Kellyanne Conway’s alternative-facts interview earlier this year brought to mind Humpty Dumpty’s words from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass (‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less’), and it struck me that Donald Trump’s America might be a good candidate for the Carrollian treatment.
A call for extracts from Alice in Trumpland produced a modest but accomplished entry. As I was reading through the submissions, it occurred to me what a shining example Alice sets, with her calm and clear-headed response to a disconcerting barrage of alternative systems of logic; the antithesis of today’s keyboard warriors.
In what was another closely fought contest Chris O’Carroll and D.A. Prince were unlucky losers. The winners take £30 each and the bonus fiver is Brian Murdoch’s.
Brian Murdoch After crossing the sea, Alice noticed that a tea party was in progress on the shore.
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