Impromptus today is a variety show, traversing politics, policy, Islam, Russia, Seattle, music, and more. Something to please and displease everyone.
I spend a little time anathematizing the ACLU — but I note that Ira Glasser, its onetime head, was a friend of WFB’s. “In fact, it was Glasser who took Bill to the only baseball games he ever attended: a Yankees game and a Mets game. (I think Bill was at each game only very briefly.)”
Here on the Corner, I thought I’d say a little bit more. To one of those games, Glasser made WFB take the subway, in order to have a more “authentic” experience, I suppose. But I’m pretty sure that Bill agreed to take the subway only one way. He went home by his more accustomed means.
And something happened at one of those games, which relates to the nutty fussiness of our age. Quick as he could, Bill went to get a beer. And the girl behind the counter asked for ID. Bill looked at her blankly and said, “I’m 74 years old.”
I remember him saying something else, relating to a nutty security-consciousness (as opposed to the wise kind). After 9/11, he’d enter a building and a guard would say, “Hello, Mr. Buckley, great to see you. Could I see your ID?”
Rules are rules. But sometimes rule-following is strange, or embarrassing.