Twenty-five years

Perhaps two weeks ago, I watched a lengthy video on YouTube, a compendium of news coverage from throughout the day of September 11th: the terrorist attacks in New York City, at the Pentagon, and on the plane which crashed in a Pennsylvania field, near Shanksville.

Twenty-five years after the attacks, the memories of the day, and its aftermath, remain clear. One thinks of the terrible violence and destruction, the terrible pain that was inflicted: the thousands of deaths, and injuries; the pictures of the missing on sidewalk fences and walls, in Manhattan; the unimaginable traumas experienced by the loved ones, and the friends and co-workers, left behind. And--the many still-breathtaking acts of heroism, of great bravery.  

One thinks of the before, the during, and the after: it all remains firmly in the mind, and heart.

Gloria Steinem

Gloria Steinem, who died on September 3rd at 92, was a highly significant figure, and force, in America's history.  I admired her very much.

Below is a piece which appeared in The Atlantic, online, the day after her death.  It is titled "Everything We Do Matters," and is adapted from her memoir An Unexpected Life, which will be published September 22nd by Random House.

Ms. Steinem wrote, in the Atlantic adaptation/excerpt:

"Among the many things I have learned is that there is no one right way to achieve peace, equality, or justice. Everything we do matters—how we behave in an elevator, how we raise our children, how we treat our partners, how we participate in our government."

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/09/everything-we-do-matters/688514/?gift=Tcay7nmVziC9n3Jf9Qllm1oXR94CZQUIea0bTl6hPEc&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton's talent, and her greatness, were near-immeasurable.

Her singing was, and will remain, gorgeous.  The songs she wrote were/are beautiful.

Some of the most appealing, endearing aspects of her public self were the sense of joy, the good cheer, the good humor, she seemed to invariably convey.

Here is her exquisite recording, released in 1974, of perhaps the best-known song she wrote, "I Will Always Love You."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKsQR72HY0s&list=RDlKsQR72HY0s&start_radio=1

Here, too, is a recording of Ms. Parton's "In My Tennessee Mountain Home," released as a single in 1972. Her album of the same name came out in 1973. (I first heard the song when it was covered by Maria Muldaur, on her 1973 debut album; the album included what became Ms. Muldaur's signature song,"Midnight at the Oasis.")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG2kL4ojylk&list=RDVG2kL4ojylk&start_radio=1

Ms. Parton was born in 1946, and during her early years her family lived in a one-room cabin in Eastern Tennessee. She was the fourth of her parents' twelve children. In the early 1950s, the family moved to a nearby two-room cabin and farm.

In addition to Ms. Parton's life as a singer, and an actress, she was a philanthropist of great significance.  As The New York Times reported, after her death:

In 1995, Ms. Parton started the Imagination Library, a program that sent one book per month to children in Sevier County [the Tennessee county where she grew up] from birth until their first year of school. The inspiration for the effort came from Ms. Parton’s father, who didn’t know how to read...

The program expanded across the world, and last year, the Imagination Library said it had distributed  some 305 million books [since its 1995 inception].

More than three million children currently receive books from the Library.

https://imaginationlibrary.com/about-us/

In addition to writing about the Imagination Library, the Times reporter chronicled the wide reach of Ms. Parton's philanthropy:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/26/business/dolly-parton-philanthropy-books-covid-vaccine.html?unlocked_article_code=1.81A.VvLu.LP6dpPw-6h84&smid=url-share

#3: The salesman-in-chief; the denialist-in-chief

On Tuesday (August 11th), President Trump spoke to reporters about the Strait of Hormuz.

He said, of Iran, and the Strait: "They don't have control. We have total control.  We own it, and at some point, maybe they'll do something, and then they get blown away."  He said: "Right now, we're in a very good position."

Do Americans believe this?

Today, Trump gave a speech on Long Island.  In it, he made the following remark:

"After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States."

Perhaps, in his recklessness, he was goading Iran, or was simply musing about his power.  Or maybe he was seriously considering the idea.

If it was the latter, it would not be a surprise.

Because really, that's all he seems to believe he needs to do: declare something, wave a wand, and it becomes, or will become, true.  

#2: The salesman-in-chief; the denialist-in-chief

On Monday (August 3rd), President Trump wrote this, on his social media platform:

My REAL Polling Numbers, not those made up by the Fake News Media, are the best they have ever been...

In a poll released by Fox News on July 22nd, Trump had a favorable rating of 38%; his unfavorable rating was 61%.  A story about the poll on the Fox website noted that Trump's "job approval remains near a record low."

A report yesterday (August 6th) from the Pew Research Center, said this:

"President Donald Trump’s job approval rating – 34% as of mid-July – has changed little over the last few months. But it is lower than his rating at a comparable point in his first term – 40% in August 2018 – and those of most other recent presidents at similar stages in their tenures."

The salesman-in-chief; the denialist-in-chief

President Trump spoke in the Las Vegas Valley, on Wednesday (August 5th).

He said, during his speech at Red Rock Casino and Resort:

"The economy is the greatest economy we've ever had." 

Does he actually believe this?

A commercial

There is a TV commercial, currently airing, which makes me laugh.  The commercial is for Chase Bank, and it finds humor in the alienation, and in a resigned kind of frustration, and weariness, concerning life in the technologic age.

Here is a link to the ad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txJTKJcVRLE