I was educated in public schools.

I attended an Ivy school, with a student body of mostly private school grads. They all seemed smarter than me for the first few weeks and they worked hard at seeming so. Then I realized that they couldn't creatively compete. I think of private schools as swaddling and I think people become creative when they aren't blanketed. So, I attribute my creativiy, in part, to those hallways with ugly lighting.

As regards Loh's Costco comparison, she's right. There are public school teachers who are breathtaking. I know. I taught beside some. Perhaps similar such teachers exist in private schools, but public school teachers are privy to secrets. They also aren't swaddled. Many feed their students. Clothe them. Buy their scarves and tie those scarves so that those children can play at recess. Such things tender compassion and comprehension. Sure, private school teachers can learn these lessons, but theirs is a program for slow learners.

I also visit a few Christian schools.

Guess where kids are more alert? Better behaved? More engaged?

Not the latter.

My point is that there are many, many wonderful public schools.

I'm surprised that Ms. Reiter didn't query Ms. Loh about the Right's animosity for public schools. If the Right had their way, they'd burn down public education, along with Social Security and Medicare. That the Right hates public education is reason enough to "save" it, since the Right is wrong about nearly everything.

...Chloe, her daughter, well. In a story, there are attractive and unattractive characters. Ms. Ryan has told a story. Chloe the Petulant is not an attractive character.

Additionally, Ms. Ryan might have an agenda regarding her ex. Lots of readers have posted negative comments about her ex. Ms. Ryan might be enjoying such comments.

Lastly, writers need experiences. Norman Mailer fretted that the war would end before he would reach it to write about it. I suspect that a piece of Ms. Ryan was happy to reach that soup kitchen. Her memory of many details suggests that she was alert in the way that writers are when they're working.

Great post. I especially like your observation that liberal arts degrees were made with already wealthy students in mind.

I visited an editor's office. They all look the same with piles of unopened submissions.

"Do you read these?" I asked.

"At least the first sentence of the cover letter," she said.

"And what makes you read the second sentence?"

"If they got to the point in the first."

So, get to the point. Don't tell editors where you studied writing or what degrees you earned. They don't care. Can you condense your story to a sentence or two? Do so. Editors are busy. Honor that. Even when I query magazine editors nowadays, I only use a sentence or two. If they want more, they'll ask for more...and they often do. And as a writer who's sold many stories, prepare for the beating. No matter what you write, someone won't just hate it: they'll hate you.

That's a promising premise.

...to be a doc who can't refuse service?

Fine, don't go to college. Open a bar.

Hang a sign that says, "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone."

Then, if a lesbian enters your bar, you can say, "Can' you read?"

If a doc refuses treatment, voluntary or not, because the sky fairy allegedly told him to do so, don't you think he's psychologically and socially harming that patient?

People who hear all other voices are mentally ill, but people who hear God's "voice" are religious.

If you believe in the Christian God, then you likely believe in God's plan.

So, if you contract cancer, God put that cancer there.

Why contest the cancer, thereby contesting God?

And most of all, why delay cuddling with Jesus? Cancer is the express elevator to cuddling.

They delay the cuddling because in their dark heart, they doubt. They doubt that God has a plan. They doubt that Jesus is waiting with some cuddling. They doubt that there is a God.

I see a Lutheran or Catholic hospital and I huff, "Nonbelievers!"

Now, I know what the alleged believers who are docs would asset, that God guides their hands. Because they're God's extra special helpers. The arrogance in such an assertion makes me ill. It reminds me of the pharoahs who asserted that everything they did, they did because their God du jour told them to do so.

Condensed kufir77: "Yer a boy!"

Ms. Maddow is a genius. An elite thinker. That's right: an elite thinker. And we need more ELITE thinkers.

I hope you live a rural area. You could make a killing on manufacturing strawmen this coming fall!

You're right. Capt. Kirk will have to find other work.

@ kufir77: I hit a nerve, eh? Well, you're confusing stomping and questioning. Since Christianists won't unpack their alleged belief and won't assay, much less descry, the gulf between their assertions and their actions, I perform this service. That'll be $300.

There is no Right Wing Jon Stewart. Hell, there's no Right Wing Michaelangelo. The Right is about guarding the status quo. Comedy and art are about pushing the status quo. Thus, those Righties who attempt comedy revert to playground insults. They don't have the wherewithal to configure something fresh and sophisticated.

I'm surprised some Rightie hasn't asserted, "Rachel has girl cooties!"