This administration's campaign to suppress and manipulate history—I despise it—is of a piece with the Left's long march through the history department. Since 2020 I've watched the marble figures of my city's founders get torn down, their names scrubbed from street signs and park placards, places renamed in an unintelligible tongue spoken by fewer than a handful of people. The grand Abraham Lincoln statue at the heart of the city is routinely doused in red paint—he has been villainized. It's preposterous. It seems to me the Trump administration's behavior, however farcical and shameful, is the inevitable counterpunch.
I disagree. I'm pointing out that the absurd historical gymnastics of the Trump administration are a corollary of five-plus years of equally absurd revisionism by its ideological opposite. I think it's relevant to note the precedent, which was unmentioned in Jay's piece.
Respectfully, to quote one of Jay’s former N.R. colleagues…before the D.P. Show went off the rails and jumped on the G.O.P. Crasher’s crazy train…”I prefer clarity to agreement”. Funny thing is, I only disagree with your referring to it as some kind of pushback…as most changes in administration’s result in complete 180’s of many unrelated policies. And your wanting to opine on something you feel Jay left out is cool with me, but I still stand by my criticism “Whataboutism”…As far as I am more concerned with the fact that Donald J Trump is still our President..and whatever pushback the current administration achieves that I might even support…You know what they say about a blind squirrel… as one merely has to read my self righteous comments on Jay’s latest offering to know how I really feel about the Trumpster fire. Gotta run Peace through superior mental firepower
In a just political world both mobsters, I mean monsters Putin and Trump would have been tackled on that Alaskan tarmac, like Alex Pretti, shackled and thrown in a six by six by six cement block with iron bars for a door and window and a toilet that doubles for a sink and drinking water…with that custom fitted golden seat for the crony capitalist pigs ..and an unholy Trump Bible for their only reading material..call me mad, thousands of innocent, murdered Ukrainians since Day One still cannot be reached for comment. Gotta run on. Thanks for taking my self righteous rant Onward and Upward. Peace through superior mental firepower
Jay ... I am a 63 year old subscriber to NR that has been reading it for 50 years. At age 15 I had a letter to the editor published, I saw WFB at a CT boat show quizing a salesperson on navigational devices and on a business trip 20 years ago I went to the NYC office but did not have the courage to walk in and ask for a tour. But to get to the point ... I missed your old NR column as it was my first go-to when the magazine arrived. Googling you I found you were on this strange thing called "Substack" which I had heard about but assumed was just another site for porn, raging and other assorted junk. Then I saw another favorite was using it (Mindy Belz) that was enough for me to get into it. But then ... $50/year! ... for every person I want to follow! Madness to the Dutch/Scottish tidwad Dad of 8 kids on a single income! Well ... it took a couple weeks and after reading again about your support for the persecuted, your love of Reagan/WFB conservatism, AND you love of music (and the way you talk about it) ... I could not resist. P.S. - Grandfather was the principal at Pontiac Junior High during integration ... and my family adores Grand Haven... (I have CA roots and now live in IL) Thank you.
A bit of a interesting story. Ted Wiersema was a county Democratic Party leader and we have pictures of him hosting Truman on a campaign visit. He marched in civil rights parades. He also lead the first Pontiac teacher's strike over the issue of the school board not paying the teachers but instead giving them IOUs. Oddly, I often heard him use the "N" word as a mostly non-negative discriptive, particularly about the kids he coached in sports. He volunteered to be principle of the Pontiac Junior High when it was first integrated, (bused?). Within 2 years he was attacked by the black community when he broke up a fight between two black girls that had gotten out of hand. They accused him a "manhandling" her and of treating her too roughly. There were many observers (white and black) that signed petitions supporting him, there were no charges, but his name was all over the news and the stain so deep he retired early, moved to Arizona and became a Reagan Democrat.
I understand there are Russian expats. That the "Average Ivan" in the street may not support his government. But why oh why. century after century, is Russia always ruled by bastards?
You cannot have a gentle government (and certainly a democracy) rule an ethically, religious, and culturally diverse empire. This was very much so in Czarist/Soviet times and it still holds in Russian times. The huge swath of ethnicities and the distance driven isolation pushes to separation. This also holds true for China...my goodness the United Kingdom and Canada can barely hold together.
How can we celebrate progress, if we refuse to acknowledge the paths we have trod?
How can we celebrate freedom, if we refuse to honor our differences?
This administration's campaign to suppress and manipulate history—I despise it—is of a piece with the Left's long march through the history department. Since 2020 I've watched the marble figures of my city's founders get torn down, their names scrubbed from street signs and park placards, places renamed in an unintelligible tongue spoken by fewer than a handful of people. The grand Abraham Lincoln statue at the heart of the city is routinely doused in red paint—he has been villainized. It's preposterous. It seems to me the Trump administration's behavior, however farcical and shameful, is the inevitable counterpunch.
Respectfully..Whataboutism
I disagree. I'm pointing out that the absurd historical gymnastics of the Trump administration are a corollary of five-plus years of equally absurd revisionism by its ideological opposite. I think it's relevant to note the precedent, which was unmentioned in Jay's piece.
Respectfully, to quote one of Jay’s former N.R. colleagues…before the D.P. Show went off the rails and jumped on the G.O.P. Crasher’s crazy train…”I prefer clarity to agreement”. Funny thing is, I only disagree with your referring to it as some kind of pushback…as most changes in administration’s result in complete 180’s of many unrelated policies. And your wanting to opine on something you feel Jay left out is cool with me, but I still stand by my criticism “Whataboutism”…As far as I am more concerned with the fact that Donald J Trump is still our President..and whatever pushback the current administration achieves that I might even support…You know what they say about a blind squirrel… as one merely has to read my self righteous comments on Jay’s latest offering to know how I really feel about the Trumpster fire. Gotta run Peace through superior mental firepower
In a just political world both mobsters, I mean monsters Putin and Trump would have been tackled on that Alaskan tarmac, like Alex Pretti, shackled and thrown in a six by six by six cement block with iron bars for a door and window and a toilet that doubles for a sink and drinking water…with that custom fitted golden seat for the crony capitalist pigs ..and an unholy Trump Bible for their only reading material..call me mad, thousands of innocent, murdered Ukrainians since Day One still cannot be reached for comment. Gotta run on. Thanks for taking my self righteous rant Onward and Upward. Peace through superior mental firepower
Jay ... I am a 63 year old subscriber to NR that has been reading it for 50 years. At age 15 I had a letter to the editor published, I saw WFB at a CT boat show quizing a salesperson on navigational devices and on a business trip 20 years ago I went to the NYC office but did not have the courage to walk in and ask for a tour. But to get to the point ... I missed your old NR column as it was my first go-to when the magazine arrived. Googling you I found you were on this strange thing called "Substack" which I had heard about but assumed was just another site for porn, raging and other assorted junk. Then I saw another favorite was using it (Mindy Belz) that was enough for me to get into it. But then ... $50/year! ... for every person I want to follow! Madness to the Dutch/Scottish tidwad Dad of 8 kids on a single income! Well ... it took a couple weeks and after reading again about your support for the persecuted, your love of Reagan/WFB conservatism, AND you love of music (and the way you talk about it) ... I could not resist. P.S. - Grandfather was the principal at Pontiac Junior High during integration ... and my family adores Grand Haven... (I have CA roots and now live in IL) Thank you.
My grandfather went to the Pontiac public schools all through!
A bit of a interesting story. Ted Wiersema was a county Democratic Party leader and we have pictures of him hosting Truman on a campaign visit. He marched in civil rights parades. He also lead the first Pontiac teacher's strike over the issue of the school board not paying the teachers but instead giving them IOUs. Oddly, I often heard him use the "N" word as a mostly non-negative discriptive, particularly about the kids he coached in sports. He volunteered to be principle of the Pontiac Junior High when it was first integrated, (bused?). Within 2 years he was attacked by the black community when he broke up a fight between two black girls that had gotten out of hand. They accused him a "manhandling" her and of treating her too roughly. There were many observers (white and black) that signed petitions supporting him, there were no charges, but his name was all over the news and the stain so deep he retired early, moved to Arizona and became a Reagan Democrat.
I understand there are Russian expats. That the "Average Ivan" in the street may not support his government. But why oh why. century after century, is Russia always ruled by bastards?
You cannot have a gentle government (and certainly a democracy) rule an ethically, religious, and culturally diverse empire. This was very much so in Czarist/Soviet times and it still holds in Russian times. The huge swath of ethnicities and the distance driven isolation pushes to separation. This also holds true for China...my goodness the United Kingdom and Canada can barely hold together.
"swathed in a long, hooded silver puffer coat, her eyes covered with dark glasses—like all the other placard-bearers for the 92 nations"
We live in strange times.