In Impromptus today, I lead with Phil Mickelson and the Saudi regime. The great golfer played footsie with the Saudis, who are funding a new golf league. The world came down on Phil’s head. Some of the comers-down, no doubt, were upset that Phil told the truth about the Saudis — even as he was playing footsie with them. An interesting case. I also discuss American energy, the meaning of conservatism, our national fear of quiet — must music blare everywhere? — and other things.
My latest Q&A is with Bill Browder — here. Browder is the financier who became a campaigner for justice. I wrote about him in 2018, here. Bill is the driving force behind Magnitsky acts — those laws that allow governments to sanction individual human-rights abusers, rather than whole peoples. The laws are named after Sergei Magnitsky, Bill’s lawyer, who was tortured to death in a Russian prison.
When the U.S. Congress passed the American Magnitsky Act in 2012, Boris Nemtsov was sitting in the gallery. At the time, Nemtsov was the leader of the Russian opposition to Putin, and he would be murdered three years later, within sight of the Kremlin. Sitting in the gallery, in 2012, he remarked, “This is the most pro-Russian law ever enacted by a foreign government.” Congress had furnished a valuable tool against the brutes ruling Russia.
Bill Browder has risked his life to take on Putin. He is an extraordinary man who has done a great good thing in the world. For years, he has tried to alert the West to the dangers posed by Putin. For years, he has tried to get the world to hold Putin to account. Many are at last waking up (even as Ukrainians are being bombed). Some people never will.
Last week, I wrote about a delicate question: the relation between Putin’s assault on Ukraine and the artistic world. Some Russian artists are having their contracts canceled in the West. Some are being asked to denounce the assault, to keep their contracts. I will write more about this question in the future. For now, I want to report one thing.
Last night, Daniil Trifonov, the Russian pianist, played a recital in Carnegie Hall. Before the recital began, the hall’s director, Sir Clive Gillinson, came out to give a brief speech. He emphasized the difference between Russians artists who are outspoken and unapologetic supporters of Putin and Russian artists in general. Yes, this is crucial.
In my view, presenting organizations ought to go case by case. Guilt by national association is low. Also, the desire to take a moral stand is understandable. These times, more than most, call for discretion, sympathy, and good sense.
All for now.