On royals; our ‘laboratories of democracy’; Chinese machinations; Jan. 6 and the police; the wondrous Carol Burnett; and more
I have noticed something in life, and maybe you have too: Much ill can come from trying to be cool. Also, a person or an institution can look ridiculous in trying to be cool. Appealing to the young can be a fool’s errand. Etc., etc.
Over the years, I have wanted to tell the classical-music world; and churches; and the golf world; and conservatives: Quit trying to be cool, for heaven’s sake!
How about royal families? I ask because I noticed this story, headed “Japan’s royal family makes formal debut on Instagram as world’s oldest monarchy tries to draw youth.” Okay. Gotta keep up with the times and all. But: Beware the effort to be cool — to be hip or with-it. Some things are simply not meant to be cool, hip, or with-it.
Plus, I think of the chestnut from Walter Bagehot, about the monarchy in his country, Britain: “Its mystery is its life. We must not let in daylight upon magic.”
• Years ago, there was a phrase — I don’t hear it much anymore: “50 laboratories of democracy.” The idea was, our states, from Maine to California, would try out various policies. They would experiment. And if something went awry, no big deal: People could fix that thing. Conversely, if something worked in one state, it might be adopted by another.
There is a practicality — a beautiful practicality — in democracy.
I thought of these elementary things when reading this story, which begins,
Oregon’s Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek on Monday signed into law a bill that recriminalizes the possession of small amounts of drugs, ending a first-in-the-nation experiment with decriminalization that was hobbled by implementation issues.
The new law rolls back a 2020 voter-approved measure . . .
I am not taking a position on this issue just now (I don’t have one). I am just saying: Policies need not be set in stone. It is permissible, I think, to experiment, to see, and to adjust, if necessary.
• Then there is the question of rights. This is an old, old question. If something is a right, then voters, or legislatures, should have nothing to do with it. It’s a right.
There are people who think that a woman has a right to an abortion. A right. There are people who think that the unborn have a right not to be aborted. A right. There are people who think marriage — including marriage between two members of the same sex — is a right.
Yet we also say, usually, that the 50 states should make these decisions, because we are “federalists,” by and large.
Didn’t we have a civil war over this, incidentally? But this question is too big for today’s column, so I am moving on . . .
• “For the first time in 27 years,” a news report begins, “the U.S. government is changing how it categorizes people by race and ethnicity, an effort that federal officials believe will more accurately count residents who identify as Hispanic and of Middle Eastern and North African heritage.”
My distaste for this is strong. I am a dinosaur, clinging to a certain ethos from the previous century. I would rather people thought of themselves as Americans, as human beings, as individuals, as — other things.
But we are a race- and ethnicity-soaked society. And we seem to cut it ever finer, don’t we?
• Here is a big story — a really big one: “China’s Advancing Efforts to Influence the U.S. Election Raise Alarms.” (To read the article, go here.) Russia, China, and other bad actors are playing a terrible game with us. And we are, I’m afraid, ripe for it — vulnerable to their machinations.
• This is darned interesting: “In Taiwan, a group is battling fake news one conversation at a time — with a focus on seniors.” (Article here.) One woman — a senior — is quoted as saying, “We really do believe the things people will send us. Because when you’re older, we don’t have as much of a grasp on the outside world.”
A hugely important issue, this is.
• From Politico:
As House lawmakers weighed legislation earlier this month that could amount to a ban on TikTok, the conservative political powerhouse Club for Growth had a threat for members: Vote for the bill, and we could dock your score.
The Club for Growth, buoyed by funding from major TikTok parent-company investor Jeff Yass, has become a massively influential player in contested Republican primaries, scoring lawmakers based on how they vote on certain legislation. The group has also become a key player in the fight over the Chinese-owned social media platform and efforts by Republicans to force its parent company, ByteDance, to sell, as the bill threatens Yass’ investment, which is reportedly worth up to $21 billion.
(Full article here.)
This stinks to high heaven. Absolutely stinks. My late friend Dusty Rhodes was a founder of the Club for Growth. I have a pretty good sense of what the club was for, I think. And this — well, it stinks.
• You may have seen Donald Trump’s Easter message, which came in all-caps:
HAPPY EASTER TO ALL, INCLUDING CROOKED AND CORRUPT PROSECUTORS AND JUDGES THAT ARE DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO INTERFERE WITH THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2024, AND PUT ME IN PRISON, INCLUDING THOSE MANY PEOPLE THAT I COMPLETELY & TOTALLY DESPISE BECAUSE THEY WANT TO DESTROY…
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) March 31, 2024
There are millions and millions of people who want this man to be president. Again. The Republican Party — the “Party of Lincoln” — is set to nominate him for the third time. Our country is unwell, in my opinion.
• “Trump Posts Image of Joe Biden Kidnapped and Bound with Rope.” Nobody bats an eye. Everyone accepts it as normal. Because it is normal. And wrong nonetheless.
• Day after day, week after week, Trump refers to the Jan. 6 convicts as “hostages” and “patriots.” So do many, many other Republicans. It is interesting to get to know these people: the rioters, the convicts. A study from Just Security is headed “Trump’s Promise to Free Jan. 6 Inmates in DC Jail — Almost All of Them Assaulted Law Enforcement Officers.”
Yes. It’s always “Back the Blue” until it isn’t. It’s always “Blue Lives Matter” until they don’t.
• There has been a flurry of this kind of obit lately — so many: “Lou Conter, last survivor of USS Arizona from Pearl Harbor attack, dies at 102.”
• Lou Gossett Jr., the actor, has died. (He was 87. For his obit in the New York Times, go here.) He played a wide range of roles, and I remember one in particular: Anwar Sadat. That was in 1983. Gossett starred in a miniseries. The series, of course, was banned in Egypt. (Gossett was a black American; Sadat was part Sudanese.)
• “Maryse Condé, prolific ‘grande dame’ of Caribbean literature, dies at age 90.” I was struck by something she said: “Loving others seems to me to be the way, perhaps the only one, to make an impact.”
• As of this writing, the Detroit Tigers (my team) are 4-0. Four-and-oh. Mirabile dictu, as Bill Buckley would say.
• A smile-making picture:
https://twitter.com/BBGreatMoments/status/1774942049080381915?s=20
• Feel like a little music? For a review of Ema Nikolovska, a Canadian mezzo-soprano, in recital, go here. I’m going to quote a little (for a purpose):
She ended her program with a rarity, and novelty: Nicolas Slonimsky’s Five Advertising Songs (“Utica Sheets and Pillowcases,” “Pillsbury Bran Muffins,” etc.). Nikolovska showed a comic touch, a touch of Carol Burnett (who was a very good singer, by the way, jokey though she may have chosen to be).
Carol Burnett (about to turn 91) was a guest on the Stephen Colbert show the other night. A total delight, a total pro — still Carol. Watch her here.
• Klaus Mäkelä is a young Finnish conductor, age 28. There has been a pattern in his life (yes, already): He guest-conducts an orchestra; they ask him to be their music director. This has happened over and over. Already.
In 2027, he will take over the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. He will also take over the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — this was announced a couple days ago. The podiums in Amsterdam and Chicago are two of the most important in the world. And young Mäkelä will occupy both of them.
Why? I can’t blame the hirers. He is that good. Chances are, he will be a fixture on our music scene until 2080 or so.
(Mengelberg led the Concertgebouw for 50 years; Mravinsky led the Leningrad Phil. for 50 years. Sometimes numbers can be dizzying.)
• A glimpse of Central Park?
Yellow is so pleasant — and it goes well with green:
Thank you for joining me today, everyone. See you soon.
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