THE WEEK

□ R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. has made waves with his suggestion that the countenance of Ronald Reagan be added to Mount Rushmore. Very appealing. It’s against our general policy for members of our board of directors to allow their faces to be chiseled onto Mount Rushmore, but we might make an exception, just this once.

□ As China erupts gloriously in demands for freedom and democracy, we can’t help remembering all the pundits, experts, and roving Utopians who told us, in the Sixties and Seventies, how utterly happy the Chinese were under the wise and benevolent leadership of Mao Tse-tung. In 1971 James Reston praised Mao’s “tremendous effort to bring out what is best in men, what makes them good, what makes them cooperate with one another and be considerate and not beastly to one another.” Simone de Beauvoir purred that “life in China today is exceptionally pleasant.” John K. Fairbank observed: “The people seem healthy, well fed, and articulate about their role as citizens of Chairman Mao’s new China. . . . The change in the countryside is miraculous. . . . The Maoist revolution is on the whole the best thing that has happened to the Chinese people in centuries.” The media showed us countless images of beaming little Chinese kids doing their morning jumping-jacks before huge portraits of Chairman Mao. It seemed unanimous at the time.

Featured Tags

□ R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. has made waves with his suggestion that the countenance of Ronald Reagan be added to Mount Rushmore. Very appealing. It’s against our general policy for members of our board of directors to allow their faces to be chiseled onto Mount Rushmore, but we might make an exception, just this once.

□ As China erupts gloriously in demands for freedom and democracy, we can’t help remembering all the pundits, experts, and roving Utopians who told us, in the Sixties and Seventies, how utterly happy the Chinese were under the wise and benevolent leadership of Mao Tse-tung. In 1971 James Reston praised Mao’s “tremendous effort to bring out what is best in men, what makes them good, what makes them cooperate with one another and be considerate and not beastly to one another.” Simone de Beauvoir purred that “life in China today is exceptionally pleasant.” John K. Fairbank observed: “The people seem healthy, well fed, and articulate about their role as citizens of Chairman Mao’s new China. . . . The change in the countryside is miraculous. . . . The Maoist revolution is on the whole the best thing that has happened to the Chinese people in centuries.” The media showed us countless images of beaming little Chinese kids doing their morning jumping-jacks before huge portraits of Chairman Mao. It seemed unanimous at the time.