On Trump and Trumpism; human guardrails; a South American dictator; a musical ‘point of light’; and more
Lately, there have been articles about anti-Trump conservatives and whether they have failed. These are good articles, too. I could write an article myself — maybe a long one. I can also state my view in a quick note.
I think people should say what they think. They should act according to their highest sense of right. Their views and their actions may be popular or unpopular. So what? “I never promised you a rose garden,” goes an old song. Or a Rose Garden.
Does might make right? No. Neither does popularity. (And popularity can be a form of might.)
I have a recollection of 2020, the general election. In the weeks leading up to that election, some people said to me, “Boy, are you going to be vindicated, because Trump’s gonna lose.” Others said, “Boy, are you gonna have egg on your face, because Trump’s gonna win again.”
I did not really understand either camp. My political views, and other views, have nothing to do with their popularity or unpopularity. (Some of the views I hold are popular; some are un-.) Say Trump and Trumpism had 90 percent support. So what? Say they had 10 percent support. So what?
Bill Clinton was elected twice. Barack Obama was elected twice. I never thought, “Oh, well: Vox populi, vox Dei” — “The voice of the people is the voice of God.” (This is one of the pet phrases of Elon Musk, on X.)
Moreover, I’m a writer, not a politician or operative. I often think of Charles Krauthammer, in a 2013 interview: “You’re betraying your whole life if you don’t say what you think — and you don’t say it honestly and bluntly.”
In an e-mail to me (2017), Charles said, “I must admit that when I write these days I have the feeling that everything I say is so perfectly obvious that there’s no need to write it. Except that these days, that’s all the more reason to write it.”
(I quoted these things in an appreciation of Krauthammer, here.)
Anyway, my promised “quick note” is threatening to turn into an article. And you get my drift.
To those “old conservatives” who may be feeling discouraged, I say: I understand. Also: Keep on keepin’ on.
• Question: What kind of man would write such a thing?
TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2025
Answer: A man whom the Republican Party would nominate for president three times in a row, and whom the people would elect twice.
• A very different Republican, and a very different man, is Stephen Richer:
Last day in office.
Pretty fitting to hand the reins over on January 6.
Au revoir!
— Stephen Richer (@stephen_richer) January 5, 2025
Until this month, Richer was an election official in Arizona — an important one. He was the “recorder” of Maricopa County, whose seat is Phoenix. Richer was elected in 2020. He refused to claim that that year’s presidential election was stolen. This resulted in death threats, against him and his family.
Despite these threats, he ran for reelection last year (and lost in the Republican primary, of course).
In April 2024, I did a podcast with Richer, here. After his defeat in July, I wrote an article about him, here.
Over the past decade or so, we have all heard a lot about “guardrails” — the rails that keep our republic from . . . well, going off the rails. I have learned that these are not laws written on paper. They are human beings — flesh and blood — willing to do the right thing, willing to obey and enforce the law, especially under pressure.
Stephen Richer was a guardrail.
In that tweet I pasted, above, he said, “Au revoir,” rather than “Adieu.” Good. I hope he will be back in the public arena, somehow, someday.
• Mike Pence was a guardrail too — a human guardrail. He proved so on January 6, 2021. He had a choice: obey Trump and the mob, or obey the Constitution and the rule of law. He chose the latter.
“Well, anything else would have been treasonous!” you might claim. I would not disagree with you. Still, in the circumstances, Pence did a gutsy thing, and we owe him.
This time around, Trump will not be encumbered by such a vice president. He, and the GOP, made sure of it.
• If you want a mini-lesson in politics, you could do worse than this obit, by Claire Moses in the New York Times. Its opening sentence: “Desi Bouterse, the brutal former dictator turned populist president of Suriname who was convicted of murdering some of his political opponents, has died.” Truly, the life and career of Bouterse are instructive.
• The first President Bush spoke of “points of light”: civil-society organizations, dotting our land (and brightening it). I’m not sure that he had artistic organizations in mind — but I know he would not object to my calling the Piedmont Chamber Orchestra a “point of light.”
I heard it in Spartanburg, S.C., on Sunday. This is an orchestra composed of high-school students and professionals. They sit next to one another, to the great benefit of the students, and the enjoyment of audiences. The PCO was founded by Mary Irwin and some colleagues of hers. Ms. Irwin serves as the concertmistress of the orchestra.
“Concertmistress” is a terribly old-fashioned word, and some people don’t like it. I think it is a beautiful word. I may wind up as the last user of it . . .
I heard a concert featuring the music of Arthur Foote, George Gershwin, Bruce Broughton, and Radamés Gnattali. The last two, I had never heard of. I am pleased to make their acquaintance.
Nathaniel Hill was the soloist in a guitar concerto by Gnattali. Nate is one of three sons in a family very dear to me. He played an encore: his own arrangement of “Over the Rainbow.”
Let me tell you something about the family of Radamés Gnattali. His parents named him after a character in Verdi’s opera Aida. They had two other children named after characters in Verdi operas: Ernani and (yes) Aida.
Let me tell you something about the family of Rafael Trujillo. (I’m speaking of the dictator of the Dominican Republic. Ghastly man. One of the worst.) He had two sons named after characters in Aida: Rhadamés and Ramfis.
Enough operatic trivia . . .
(You may be slightly confused about spelllings. The Verdi character — an Egyptian warrior in an Italian libretto — is “Radamès.” The Gnattalis were an Italian family living in Brazil. Their son’s name has the accent going the other way: “Radamés.” And in the Dominican Republic . . .)
(Now I’m dizzy.)
• Speaking of Aida: The Metropolitan Opera staged this work on New Year’s Eve, in a new production. For my review, go here.
• A little language? In my skim of the media the other night, I saw “reticent” three or four times. In each instance, the writer meant “reluctant.” So many people use “reticent” when they mean “reluctant,” I think that “reticent” may come to mean “reluctant,” one day. In our language, majority rules — whether we like it or not.
Everyone knows that language evolves. Here’s my problem: “Reticent” is a good and useful word. If you take it away, making it a synonym of “reluctant,” what are you going to give me in place of “reticent”? See what I mean?
I don’t object to the evolution of English. Rather, I object to its shrinkage.
• Let’s turn to sports — and to the Detroit Lions, in particular. They — I want to say “we” — have finished the regular season 15–2. To those who know NFL history, this is . . . amazing. Shocking. And, for us Michiganders, shockingly wonderful. Thank you, guys. You have given all of us a shot in the arm. Onward.
• I often say about music that is very familiar — overly familiar — “It’s not its fault it’s hackneyed! It never asked to be hackneyed!” So it is with poetry. I was reminded last week that “Ring Out, Wild Bells” (Tennyson) is not only an excellent New Year’s poem. It is an excellent poem.
Here.
• On New Year’s morning, I was greeted in a subway station with “Happy new year, OG.” (“OG” stands for “original gangster.”) “Happy new year,” I returned, giving him a fist bump. “From one OG to another.” We exchanged pleasantries and platitudes. Then he asked me for $3.11 — a very specific sum.
In any event: Happy new year to all OGs and others. Talk to you again soon.
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