Impromptus

What a lie hath wrought, &c.

By
President Donald Trump and Ronna McDaniel, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, at a fundraising event in New York on December 2, 2017 (Yuri Gripas / Reuters)
On the Republican Party, dictatorship in Venezuela, crime in New York City, a Franco-Michigander, and more

People have crossed over from politics to the media for a long time — for decades and generations. Jeff Greenfield was a speechwriter for RFK. (The first one, not this current one.) Mark Shields worked for a host of Democrats, including RFK and Muskie. Tim Russert worked for Moynihan and Cuomo.

David Gergen worked in four administrations: three of them Republican, one of them Democratic. We’re talkin’ Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton. (Republicans had fits when Gergen agreed to advise Clinton.) (I might have been one of them.) (Autres temps, autres mœurs.)

So, crossing from politics into the media is well established, and need not be problematic. But here’s the thing: You have to be up front about your opinions. And you have to have a certain consistency. A certain integrity. No Jekyll-and-Hyde stuff. “I once said this as a politico, but now I say this as a commentator” (or columnist or what have you).

Incidentally, do you know that George Will — the great George F. Will, one of the best columnists of all time and a model of an independent thinker — once worked on the Hill? He did, for a Republican senator from Colorado (Gordon Allott).

This brings us to Ronna McDaniel — about whom there’s a fuss. She was the chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2017 until just the other day. Then she was hired by NBC News, as a commentator. In short order, she was un-hired.

The main complaint against McDaniel, as I understand it: For three and a half years, she cried, “Rigged!” The 2020 election was rigged — stolen from President Trump by Biden and the Democrats. The second she left the RNC and joined NBC, she said, in essence, “Never mind. Just kidding. Sure, the election was legitimate. I was just being a team player. I was wearing a different hat.”

This is very hard on a person’s credibility. And the election lie is no small lie. It has incited people to violence. It led to the attack on the U.S. Congress. It has prompted many threats to election officials and their families.

You know what I resent the most about the liars? The knowing liars? The ones who are “jes’ playin’,” as I say? Not everyone knows they’re jes’ playin’. Not everyone knows they don’t mean it. There are people who believe the election lie — deeply — and among these are some of my nearest and dearest.

I have no patience whatsoever with those who are jes’ playin’. They have done great harm to people who listen to them and trust them, and great harm to the country at large.

When it comes to the McDaniel affair, I can see the point of the whatabouters: “What about all them Dems in the media?” Yes, the media are crawling with them — and with Republicans. Take Jason Chaffetz, who was a congressman from Utah. He quit six months into one of his terms to join Fox News.

Is that kosher? I suppose (though, as a rule, I think people should fill out the terms they were elected to serve). But credibility, as opposed to two-facedness, is key.

• “Kari Lake won’t defend her statements about Arizona election official,” reads a headline in the Washington Post. No, I would think not.

The article begins,

Kari Lake, a Republican Senate candidate in Arizona who has amplified former president Donald Trump’s false claims about rigged elections, has decided not to defend statements she made about a top election official in the state’s largest county who sued her for defamation.

The lawsuit in question was brought by Stephen Richer, of Maricopa County, in his personal capacity. Richer is a Republican, by the way. As the article tells us, he alleged that Lake and her cohort “repeatedly and falsely accused him of causing Lake to lose the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial election, unleashing a barrage of threats against him and his family.”

A familiar story, these last three and a half years. And it is heartening that the courts can afford some measure of justice. A lie, with accompanying violence, or the threat of it, is a nasty thing.

• In a column earlier this week, I spoke of the “guardrails” of our democracy. Let me quote a little:

Often, the “guardrails” are human beings — individuals — willing to do the right thing. Determined to observe the rule of law, even when it’s difficult (or especially then). A democratic spirit is the “guardrail.” Paper protections can only do so much. Without human beings, to enforce the “paper,” our democracy is cooked.

This is not a new thought. It is old. But it is true, I think.

(Consider: On January 6, Vice President Mike Pence was a “guardrail.”)

Yes. And Stephen Richer, in Arizona, has been a guardrail, too. So have other election officials in that state (as elsewhere — I think of Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state of Georgia).

An Associated Press report, dated March 23, tells us the following:

The room sits behind a chain-link fence, then black iron gates. Guards block the entrance, which requires a security badge to access. The glass surrounding it is shatterproof.

What merits all these layers of protection is somewhat surprising: tabulating machines that count the votes during elections in Arizona’s Maricopa County. The security measures are a necessary expense, said the county recorder, Stephen Richer, as Arizona and its largest county have become hotbeds of election misinformation and conspiracy theories that have led to near continuous threats and harassment against election workers.

“What would be even more of a shame is if we couldn’t look the workers in the eye and say, ‘We’re doing everything possible to make sure that you’re safe,’” he said.

Being an election official should not be dangerous, in my opinion — but it has come to that.

To say it again: Without people willing to step up and execute the law, our democracy would be sunk. Our guardrails, I am believing more and more, are flesh-and-blood, as much as they are anything written.

I am forever quoting John Adams: Bad actors — foes of democracy — “would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net.”

• Patrick Chovanec, who writes on an array of topics, had an interesting thought the other day. I will put it into my own words.

A lot of people say, “I’m voting for Trump. I know he is no friend of democracy, as he has proven. We saw it after the 2020 election. But I want FedSoc judges and the rest, and the guardrails will be in place, keeping Trump from overstepping his bounds.”

Some of us want to say, “Yes, but you, as a voter, are supposed to be one of those guardrails. You’re not supposed to vote for people you don’t trust to follow our democratic procedures.”

Voters as guardrails — an interesting thought.

• Did you see this news?

Those seeking employment at the Republican National Committee after a Trump-backed purge of the committee this month have been asked in job interviews if they believe the 2020 election was stolen, according to people familiar with the interviews, making the false claim a litmus test of sorts for hiring.

(For that article in full, go here.)

Belief in the election lie — or at least a professed belief — is close to a sine qua non in Republican politics. And that is a lousy characteristic for a great political party to have.

• News from another corner of the world: “Venezuela’s Strongman Decides Who Will Run Against Him in Presidential Election.” That article is here. Its subheading: “Nicolás Maduro blocks opposition candidate, an 80-year-old academic, but allows governor who is on cordial terms with regime to run.” That is par for the course. It’s what dictators do.

I recall General Sisi, the Egyptian chief, in 2018. He handpicked his opponent — who endorsed him. Thorough work, on Sisi’s part. (Sisi “won” with 98 percent of the vote. Why these guys put on the charade, I’m not quite sure. They’re not fooling anyone. Or are they?)

• Back to America — to its biggest city, in particular: “NYC subway rider is fatally pushed onto tracks, reviving discussion about mental illness in system.” I will quote a couple of paragraphs from the article:

The fatal push happened on the same day that New York City officials announced a plan to send 800 more police officers into the subway system to crack down on fare evasion.

While officials have framed fare-beating as a problem because of lost revenue, they say it also contributes to a lawless atmosphere.

Yes, that is the essence of the “broken-windows theory.” Broken windows send a signal: “There is no real law here.” So does turnstile-jumping, or “fare-beating.” “Hey, anything goes.” And the small crimes — even the mere infractions — lead to more serious things.

This ought to be elementary. But the elementary takes relearning, constantly. (This goes for personal life as well as public life, I find.)

• A story made me think of Ann Arbor Town — Ann Arbor, Mich., where I grew up. “Louisiana sheriff candidate wins do-over after disputed 1-vote victory was tossed.” (Story here.) In 1977, when I was 13, our mayor was reelected by one vote. Yes, one vote: 10,660 to 10,659.

That gave me a lifelong lesson: Every vote counts.

• I want to recommend an article — on a very grave matter: “What Would You Have Israel Do to Defend Itself?” This is by David Brooks, and it is a feat of research, thinking, and expression. It is the kind of article that one may want to read twice.

• Another article: “Giving Permission to Political Violence,” by Kevin D. Williamson. Few issues in our country are so important — so important as the issue of politics and violence. Yet, strangely, it is underdiscussed, in my opinion. A lot of people cough and sweep it under the rug.

Maybe I could sneak in a language note, while I’m recommending articles. KDW taught me a word: “aptronym.” “A person’s name,” says Merriam-Webster, “that is suited to that person’s profession, personality, etc.” An example would be “Ben Timber,” for a lumberjack.

(Tiger Woods, when he hits an errant drive, has been known to say, “That’s why my name is ‘Woods,’ not ‘Fairway.’”)

• Another interesting article is headed “A Conservative Thought Experiment on a Liberal College Campus.” By Rachel Slade, it was published in Boston magazine, here. The subheading of the article reads, “Last fall semester, professor Eitan Hersh and a class of undergrads embarked on a mission to understand conservative thought. Here’s what happened.”

• Claire-Marie Brisson teaches French at Harvard. Her bio says she is “a Franco-Michigander who situates her rhizomatic identity between the United States and Canada, with roots in Metro Detroit and familial connections to Québec.” I’ll be darned.

(Quick note, quick complaint: In written English, that province should be “Quebec.” When speaking English, we say “Kwuh-BEK,” not “Kay-BEK.” I have been fighting this battle a long time, losingly. Wrote an essay on it once, in fact — on the general subject.)

“Franco-Michigander”? That’s a new one on me. I like it. Madame Brisson has written a book titled “Michiganaise.” I can’t wait to read it.

Would you like to know what she sounds like? What a michiganaise sounds like? Voilà:

• Is anything more colorful than Holi? It would be hard to imagine.

• You want to see an American photo? That is, a photo that says “America”? Hard to top this:

Thank you for joining me, Impromptus-ites. Catch you on the rebound (as we said way back).

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

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