On the Gershkovich case, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Shohei Ohtani, the Virginia Tech Hokies, and more
In Russia, Evan Gershkovich has been sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security prison. (For an article about this, go here.) Gershkovich, as you know, is a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal. Putin is a Soviet through and through. I think back to 1986.
The Kremlin seized Nicholas Daniloff as a hostage. He was a correspondent for U.S. News & World Report. They held him for 13 days. Gershkovich, of course, has been imprisoned for a year and four months.
He is a political prisoner and a hostage. That’s what Donald Trump, and many other Republicans, call the January 6 convicts: “political prisoners” and “hostages.” (This is in addition to “patriots.” They are the “J6 patriots,” you see.)
Obscene.
• George Orwell coined the term “memory hole.” But January 6 has been worse than memory-holed, I think: It has been revised into something good — something glorious and patriotic.
(Judge Royce Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, called January 6 “the antithesis of patriotism.” I wrote about this in a post a few months ago, here.)
• About President Biden and the 2024 campaign, I have said everything I know to say (in this post, for example). Maybe I can do a little repeating.
Back in December, I wrote,
It would take self-sacrifice for Biden to stand aside and let there be an open competition for his party’s presidential nomination. It would take humility. It would take a heightened sense of patriotism — of patriotic duty.
To ask a president not to run for reelection is to ask a lot. Too much, probably. I understand. I have an ego and ambition too. Wild horses couldn’t stop me from running for reelection.
But it would not necessarily be right.
In 2024, there is a great deal at stake.
I have also been quoting Jim Buckley. In March 1974 — several months before it happened — Senator Buckley asked Nixon to resign. He said, “I propose an extraordinary act of statesmanship and courage — an act at once noble and heartbreaking; at once serving the greater interests of the nation, the institution of the presidency,” etc.
“Biden didn’t go,” people say. People say today, I mean. “He was pushed!” Maybe. But he could have dug in — dug in even longer — in the spirit of the old protest slogan “Hell, no, I won’t go!”
I wish he had never run for reelection. It was foolhardy to do so. He has stood aside late. But he has stood aside, as was necessary.
How will things shake out now? What will the next weeks and months look like? Hard to tell. Many others are sure, however — they’re always sure. The day before yesterday (literally), people were sure that Biden would never withdraw. “His wife’s an egomaniac,” and so on and so forth.
Lotsa people are cocksure, always. And when events prove them wrong, they just go on to the next cocksureness.
• For a few days, you could give Republicans a pass, I think, for saying, “The Democrats tried to kill Trump.” People are shaken up after an assassination attempt. Passions run hot. But after a few days . . .
This is still going on (as here). And it ought to cool.
• Democrats are going to have to accept something: that conservatives criticize Kamala Harris because she is a Bay Area progressive, not because of her race or ethnicity. Will there be racist criticisms of her? Have there been? No doubt. Racism is an ill we will always have with us, presumably. But these should not be allowed to tar or undermine legitimate criticisms.
We went through this with Obama . . .
(People who were opposed to his health-care reform were suddenly racist, though they had opposed that kind of reform for decades, when it was presented by the palest of politicians.)
• Rapidly catching up to Viktor Orbán, Nayib Bukele is an idol on the illiberal right. He is the leader of El Salvador. One by one, our MAGA troops are trooping to see him. A recent sample:
Liberal democracy is always an experiment — up in the air, if you will.
• During last week’s Republican convention, a veteran conservative wrote me, “This does not feel like the church I have attended my whole life.” I thought of Reagan. He said, famously, “I didn’t leave my party; my party left me.” (He was talking about his switch from Democrat to Republican.) A bit less famous is something else he said: “Changing your party is very hard. It’s almost like changing your religion.”
• Daniel Hannan is a British conservative and a devout friend of America. Watching the GOP’s departure from conservatism, he has been sickened. Last week, he wrote, “There is not a flicker of the old Republican Party left. No embers of fiscal conservatism, global leadership, or moral decency. Reaganism’s ashes are stone-cold.”
• Another conservative, George F. Will, had an interesting observation. America is polarized, people say, and they are right. We are certainly polarized on such issues as pronouns and bathrooms — “culture war” issues. But consider such fundamental matters as the size and scope of government. The two parties are all too un-polarized, are they not?
(To read the Will column in question, go here.)
• Let me recommend, too, a crackling column by Kevin D. Williamson — not just crackling but wise and important: “Government Isn’t Your Mamaw.” The writer casts a gimlet eye on J. D. Vance and what it takes to rise in America.
• All my life, people have debated institutionalization and de-institutionalization. This is a hard, painful issue. There is no easy answer, that I have ever heard. I lean heavily toward individual rights. And yet . . .
You’ve heard the expression “barking mad”? I have seen this on the streets of New York. I am speaking literally. I have seen people who are so mad — so ill — they bark.
They should not be on the street. It is bad for themselves and for others.
What is my solution? If inspiration strikes, I’ll get back to you . . .
• Almost always, you can guess the gist of a news report, or other article, from its headline. That is, indeed, the purpose of the headline. This one read, “Restaurant critic’s departure reveals potential hazards of the job.” I could not guess.
The article opens as follows:
Restaurant critics appear to have the best job in journalism, enjoying meals a few nights a week on someone else’s dime.
But New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells has painted a more complicated picture. In a recent column, Wells announced he’s leaving the beat because the constant eating has led to obesity and other health problems.
Huh. (As a music critic, I gorge on symphonies and such.)
• Shohei Ohtani, the baseball star, has been described as “Ruthian.” There is no better adjective. He is like Babe Ruth in his pitching ability, his slugging, and more.
A headline: “Ohtani hits 473-foot homer that clears bleachers at Dodger Stadium.” (Article here.) Ruthian, flat-out.
• As longtime readers know — especially if they are baseball-attuned — Jim Leyland is my favorite manager, I believe of all time. He is one of my all-time favorite coaches, of anything. We had him at the Tigers from 2006 to 2013. Before that, he managed three other teams, with great success.
I liked his demeanor. I liked his leadership — a leadership shot through with savvy. I liked his comments to the press. I learned a lot about baseball from him.
And now he has been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Here’s a taste of the ceremony:
Jim Leyland. Baseball. ❤️
— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) July 22, 2024
• Blacksburg is home to a prominent university:
The campus is replete with “Hokie stone,” a sample of which can be seen in this handsome span:
What is “Hokie stone,” or, as the university renders it, “Hokie Stone”? First, “Hokie” is the nickname of the university. The teams are the Hokies. For an explanation of that, go here. But I am stone-minded at the moment (“stoned”?). The university says,
Hokie Stone is dolomite, a mineral found in the Appalachian Mountains and most prevalent in Virginia, Tennessee, and Alabama. A sedimentary rock, it formed from calcium and magnesium carbonate and occurs in muted shades of pink, red, gray, brown, and black.
Geology is a wonderful subject. Wish I knew more about it. (I could remedy that, I know.) And the Virginia Tech campus is, again, handsome: very.
• Finally, Central Park, of a summer day — and a toy regatta:
Nice to see you, everyone. Talk soon.
If you would like to receive Impromptus by e-mail — links to new columns — write to jnordlinger@nationalreview.com.