Electile Dysfunction
The election is actually over. Remembering a friend, discussing the Two G's and some insight into how Joe Biden won Georgia. Our Big Get is the one and only Jessica Redding. And, On the Bottom Shelf.
Electile Dysfunction
Its over. I realize that for many of you reading this you aren’t happy about the outcome of this election and I respect that. I’m still bitter about not being chosen for any of the “most likely to” categories back in high school. But the people spoke in 1993, and they spoke loud and clear on November 3, 2020 when six million more people voted for Joe Biden over Donald Trump.
You don’t have to like it or agree with the choice that people made, but you do have to accept it. Literally. The very foundation of our nation is built on the concept that Americans have the right to choose our own leaders. And if no one else has ever explained this concept to you allow me to be the first: In life we usually don’t get what we want, but we do have to accept it. Otherwise you grow up to become a self absorbed narcissist who refuses to ever accept that life may not always go according to plan— and we already have one Donald Trump. Let his life be a lesson on the need to develop emotional maturity.
And for the record, enough with the vote fraud garbage. There isn’t one single credible claim of it anywhere to be found. In fact, you could argue that the 2020 election was the safest and most secure in our nation’s history. There is a reason why the only place anyone hears these mythological stories about stolen elections is on fringe right wing networks. At some point you need to ask yourself why.
Ill close with this quote from this New York Times piece:
But top election officials across the country said in interviews and statements that the process had been a remarkable success despite record turnout and the complications of a dangerous pandemic.
“There’s a great human capacity for inventing things that aren’t true about elections,” said Frank LaRose, a Republican who serves as Ohio’s secretary of state. “The conspiracy theories and rumors and all those things run rampant. For some reason, elections breed that type of mythology.”
Steve Simon, a Democrat who is Minnesota’s secretary of state, said: “I don’t know of a single case where someone argued that a vote counted when it shouldn’t have or didn’t count when it should. There was no fraud.”
“Kansas did not experience any widespread, systematic issues with voter fraud, intimidation, irregularities or voting problems,” a spokeswoman for Scott Schwab, the Republican secretary of state in Kansas, said in an email Tuesday. “We are very pleased with how the election has gone up to this point.”
The New York Times contacted the offices of the top election officials in every state on Monday and Tuesday to ask whether they suspected or had evidence of illegal voting. Officials in 45 states responded directly to The Times. For four of the remaining states, The Times spoke to other statewide officials or found public comments from secretaries of state; none reported any major voting issues.
Rest Easy, Shawn
I lost two friends over the past couple of weeks. Each is equally dead to me but one is still physically alive. The other passed away a week ago last Thursday, a month shy of his 46th birthday.
Shawn was probably the coolest person I've ever known. Movie star looks and an incredible smile earned him the title of homecoming king all four years of high school. AC Slater would've been humbled just being around Shawn. He was probably the most decorated athlete in the history of a school that claims members of both the basketball and baseball halls of fame. And, for reasons that I still cannot fathom, he was my friend. The coolest kid in the history of Southport High School was friends with his least popular classmate.
I was an angry kid, for reasons both actual and in my imagination. That anger oozed out of me and led me to develop a foul, sarcastic mouth that I unleashed onto anyone who I felt probably didn't like me. No prophecy was ever more self-fulfilling. But, Shawn was my friend. And I never really figured out why.
Because we were friends I eventually learned that Shawn came from an incredibly tough background and therefore raised by his grandparents, who just happened to share a duplex with us. But you never saw that pain because you never, ever saw him without a smile. In fact, I don't know that I have ever known a happier or more positive person. Add that to the list of traits we did not share.
I didn't see Shawn for probably ten years after we graduated and then one day I'm in the Greenwood, Indiana airport and I hear this booming, high pitched voice: “holy shit, Jacob Perry!” It was Shawn with that incredible Shawn smile. After hugs we caught up and managed to stay in touch after.
Shawn was my friend. Even though I haven't seen him in person in 12 or 13 years he was always my friend. And I wish I had told him even one time what it meant to me to have the coolest kid you have ever seen be friends with the least coolest. But I look forward to our eventual reunion when I can share with him what that meant. Rest easy, Shawn.
How Did Joe Biden Win Georgia?
The Two G’s
Several years ago after reaching a career pinnacle, I found myself struggling. After years of struggle and wandering in the wilderness I suddenly achieved a massive goal in my career and instead of enjoying the achievement, I instead dealt with self-doubt and anxiety. So I turned to my friend Don, who is easily the wisest man I’ve ever known. Coincidentally he is a pastor. What Don said to me that day is something I thought would be appropriate to share with you this week.
“Jacob, whether you are in your darkest moments or at what you think is the pinnacle of your life, never forget to focus on these two things: gratitude and generosity.”
Thanks, Don.
I Screwed Up
Last Friday evening we hosted a fun edition of Monticello Live that included some excellent dramatic readings that will probably win us a few awards. But one major reason we are exploring other platforms and avenues to broadcast these on is because I’m too dumb to get through an episode without some sort of tech issue.
Anyway, we ended up with different clips which you can catch here and here. But stay tuned for an announcement on how we are going to broadcast on multiple channels at once.
The Big Get
Jessica Redding
A couple of years back I decided that I was doing Twitter incorrectly. While one may make a legitimate argument that I still am, back then I was tired of my entire feed being filled with the Right Wing Echo Chamber, which was a byproduct of the old #TCOT lists and other nonsense that contributed to Twitter becoming what it is. So I made the strategic decision to delete my old account and start fresh.
While I freely admit that I don’t pay a ton of attention to people who follow me (and I admit how arrogant that sounds) right at the beginning I was looking for interesting people to challenge my views and how I saw things. And one of the new people who was following me had a bio that said something like “I have a degree in Art History and German, so I’m a stay at home mom.” Well, that made me laugh, and that was before I read some of her tweets and saw that she was more insightful than most. Good enough for me. After a period of time I began so run some writing ideas by her, which lead to her helping me out on a very important project, which meant that when I was thinking about doing this project there wasn’t anyone else I wanted to be involved with Monticello than Jessica Redding.
If for some reason you don’t follow Jessica on Social Media or have missed her appearances on Monticello Live, you wouldn’t know that she’s incredibly smart, funny, sassy and insightful. She cares and thinks deeply, and is both someone you share a joke with or ask advice from. Monticello is what it is in large part because of her, and for that reason I wanted to introduce her to you guys. And the best part is I got to learn a few things about her that I didn’t know.
One thing we have in common is that you are also an only child. Did you ever wish for siblings or did you have extended family or friends who filled that role?
I don’t think I ever wished for siblings. Growing up, my head was always in a book and having a sibling would have distracted me from reading. Also, my home was very quiet and I kind of miss that, now that I have three young children. However, I had loads of friends and we went on plenty of adventures.
Of all the places you grew up where was your favorite? Who is your oldest friend and how did you meet?
My dad was an executive for a chemical company and we moved around quite a bit, mostly because my mom isn’t happy abroad or anywhere north of the Mason-Dixon, and I think he tried to appease her by finding a city that best suited her sensibilities. I guess Savannah was my favorite place to grow up, though I hated it when I was a teenager. Everything about it seemed oppressive: the heat, humidity, and the mindset. Looking back, it was amazing. I could go to the beach whenever I wanted, I was constantly surrounded by a kind of gothic beauty, and they have an open container law that enables one to walk around and drink.
Moving around so much means that most of my friends aren’t “old friends.” My longest continuous friendship is with my college roommate, who currently runs a consulting firm in Atlanta. She lived across the hall from me and the first night that we moved into the dorm, we went on a mission to find alcohol and pot. We ended up moving into the same dorm room a few days later because both of our respective roommates were tired of our party girl antics (she got drunk and let a lamp fall onto her comforter which subsequently caught fire and I would roll into my room at 3 am and wake up at 6 am to practice Arabic and my roommate thought I was running some kind of sleeper cell) and after a very short time together, we became a bit codependent. We’re thick as thieves to this day, though we no longer stroll the streets of Athens, Georgia trying to score pot.
I totally see the connection from being a Journalism/Arabic major to Art History and German. But for our readers who don’t please describe that journey.
Geopolitics have always been wildly fascinating to me and I wanted to find a way to tell those stories. The murder of Daniel Pearl was kind of a turning point for deciding upon a major when I applied to schools. I thought, “Here is a man who died trying to inform the world! What a hero.” The University of Georgia has a great journalism program, so I decided to go there. I wanted to be a war correspondent and thought that learning Arabic could be helpful. My professor was the Arabic translator for CNN and Osama bin Laden was dropping tapes like Tupac drops posthumous tracks, so class was cancelled a lot because he would need to review and translate audio. The professor was Syrian and most of the class were students of Middle Eastern descent. One morning, I wore an Israeli Air Force t-shirt and everyone hated my guts after that. I dropped the class.
I took an Art History survey and loved how interdisciplinary it is and decided to drop the journalism major. At that point my dad said, “Just get a degree. Please, just pick something and try to marry well.” I studied German because I grew up speaking it and therefore able to skip over the easy classes. I focused on linguistics and supremely nerdy things like the codification of standard German and differences between standard German and its derivations, such as Pennsylvania Dutch.
Looking back, what do you think formed your political views? How have your opinions changed over the years?
My parents greatly informed my early political views. My 2nd grade class had a mock election. I asked my parents who they supported and they said “George Bush.” I thought that if my parents liked him, he must be lame and I voted for Clinton as a result. As I got older, I felt that Big Government was a better alternative to whatever I conceived of Small Government—I was simply young and hadn’t experienced enough life. In college I joined Young Democrats and worked on a couple of Congressional campaigns, which I grew tired of because there were too many purity tests and most of the guys were trying to date me. It was exhausting.
At some point, I removed my head from my posterior. I thought Hillary was a terrible candidate and I loathed the DNC; I registered as an Independent for the 2016 election but still considered myself liberal. Today, I remain pro-choice. I’ve always been hawkish on foreign policy and I’m a proponent of free trade. It’s not quite a 180 but my politics have most certainly changed and evolved.
The illiberalism and anti-Semitism of the progressive left cemented my break. Currently, I’m politically homeless. I enjoy reading about policy and law; I simply can’t be bothered with the identity bullshit.
What is your favorite Italian dish and can you make it?
After college I was bored and had nothing better to do, so I moved to Italy. My knowledge of anything Italian was limited to what I learned in Art History classes. I spent my two years in central Italy, learning the language and anything that I could about the culture. It was so foreign to me. At any rate, my favorite Italian food is “arrosticini.” It is a specialty from the region of Abruzzo, which is due east of Rome on the Adriatic coast. It is a region that is a bit untouched and economically relies a lot upon agriculture, sheep and wine most notably. Arrosticini are skewers with chunks of mutton alternated with fat. They are roasted over a long grill and are the perfect blend of meat and melted fat and wow, they are amazing. So sure, I can make them because I know how to grill meat but it isn’t the complete arrosticini experience without a table full of Italians drinking their weight in wine and beer, gnawing on mutton skewers.
Most people think of Connecticut as basically a suburb of NYC. What do you love about living there?
I haven’t quite decided if I love living here or not. I live in northern Connecticut, so I am 2.5 hours and a world away from NYC. The area in which I live has a distinctly New England feel to it, which is much different from the suburbs closer to the city. It’s nice!
Besides me, who is your favorite person to follow on social media?
That’s a good question. I’ll say anyone that brings a bit of levity to my timeline or feed. I’ve been trying to ween myself off being a heavy social media user. It doesn’t make me happy and I just find myself rolling my eyes a lot. Far too many people on social media curate their social media personas and it is painfully clear that it is all a show, whether it be someone who thinks he or she is an expert in all areas or someone who thinks that he or she is the hottest, most interesting individual alive; I’m just bored with it all.
What is your favorite book and why?
‘A Fine Balance’ by Rohinton Mistry. I don’t read a lot of fiction but this is a novel that I think about often. It is set in India and the story goes back and forth between a seamstress who is completely out on her luck, living hand to mouth and two men from the Indian countryside who she hires to help sew garments. The men are Untouchables and the novel largely follows their struggles, which are immense and the kind that few in the United States face. The second half of the novel takes place during The Emergency, a time of martial law in India, overseen by Indira Gandhi. Indira Gandhi’s son, Sanjay, implemented a mass sterilization program for the country’s poorest and the book goes into this in detail—Mistry’s description is horrific. The entire book is doom and gloom; the ending is like getting punched in the gut because it’s just plain bleak.
It is my favorite book because it keeps life in perspective. While all of us face challenges, few are insurmountable. Most of us won’t be ascribed to a social status that prevents us from living with basic human dignity. Hopefully none of us are herded into a tent, facing sterilization. I keep these things in mind whenever I face challenges that are frustrating and seem all-consuming. There is always an individual suffering worse than one’s self.
What do you enjoy most about being part of Monticello?
It gives me a bit of an outlet, a bit of a mental jog. Plus, I like working with you. It’s fun.
What is the best thing about being a mother? How did it change you?
The best parts are the laughs, snuggles, and watching them learn and problem solve. My kids are hilarious, zany, and keep me laughing all day. I love it. However, being a parent is nerve-racking because I just want to raise individuals who will positively contribute to society. So long as they are kind and intellectually curious, I’m happy.
As far changing me? Upon becoming a parent, your priorities need to shift immediately. That was really difficult for me. Obviously, your child comes first but the inability to just drop everything and do something for yourself is something with which I still struggle. I’ve had to get to know myself better because it is important for me to not solely identify as a mother, but as Jessica who has interests, desires, and pursuits that have nothing to do with my role as a parent.
What’s one thing you learned about parenting from your own childhood?
Choose your battles and to let the kids be kids. My parents basically tossed me outside and forced me to run around and explore. I belonged to a group of neighborhood kids and we played outside until dusk. I’m very thankful for that and I’m trying to do the same with my own children. Kids know too much these days because they consume so much media. It makes me sad.
Best pizza in New York?
I like Lucali in Brooklyn, mostly because it was convenient to where I lived. It is pretty difficult to get into and is BYOB, but it’s good. I also like Roberta’s, which is also in Brooklyn. There are loads of amazing places in Manhattan obviously, but Lucali and Roberta’s were the places I frequented most.
Your favorite whiskey?
Bulleit, maybe? Usually, if I am casually drinking with friends at a bar, I’ll order a beer and a shot of Jameson. You see, brown liquor brings out the devil in me from time to time, so I often avoid it unless I am with friends who are worse behaved than myself. Gin and tequila are safer bets.
On The Bottom Shelf
Fistful of Bourbon
For quite some time it seemed like my entire Facebook feed was either posts about Donald Trump or ads for alcohol. Not sure which was worse for my mental health, but it seemed like I kept seeing the same ad over and over again for something called “Fistful of Bourbon.” You can’t imagine how excited I was when I saw a bottle of this stuff in my local retailer a couple of weeks ago.
This is a blend of five different bourbons, which provides a little more complexity than you might normally find. According to their own website, Fistful of Bourbon combines:
Sweet, balanced and smooth.
Green and leafy with floral notes.
Warm spice and hints of nutmeg.
Notes of buttery toffee.
Hints of cinnamon and licorice.
And… they’re right. Like any bourbon the nose is pretty heavy on corn and vanilla but not unpleasantly so. I also picked up some nuttiness and maybe what I might describe as copper. It’s both rich and sweet and on the tongue you get some peppery spice and even a little rye combined with the vanilla and oak. The finish is very smooth like an aged bourbon with a little sweet cream to it. Maybe like an A & W cream soda.
I was prepared to not like this at all and at first I had mixed feelings, but this is a very smooth and flavorful bourbon that you can easily enjoy straight. I recommend it.
The Best Things I Saw This Week
Wolfgang Van Halen’s tribute to his late father Eddie.
How we can face the future without fear, together by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
“The Comedy Store” on Showtime
Oliver has been a great addition to our family
Sweet Oliver Dolly Parton helped fund research into the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
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Monticello was created by and published by Jacob Perry. Our editor and contributor is Jessica Redding. On social media: