Impromptus

The No. 1 conservative virtue, &c.

By
House speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) takes questions during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on January 17, 2024. (Leah Millis / Reuters)
On prudence, Poland, Mark Robinson, George W. Bush, the Big O, pumpkin spice, Milwaukee, and more

‘Prudence is the signal conservative virtue,” said George Will to me, in one of our podcasts. There are other virtues — within conservatism and certainly outside conservatism. But prudence is the leading one, where conservatism is concerned.

Look before you leap. Don’t make things worse. Err on the side of caution. Hey, why did they put that fence up in the first place?

Prudence may be a boring virtue, but, in a jarring and nasty world, people learn to appreciate it (some of them).

I thought of this when listening to Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House, defending a budget measure whose purpose was to avert a government shutdown. “While this is not the solution any of us prefer,” he said, “it is the most prudent path forward under the present circumstances.”


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Johnson then said this: “As history has taught and current polling affirms, shutting the government down less than 40 days from a fateful election would be an act of political malpractice.”

“Current polling,” huh? What if the polling indicated that a shutdown would help Republicans?

Anyway, Mike Johnson did the right thing, in my judgment — and crossed his party’s leader, Donald Trump, to do so.

• My favorite statement of the year, I believe, has been uttered by Donald Tusk, the prime minister of Poland. He explained to the public that German troops had volunteered to help Poland with the problems caused by floods. “If you see German soldiers,” Tusk said, “don’t panic. They’re here to help.”

(To watch Tusk, go here.)

• I wish to recommend a column by Kathleen Parker, of the Washington Post. The topic is extremely important — and dark. Gruesome. Parker is cool, calm, and collected. Also unflinching. Her column’s heading: “Late-term abortions are not a myth. They’re happening.”

Find the column here.

• “Patriots,” “political prisoners,” “hostages.” Those are the terms regularly used by Donald Trump and other Republicans to describe January 6 defendants and convicts. I would like to point to a column by Hoppy Kercheval, one of the most prominent journalists in West Virginia. He gives two January 6 defendants, from West Virginia, “in their own words.”

A brief sample: In late December, anticipating the action on January 6, one of the guys messaged the other, “I’d love to be the one to capture Obama or Hillary. I’d strip them naked and beat them with a belt and switch. Then I’d rest and beat them some more.” His buddy answered, “Me too it will be a beautiful day.”

One more sample: After January 6, one of the guys messaged the other, “I wasn’t satisfied. I would have been satisfied if they brought Nancy’s head out on a stick.” (That would be the woman who was then the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.) His buddy answered, “I think so[me] of the people were looking for her.”

Yes, they were. Just sweet patriots, you know, interested in “election integrity.”

And Trump has promised to pardon this mob.

• Mark Robinson, the Republicans’ gubernatorial nominee in North Carolina, says that he is the victim of media smears. I’m not sure his campaign manager, deputy campaign manager, and others agree: “Top staff from Mark Robinson campaign resign after porn website scandal.” (Story here.)

• In 1991, Clarence Thomas said he was the victim of a “high-tech lynching.” Robinson now claims the same about himself. I wonder how Justice Thomas feels about that.

• As usual, David French has hit the bull’s-eye, in a column about Robinson and the Republican Party: “MAGA Wants Transgression, and This Is What Comes With It.”

• There is a certain honesty about Donald Trump — a certain authenticity. Even during a general election, he does not stop being a huckster. For example:

• In the 2016 cycle, there was something I liked about Trump — or something that tickled me: He referred to his fellow party members as “the Republicans.” He did this even when he was the nominee. He is still doing it — even when he is the Republicans’ nominee for the third time in a row. He refers to his fellow party members as “the Republicans.”

As here. Why does he not tout his success with vaccines? Because “the Republicans” don’t like it.

He’s got that right.

• The Trump campaign circulated this video, obviously thinking that it made Kamala Harris look bad. I think it makes her look rather the opposite. You?

• “Kamala Harris to skip Al Smith dinner, a traditional event for major presidential candidates.” I was sorry to read that. (The story is here.) I like traditions, even if some of them ought to be scrapped. I certainly like the Al Smith dinner. I like the joshing by the presidential nominees.

My favorite Al Smith speaker ever is George W. Bush, in 2000. Here is a sample of what he said:

“I see Bill Buckley’s here tonight. Fellow Yale man. We go way back, and we have a lot in common. Bill wrote a book at Yale. I read one. He founded the Conservative Party. I started a few parties myself.”

Good times.

• You see this one? “RFK Jr. once had 43 ‘mistresses’ in his cellphone — including now-wife Cheryl Hines.” The rule is, anything over 20 is de trop.

• A headline two weeks ago included these words: “Trump Mocks Harris’s Height.” As the story pointed out, Trump had written, “No boxes or artificial lifts will be allowed to stand on during my upcoming debate with Comrade Kamala Harris.”

I got to thinking about height and leaders. David Ben-Gurion was 5’0″. So was one of his successors, Yitzhak Shamir. Charles de Gaulle? Six foot five. Our tallest president was Lincoln, at 6’4″.

A historian posted this on Sunday:

• The best news: “Kate, the Princess of Wales, makes first public appearance after cancer treatment.” (Story here.)

• A headline that says a lot about contemporary America: “Porn-making former University of Wisconsin campus leader argues for keeping his teaching job.” (Story here.)

• Pumpkin spice has arrived a little early. (I have heard reports that Christmas decorations are up in New York.) But, dang, is it good.

• There’s playing under pressure — and there’s this: “Oscar Robertson recounts time he got a telegram from KKK saying if he played ‘they’re going to shoot me.’” (Story here.)

• Like he needed to be anything else, Shohei Ohtani is super-photogenic. The AP has captured his season in pictures: here.

• An institution in Milwaukee, founded in 1876:

I like that name: “Woman’s Club.” The ear is more accustomed to “Women’s Club,” or “Women’s City Club.”

Speaking of women: I like the look of this one:

Nice to know that a school for singers still provides gym:

Not a place a golfer wants to hang out:

A corny, but agreeable, play on words: “Viewaukee”:

Something’s brewin’ here in old Milwaukee — and it ain’t beer:

Big Mac (Douglas MacArthur), lookin’ good, even in the rain:

A wonderful little mural:

I hope Merriam-Webster (or somebody) gives the Milwaukee Airport credit for this outstanding American neologism:

Thank you for joining me, Milwaukeeans and others. See you soon.

If you would like to receive Impromptus by e-mail — links to new columns — write to jnordlinger@nationalreview.com.

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