On ‘Gulf of Mexico’ vs. ‘Gulf of America’; the plight of Afghans; January 6; Thatcher and Hayek; the selection of All-Stars; the bisexuality of the word ‘actor’; and more
‘DeSantis Adopts ‘Gulf of America’ Language Even Before a Trump Order.” Whoa. Ron DeSantis moves fast. He hops to. The subheading of that report reads, “The Florida governor used the wording in issuing a state of emergency over a cold snap expected in his state.”
President Trump has decided that the Gulf of Mexico will no longer be the “Gulf of Mexico” but the “Gulf of America.” Will Americans comply? Will they turn on a dime, as DeSantis has?
Congressman Dan Crenshaw (R., Texas) sent a message to Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple:
Was Congressman Crenshaw just havin’ some fun? Could be. Not sure.
I do know that the Right has its own political correctness, and its own identity politics. Its own shibboleths. “Gulf of America” threatens to be part of right-wing PC. A lot of us kick against PC, no matter what quarter it comes from.
Does anyone say “PC” anymore? Has “wokeness” replaced it? My impression is: yes.
The unrelenting and aggressive PC of the Left was one of the things that pushed me rightward many years ago (one of the host of things).
Here is another headline: “Trump order seeks to change the name of North America’s tallest peak from Denali to Mount McKinley.” (Article here.) Ah! In 2015, I wrote an article, an essay, on the subject of name-changing. It was headed “Goodbye, McKinley.” Find it here.
As a rule, I am resistant to name-changing (part of my conservatism, I suppose). But only as a rule. Some name-changing — hell, some changing — is called for. Even a mossback like me can admit that.
A report from January 17 is headed, “Pete Hegseth says U.S. military bases should restore names of Confederate generals.” In other words, no more “Fort Liberty”; back to “Fort Bragg.” (Hegseth, as you know, is set to be Trump’s new defense secretary.)
I keep throwing old pieces at you. Here comes another one: “Seeing the Confederacy Clear.” I wrote that piece in 2017, and I gave it the following subtitle: “On the terrible issue of monuments and all that.” A terrible, and vexing, issue, yes.
Sometimes leaders just snap their fingers, and voilà: A name is changed. The dictator Mobutu decided that the country he ruled would be “Zaire,” not “Congo.” The dictator Trujillo decided that the capital of the country he ruled would no longer be “Santo Domingo” but “Ciudad Trujillo,” i.e., “Trujillo City.”
It is good to be king.
In a dictatorship, if an ordinary Joe does not comply, it could be very bad for him. But here in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave?
I think of something pretty light, pretty minor. In the 1940s, the government of New York City asked people to call Sixth Avenue “the Avenue of the Americas.” It never really caught on. Wonder whether “Gulf of America” will.
“Victory cabbage” (instead of “sauerkraut”). “Freedom fries” (instead of “French fries”). It can get a little dumb.
• “Afghan refugees feel abandoned after Trump executive order halts flights.” That report is here. “The fate of tens of thousands of Afghans awaiting resettlement in the U.S. hangs in the balance after Trump suspended the refugee admissions program.”
There is hardly any issue more important, or more painful. At least, many of us feel that way. I have written about it steadily over the years. “A Question of Honor.” (That piece is from 2015.) “The Afghan Disaster” (August 2021).
It is incredibly risky to be a friend of the United States. Vietnamese know this, Iraqis know this, Afghans know this.
There is so much more to say . . .
• About January 6, we have all said pretty much everything we can. For a few days, Republicans, by and large, were ashamed of the mob attack on Congress. They were at least taken aback. Then the wagons circled: “It was Antifa! It was BLM! It was the FBI!”
Then the rioters were “patriots” and “political prisoners.” After October 7, 2023 — when Hamas attacked Israel — they were “hostages.” Get it? Trump called the January 6 convicts and defendants “hostages.” Other Republicans imitated him, as happens.
And now Trump has issued a blanket pardon. They have clean slates.
One of the 1,500 pardonees is Enrique Tarrio, the head of the Proud Boys. He had been sentenced to 22 years. In 2020, during one of the general-election debates, President Trump said, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.” He can now say: “and walk free.”
Last year, Judge Royce Lamberth made a long and detailed statement about January 6: its perpetrators, the meaning of their actions. I quoted him in a post. Judge Lamberth is a Reagan appointee and an “old” conservative. “This was not patriotism,” he said about January 6; “it was the antithesis of patriotism.”
• I often quote Ernest Renan, the 19th-century French historian (and general scholar): “A nation is a daily plebiscite.” This is good news or bad news, depending on how you are feeling about the day. Do you know what I mean? It is related to “no permanent victories” — oh, shoot. But “no permanent defeats” either. Which may be a comfort.
• Let’s talk books for a minute. There is a story about Margaret Thatcher, oft told. She is at a Conservative meeting, where people talk of policies and principles. She reaches into her handbag, pulls out a book, and slams it on the table. “This is what we believe!” she says. The book is Hayek’s Constitution of Liberty.
That sums up the politics that many of us grew up with and embraced.
Well, what would the equivalent book for the new Trump administration, and Trumpism at large, be? A nomination that comes to mind is: Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future, by Patrick J. Deneen. Several years ago, I had lunch with a number of young activists on the right. They had all been inspired by Deneen.
That taught me something, starkly, about the “New Right” (the latest one). (I seem to remember being part of a “New Right” myself.)
• Let’s close with some sports, and some language, and some music. There is a longstanding debate between Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, those NBA legends. The debate is over All-Star selections. It has erupted again.
Who deserves to be an All-Star? Charles likes to say, “I reward winning. You have to be on a winning team.” Shaq says, “No — I reward numbers. Performance is what counts — how good you are, individually — regardless of team.”
I’m with Shaq. Basketball is a team sport. Sometimes a great player is on a poor or mediocre team. Does that mean he’s not an All-Star?
Switching to baseball, I think of Rod Carew. For years, he was the best hitter in baseball, or one of them, and he labored for a lowly team: the Minnesota Twins. In 1977, the Twins finished fourth in their division. Carew was voted the league’s Most Valuable Player. Also, he was an All-Star for 18 seasons in a row.
Fittingly, in my book.
Sorry, Sir Charles!
• At some point, people began to say “actor” for both men and women — no more “actress.” This can lead to confusion. Let me give you an example.
I’m reading this article, about a “new book of Hollywood secrets.” Early on, the article says that Marlon Brando was “seated next to a 19-year-old Italian actor, Sophia Loren.” So we know that “actor” is going to cover both men and women in this article.
Later, we get this passage:
The agents remember Shelley Winters becoming “violently jealous” when she discovered her husband, Vittorio Gassman, was playing “hanky-panky” with another actor in his dressing room . . .
Um . . . what flavor? With whom — with what — was Gassman playing? Modern use of the word “actor” deprives you of that knowledge!
• In Carnegie Hall, Riccardo Muti conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a program of Bellini, Verdi, and Tchaikovsky — with an encore by Giuseppe Martucci. It was a memorable, touching evening. For my review, go here.
And I thank you, Impromptus-ites. Catch you later.
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