L o b a B l a n c a {dot} c o m

It was brought to my attention a few days ago that the RSS Feed link I added to the lair didn’t work properly. Ever since, I’ve been trying to understand why it wasn’t working and what I had to do to fix it. Truth be told, I’m still out of my element in this new WordPress world. Database work makes me sweat, and not in a good way.

I do believe, however, that I figured out the problem. So to anyone else out there who has tried to subscribe to my RSS Feed and received naught for your efforts, I offer both my humble apology and an invitation to try again.

And a tip of the paw to cohnee for the heads-up!

A “field guide to the British”? Never mind that it does make one imagine that the British are some kind of endangered species to be observed from a respectable distance, I must say that Sarah Lyall’s The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British was an entertaining and informative read.

Ms. Lyall is the stereotypical “Yankee in Queen Elizabeth’s Court,” a displaced American trying to make her way among our more refined but strangely similar cousins. The focus of her narrative is somewhat limited to the more commonly known “British” topics that we fail to understand here in the “practice colonies” but still find titillating: the royals, the tabloids, the food, the “stiff upper lip” mentality, cricket (the game, not the insect, you git), the politics of Parliament…and, yes, the teeth.

As the wife of an Englishman and the mother of two daughters split between the two worlds, Ms. Lyall can lay claim to a deeper understanding than most armchair Anglophiles (myself included). I do believe that she succeeds at helping her American compatriots understand a bit better what takes place on the other side of the pond, and the why of it all. Whether or not she got the why of it all as accurate as she should have is another question. If there are any British visitors to the lair who have read this book and would like to make any corrections, please click the link to my e-mail address, provided in the column to your right. I would very much enjoy hearing from you.

Final score: 4/5. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable read that provided this Anglophile with a deeper view of British life than I could ever glean from my quick hops to the Big Smoke. It has definitely earned its place on my bookshelf.

Now on to Alice Sebold’s The Almost Moon. I’m a bit worried as I have read nothing but negative reviews of this book. Are they based on the fact that nothing short of something dictated by God him/her/itself could thrive in the shadow of greatness cast by The Lovely Bones? Or is the criticism warranted?

We shall soon find out…

No, his last name isn’t Moron, but it might as well be. Seems that Brian Moran, one of three Democratic contenders in this year’s Virginia gubernatorial primary, is holding against Terry McAuliffe the fact that McAuliffe supported Hillary Clinton for president rather than Barack Obama.

What bothers me the most about these accusations is this:

Moran this week unveiled radio advertisements in the heavily African American communities of Hampton Roads and Richmond reminding voters of Clinton’s “3 a.m. phone call” ad that questioned Obama’s qualifications for the presidency.

By unveiling these ads in “heavily African American communities,” I can’t help but extrapolate a sinister unspoken accusation from Moran’s camp. It’s the same sinister accusation that WaPo op-ediot Eugene Robinson made when he wrote: “I know there’s a possibility that [W]hite Americans, when push comes to shove, won’t be able to bring themselves to elect a [B]lack man as president of the United States.”

Two different approaches, one seemingly similar message: If you’re White and you didn’t support Obama, it’s obviously because you’re racist and didn’t want to vote for a Black man.

Am I reading too much into this to think that Moran is trying to paint McAuliffe as racist because he chose to support HRC for president rather than Obama? As someone who glutted themselves to the point of political apathy on everything that pertained to the 2008 presidential race—articles, op-eds, comments, etc.—I don’t think this is too much inference on my part at all. I saw such a deep vein of accusation, both blatant and implied, that the only real reason someone would not want to vote for Obama was not because he was unqualified or lacked experience, but because he was Black.

I supported Hillary Clinton for president. I participated in several online discussions regarding the various reasons why. I was labeled many things during these discussions, but nothing more often than “racist.”

Now I read that Moran is running a campaign in which he is trying to undermine one of his opponents by reminding predominantly Black communities that McAuliffe opposed Barack Obama’s run for the presidency…by supporting a different Democrat. That’s the thing right there. McAuliffe wasn’t supporting a Republican over Obama. It’s not like he pulled a Joe Lieberman D.I.N.O.S.A.U.R. moment. He was still supporting the Democratic party.

Bottom line is this shouldn’t even be a campaign issue. It’s smoke and mirrors to detract from real issues, and it’s the kind of campaigning that absolutely disgusts me. If I lived in Virginia, Brian Moran would officially be off my gubernatorial contender list.