A reader got a kick out of how GM is describing its bankruptcy. He sent me a letter from a company vice president, a letter that included this instant classic: “As you may know, GM is using an expedited, court-supervised process to accelerate the reinvention of our company.” Lovely! And happy reinvention! ‐Another reader asked me how I felt about Reverend Wright’s talking ’bout “them Jews.” I liked it — for this reason: It is often helpful to hear people talk in public the same way they do in private. Reverend Wright is letting it all hang out. And a candid personality is better, I think, than a pretend one — as a rule. (You and I can think of exceptions, no doubt.) Remember when Mel Gibson was arrested and went on that anti-Jew rant? In vino veritas, many of us said. Well, Reverend Wright doesn’t need vino, it seems, to express himself sincerely. Oh, well. ‐Several readers have sent me a letter from the CEO of Orbitz, the travel company. The CEO is campaigning for unrestricted travel to Cuba, saying, “At Orbitz we believe passionately in the power of travel to transform lives. And we believe that people should have the freedom to travel wherever they choose.” I wonder whether he believes that that applies to Cubans too. When they try to travel, they are shot, right there in the water. It has happened many times. The CEO further says, “Americans today have the right to travel to any country in the world except Cuba.” And he is petitioning the government “to end the 50-year Cuba travel ban and give all Americans the freedom to travel to Cuba.” Fine, fine. But do Americans know about “tourism apartheid” in Cuba? There are separate hotels, restaurants, stores, beaches, medical facilities, etc., for foreigners. Ordinary Cubans aren’t allowed in those places — only specially vetted ones, which is to say, politically safe ones. Foreigners are pretty well segregated. They sip mojitos on beaches, perhaps indulge in underage prostitution (a reason that many, many foreigners go there). I have a Cuban-American friend who visited the island a few years ago; his cousin was not allowed into the lobby of my friend’s hotel — because he, the cousin, was Cuban. What I am saying is that there are considerations — considerations beyond a pat “right to travel.” Consider another consideration (and I apologize for sounding like Dr. Seuss or something): Do tourist dollars go into the regime’s pocket, or into the pockets of ordinary Cubans? And if tourism aids the regime, giving it oxygen, to continue its persecution — is tourism quite moral? Or are questions of morality laughable here? Again, don’t be pat. And remember that people all over the world have traveled to Cuba, for many years. This tourism has helped sustain the regime, in the wake of the Soviet sponsor’s demise. The Orbitz CEO asserts that all this is simply a matter of rights — your sacred right to travel. But sensitive people take in a bigger picture. People always say that the U.S. embargo on Cuba has not “worked.” That is the word you always hear: “worked.” “Has not worked.” I once asked a Cuban dissident about this (René Montes de Oca). He said, in essence, “Your policy may not have brought down the regime. But at least you can be proud that, unlike most countries, you have not helped the regime.” I have no doubt that the U.S. embargo will be ended, soon. The pressures on it are too great. But it was an honorable thing. Castro and the Communists ranted against it for years. Some of us asked, “If the Communists are so hot against it, can it be so bad? Don’t they know their own interests?” But American opponents of the embargo said, “They’re lying. They pretend to hate the embargo, but secretly they like it, and need it.” Maybe. Maybe not. Anyway, the die seems to be cast, and we must hope for the best. If you go to Cuba, you will not be able to visit any political prisoners, even if you were so inclined. But the beaches are nice, and the hookers are very, very young. By the way, why would anyone want to visit a totalitarian state (I mean, besides preteen hookers)? (And can’t they be procured elsewhere?) Why would anyone want to visit a state that no inhabitant is allowed to leave? Strange, people’s desires. ‐Five minutes ago, I received an e-mail from yet another reader concerning the Orbitz letter. This reader wrote the company, to protest its travel-to-Cuba thrust. And he got a reply — which he shared with me. This reply reads, in part, “Orbitz simply believes that travel can be a catalyst for improved relations between our nations . . .” Does he mean governments? Why should there be improved relations with that dictatorship? You can side with the dictatorship or you can side with people — it’s very difficult to do both. And wouldn’t it be nice if Orbitz said something, anything, about Cubans’ right to travel? It’s one thing to live under an absolute dictatorship. But these people can’t even vote with their feet, and try someplace else. Orbitz seems to pretend that Americans are the persecuted ones — unable to travel to Cuba. Boo-hoo. But here is what I need to tell you: The way the Orbitz guy signed himself? I mean, the guy who replied to my reader? Here ’tis:

Sincerely,
Che
OrbitzTLC Team

Seriously. ‐I saw an item in the news, which piqued my interest: “The Democratic National Committee launched a feature on its Web site called ‘Sign Judge Sotomayor’s Virtual Cast,’ where supporters can leave a note for the judge, who broke her ankle in an airport stumble Monday.” Interesting, the involvement of one of the political parties with a Supreme Court nominee. Years ago, you were petrified to “politicize” the process — the process of confirming a Supreme Court nominee. That was the killer word: “politicization.” And that was the reason the Reagan White House and the Republicans did not respond, when Bob Bork was going through hell. (They responded way, way late.) They did not want to be accused of “politicizing” the process. A Supreme Court nomination was supposed to be above that — sort of like the Court itself. But that was a long time ago. Look, I know it seems perfectly innocent to wish a gal well, when she has broken her ankle. Still, what the DNC has done: interesting, broadly viewed. ‐Last week, some of us from NR swung through the Midwest, meeting NR readers and supporters at various events. Was such a pleasure. We started in Madison, Wis. — where some 130 people turned out one evening! Did you know there were that many conservatives in Madison? Several people said that, if a bomb happened to go off . . . Madison is one of the citadels of the Left, along with my dear hometown, Ann Arbor, Mich. Many people have remarked on their similarities. But you know one big difference? Madison is far prettier (sorry, homies). It doesn’t hurt to have two beautiful lakes and an exceptionally beautiful state capitol. Our hosts on that evening included Peder Moren, a sterling Norwegian American, with inspiring things to say, and Phil Stark — not a Norwegian (to my knowledge), but inspiring. He is a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge. Something, to have survived that battle. I also met a couple of people who had run for office, on the Republican line — and it was pretty gutsy to run in such a forbidding environment. We need such people — people willing to stick their necks out, to be in the arena, rather than merely on the sidelines. Such candidates offer the voters a choice: You may get whomped, but at least they have a choice. You have not left the ballot one-sided. One of the candidates I met — former candidates — is a history prof at the University of Wisconsin. A conservative on that faculty? You betcha, and a joyous thing, too. From Madison, we drove to Milwaukee, to the Bradley Foundation — that great purveyor of conservative philanthropy. A beautiful institution deserves beautiful headquarters — which Bradley has, in the form of a stately, elegant old home. Lunch was at the University Club, which is not so shabby itself. And neither are NR’s Milwaukee readers, gratifying, like our readers all over. Lake Michigan looks marvelous down south, too — in Chicago, where we met readers in a swell apartment, high above the city. Out one window you could see the Tribune building; out another you could see the Sun-Times building. You could see pretty much everything else, too. And I heard funny tales of Obama working out at a nearby gym. The next night, we were up even higher — on the 96th floor of the Hancock Center, where Lake Michigan seems to run forever. Many kind and enthusiastic readers showed up — and I was quite interested to meet Phil Neal, the former dean of the University of Chicago Law School. Tell you a couple of things about him. He is Harvard College, Class of 1940. Same class as JFK. Knew JFK — served on the Union Committee together, meaning they were responsible for parties and so on. (Social parties, that is — not political ones.) Did you need some girls for a party? Well, Joe Kennedy had theaters, and you could go pick them up . . . Once, Neal ran against JFK for student council, and shellacked him. Time magazine later reported that this was the only election JFK ever lost. It was interesting to look at and converse with Dean Neal and realize that, if he were with us now, President Kennedy would be the same age. He seems forever mid-forties, as you know. Neal clerked for Justice Robert Jackson, famous for saying that the Constitution is not “a suicide pact.” Neal describes him as a very smart, very warm and delightful man — and a good old-school liberal. The kind of liberal who would be called a flaming conservative now, I feel sure. His great rival on the Court was Hugo Black — not a lot of love lost there. Dean Neal will celebrate his 90th birthday soon. Looks 15 years younger, in my estimation. His wife related to me a story: Neal once taught at Stanford Law, and he was back recently for a reunion. Spotting his name tag, someone said, “Are you any relation to Professor Neal?” I guess this alum wasn’t expecting him, in the flesh. A final, sappy word: I have traveled a fair amount, and have seen my share of lakes and oceans, I suppose. But I guess Lake Michigan will always be “my” body of water — the one that loomed largest, as I was “coming up.” It was good to see it, and fired — if water can fire — some memories. ‐Dear readers, I should wrap up. I have many items more, but I have gone on for a while — did not mean to spend so much time on Cuba. (Got riled up.) Few more items? Sort of quickies? Okay. Want to publish a letter having to do with language:

Greetings, Mr. Nordlinger –
I was just having a late-night read of your Impromptus in the call room of the trauma center I work in. The word “snuck” brought a smile to my face. In the past few months, I have come to learn that the word has taken on a new meaning in inner cities. When someone is assaulted, beaten up, and arrives in our ED, we ask what happened. The word “jumped” has been completely replaced by the word “snuck.” One no longer gets jumped and beaten by five or six guys. One gets snuck. “Snuck,” from my understanding, involves both the assault and the battery.
Last week, I was talking to a stabilized stabbing victim. He was describing how his assailant had come from the rear and begun stabbing him, giving him no chance to react. I stopped him. “Ah, so you got snuck.” His eyes got big. “Yeah, man, I got snuck, big-time. Huge.” Fortunately I had my mask on, because I was smiling hard.

‐A cute-kid story? I haven’t had one of those in a while. You must forgive me. According to my mother, my seven-year-old nephew was looking at a bunch of pictures his parents had gathered. He spotted a picture of me and Sarah Palin, taken in 2007 during NR’s Alaska cruise. My nephew exclaimed, “Look, there’s Uncle Jay with Hillary Clinton!” Um . . . ‐Finally, want to share a link with you — a YouTube clip. A colleague sent it to me. It features Magda Olivero, the Italian soprano. She was born in 1910. And this performance took place two months ago. Here is the clip (and the music starts at about 3:40). Magda Olivero had one of the longest careers of any singer ever. Still, this is kind of — amazing. P.S. You know one thing I love about this event — this video? After Olivero is done speaking, and about to sing, someone — quite properly — offers to take her microphone away. But Magda keeps it — apparently thinking she needs it! Even so, I’m sort of surprised that her pride allowed her to keep that mic. Anyway . . . thanks, and see you!

#JAYBOOK#