A Fly Creates Buzz before American Elections

The American election continued to dominate the news in North America, and, for that matter, across much of the world. In the wake of the drama around President Trump’s positive COVID test and during ongoing maneuvering around the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, it was the vice-presidential debate that took centre stage last week. 

  Traditionally the American vice-presidential debate is a relatively quiet affair, and few political scientists think that the race is ever decided on the strength of the running mates, let alone the outcome of the vice-presidential debate. However, this year, with both presidential candidates well into their 70s, during a pandemic, and with one of the candidates being treated for a virus that has killed well over two hundred thousand people in the U.S. alone, interest may have been unusually high. At least one of the two candidates may well ascendAscend (verb): to rise, to climb. In certain contexts it can refer to climbing a mountain; in other contexts, the rise can be a social hierarchical rise. to the American throne; due to the odd timing of Trump’s diagnosis, it didn’t seem utterly farfetchedFarfetched (adjective): Farfetched is something that is improbable. Sometimes a novel or a film’s plot can be described as ‘farfetched,’ so too can the odds on, say, a particular horse winning a horse race. that both might serve as President within the space of the next few months. 

  The debate was, according to a lot of critics, a bit boring. Some viewers pointed out that both Kamala Harris and Mike Pence avoided questions much of the night, simply reframing or even ignoring questions in order to take jabsJab(s) (noun): In the sport of boxing, a jab refers to a rapid blow wherein the arm is only partially withdrawn before landing the blow in order to increase the speed with which the blow is delivered. No one jab is devastating to its recipient (as a knock-out punch or a roundhouse punch might be). But repeated jabs well wear down an opponent and potentially cause injury to vulnerable areas through the sheer volume of attack. at each other’s running mateRunning mate (noun): In the American political context, the presidential candidate and the vice-presidential candidate are on the same ticket and are thus running mates. The word can be used to refer to either the ‘top’ (presidential candidate) or the ‘bottom’ (vice-presidential candidate) of the ticket. . Pence’s main goal seemed to keep the spotlight off of his boss’s handling of the pandemic. More than a few viewers felt that Pence’s condescending tone and refusal to address questions while demanding Harris answer his personal questions qualified as mansplainingMansplaining (noun): A relatively recent addition to the English lexicon, mansplaining refers to activities where a man explains things to a woman that he wrongly assumes she doesn’t know due to patriarchal attitudes and assumptions about a woman’s knowledge, education, and background. . Debate moderator Susan Page was both praised and mocked for her handling of the debate; for her own part, she thought it went well.
The real surprise star of the show was, surprisingly, an insect: during the nationally televised broadcast, a fly landed on Mike Pence’s head and stayed there for over two minutes. Social media erupted; memes abounded; speculation about fly’s biography made it into national magazines. 

  The Longform Read of the Week: Like many Americans, I’ve long found Dolly Parton fascinating. The New Yorker article I’ve linked to here presents her as the link that’s gone missing in an increasingly polarized America. The article reviews Parton’s career from a feminist standpoint and also doubles as a review of Sarah Smarsh’s (another journalist whose work I am particularly fond of) new book She Come By it Natural which uses Parton and Parton’s legend to examine American working-class femininity. The article reminds us that America, for all of its current problems, has had its better angels by reviewing one whose appeal still manages to include a broad range of American demographics. 

by Nathan R. Elliott

1. “The Vice Presidential Debate Was Boring. Good. We Need More of That.” Washington Post. Oct 7, 2020. 6 mins. Intermediate/Advanced. 
2. “Vice Presidents Clash Over Coronavirus Response and Healthcare.” The Guardian. Oct 8, 2020. 3 mins. Intermediate. 
3. “Virus Takes Center Stage as Pence and Harris Skirmish in Debate.” The New York Times, Oct 7, 2020. 8 mins. Intermediate/Advanced. 
4. “Critic’s Notebook: Kamala Harris Rises Above Mansplaining Mike Pence in Vice Presidential Debate.” Hollywood Reporter. Oct 8, 2020. 4 mins. Advanced. 
5. “Susan Page Responds to Debate Critics: ‘The Refusal to Answer a Question, I thought, Could be Telling.” The Washington Post. Oct 8, 2020. 4 mins. Intermediate.  
6. “A Fly Sat Atop Mike Pence’s Head for Two Minutes During the V.P. Debate.” The New York Times. Oct 7, 2020. 3 mins. Intermediate. 
7. “Daily Cartoon: Thursday, October 8th.” The New Yorker. Oct 8, 2020. 10 seconds. Beginner/Intermediate. 
8. “The United States of Dolly Parton.”The New Yorker. Oct 12, 2020. 16 mins. Advanced.