bishop of Fulham
Chairman
13 September 2013

Some of the bishop's defenders are pointing to angry statements from his opponents. I've no doubt that supporters of women's consecration to the episcopate may have, on occasion, shown a lack of charity. But this is a statement from a bishop, purporting to ask for charity from the majority, while expressly denying that "a female bishop could be what a diocesan bishop should be, a Father in God and a focus of unity to all within his diocese."

A bishop's official statement on behalf of a faction of the Church is not equivalent to an over-heated blog comment. I must say, were I in the C of E and the Bishop of Fulham my diocesan, I do not see how I could accept him as a focus of unity. And I'm not even of the gender he believes relegated to an inferior--oh, sorry, "complementary", place. That view on the merits, but especially in conjunction with his blithe willingness to delegitimize all who disagree while demanding a non-reciprocated honoring of his own view from them, make him unable to be what he describes as the sine qua non of a bishop, unless his diocese is utterly homogeneous in its views. Autocracy suppresses division; it does not create unity.

Bisy Backson

Sorry; between taking care of Elspeth--who is eating food on her own--working on what will be volume II of Phineas at Bay, as I have titled my novel--my Victorian family saga of which I have completed approximately 90,000 words out of a projected 150,000, I have allowed the blog to suffer these past few days.

The timing of my work on the novel has been fortuitous; the Trollope Society, of which I am a member, hosts an annual fall lecture. This year's, on October 8 in Manhattan, is remarkably apropos:

“Phineas Finn and the Bildungsroman” is the title of our 2013 Annual lecture, by Prof. Nicholas Birns, The New School.

Professor Birns, who was so captivating this past February in discussing La Vendee at our Mid-Winter Reception, has agreed to return as the Annual Lecture speaker. His subject will include both Phineas books — Phineas Finn and Phineas Redux — as well as cameo appearances in the last two Palliser books.

As Prof. Birns puts it: “One can ask: how and why did Trollope split the Phineas story into two books, with the second book also finishing the Lizzie Eustace story? What does it mean formally for the Bildungsroman to be spliced into a roman-fleuve like the Palliser series? The Bildungsroman changes when it is set in a complex, modernizing mid-Victorian society — as opposed to some thing like David Copperfield, written in the Victorian era but really set in the earlier era of Dickens’ childhood, in a simpler and less diversified milieu. Is Trollope’ s portrait of an Irish Catholic becoming socially acceptable in British society accurate or as it a kind of fairy tale, somewhat like Branson in Downton Abbey? Why is Phineas one of Trollope’s most appealing characters? Did Trollope see himself in Phineas, despite the manifest differences? (Most Bildungsromans are about characters roughly based on the author). We can also talk about other instances of the Bildungsroman in Trollope: The Claverinqs, the entire idea of the “hobbledehoy”, and instances of the Trollope’s female Bildungroman (Lady Anna? Can You Forgive Her?)”

The link between Phineas and Branson in Downton Abbey is suggestive, but I think that Trollope's Phineas, rooted in his own experience in Ireland, and in the reality of Irish politicians like Sir John Pope Hennessy (believed by the latter's grandson to have been the model for Phineas) is more deeply rooted in reality.

I look forward to Professor Birns' lecture; an expert on Trollope and Anthony Powell? Most promising.

By the bye, for those who think that writing sequels to Trollope is an abomination before the Lord? Msgr. Ronald Knox beat me to it, with a sequel to the Barset novels--published by the Trollope Society in a handsome edition...

My Twitter Doppelgänger

On what planet, I have to ask myself, am I worth impersonating? I mean, really?

Nonetheless, some bright spark on Twitter has duplicated the sidebar, the photos and the short bio of my Twitter account. The tweets, though, are so at variance with my tastes, nature, and general mode of expression that I feel like the narrator in William Wilson, except, instead of being stalked by my conscience, I'm being stalked by some sports-obsessed nimrod who thinks than masquerading as a cat-fancying middle aged lawyer enhances his sex appeal.

No accounting for tastes, mind you, but, as GOB Bluth would say:



I've reported it, of course, and hope that Twitter will execute the high, the middle and the low justice with its terrible swift sword.

Shofar, So good

On my way home from work this evening, getting off at the Nostrand Avenue Station, I found myself greeted by two cheerful young Orthodox Jewish men. "Happy New Year!" they called to me, and I wished them one as well. Then the slightly older of the two, asked me if I had heard the shofar yet. (Now, I should add, my immediate fear that I might be lulling these nice guys into thinking I was of their faith was greatly ameliorated by the fact that they had opened a similar conversation with an African-American gentleman who politely replied "Happy New Year," but kept on going.) Anyway, I replied I had not.

They explained to me that there would be a series of blessings to say first, and then they would play the 4 traditional shofar blasts for me. The elder of the two led me through the prayers, patiently saying them with me, after slowly reciting them so I could join him. After the blessings, he smiled, and told me that we had just shared prayers that we would be better men in this new year. Then, he played the first two blasts, and passed on the shofar to his colleague to do the last two.

I thanked them for sharing the experience with me, and I meant it. It's always an honor to be included in something that is sacred to the one who shares it, but the pleasure the young men had in imparting it to a stranger, and their very sincere reverence, touched me greatly.

Happy New Year, to all who celebrate!

The Campaign to Finish "The Last Campaign"

"Give us the tools and we will finish the job," said Winston Churchill, and in a very real sense, that is the genius of Kickstarter; it allows artists, scholars, filmmakers, and a wide variety of makers of culture, artefacts and even just plain products to assist in their funding and thus creation. Supporters get the satisfaction of contributing something they believe in, and sometimes creators offer related perks to those who contribute at a certain level, which they set.

Anthony Clark, an old friend of your Anglocat, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the final stages of research he needs to finish his book, The Last Campaign: How Presidents Rewrite History, Run for Posterity, and Enshrine Their Legacies. The book is an expose of the politicking, brand-building, and whitewashing that Presidents, their families, and their supporters engage in creating glitzy displays and compelling narratives, all the while gently nudging the shadow side of the Presidency commemorated by the library deeper into the shadows. More to the point, these libraries, maintained by taxpayer dollars, are designed to facilitate research and the writing of more definitive history, not merely to be shrines. Anthony Clark, who had to fight to get access to documents in presidential libraries, then became a lecturer on the effect of politicization of presidential libraries, ultimately served on the staff of the Congressional Committee that exercises oversight over the National Archives and this presidential libraries.

In other words, he is an expert in this field who earned his credibility the hard way--working his way from the outside in.

But, you may ask, why do you care?

Because, I would suggest, there is one hell of a lot of information out there, buried under the glitz, the celebrity, the cult of personality, that obscures the achievements and failures, virtues and vices, of our Presidents. We pay for the maintenance of both the information--which is hard to get to--and the infotainment, which is all too easy to flock to and get lost in.

Anthony Clark is trying to blow the lid off the politics and the intrigue--interesting reading in their own right--and bring about substantive reform.

Isn't that worth a look?