So, according to this article, The Rock is going to get into politics. The Rock (actor Dwayne Johnson) says, “Right now, the best way that I can impact the world is through entertainment. One day — and that day will come — I can impact the world through politics.” “Impact” as a verb is here to stay, isn’t it? The Rock adds, “The great news is that I am American: Therefore, I can become president.”

The article doesn’t say whether The Rock is a Democrat or a Republican. I know you can’t judge a book by its cover. But if The Rock is a Democrat — that will be all too disorienting.

‐Like you, I have read a hundred articles on Obamacare and birth control in the last couple of weeks. Evidently, the administration insists that birth control be part of any health-care plan, anywhere. Let me ask an elementary question, and pardon my naivety: Why is birth control health care?

‐A little language: We have a perfectly good English word, “naivety.” But we like to go French, naïveté — which is odd. (And if you’re going to go French, render it correctly, in writing: Put the two dots over the “i,” not just the accent over the final “e.” In for a penny, in for a pound.)

‐I see that Michelle Obama has turned her food activism on the military. The article says, “The Pentagon spends an estimated $4.5 billion a year on food services, and $1.1 billion a year on medical care related to excess weight and obesity.” Holy-moly. Aren’t these guys lean, mean fighting machines? The ones I ordinarily see are. There must be armies out of my sight.

Is our whole nation to sink under the weight of debt and . . . you know, bodies?

‐It has long been clear that a whole mess o’ Guantanamo releasees “return to the fight,” as George W. Bush used to say. One study has found that 27 percent of them do so. (See this article.) I don’t know, strikes me as low . . .

Hang on, wasn’t the Left jumping up and down for years and years about Guantanamo and the need for it to be closed? How come they’re not jumping up and down anymore?

Be sure of one thing: If a Republican is elected in November, they’ll jump again.

‐Can you imagine if a Republican had killed these multitudes by drone?

‐“The Afghan-Pakistan jihad is attracting fewer foreign fighters following the death of Osama bin Laden, the growing threat posed by US drones, and lack of funds, Western security officials say.” (Article here.)

Good.

‐In a column a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned Zhu Yufu, a Chinese democrat and dissident. He wrote a poem, which ends,

It’s time, people of China! It’s time. China belongs to everyone. Of your own will It’s time to choose what China shall be.

Zhu spent from 1999 to 2006 in prison. He has just been sentenced to another seven years. (See this report.) Zhu’s son said, “My father is nearly 60 years old and in poor health — putting him in jail for seven years is too inhumane, too cruel.” One of his lawyers said, “This is politics, not law.”

Bear in mind, prison in China is not prison. Not if you’re a democrat and dissident. Prison is torture.

Think of the likes of Zhu Yufu, as we go about our kissy-face with the rulers in Beijing.

‐This report tells of a Pentecostalist pastor in Cuba, Reutilio Columbie, who was beaten to a pulp and left for dead. Someone found him, and he was rushed to a V. I. Lenin Hospital.

Cuba is a place absolutely pulverized by political violence. You will find it in Orwell, Darkness at Noon, and elsewhere.

‐Ever since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, Iraqi politicians have been maligned in the West. They’re always being picked at or sniggered at, for not being pure enough or brilliant enough.

Okay. Some of them are lousy. But many of them are very brave. They’re targeted for kidnap and murder, for daring to participate in the process. Worse, I’m sure, their wives, children, other relatives, friends, and associates are targeted, too.

Throughout the 2000s, I said, “It’s a wonder any Iraqi ever gets involved in politics. But someone has to, if the country is to make a go of it.”

Last week, I read a news story: “Iraqi police on Thursday found the bound body of Akram al-Daini, brother of Sunni MP Nahida al-Daini, five days after he was kidnapped near Tikrit in central Iraq . . .”

Absolutely commonplace, in that country. What do our own politicians have to worry about? Mean bloggers? Not enough of a payday, once they go lobbyist?

‐I see that John Bolton has co-authored an article with Ed Markey, the longtime congressman from Massachusetts. (Guess which party.) My question: Am I to think less of John or more of Markey? The latter, I’m sure!

‐I noticed something in a speech by Mitt Romney, but first I’d like to excerpt something from an essay I wrote in 2010:

. . . racial taboos constantly hover over us, or at least some of us. I don’t think I would ever describe a black person as “articulate,” even if he were the most articulate person in the world — because that has been a white-condescension word for years. I even balk at referring to a five-year-old black kid as a “boy” — just because of the sting of history.

Romney said, “Barack Obama is the poster child for the arrogance of government.” About Bill Clinton or someone, you might have said “poster boy.” But . . .

Good move.

‐Did you read about this? A judge in Florida has ordered a man to buy a birthday card and flowers for his wife, and then take her to dinner at Red Lobster, followed by bowling.

Hard to think of a more American evening . . .

‐Readers may recall that, about a year and a half ago, I bragged about a young man of my acquaintance, the wunderkind filmmaker Pasquale Greco. I linked to a short film of his — Lake Stacey, which won many fans.

Well, fans, Pasquale’s current project is called The Other Dave. It’s about a man who is struck by lightning, survives, and is different (as you can imagine). True story. Pasquale’s website is here, and a page for The Other Dave is here.

If you like, you can click “Donate to a Filmmaker,” specifying Pasquale, when the process asks for such a specification. Everyone needs a little help, even the most talented. I have donated — as you would expect a cousin to do . . .

‐Care for a little language? I know we’ve already had an item or two, but another won’t kill us. A reader writes, “Fellow Michigander here, Jay. When you were growing up, did you ever notice that people say ‘take for granite’ rather than ‘take for granted’?”

Oh, yes. I’d be embarrassed to tell you how old I was before I discovered the truth . . .

‐I was absolutely charmed by the below letter. It too comes from Michigan. It came in response to something I wrote about vending machines, and how their products have changed over the years (you can now get the “morning after” pill):

My wife and I have a steakhouse in Dearborn we like. Quiet, dark, kind of Fifties old-fashioned. Beef Wellington every day — and a cigarette machine in the foyer. Smoking isn’t permitted in any public building in this state, but I find that machine comforting.

Damned if I don’t know what he means, though I’d be at a loss to articulate it. (Good thing that’s not my profession.)

‐

#JAYBOOK#