Excellencies, Patriots, and More

Over and over, Donald Trump says that the leader of the Taliban called him “Your Excellency.” He evidently takes great pride in it. He did this again during his convention speech on Thursday night. “He called me ‘Your Excellency,’” Trump said. “I wonder if he calls the other guy ‘Your Excellency.’ I doubt it.” Apparently, this is supposed to be a great burn (as we said in junior high).

About “Excellency,” I have a couple of memories. The first comes from 1985. Vice President George Bush was at the University of Michigan, to give a speech on the steps of the Union. He was going to talk about the Peace Corps. Why?

Twenty-five years before, John F. Kennedy had proposed the Peace Corps on those very steps. So, this was an anniversary. A whole event had been organized.

There were some speakers before Bush. One of them was an African official, I believe. Introducing him, the woman presiding over the event said “His Excellency . . .” — and before she could say the man’s name, the students started booing and jeering. They thought she was introducing Bush. When she got to the African’s name, they stopped, abashed.

I thought, “These kids are so stupid, they think we refer to the vice president of the United States as ‘His Excellency.’”

Through Google, I have found a wire-service report about the event. I see that, when the students were jeering his remarks, Bush said, “That’s one of the great things about freedom — everybody can do their own thing. Wouldn’t it be nice if they could take their act to Red Square in Moscow?”

(I must have loved it.)

My other memory comes from the 2000s. I have told this story before. Let me paste:

At Davos one winter, a group of us journalists had a coffee with Ahmed Nazif, who was then the prime minister of Egypt. My colleagues from the Middle East were addressing him as “Your Excellency,” and referring to him as “His Excellency.” I thought this was noteworthy, in that Egypt was then keen on presenting itself as democratic.

So, I asked Nazif, “How is it that the prime minister of Egypt is addressed as ‘Your Excellency’ and referred to as ‘His Excellency’?” There was a representative of the World Economic Forum there, and he looked at me — I swear — as though he could kill me.

But Nazif himself took it in stride. He gave me a bit of a grin and said, “Well, 50 years ago it was ‘Basha.’”

(This is a way of saying “Pasha.”)

• Like Trump and others, I repeat myself. And I have said, over and over, “One of my prayers for the American Right is that we recover a proper sense of patriotism. And of manliness.” I have written on this theme . . . well, over and over.

Last week, Charlie Kirk, the young Republican leader, said, “Let me be very clear: If you are a man in this country and you don’t vote for Donald Trump, you’re not a man.”

Turning now to patriotism: In the run-up to January 6, Kirk tweeted,

The historic event will likely be one of the largest and most consequential in American history

The team at @TrumpStudents & Turning Point Action are honored to help make this happen, sending 80+ buses full of patriots to DC to fight for this president

In October 2022, a man attacked Paul Pelosi, the husband of Nancy Pelosi, then speaker of the House. The assailant was David DePape. He left his victim gravely injured. DePape had been arrested and jailed. Charlie Kirk said, “By the way, if some amazing patriot out there in San Francisco or the Bay Area wants to really be a midterm hero, someone should go and bail this guy out.”

(Midterm elections were taking place soon.)

Donald Trump has long used “patriots” as a synonym for “Trump voters.” Two days after January 6, the president tweeted,

The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!

So too, Trump and many other Republicans refer to the January 6 convicts as “patriots” — the “J6 patriots” (along with “political prisoners” and “hostages”).

Switching subjects: Earlier this year, Trump said, “Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion.” Charlie Kirk said, “If you vote Democrat as a Christian, I think you can no longer call yourself a Christian. You have to call yourself something else.”

Here is my advice (for what it’s worth): Don’t let these guys tell you what a Christian or a Jew is. Or a patriot or a man.

• Talking of “J6,” did you see this?

One thing I appreciate about Congresswoman Greene et al. is that they are not sneaky, not sly. They are quite open. There is not much guile about them — which is good.

• Donald Trump circulated the below meme. Some will find it hilarious and just. But others — even Trump supporters — will find it maybe a little off.

• Here is something lighter: In his convention speech, Trump referred to Face the Nation as “Deface the Nation.” People of a certain vintage will remember the comic strip Grin and Bear It — which called the show “Faze the Nation.”

• The Republican convention featured many a celebrity: Kid Rock and Hulk Hogan, for two. It’s “Shut up and sing” or “Shut up and dribble” — until the celeb is on your side.

• Amazingly, Mitch McConnell was at the Republican convention. (I say “amazingly” despite the fact that McConnell is the Republican leader in the Senate, for a few more months.) He must have been the only anti-Orbánite in the joint, and one of the few supporters of Ukraine. He was booed roundly — even while pledging Kentucky’s votes to Donald Trump.

We have a secret ballot in this country. I wonder whether McConnell will actually vote for Trump.

• Some people have asked, “What does J. D. Vance bring to the ticket?” I think he brings this: He is not Mike Pence. He will not pull a Pence. “No more Pences,” is a Republican cry.

• Of Vance, Putin’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said, “He’s in favor of peace.” I once wrote a book called “Peace, They Say.” When the likes of Kremlin officials say “peace” — watch out.

• When Trump was campaigning in 2016, some Latin Americans said, “The style is very familiar.” I remember Venezuelans, in particular, saying this. It is a caudillo style. You see this in the length of Trump’s speeches, in the nature of his rallies. We have not experienced this very often in “Anglo” America. But elsewhere in the Americas — it is familiar indeed, almost de rigueur.

• “He’s a changed man,” people say — I mean, strong Trump supporters. They say this warmly. But, in that they have always adored him, why would they want him changed? People often spoke of a “New Nixon.” (They spoke of it either sincerely or sardonically.) In any event, the general-election campaign should be interesting.

But if President Biden insists on remaining his party’s nominee — maybe not so interesting. Simply tragicomical.