As usual, my Impromptus column today has a slew of issues and personalities. The personalities include Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbard, Mike Lee, Bono, Rishi Sunak, Sacheen Littlefeather, Babs Costello — and the marvelous Lucianne Goldberg. Go here.
Yesterday, I had a piece about Ash Carter, who passed away on Monday. A reader writes,
At one point — I’m thinking this was some time around 2010 — I was part of a team involved in promoting the sale of a weapons system in the Middle East. . . .
We had a three-day meeting, the highlight of which was an appearance by Ash Carter, who was then the under secretary of defense for A.T.L. — Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. The meeting room seemed oversized for the group of 30 or so. The joke was that the extra room was so that all the egos could fit.
These 30 people were used to thinking of themselves as the smartest person in the room. The minute that Under Secretary Carter opened his mouth, though, you could sense all of them being disabused of this notion and the room feeling oversized after all.
In an Impromptus column last week, I spoke of Mitt Romney, and the independent, often lonely, path he has forged. One reader reaction: “Poster child for warmongering, globalist RINO.” A different reader writes,
Hi, Jay:
I have voted to elect Mitt Romney president three times: 2012, 2016, 2020. I may get the opportunity to make it four.
That would put me in the same class as my mom, who voted four times for Al Smith.
In 1928.
Well, maybe not quite the same.
Priceless.
Also in that column last week, I spoke of state flowers, state birds, state songs, state dinosaurs . . . Massachusetts has just declared a state dinosaur (a “swift-footed lizard”). A reader from my home state writes,
Michigan’s state bird is the robin. How namby-pamby. Everyone’s state bird is the robin! We have the Kirtland’s warbler, a bird that is unique to Michigan and ought to be our state bird.
Finally, here is a note from a friend and reader, who says,
Drove to Pennsylvania [from Georgia]. Over 1200 miles round trip and saw but a single political billboard — a cryptic “Vote NO on 2” in Knoxville. However, every single radio station along the way has political ads.
A report from the road — literally. My thanks to one and all.