Many thanks to the readers — more than 20 — who e-mailed in to say how

much they liked seeing me on Washington Journal yesterday morning. Even this

guy:

“Dear Mr. Derbyshire—I have been a fan of your National Review pieces for

a couple of years. I was very impressed with your performance on Washington

Journal this morning. Although you are slightly older than my own father,

you are one of the coolest guys in the conservative world! Having said

that, please allow for a good natured critique. Please lose that jacket!!

Although it may look fantastic in person, it was distracting to the

television viewer. Other than that, I enjoyed your entire appearance and

hope for your continued success!”

I will grudgingly agree that the jacket — a loud English country-style

sports jacket — may have been a mistake. (How loud? One of my friends

commented once about this jacket, that if I wore it while standing between

two parallel mirrors, I would lase. Sorry, that’s a physics joke.) I’m

just rather attached to it.

There is a follow-up story on the jacket. After C-SPAN, I went to a New Criterion lunch for the British philosopher

Roger Scruton, who is visiting these shores. Roger was wearing a jacket

EXACTLY like mine. After his address, he took some questions (there were 30

or so of us at the lunch). In a lull in the questions I put up my hand and

said: “Roger, I’d just like to apologize for wearing your jacket.”

As well as the charm and interest of Roger’s own address, I had the ggod

fortune to be sitting opposite his wife Sophie, an exceptionally beautiful

woman, in the pure “English rose” style — one of those women who look

stunning with no make-up on at all. Maybe there’s something to be said for

this philosophy business…

In the train going home, read about half of Roger’s book THE WEST AND THE

REST. Some terrific insights on Islam.