Jennifer Finney Boylan

Opinion | Contributing Op-Ed Writer
It’s Not a Disaster Movie. It’s Reality.

Jennifer Finney Boylan FEB. 27, 2018

In the 1980 disaster spoof “Airplane!,” there’s a great running gag by Lloyd Bridges, who plays a control-tower supervisor. As trouble rears its head, he mutters, “Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking” (and lights up a cigarette). Later, when the situation has grown even more dire (and absurd), he laments, “Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines” (and swallows a handful of pills with a glass of milk). Finally, at the climax, he declares, “Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffin’ glue!” and — well, you get the idea.
I know that the current administration isn’t that of Robert F. Kennedy, of course. But somehow I also keep hoping that things have gotten as bad as they’re going to get. Surely, I think, Republicans have done as much damage as they can possibly do to families like mine.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to look for justice.

Jennifer Finney Boylan (@JennyBoylan), a contributing opinion writer, is a professor of English at Barnard College of Columbia University and the author of the novel “Long Black Veil.”

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTopinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter.