I have an Impromptus column today, leading with a comment on democracy. In a column of his own, Pat Buchanan wrote about Donald Trump and the legitimacy of the 2016 election. He said, admiringly, that “the populist-nationalist right” was “moving beyond the niceties of liberal democracy.” One paragraph from me:

Around the world, there are many, many places that lack the “niceties of liberal democracy.” You don’t want to live there. You would quickly discover that the niceties are more like necessities — a rule of law necessary to live a good, decent, and free life.

I also write about the perceptions of this very peculiar political year: “How did Paul Ryan of Janesville, Wis., come to stand for the ‘elites,’ while Donald J. Trump of Trump Tower, on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, came to stand for ‘the people’ or ‘the electorate’?”

Speaking of Trump Tower, I have a vignette in this column, set at that very site. Et cetera. Impromptus is the usual mélange.

Here on the Corner, I wanted to say a word about the photo accompanying the column. It shows the Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington, D.C., which is a replica of the “Goddess of Democracy,” fashioned by the students in Tiananmen Square (1989). I met the sculptor, Thomas Marsh. He is a longtime NR subscriber. He waived his fee in the sculpting of this memorial — he just wanted to do it.