Jean Godden

Pence lost the audience, resorting to slow droning responses and adopting a tight-lipped demeanor and pained frown. He was like the juror you wouldn't select for your jury.

Cohen writes that, if you want to understand how Donald J. Trump became president, "you have to know the biggest influence by far was the media. Donald Trump's presidency is a product of the free press. The free press gave America Trump -- that's who elected Trump and might well elect him again."

It's certain he lost support with women, especially in the suburbs. One of the follow-up commentaries was that it was like driving down the freeway with an 8-year-old having a tantrum in the backseat.

Justice Ginsburg never failed to credit her mother, saying, "She made reading a delight and counseled me constantly to be independent and fend for myself." Ruth often repeated her mother's advice that getting angry was a waste of your own time. When her mom was bedridden, soon to die of ovarian cancer, "Kiki" (Ruth's childhood nickname) did her homework on her mom's bed.

Jared Kushner said the key to understanding Trump is the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland who famously said, "If you don't know where you're going, any path will take you there." Kushner describes his father-in-law variously as "crazy, unpredictable, stubborn and manipulative."

While it is true that use of unnamed sources can be problematic, there sometimes is a need to resort to them when that is the only way to unlock a big story. However, it should be done with care.

The reform was supposed to reduce the cost of campaigns. Fat chance. In the 2015 elections, total spending on the seven seats was $785,000. By 2019, expenditures ballooned to $4.2 million. The big difference was partly due to public funds, but mostly due to independent expenditures that were not capped in any way. Political action committees could spend heavily -- and spend they did.

But if 2018 was the Year of the Woman, there are signs that 2020 could be an even bigger year for women and for diversity. Some 243 women -- 169 Democrats and 74 Republicans -- have won primaries and are competing for congressional seats this fall.

As a newsie myself, I appreciated her early struggles at the Times where she worked in a male-dominated atmosphere and answered to at least one unsympathetic editor.

The history of Frangos may explain our odd taste in ice cream. Speaking of history, did Lewis and Clark, er, borrow some lines?