very simple

I finally went back and read the first of Vowell’s books…I first fell in love with Vowell’s stories on the radio, where she contributes regularly to This American Life. And of course, I picked up here more recent books, The Partly-Cloudy Patriot and Assassination Vacation. Vowell writes from a place of deep and abiding love for history, particularly American history. Here, she travels the Trail of Tears with her twin sister Amy, to try to get some insight into their heritage. She goes all the way to Italy because of her love for The Godfather, but can never quite bring herself to the right town in Sicily. She gushes forth about her love for Frank Sinatra, who she calls the original punk, and attempts to look less friendly by getting a goth makeover. Oh and she drags her “friend David” to Disney World. That would be David Rakoff, author of Fraud and Don’t Get Too Comfortable.

One of the most interesting things in reading this book now, however, is the realization that she originally wrote it back in 2000. Before Bush, before 9/11, before any of it. Yet, I felt a creepy sort of familiarity when she was describing Andrew Jackson during the forced migration of the Cherokee…

…On hearing of the ruling, the president is said to have replied, “John Marshall has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.” Think about that, what that means: a breakdown of the balance of power in such boasting, dictatorial terms. Jackson is violating his own oath of office, to uphold the Constitution.

I don’t know about any of you, but the phrase “signing statements” immediately flashed through my mind when I read that sentence. Vowell viewed this kind of action as unfathomable today (or really, 7 years ago). But the idea that one branch of government (namely the executive) can simply choose to ignore the legislative or judicial branches when it suits him…was simply unfathomable when she wrote that. Now we still have not had trials (or any sort of judicial process) for the Guantanamo prisoners, despite a Supreme Court ruling requiring otherwise, and we have a President who really believes that simply because he is president, he can choose which parts of the laws Congress passes (and this is a Congress run by his own party, mind you) are constitutional all by himself. Even though he isn’t the judiciary.

Wow. Didn’t actually mean to get onto that sort of rant there.

In any event, I finished this book on my way over to London, where I am right now. I should be back home Wednesday night. Gotta love being indispensable. and jet-lagged.

Tags: books