. . . and I don’t claim that what I have to say is worth more. A lot of conservatives — American conservatives — aren’t very excited about the British election. They think the Cameronized Tories are hardly worth electing. I myself have long been hard on the Cameroons, those me-tooists. And that begins with the chief Cameroon himself, Dave. When I left an interview — kind of a group interview — of him in Davos a few years ago, I muttered to myself, “I’d vote for Tony instead.” (For Brown, I could not pull the lever — but over Clegg, yes.)
And yet, and yet . . . I find myself looking forward to Cameron’s election, if indeed it occurs. I look forward to seeing what he and his team will do with power. I think we might be pleasantly surprised. I look forward to George Osborne as chancellor of the exchequer. And I really, really look forward to Michael Gove, that brilliant writer, as education secretary (or the Brits’ equivalent of it). He bids fair to be the Bill Bennett of Britain: draining the schools of nonsense and offering young people real learning.
Kids will be memorizing the kings and queens, for heaven’s sake! “Rote” is not necessarily wrong. The history curriculum will be shaped by Andrew Roberts and Simon Schama, among others. While in London not long ago, I saw a news article giving a typical day in a “Gove” school. I thought, “I wish I could enroll kids in such a school.” Then I thought, “Hell, I myself would like to enroll!”
I hope that Britons elect Cameron — and Gove.