A Review Series of Anonymous Tip, by Michael Farris<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Pp. 463-465<\/em><\/p>\n We\u2019re at the Heart of America banquet and\u00a0it\u2019s time for Peter\u2019s\u00a0speech. Peter has been instructed (by Humphrey, of course) to talk up the role Heart of America\u2019s donations played in making his case possible. After introducing Peter, Humphrey gives him a check for $7500\u2014to much applause. Peter explains the basics of the Supreme Court case in about ten minutes, and then thanks the donors present at the banquet.\u00a0\u201cThanks to your generosity, Heart of America has raised over $600,000 to support this case,\u201d Peter began.<\/p>\n \u201cWith this generous check I received tonight,\u201d Peter continued, \u201cnearly $30,000 of the amount raised has been received by my office to pay for the expenses of this case. I am sure that Mr. Humphrey will tell all of you all the wonderful things he has been able to accomplish for Heart of America with the balance of the money.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Humphrey is, of course, freaking out. After starting another song, he confronts Peter.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you doing? You ingrate! You don\u2019t know what you are talking about!\u201d he whispered with forcible anger.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all in this package I got from your girl, Cindy Walters. She sent it to me here at the hotel.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat little bleached-blond bimbo!\u201d Humphrey exclaimed. \u201cWhat am I going to say now?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTry the truth,\u201d Peter said. \u201cBut suit yourself. Gwen and I are leaving.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Oh my god so much sexism. First Peter, referring to Cindy as Humphrey\u2019s \u201cgirl.\u201d Then Humphrey, calling Cindy a \u201cbleached-blond bimbo.\u201d It\u2019s interesting to note the different kinds of sexism at play here. Farris would probably admit that Humphrey is sexist (or maybe he\u2019d just say he \u201ctakes advantage of\u201d women or \u201cdoesn\u2019t respect women\u201d in their God-given role or something to that effect). But think of all the remarks Peter has made about Gwen. Even his comment that with her looks,t hey should win the Supreme Court 9-0 was uncomfortable.<\/p>\n Sexism doens\u2019t have to be overt, in-your-face, and obvious for it to have an effect.\u00a0Peter may not be going around calling women \u201cbleached-blond bimbos\u201d\u2014though he came close when he was angry with Gwen earlier in the book\u2014but his use of the term \u201cgirl\u201d to refer to Humphrey\u2019s secretary makes it crystal clear that he\u2019s sexist nonetheless. I am suddenly curious whether Farris would ever hire a female lawyer to his practice. He has Sally, his secretary\/office manager. Gender has always seemed to affect the way he looks at Gail. Actually, I have a way to check this, of sorts.<\/p>\n Of the twelve listed on HSLDA\u2019s attorneys page, only\u00a0one is a woman<\/a>\u2014and she became a lawyer after spending twenty years homeschooling her children, which probably puts her on Farris\u2019s \u201csafe woman\u201d list,\u00a0much like the female psychologist earlier in this book, who had raised her children before going back to school, thus earning Farris\u2019 (and Peter\u2019s) fervent praise.\u00a0Further,\u00a0this\u00a0female lawyer\u2014the only one listed on\u00a0HSLDA\u2019s attorneys page\u2014is listed as \u201cof counsel<\/a>\u201d rather than as a staff attorney like the others. Peter is Farris\u2019s stand-in in this book, and HSLDA is Farris\u2019s practice.<\/p>\n Anyway, Peter and Gwen head out, but not before the McElliot (whom Farris constantly calls \u201cthe Congressman\u201d) whispered to Peter:<\/p>\n \u201cThe board will look into this at our next meeting in June. I\u2019ve wondered about this Humphrey. Can you leave me your package?\u201d<\/p>\n Peter nodded and handed it over.<\/p>\n \u201cThanks for doing this,\u201d McElliot whispered. \u201cIt\u2019s a little embarrassing, but well-done.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Okay, but here\u2019s the thing\u2014that\u2019s the end of it, for Peter. Peter never reports the organization\u2019s fraudulent fundraising practices to anyone. He never publicly exposes them, beyond this banquet. And when he\u2019s leaving, Humphrey is talking about all the important work they\u2019re going to do with the rest of the money\u2014he might just be slimy enough to slide out from under this. After all, Peter never told the crowd fraud had taken place. He wasn\u2019t upset he wasn\u2019t paid more (although he should have been). He even suggests that Humphrey will be doing \u201cwonderful things\u201d with the remaining money, although he doesn\u2019t actually believe that. And if McElliot does bring this up to the board, it will be handled privately.<\/p>\n In some ways, this is symbolic of a\u00a0greater evangelical problem vis a vis reporting abuse or fraud. Instead, there\u2019s a tendency to engage in coverups. If Peter\u2019s speech is Farris\u2019s idea of what exposing fraud looks like, there is reason for concern. Nothing is reported publicly, either to government agencies or to the organizations\u2019 donors writ large. The only exposure happens at a private banquet and in such a way as to set Humphrey up well for explaining his way out. This is a problem.<\/p>\n Next we cut to Donna and Stephen, who are arguing.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, there was a redhead,\u201d he finally admitted. \u201cAnd a blonde, and a brunette.\u201d He yelled, too angry to care.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are your intentions with me, lover boy?\u201d Corliss snarled. She was hoping for an abject apology, a little groveling, and then a plea for mercy. She needed him back.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n No, no she did not. Farris introduced Donna to us as a feminist, a successful career woman, an independent woman who made her own choices\u00a0about where she went and who she slept with.\u00a0What even is this<\/em>. I understand that Donna feels she\u2019s invested a lot into Stephen and into their relationship. She\u2019d probably rather not head back out into the dating field. But her rhetoric here doesn\u2019t even work. \u201cLover boy\u201d? What is that? Even the \u201cwhat are your intentions\u201d comment feels out of place\u2014it reads as evangelical rhetoric (although I could be wrong).<\/p>\n Stephen decides to end it.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t trust me with other women. I guess I\u2019ve proven that. And I cannot trust your fundamental honesty after what you did in this case. Donna, it\u2019s over.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Something about Stephen\u2019s phrasing makes me uncomfortable. Stephen was discomfited when he found out at the beginning of this book that Donna was fudging case files. He was really upset<\/em>, actually. Donna managed to persuade him that it was for the good of the children, but his discomfort with her actions never really left. I almost wonder if Stephen cheated on Donna so flagrantly because he wanted<\/em> her to break up with him. It\u2019s as though he wanted to break it off over her questionable ethics, but couldn\u2019t figure out a way to do so. So he slept around, hoping she would do it.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not sure whether Farris intended any of that, though. As the author, Farris sometimes seemed\u00a0to suggest\u00a0Stephen slept around because Donna is an independent career woman who hadn\u2019t kept up her looks. That never\u00a0read as realistic to me, though. It always read as Farris applying his own conservative lens to the situation\u2014in his world, women are supposed to be submissive homemakers, and if they aren\u2019t, bad things happen to them, like getting ugly and losing their men.<\/p>\n \u201cHonesty!\u201d she screamed. \u201cYou\u2019re the one who is a liar. Your\u2019e been stringing me along while sleeping around like an alley cat. You pig, you filthy, ungrateful pig!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And so ends Donna and Stephen\u2019s benighted relationship.<\/p>\n Next week should be the last installment of this series. What predictions do you have? What will happen in the last section? To whom\u00a0will the Supreme Court grant victory? Stay tuned!<\/p>\n