Prezes and ex-prezes, &c.

On the wrecking of a tradition; CPAC now and before; the fetishization of guns; a ferret named Elizabeth Ann; and more

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Former president Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla., February 28, 2021.

Joe Skipper / Reuters

In the late 1990s, I was mad at George Bush (the first one). Why? I wanted him to speak out against President Clinton and his depredations (as I saw them). His silence irked me. I thought he was gentlemanly to a fault.

“I’m tempted to go off the reservation,” he said at one point. In other words, he was tempted to go ahead and criticize his successor, publicly. But he held his peace. Probably, he was right.

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