On the U.S.–Canada turmoil, stock-market politics, nuclear proliferation, a scandal in Norway, ballerinas and food, William Butler Yeats, and more
A headline in the Wall Street Journal reads, “After 150 Years of Friendship, the U.S. and Canada Come to Blows.” The subheading: “Tariff threats and talk of making Canada the 51st state have unleashed rancor and instability into one of the world’s most powerful partnerships.” That article is here.
America is a “bottom-up” society, I have often heard — not a “top-down” society. We are a nation of free and independent people. Cranky individualists, even. There are 340 million of us, from sea to shining sea. The president? He is but one person, who heads one branch of the federal government.
But he is so important. I used to bristle when people said, “The president sets the tone.” How can one man do that, in a “bottom-up” society, with people going about their various businesses, every day? But it’s true: The president sets the tone, or can. Leadership is terribly important (for good or ill). Leaders sway. Leaders can set the temperature of even a country such as the United States.
Do Americans in general feel a hostility to Canada? Do we now regard our “friendly neighbor to the north” as a maple menace? Well, people follow their leader. And lots and lots of people follow President Trump.
Consider this, too: If a demagogue can whip up animosity toward even a liberal democracy such as Canada, what can’t a demagogue do? If he can make Canada into a bogey, what can’t he do?
The receptivity of people to demagoguery is an old, sad story, analyzed at least as far back as the Greeks.
Donald Trump is belligerent toward Canada and tender toward Putin’s Russia. This is an extraordinary pass in our national life.
• “We’re gonna take in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs and we’re gonna become so rich you’re not gonna know where to spend all that money.” So said President Trump. It sounds great. When do we start?
• More from our president:
There are many, many smart Republicans out there. (Some of them are among my closest friends.) Can any of them defend this?
• Over the years, I have sometimes said that two of my greatest wishes for the country are (1) Biblical literacy and (2) economic literacy. I thought of this — both wishes — when reading a statement on tariffs by a vice president of Liberty University: “Trump’s going for reciprocity, which is basically the Golden Rule. Whatever you do to us, we’re going to do to you.”
• Lara Trump, recently the co-chairman of the Republican National Committee, said, “People ought to be kissing the feet of Elon Musk and Donald Trump.” Um, no-thanks, babe.
• The stock market has plunged. If you have checked your 401(k) lately — you may be sorry you did. But remember the rule: If your party is in the White House and the stock market is down, the stock market is no indicator of anything. “We’re for Main Street, not Wall Street!” If the stock market is up, however, that is proof of the economic wisdom and good stewardship of your party.
• Eons ago, two of our country’s great concerns were (1) the V-chip and (2) midnight basketball. Swear. These were big topics of conversation and debate.
• Everyone has a “sob story.” I know that no one likes a “sob story.” Well, here’s a “sob story”: “U.S. citizen child recovering from brain cancer deported to Mexico with undocumented parents.” That’s the headline. Here’s the subheading: “The Texas family was on their way to an emergency medical checkup, they said, when they were detained at an immigration checkpoint.” For the article, go here.
To many, this will give no pause. I know the type, you know the type. TV blowhards, social-media warriors, professional “commenters.” But others — even supporters of broad deportation, I think — will be given pause.
• Another headline: “Iran, China and Russia launch annual joint naval drills as Trump upends Western alliances.” (Article here.) That is an axis of you-know-what, and should concentrate the mind.
• This is mind-concentrating, too: “President Duda calls on U.S. to place nuclear weapons in Poland.” (Article here.) I was discussing this recently, citing a podcast I did with Ash Carter. If the U.S. furls its umbrella, others will scramble to get one. There will be nuclear proliferation. We could be in for very tense times, tenser even than now.
• On the bench of the Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett cast a vote that piqued many Republicans. Kevin D. Williamson wrote about this here. President Trump defended Barrett. And I recalled a rally he held in Pennsylvania last September.
He was talking about Supreme Court justices and other judges. “It should be illegal, what happens,” he said. “These people should be put in jail, the way they talk about our judges and our justices, trying to get them to sway their vote, sway their decision.”
It is still legal to criticize justices and judges (luckily for the people who blasted Barrett).
• From the Associated Press: “Cheating scandal shocks ski jumping, topples Olympic champions and shakes Norway’s lofty reputation.” (Article here.) I have spent a fair amount of time in Norway and have written quite a bit about that country and its ethos. Cheating is indeed an offense unto Norwegianness. As a rule, they value fair play.
One of the offenders said, “We regret it like dogs, and I’m terribly sorry that this happened.” A truly Norwegian response.
• Let’s pause for a language item. A sentence from the above-cited article reads, “What has emerged involves team officials manipulating pre-approved and microchipped suits to increase their size and improve aerodynamics to help athletes fly further.”
“Farther”/“further” is an old debate. But normally we fly farther and discuss further, right? I suppose, if we have taken several flights already, and are taking yet more, we can fly further.
You’re not dizzy, are you?
• For my money, this does not sound very British, as I conceive “British”: “Communal sweating in saunas is the hottest wellness trend taking over the UK.” The sauna master says to the customers, “Now try finding someone and sit back to back with them. Or, if you want, maintain eye contact with the person sitting next to you.” Hmmm — diff’rent strokes for diff’rent folks.
(To read the article in question, go here.)
• Very interesting is this one: “Fluttering arms, aching calves, bursting lungs: ‘Swan Lake’ is a ballerina’s Mount Everest.” I particularly like a section on food. Miriam Miller, a ballerina,
laughs when hearing the anecdote that actor Natalie Portman, prepping for her “Black Swan” movie role, subsisted on carrots and almonds to get in ballerina shape.
In real life, dancing that role without serious fueling? “She would have been dead on the floor,” Miller said.
To fuel her own body, Miller carbo-loaded like a marathoner and took electrolytes and energy supplements ahead of the performance. During the show itself, she snacked on a peanut butter protein bar and a banana.
Other ballerinas keep bananas handy too, according to the article. I thought of Jack Nicklaus — who, at the turn, habitually ate a banana. (“At the turn” means after the ninth hole, of 18, and before the tenth.)
I’m sure he liked bananas. I think they had the right nutritional value. But the most important thing, I bet, is that it was easy to throw a banana in a bag and eat it. Apples, you have to wash (or at least rub down). Oranges are so messy . . .
• “Former Texas megachurch pastor indicted in Oklahoma on child sexual abuse charges.” (Article here.) Am I cynical or is this dog-bites-man?
• In recent days, I have thought of a poem by Yeats: “To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Nothing.” Here is a portion:
. . . how can you compete,
Being honor bred, with one
Who were it proved he lies
Were neither shamed in his own
Nor in his neighbors’ eyes
• Two women were talking in Central Park. This is what I overheard: “He married a second time. And then a third. With that wife, he quickly had two children. Now he is on his fourth wife. And guess what? She is the daughter of the second wife!”
• Let’s end on something nicer. Outside a school, in New York, some Girl Scouts were selling cookies. There was another girl — younger — at the side of the table, eager to tell me what kinds of cookies were available. One of the older girls said, “Hey, you’re not in Girl Scouts!” The younger girl said, “I know. I’m an intern.”
Loved that.
This was my choice, natch:
Thank you for joining me, Impromptus-ites. (We’ve been doin’ this since March 2001!) I’ll check you later.
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