100 THE JOY OF POLITICS

But what I was most proud of in the end is that I had

used my power--which was truly given to me by the people
who were always at my side on our journey-for good. Joe
Eiden won the 2020 general election, and we sent Donald 3
Trump-albeit kicking and screaming-packing.
The Plague
Recipe for Amy Klobuchar's Award­
Winning Taconite Tater Tot Hotdish
Life Lesson: '1 have no idea what's awaiting me, or what
will happen when this all ends. J<or the moment I know this:
Ingredients there are sick people and they need curing."
-ALBERT CAMUS, Tm, PLAGUE, 1947
Ground beef(l--1.5 lbs)
Cream of mushroom soup (1 can)
Cream of chicken soup (1 can)
Onions (1 small) "V.1es, It
• IS h ba d"
• tat .
Garlic (a couple cloves)
Salt and pepper In 1947, Albert Camus, an Algerian-born French author,
Pepper Jack cheese, shredded (8-12 oz) wrote The Plague, a novel about how the residents of a town
Tater tots (1 package) in Algeria cope with a deadly epidemic. The book-entitled
La Peste in l<rench-is set in the 1940s as the bubonic plague
Instructions hits Oran, Algeria. TI1e first sign? A massive number of rats
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. die on the streets right in front of the town's residents. Soon
Brown ground beef, drain off fat. Saute onions and garlic. the people get it too. Leaders arc at first in denial, hoping
In a large bowl, mix together beef, onions, garlic, both cans of soup, it will just go away, not heeding the advice of doctors. As
salt, and pepper. Spread evenly into the bottom ofa 9xl3 baking dish. journalist Steve Coll describes in a recent New Yorker look.­
Cover with about half of the shredded cheese. back at the novel, the Algerian town's "[a]dvisers can't bear to
initially acknowledge the catastrophe or even to speak aloud
Phtce tater tots in one layer over the entire pan. Bake at 450 for 30
the name of the disease that is its cause."
minutes, or until tater tots arc crisp. Cover with remaining cheese and
Hmm.
bake until cheese melts.
For those doubting the adage that truth can be stranger
than fiction, it feels like a good moment to time-travel