What is it about the Czech Republic and straight talk? The country’s president, Václav Klaus, is pretty much the number-one straight-talker in the world (for example, on global warming, and on the financial crisis now engulfing us). But the Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolánek, isn’t bad either. Here is what he recently told the European Parliament: “The U.S. is repeating mistakes from the 1930s, such as wide-ranging stimuluses, protectionist tendencies and appeals, the Buy American campaign, and so on. All these steps, their combination and their permanency, are the road to hell.” Another way to put that is: the road to serfdom. We have met Mr. Topolánek before — in this column, I mean. Do you remember? In a series on the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, I wrote the following: “Couple of weeks ago, Topolánek announced that he would not attend the opening ceremony — he would, however, travel to Beijing, to support Czech athletes. During the press conference in which he made this announcement, he wore a Tibetan-flag pin on his lapel. That took real cheek. Beijing was livid, saying that no official would meet with Topolánek.” What an admirable man. Would officials of the Obama administration meet with him? ‐Yesterday, some colleagues and I were talking about Notre Dame — its invitation to President Obama, and the ruckus that has ensued. Many Domers are upset that their school invited, as commencement speaker, a leader who is robustly pro-abortion. And who has declared fetal stem cells open for business (basically). Other people say, “Well, he’s president after all.” Yes, he is president after all. I don’t care to pronounce on the Notre Dame controversy at the moment. I just want to share a memory. Nineteen eighty-six was the 350th anniversary of Harvard. And it was traditional to invite presidents to speak, and to receive an honorary degree, on the big anniversaries. But there was a problem in 1986: Reagan was president. And, boy, did they hate Reagan. So, no president. Prince Charles instead (sans Di — to whom he was married). Thank you for indulging this lil’ walk down Memory Lane. ‐It seems that Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, is incapable of refraining from extreme language — when he is talking about Republicans, that is. I did a piece on him recently for National Review (“The Democrats’ Senate Scrapper,” issue of March 9). I quoted him on Bush: “I think his efforts to destroy Social Security were very bad”; and “He’s done his very best to destroy Medicare.” As I commented in my article, Bush himself might have a different interpretation of his attempted reforms of those programs. In any case, Reid is back at it again. The other day, he was talking about the “nuclear option,” which has to do with the confirmation of judicial nominees. He said, “The nuclear option is only one of the things the Republicans in power at that time did or tried to do to ruin our country.” Yup, that was the Republicans’ intent, all right: to ruin our country. You know, you can’t really complain when a lout in a bar talks this way. You probably can’t even complain when a blogger talks this way. But the majority leader of the U.S. Senate? Is a little more sanity or temperance too much to ask? And why aren’t Democrats embarrassed by his extreme remarks? ‐Every once in a while, you think there might be a chance for Middle East peace — by which I mean, peace between Palestinians and Israelis. And then you learn of something and you think, “No way.” I had one of those moments earlier this week: “JENIN, West Bank (AP) — Authorities in an impoverished Palestinian refugee camp have shut down a youth orchestra, boarded up its rehearsal studio and banned its conductor from the camp after she took 13 young musicians to perform for Holocaust survivors in Israel.” Will the hatred and lunacy ever drain from the Palestinians? Will they ever agree to coexist with the Israelis? (“Ever,” I grant you, is a long time. But it has been a long time already . . .) ‐You may have read about this Muslim list — a list described in this report: “In a bid to get more Muslim Americans working in the Obama administration, a book with resumes of 45 of the nation’s most qualified — Ivy League grads, Fortune 500 executives and public servants, all carefully vetted — has been submitted to the White House.” I myself find this incredibly creepy — and I am even tempted to reach for that toxic McCarthyite word, “un-American.” But it is also very, very modern — and the way America is going. Will they ever get around to lists of Jews? Or is that too creepy even for today’s “progressives”? There is a persistent belief that radical Muslims hate us because we have done something bad to them: misunderstood them, injured them in some other way. And as long as that belief persists, America and the West will have a very hard time in what used to be known — until a couple of minutes ago, when the Obama administration went aggressively euphemistic — as the War on Terror. (Of course, many people regarded “War on Terror” as euphemistic itself.) ‐There has been a little debate in recent weeks — and, in coming years, it will probably become a bigger debate: Will Americans accept the Europeanization of their country? Will Americans fall into Europeanness — leftism, social democracy? Or will they insist on their peculiarity, their exceptionalism? The debate has me thinking about the British, a little. About how quickly they became — not so British. Think of the “Metric Martyr.” This was a man, a greengrocer, who gave his customers a choice: Either they could buy their goods according to metric weights and measures — liters, grams, and so on — or they could buy them according to British weights and measures: gallons, ounces, and the like. The man (Steve Thoburn) was prosecuted and convicted. It was illegal to sell according to the British system. I asked David Pryce-Jones, who was at home in London, “How could the British people let this happen? I mean, it’s their system!” And he said, in essence, “The question is whether the British people still live here.” Think, too, of the Iranian hostage-taking two years ago. You may remember the behavior of those British sailors and marines. It was so — so very, very un-British. And just this January, I was in London when they had a snowfall — ten inches, or something like that. No big deal. Certainly not a blizzard. And the buses stopped running. Even the Tube stopped running. I was talking with a senior British intellectual, and he said, “Look, I’m not a nostalgist, and I don’t think the good old days were necessarily all that good, in many respects. But even during the Blitz the buses kept running.” What had happened to Britain, and to the British? He also talked about the new reign of the health-and-safety inspectors. These are Nanny State agents, poking their noses into every nook and cranny of life. For example, they insisted on carpeting the dance floor of a recreational center. Someone might slip and fall. So — no more dancing. And my friend told me the following joke: How many health-and-safety inspectors does it take to change a light bulb? None, it’s too dangerous. Okay, enough with my anecdotes, or special instances. All God’s chillen got anecdotes and special instances. All I’m saying is: The character of a people is not fixed forever. And that includes, I am sure, the American people. And when the rot sets in: It can do its work with astounding speed. ‐Above, I was talking about that Palestinian youth orchestra — which was shut down, after they soiled the Palestinian name by playing for Holocaust survivors in Israel. And I was saying how incredibly discouraging such news can be: It may make you think that peace can never come to that region. I was put in mind of another instance — this one in 2001 (summer of). A suicide bomber blew up all those people in that Sbarro in Jerusalem — 15 people died, including seven children; well over 100 were injured. And Bir Zeit University had an exhibition devoted to this — Bir Zeit being “the Harvard of the Palestinians.” There was a diorama of some sort, showing the Sbarro: Body parts were strewn all about, and pizza slices. And the students and faculty paraded by this, reverentially. They were admiring the work of the terrorist. And I thought, “These are the best and brightest of the Palestinians. How can . . . How can . . .?” But this is an old, old story. ‐Would you like Impromptus via RSS, so you can reliably receive such cheer as I am delivering in this column? Go here. ‐On Thursday of last week, Mitzi Perdue hosted an event for the Friends of The New Criterion. And a splendid event it was. Mitzi has a 30th-floor apartment overlooking Central Park, and more. I spent the first part of the evening gawking out the window: “Oh, that’s where I live!” Her husband was Frank Perdue, of Perdue Farms. He was the Chicken King. And he was one of the most compelling people I have ever seen in television commercials. (“It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken.”) As for his wife, she is, as I told the gathering last week, my favorite Mitzi since Gaynor. I spoke about the music world — various issues within. And if you care to hear this talk, The New Criterion has a webcast, here. Like NR, TNC is a wonderful thing to support, and to read. ‐Did I mention television ads? Let me leave you with an amazingly gutsy one — it comes from Honda. It shows a huge throng chanting “Death to Israel, death to Israel!” No, not on an American college campus; in the Middle East. And Honda’s tagline is, “Less fuel, less money for terror. Switch to a hybrid car.” I’ve never been high on hybrid cars. But . . . Here’s the commercial, and I’ll see you later. ‐Oops, speaking of commercials: #JAYBOOK#