Winter (Christmas Day) \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Moon of the Winter Solstice<\/p>\n
Worked on Jason and Medea in the morning. \u00a0Kate and I went to see Lincoln in the afternoon. \u00a0A powerful movie. \u00a0The most realistic depiction of legislative politics I can recall seeing in a long time, maybe since Advise and Consent, which was a long time ago.<\/p>\n
A gritty, dark movie about democracy in a moment of extreme crisis, of a strange but good man tested, the colorful figures in and around Lincoln and in the U.S. House of Representatives at the time. \u00a0A costume drama and I like costume dramas. \u00a0But this one has substance.<\/p>\n
It brought me to tears several times in the closing minutes, not only around Lincoln’s assassination, but also around the political issue of passing the 13th amendment. \u00a0An awareness of the difficult, unpretty work necessary to make it happen layered on a contemporary realization of the work undone.<\/p>\n
It also made me reflect on how different things might have been had Lincoln not died. \u00a0I mean reconstruction. \u00a0Yes, we fought for the freedom of the enslaved, but we also allowed Jim Crow to create new peculiar institutions, delaying that longed for trip to the mountaintop, a trip not yet fully taken thanks to the struggles of the Northern diaspora.<\/p>\n
After we ate dinner at Explore China. \u00a0Mooshu Pork, wonton soup, hot tea.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Winter (Christmas Day) \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Moon of the Winter Solstice Worked on Jason and Medea in the morning. \u00a0Kate and I went to see Lincoln in the afternoon. \u00a0A powerful movie. \u00a0The most realistic depiction … Continue reading Lincoln<\/span>