Why I Was Wide Awake at 4AM Friday.

 

Illustration by Sam Kerr/The Guardian

Jeff––Saturday

 

Yesterday, at 4AM Friday morning Greek Time (7 hours ahead of New York Time), I awoke for the express purpose of watching the long hyped and much anticipated 90-minute debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in Atlanta, Georgia. It was billed as locking those current and former US Presidents in mortal verbal combat over Biden seeking to retain, and Trump driving to reclaim, the Presidency of the United States.  

 

I never should have gotten out of bed.

 

As for why I feel that way, I doubt there is a literate soul on earth who doesn’t already know the answer to that question. Frankly, I don’t want to think about it anymore, but Saturday is my blog day and there’s no bigger story on the planet at this moment than that one. So, as a compromise to offering my own words and thoughts I’m offering those of David Smith, Washington DC bureau chief of The Guardian.

 

In his article published Friday, Mr. Smith refers to the debate as “90 miserable minutes of Biden v. Trump” all of which he aptly describes in the following unexpurgated version of his article as “In what felt like a Greek tragedy, Trump didn’t win the first presidential debate of 2024 – but Biden certainly lost it.”

 

 

David Smith

 

That sickening thud you heard was jaws hitting the floor. That queasy sound you heard was hearts sinking into boots. That raspy noise you heard was a US president embodying what felt like the last gasp of the ailing republic.

 

Say it ain’t so, Joe.

 

The first US presidential debate in Atlanta on Thursday was the night that Democrats went from “Don’t panic!” to “OK, time to panic!” After months of preparation and expectation, they got to the altar and suddenly realised they were marrying the wrong man.

 

In 90 miserable minutes, Joe Biden achieved two things that had seemed impossible. He lived down to expectations that were already rock bottom. And he managed to make Donald Trump sound almost coherent. Trump did not win the debate but Biden certainly lost it.

 

There was a suitably funereal silence as the president, wearing blue tie and flag pin, and Trump, wearing red tie and flag pin, entered CNN’s red, white and blue studio. This was the first presidential debate without an audience since John F Kennedy v Richard Nixon in 1960 (those two candidates had a combined age of 90; this time they had a combined age of 159).

 

Journalists in Atlanta were forced to watch on TV like everyone else. But the mutual animosity and contempt between the men exuded through the screen. It was clear neither was even thinking about shaking the other’s hand.

 

Democrats had been lulled into a false sense of security by Biden’s high energy performance at the State of the Union address. They expected Superman again. Instead they got Clark Kent in his dotage.

 

The crisis was clear almost as soon soon as Biden opened his mouth. His voice was hoarse and hard to hear. Clear your throat, man! His team later claimed that he had a cold. Or had he over-prepared?

 

Early on, he bumbled: “We have 1,000 trillionaires in America – I mean billionaires in America.” Then: “ ... making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I’ve been able to do with the – with – with – with the Covid. Excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with ... ”

 

His voice trailed away. “Look, if – we finally beat Medicare.”

 

Trump pounced: “Well, he’s right. He did beat Medicare. He beat it to death.”

 

Trump is only three years younger, but is a creature of television. When Biden spoke, the former president, hair hovering above his head like a shiny cloud, could be seen frowning, pursing his lips or revving up for a reply. But when Trump spoke, the white-haired Biden stared into the middle distance, his mouth open, looking as feeble and frail as the democracy that now rests on his shoulders.

 

It was a Greek tragedy because the Biden campaign pushed for this debate, the earliest in history, to “drag Trump into Americans’ living rooms” and wake them up to the threat. They set rules, including muted microphones and no studio audience, that seemed to backfire and work to his opponent’s advantage.

 

The restrictions helped Trump stay relatively controlled and disciplined, at least by his own epically low standards. He did not constantly interrupt as he did in the first debate in 2020. He did not play to a crowd and get carried away with unhinged stories about sharks.

 

Not that Trump should be let off the hook. This was an unwatchable debate between an old man who could not finish a sentence and an old man who could not tell the truth. It was Rip Van Winkle versus Pinocchio.

 

Biden failed to push back on Trump’s lies. But so did CNN’s moderators, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. This gave the impression of Trump’s falsehoods carrying just as much weight as Biden’s facts, especially to viewers who are just tuning in to the election. Expect Democrats to use this argument to deflect attention from their own man’s failings.

 

More than an hour after the debate, when most people had turned off and gone to bed, CNN factchecker Daniel Dale came on air and said Biden made nine false claims while Trump made 30. Trump’s included some Democratic states wanting people to execute babies after birth; the US currently having the biggest budget deficit ever; Biden getting a lot of money from China; no terrorist attacks during Trump’s presidency; Biden wanting to quadruple taxes; the US providing way more aid to Ukraine than Europe; Nancy Pelosi turning down Trump’s offer of 10,000 national guard troops on January 6; “ridiculous fraud” in the 2020 election; Nato going out of business before he became president; Biden indicting him; his tax cut being the biggest in history.

 

First impressions – and viral clips – are everything, so voters will forget that, as the debate wore on, Biden gradually became stronger on style and substance. He went for Trump’s character: “The only person on this stage who is a convicted felon is this man I’m looking at right now.”

 

Angry and glowering, Biden insisted: “My son was not a loser, was not a sucker. You’re the sucker, you’re the loser.”

 

And again: “How many billions of dollars do you owe in civil penalties for molesting a woman in public, for doing a whole range of things, of having sex with a porn star on the night – and while your wife was pregnant? I mean, what are you talking about? You have the morals of an alley cat.”

 

Trump shot back: “I didn’t have sex with a porn star, number one.” An immortal line, never before uttered in a presidential debate. Carve it in marble!

 

Biden and Trump debated which of them is the worst president in history. And which is the better golfer. Trump boasted: “I just won two club championships, not even senior, two regular club championships. To do that, you have to be quite smart and you have to be able to hit the ball a long way. And I do it. He doesn’t do it. He can’t hit a ball 50 yards. He challenged me to a golf match. He can’t hit a ball 50 years.”

 

Biden retorted: “Look, I’d be happy to have a driving contest with him. I got my handicap, which, when I was vice-president, down to a six. And by the way, I told you before I’m happy to play golf if you carry your own bag. Think you can do it?”

 

Trump: “That’s the biggest lie that he’s a six handicap, of all.”

 

Biden: “I was eight handicap.”

 

Trump: “Yeah.”

 

Biden: “Eight, but I have – you know how many ... ”

 

Trump: “I’ve seen your swing, I know your swing.””

 

As Bash tried to interject, Trump said: “Let’s not act like children.” Biden shot back: “You are a child.”

 

Tellingly, once the horror show was over, it was Trump’s surrogates who flooded the “spin zone” at the media centre. Standing on a bright red carpet on what is normally a basketball court, former housing secretary Ben Carson said of Biden: “I really felt sorry for him. He struggled to come up with answers. He was trying to remember the things that they’d told him.”

 

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said: “I think President Trump was strong and coherent and I think President Biden was weak and confused most most of the time. What started out as a policy debate is turned into a capability debate ... It’s pretty hard to believe that President Biden can continue in this job.”

 

After a while, Biden’s surrogates emerged, including California governor Gavin Newsom and his beaming smile. It is still highly, highly unlikely he will be the Democratic nominee in November. But a little less unlikely than it used to be.

 

                                                        *****

 

Thank you, Mr. Smith, and for the record, as I see it we’re in for a long hot summer before the Fall.

 

––Jeff

Oh The Madness Of It All!! Euros 2024

 There has been some football on.  Scotland made it through to the finals of the Euros in Germany. Their first game was against Germany. The pilot of the plane who  flew the team to Hamburg was told to keep the engine of the plane ticking over as the team would be flying home very soon.

                                                 

We were in Gran Canaria. On the Friday of that opening game, we were sitting at dinner and I asked the waiter for two white wines. The waiter rolled the words white wine around for a while and asked 'Scottish?' We said yes.  'You play Germany tonight?'  We said yes, and he shook his head, patted Alan on the back, wished us luck and left us the bottle.

(2) Facebook

If you can follow this link, you can see what the good people of Germany woke up to as The Tartan Army arrived. Rumours are over 150 000 travelled. We seemed to be in Glasgow airport with about 50 000 of them on the Thursday - security were having a great time battling sporrans through the scanning machines. The link is 30 seconds, put the sound up!

Meanwhile.... there was a competition between the Tartan Army and the Dutch fans as to who could sing the best. This is the Dutch effort. It'll give you an earworm all day. Watch the bottom right of the screen when the view changes from the 'front' to the 'back'.... what's happening with that huge gonk?? It'll make you smile!

Netherlands fans dance in the streets of Hamburg ahead of first Euro 2024 match (youtube.com)

 

Then this wee clip.... not that we take the game seriously or anything....  

SPINE TINGLING National Anthems - Germany vs Scotland - UEFA Euro 2024 Opening Match - YouTube

Anyway, as usual Scotland were useless.  They were disallowed a penalty playing against Switzerland, then the Swiss scored in the 100th minute and we were on our way home but with the moral victory, seemingly.

England scraped through, playing very defensively and having this effects on their fans.

 And  there was the usual facebook banter.

This was our threat to the Swiss.

The Swiss response was this...

Somebody thought we might need this to  know where the ball was supposed to go.

And the England fans....

Oh yes indeedy, the Germans put 5 past us.

And it could have been more...

 Two interesting things to note - the spine tingling song is not our national anthem. It's the fan favourite. The favourite  for the anthem is Scotland The Brave which is what pipers are playing in the first clip.   And Flower Of Scotland, which the fans are singing here is very anti English, so is in effect hate speech, and therefore we expect all 150 000 to be arrested on their return.  Smiley face.

Anyway , I knew about 15 people who went. 12 of them came back testing positive for Covid.

Sorry for the wee adverts, but I'm not good at this tech stuff!

Caro

UNDER PRESSURE

 

Wendall -- every other Thursday

 

I’m currently in the process of updating my screenwriting lecture, “Creating Great Relationships on Film.” It looks back on historic cinema relationships we still talk about and discusses what makes them so distinctive and memorable.

 

 

Through my research, I’ve developed an “equation” of five elements that I feel most of these relationships share, from Sunset Boulevard to Dallas Buyers Club.

 

 

This led me to think about great pairings in crime fiction and whether the same elements apply. I believe they do, especially because one of them is usually automatically built in.

 

In my opinion, one of the crucial building blocks of a great cinema relationship is OUTSIDE PRESSURE—something that is bearing down on and complicating the relationship, possibly even making it untenable in the long term. 

 

 

As Rick says in Casablanca, “I’m not good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.”  When the stakes outside the relationship are high, the pressures inside it increase as well, forcing deeper bonds and layers of character. Without pressure, there’s no transformation. 

 

Part of the reason that we remember Rick and Ilsa, Yuri and Laura in Dr. Zhivago, Rose and Allnut in The African Queen, Sally and Luke in Coming Home and the four lovers in The English Patient is because all of these relationships happen during war or revolution. 

 

 

This dynamic forges the relationship between T.E. Lawrence and Sharif Ali in Lawrence of Arabia, while the Bertie/Lionel partnership in The King’s Speech is pressurized first by the Duke of York’s public humiliation, but the outside pressure increases as he becomes King and then King during wartime. War introduces not only danger and unpredictability into a relationship, it requires sacrifice.

 

 

Of course every film can’t be a war movie.

 

Norma Rae and Reuben are fighting together against a wall of prejudice, corporate greed, and social mores as they try to start a union in Norma Rae.  Erin and Ed are up against corporate monster of PG&E in Erin Brockovich. 

 

 

 

Bonnie and Clyde are being pursued by top lawmen who want them dead, as are Butch and Sundance. Ron and Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club have the outside pressure of AIDS. 

 

 

Joan Wilder’s and Jack Colton’s relationship in Romancing the Stone is created by and has to survive the very real threat against her sister, and all the forces who want the jewel. In Up In The Air, George and Anna’s relationship is forged under the pressure of corporate cutbacks, and even Seth and Evan in Superbad are challenged by the weight of their shared virginity and their impending graduation.

 

Will they get home by Thanksgiving????

 

But the built-in plot and relationship pressure we, as crime writers, share with many great films, is murder, or the threat of murder.

 

Philip Marlowe and Vivian Sternwood’s relationship is forged by blackmail and murder in The Big Sleep, Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter’s relationship is tested and threatened by the presence of an active serial killer, as is the relationship between the older and younger detectives in Seven. There’s a reason so many memorable films and television shows have been based on crime novels.

 

 

I feel that this outside force, which creates not only higher stakes, but danger and conflict for private detectives, law enforcement officers, and amateur sleuths, is a large part of why we go back and again and again to Nick and Nora Charles, Holmes and Watson, Nero and Archie, Kinsey and Henry, V.I. and Mr. Contreras, Joe Pike and Elvis Cole, Rizzoli and Isles, Poirot and Hastings, Ruth and Nelson, and so many other great fictional pairings.

 

 

So I’m grateful that, as a mystery writer, I have at least one “built-in” part of the great relationship equation -- a killer. I’m still thinking about how many of the other four apply.

 

If you’d like to know the other four elements of a great film relationship, watch this space for my Zoom lecture, coming in the fall.

--Wendall 

Behind the Scenes: How I Created THE WHITEWASHED TOMBS

 Wed--Kwei

The Seed of an Idea for THE WHITEWASHED TOMBS

In the third novel of the Emma Djan series, LAST SEEN IN LAPAZ, I hinted that Jojo, Emma's favorite coworker, was gay. My Soho Crime editor, Rachel Kowal, suggested exploring this thread in the next book. Around the same time, Ghana's parliament was debating an anti-LGBTQ bill, with MP Sam Nartey George vociferously campaigning against LGBTQ Ghanaians. This political climate heavily influenced the narrative I was about to create.

Nancy Pelosi speaks to Ghana’s House of Parliament, 2019 (Image: Wikipedia)

Reality-Shaping Fiction

The political tension in Ghana provided a poignant backdrop for THE WHITEWASHED TOMBS. In the story, Emma's boss at Sowah Detective Agency investigates the murder of queer activist Marcelo Tetteh. Characters like Peter Ansah were inspired by real-life figures such as Sam George. This real-life context helped shape the narrative about hate crimes in Accra.

Sam Nartey George, Member of Parliament and spearheader of Ghana's anti-LGBTQ bill
(Image: Wikipedia)

History of the Anti-LGBTQ Bill

The controversial Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, introduced in 2021, aims to severely restrict LGBTQ+ rights, just as Uganda has chosen to do. Supported by various religious and traditional groups, it includes harsh penalties for LGBTQ+ individuals and their advocates.

Modifications & Sponsoring Parliamentarians

The bill has undergone several readings and amendments in Parliament. It criminalizes the promotion and funding of LGBTQ+ rights. MP Sam George has been a vocal supporter, framing the bill as a defense of traditional Ghanaian values.

Passage of the Bill

In February 2024, Parliament passed the bill unanimously after rigorous debate. It imposes stiff penalties on LGBTQ+ individuals and their supporters, extending its reach to public advocacy and private support.

Legal Challenges in the Supreme Court

Following its passage, the bill faced legal challenges in the Supreme Court, with significant opposition from human rights groups. These proceedings are crucial in testing the bill against Ghana's constitutional protections for individual rights.

The Supreme Court of Ghana, located in Accra (Image: Guido Sohne)

President Nana Akufo-Addo's Stance

President Nana Akufo-Addo has not yet signed the bill into law, citing ongoing legal challenges. This has created tension between the legislative and executive branches and could impact Ghana's international relations and economic situation.

Broader Implications

Ghana, known for its stable democracy and economic progress, faces a significant departure from these ideals with this bill. The move aligns with increasing anti-LGBTQ sentiment in many African nations. As of 2024, 31 African countries still have laws that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual activity.

A Step Back for Human Rights

The bill is a regression in human rights and individual freedoms, contradicting global movements towards inclusivity. It tarnishes Ghana's image as a progressive society and impacts the lives of LGBTQ individuals.

Socio-Economic Repercussions

Punitive measures against the LGBTQ community could affect international relations and economic support. Balancing cultural values with human rights principles poses a complex challenge.

Conclusion

The struggle for LGBTQ rights in Ghana highlights the need for vigilant advocacy to uphold the dignity and rights of all individuals. Through THE WHITEWASHED TOMBS, I aimed to reflect these critical issues, using fiction to mirror the harsh reality.

The Imagery of Doublethink

 John Copenhaver, Guest Author

The adventurous young women joyriding across the magazine cover remind me of Philippa and Judy, the sleuths in John Copenhaver's latest historical mystery, HALL OF MIRRORS. 

I recommend John Copenhaver's books highly, especially for people interested in 20th-century American social history and  fashion and architecture. John is both a co-founder of Queer Crime Writers and an at-large board member of Mystery Writers of America. His two previous mystery novels have won the Macavity, Lefty and Lambda Literary awards. The reviews for HALL OF MIRRORS are superlative. The Los Angeles Times mystery critic called the book a 'stunner,' and the New York Times cited the author's breathtaking skill."

I was fortunate to read an early copy of HALL OF MIRRORS, and also to see John speak at the Ivy Bookshop in Baltimore during his recent book tour. I invited him to share his thoughts about how the aesthetics, buildings and history of Washington DC shaped his brilliant book. Given the depth of his visual descriptions, I can easily imagine the book as a gorgeous suspense film.--Sujata Massey

My new historical mystery, Hall of Mirrors, is set in post-WWII Washington, DC. It’s the second book in a trilogy that began with The Savage Kind, set in 1948. Midcentury America was a period rife with contradictions, a time of relief after the Second World War but paranoia that communism would infiltrate and corrupt the “American way of life,” a time of technological progress, such as television and space travel, but conservative regress, limiting the roles of women in the home and the workplace and oppressing Blacks and LGBTQ+ people (from the racist G.I. Bill to the Lavender Scare) and a time of economic prosperity and future-thinking cast in the shadow of the threat of nuclear extinction.

 

On the surface, everything was high-gloss, buffed chrome, shades of bright pastels, and clean, wholesome looks, but underneath that veneer, the streets, schools, workplaces, and domestic spaces hummed with fear and dread. This fear has a very real impact on my characters, especially the gay couple at the heart of the story, one of whom dies in an apartment fire, purportedly by his own hand. He was booted from the State Department for being gay, which, according to officials, made him a security risk because he could be easily blackmailed by Soviet agents. 

 

To recreate this world of casual denial and high anxiety, I chose to contrast the beautiful and the horrible. My opening paragraph of Hall of Mirrors begins with mingling the “dusk sky” and “cherry blossoms hanging in the breeze” with “smoke” and 2101 Connecticut Avenue’s “demonic grotesques .. looming in vain, having failed to ward off evil spirits.” Along with 2101 Connecticut—which is one of DC’s more notable apartment buildings from the 1920s—I “scouted” various locations to set scenes that would offer these contrasts, from an empty ballroom at the Mayflower Hotel to the blood-red interior of The Colony Restaurant, which echoes the interior of Ernie’s Restaurant from Vertigo, to the Tidal Basin at peek cherry blossom bloom moments before a storm to the gorgeous farmland of Virginia, which may hold a grim secret. 

 

While I gave The Savage Kind a muted shadowy palette—fall leaves, rain, snowfall—I wanted Hall of Mirrors to be suffused with hyperreal colors like a Douglas Sirk melodrama or Vertigo’s vibrant technicolor. The bright décor, clothing, and setting are meant to contrast with the confusion, fear, and violence the characters experience to remind us that this was an age of denial, or at the very least, a kind of doublethink: how can the future be buffed to a shine, but fatalism and mass devastation be so prevalent in people’s minds?

 

During my research, I came across the cover of the April 5, 1954, Newsweek, and it captures this doublethink mindset so perfectly that I referenced it in my novel. On the cover, two women ride in a convertible, smiling and carefree, with their hair in bright scarves and suitcases tossed in the backseat. The photo's caption reads, “Spring-Summer Travel: Biggest Ever.” Then, a bright yellow banner across the cover says, “The Bomb: What Odds for Survival Now?” What an absurd contradiction: What will it be … vacation or annihilation?

 

As Hall of Mirrors develops, the bright surfaces burn away, and the rot underneath emerges, demanding acknowledgment and frank consideration. I believe we’re living through a similar time now. We have a strong economy, but the disparity between the haves and the have-nots has only been this great since the Fin de siècle, the age of the robber barons. The shiny veneer of contemporary life, especially the glitchy glow of social media and the 24-hour news cycle, is slowly crumbling; like the characters in Hall of Mirrors, we’re beginning to confront darker truths underneath.