Cassidy Hutchinson, “Enough”

POSTNOTE 3 – October. 6, 2023:  I completed the book, Enough, by Cassidy Hutchinson, Wednesday, Oct. 4.  It has become one of the unusual books that I read from cover to cover.  There are many reviews, and it is not my intention to review the book, other than saying I found reading this 26 year old’s memoir to be a learning experience.

Much happened between the day I purchased the book (Sep 29) and October 5.  Attorney General Merrick Garland was subject of a powerful segment on CBS 60 Minutes; a U.S. Government shutdown was temporarily averted on Saturday; on October 3, House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, was voted out his position – the first such action in House history, and nobody knows the consequences of that.  The office is vacant, and its occupant is third in line of succession to the Presidency….

Overnight came a troubling report from yesterday, including a Liz Cheney talk at the University of Minnesota yesterday.

Ordinary citizen Donald Trump was given a gag order relating to conduct at his court hearing in New York City, and shows little sign of learning his lesson, and on and on….

It is all paralyzing, but this is no time for anyone who cares about the future of this country to be paralyzed.  The solution is with each of us, one action at a time.

*

There was a great deal of foot for thought for me in Enough.  Some morsels:  Hutchinson more than once called herself a Moderate Republican; I’ve always called myself a Moderate Democrat.  What is the difference?  She admired what she knew about Ronald Reagan, whose Presidency ended seven years before she was born.  In probably her second chance to vote for President, she supported Mitt Romney.  Of course, she was loyal to “the Boss” as one would expect of a staff employee.

I never had the rarified experience she did, but I worked hard for Reagan’s opponent, incumbent Jimmy Carter, who I’ve always admired.  My vote was for Barack Obama, twice.  On and on.  We both called ourself, political “moderates” though certainly not “twins”.

These and many other vignettes in the book, with the overlay of the near three years since Jan 6 2021,  cause me to think of myself and other ordinary “American people”.

Individually and as a collective group we are much like what we experience at an ordinary family reunion.  Politics and government are akin to a gigantic buffet, smorgasbord, potluck (take your pick of the word) which I’d guess every reader has experienced, perhaps often.  There are choices to be made, and one’s plate is only so large…as is one’s stomach.  Despite the wailing we so often indulge in, we are an extremely rich country, and there is usually much more available to us than can be consumed.  (I’ll be at such an event on Saturday.  My guess is there will be lots of “leftovers”.)

Most of us are content to pick our few favorites in the line, eat moderately, visit pleasantly, and go home.  We are almost all in this category.  I would guess there might always be someone  obsessed with only one item (call it an “issue”), and won’t eat anything else.  Perhaps that might be the ideologue.

The winner at the potluck is generally all of us, who get some balance and pleasure out of the event.  Were the event to be controlled by the ideologue, there would be less participation.

Maybe our country is a little bit like that potluck table.  Maybe we’re only temporarily out of whack.  Unfortunately, we’re the only ones who can fix this, by who we choose to elect to all our leaders, carefully and well informed.

I do highly recommend Enough.  You won’t regret the read.

*

POSTNOTE 1 – OCT 1, 2023:  Here is Heather Cox Richardson on the House and Senate votes to resolve the threatened government shutdown yesterday.

Simon and Schuster, 2023, 362 pages

Sept. 30, 2023, 2:25 p.m.: Today, I took time to dive into Cassidy Hutchinson’s new book, “Enough“.  As of this writing, I’ve finished about half of the book, up to the chapter entitled “Election”.  My impressions below:

(Unrelated to this topic, but if you wish, check also the recent posts for Sep 24 (commentaries on Putin and Afghanistan 2003), 26 (my community school election) and 29 (Haiti revisited).

On Sept. 28, 2023, came an e-mail from long-time friend Larry Gauper.

Monday night I watched Cassidy on Rachel Maddow;

Tuesday, I got her book – hard copy.  Missed Laurence since it’s past my bedtime.

Today I just finished watching her on Nicole Wallace’s program on MSNBC.

So, that’s where I’m at on this!

Yesterday, while purchasing [her book] “Enough”,  I also asked for and purchased “Cheerfulness” by Garrison Keillor.

So, I guess we’re on the same page.

6:45 p.m. Sep 29: I watched the YouTube reference, and it includes Alexander Butterfield (from Watergate era) speaking directly to Cassidy.  It is very powerful.

Cassidy is today only 26 years old, and in Jan, 2021 had just turned 24.

I remembered my life when I was 25 – that was in 1965.  By then, I, too, had experienced a great deal I’d never expected.  Youth is not a disqualified.  We have a great deal to learn from this young person, as we did from our own live.

Sept. 30, 2023, 2:35 p.m.;  I started reading the book.  I frequently buy such books mostly to support the authors effort.  Enough is well worth the investment.

“Enough” is personally, and well, written.  As she acknowledges at the beginning “names and some identifying characteristics of some individuals have been changed”, so don’t look for a who’s who.  The book is a personal story.

Cassidy’s place in history is assured, by the January 6, 2021, Insurrection hearings.  She was an employee of the executive branch of our government when the events of 2020-21  occurred.

She was 23 years old when most of the events occurred; in a couple of months she’ll be 27.

What I’ve read so far – from her birth to the 2020 election – has been interesting and informative.  I anticipate that this will continue in the ‘meat’ of the story as I continue reading.

I think I can safely say that anyone who reads this post has experienced life to age 27.  For myself, 27 was 56 years ago.  Those who know my family history, know that some of those years were challenging.  But I would suggest that everyone who has passed the threshold out of childhood can relate many similar stories as told by Cassidy, though all will be different.

Cassidy certainly had the ability and initiative to achieve.  I would suspect she has a bright future ahead of her, though her testimony and her book will certainly not be roundly applauded by those who were past and future patrons.

In the book, she declared herself as a “moderate Republican” – a Mitt Romney supporter.

I’ve always called myself a “moderate Democrat” and I have never heard an adequate explanation of what is the difference between the two terms.  But that’s a topic for another time.  I urge you to actually read Enough and use it as a springboard for thought and discussion.

I will add more comments here after I complete the book, likely in the next few days.  The old picture of the White House in 1904 (below) comes from a large collection of postcards saved vey my grandparents in the early 1900s when they settled in North Dakota.

 

Postcard of White House, 1904, from the Busch farm collection, Berlin ND

Here’s the vote:

Minneapolis Star Tribune Sunday Oct 1, 2023

There will be endless analysis and postmortems of what this all means.  All that matters to this individual voter is how my Congressperson, and my U.S. Senators voted, and why.

There are remaining issues, unresolved yesterday.  Learn about them, too.

We, the people, are the electors of the government, and our Congressperson is the one closest to our own area.  Take the time to learn….

COMMENTS (more below)