They’re out in full force in the news this morning. Who? The guys who give testosterone a bad name. The Turkish President threatening and bullying his way to a change of the country’s constitution, for instance. Who needs a Prime Minister when the President can hold full powers and have Parliament rubber stamp his decrees? Opposition? Off to jail they go.

Not to mention the ineffable Mr. Bannon in the USA. You know: as in fear-mongering your way to the power seat near the President-Elect’s ear.  Fear is a good thing, according to Mr. Bannon and Mr. Trump.  A good thing indeed for the power-crazed, especially when they whip it up to a frenzy. Fear is a useful survival tool. Panic is the exact opposite. The power-crazed know this full well.

OK. At more mundane levels over here: my GP retired in December. I have to go shopping for a new doctor. This involves auditioning for one this morning on his no-appointment-required Monday – anywhere between and hour to three hours down time. I’ll get to observe other people’s stances, facial expressions, body language, sniffles and moans.Not exactly a thrilling prospect but wherever humans congregate, you learn something.

Will I bring along one of Asli Erdogan’s books featured in the illustration? Yes. Will I go on translating her words, whether I can put the translations on line or not? Yes.

Is that it for this morning’s post?

Yes. Well, almost. Because thinking of Steve Bannon first thing in the morning requires an antidote. The antidote is right here in Orhan Pamuk’s The Black Book when the narrator meets up with  old newspaper columnists who give him a sixty-four point list of do’s and dont’s. I’ll stick to items 3, 23 and 24:

3. Never write to the reader’s level, but to your own.

23. By all means be polemical, but only if your editor takes your side.

24. By all means be polemical, but make sure to take your coat.*

Since polemics and editors are the least of my immediate concerns,  I’ll settle for a real-life coat before heading off to an overheated waiting room.

***

*Orhan Pamuk, The Black Book, Vintage International, A Division of Random House 2006