A Special Day, &c.

On Ronald Reagan, Jim Wright, Vladimir Nabokov, Mickey Lolich, and more

President Ronald Reagan (Everett Collection)

Presidents’ Day is not until February 16. But today is February 6 and therefore Reagan’s birthday. So, for the likes of me, it’s kind of a special day.

My grandmother used to refer to one’s birthday as one’s “special day.”

Obviously, we live in a Trump-Orbán time (with dashes of Putin thrown in). But the old values still apply: freedom, democracy, character, openness, the rule of law … Long may they wave!

When Reagan died in 2004, I wrote a little essay called “A Name of My Own.” It begins,

Of all the things Ronald Reagan did for me, maybe the best was that he gave me something to call myself. I am a Reaganite. It can be difficult to answer when someone says, “What are you, politically?” The word “conservative” is subject to a thousand interpretations. You don’t want to launch into a lecture about the Scottish Enlightenment, the strange journey of the word “liberal,” the advent of Frank Meyer, etc. So, instead you can say—if it’s true—“I’m a Reaganite.”

One more paragraph:

Everyone has an idea of what Reagan was: Some think of him as a mainstream conservative, others think of him as a right-winger, or as a genuine liberal, or as a Neanderthal—whatever. The point is, people know what you mean. He had a view of America’s place in the world, and of the place of government in America, and of what this republic should be.

Do people still know what “Reaganite” means? No. Time passes. I work with people who were born long after Reagan left office! Still: I know what it means, and maybe you do, too!

On Election Day 2024, I published a piece called “A Political Testimony: The life of a conservative from Reagan to Trump.” These days, the likes of me are odd men out. (Manifestly, as Bill Buckley would say!) We could hold our convention at a modest-sized Denny’s.

But one’s beliefs and ideals are one’s beliefs and ideals, you know?

***

Speaking of the Reagan era: I had a memory of Jim Wright the other day. He was Speaker of the House. Did you happen to see this?

In 1984, Speaker Wright published an autobiography, Reflections of a Public Man. He arranged for certain parties to buy the book in bulk, as a way of getting around limits on speaking fees and such. At least this was the accusation.

It was something that cost him his speakership.

I have to say, I loved something he said. He got a 55 percent royalty on the book—which is whopping. Asked about this, he said, “Royalty proceeds are going to my favorite charity: Mrs. Wright and me.”

Points for honesty?

***

Well, I had a memory of the Clinton era. It was sparked by this: “Trump lashes out at reporter over Epstein, declares it’s time for the country to move on.”

I heard “move on” a lot, in Lewinsky days. Indeed, an organization of that name was founded (MoveOn.org). Moving on can be a wise thing to do. It can also mean sweeping something rotten under the rug.

And the Epstein scandal is a very rotten thing indeed. It makes the Lewinsky scandal look like a Sunday School picnic.

***

Back to the Reagan era, maybe? I thought of a joke—a classic joke—when reading this. Ken Griffin, the hedge-fund impresario, said, “Most CEOs just don’t want to find themselves in the business of having to, in some sense, suck up to one administration after another to succeed in running their business.”

My idea of America is: This is a place where you can say to the president or the government in general, “Eff you,” and you’ll be just fine.

Okay, that joke. An American and a Soviet are having an argument. Which country is the freer and better? The American says, “I can stand in front of the White House and shout, ‘Down with Reagan!’”

The Soviet says, “Big deal. I can stand in front of the Kremlin and shout, ‘Down with Reagan!’”

***

Two days ago, I had a column at The Next Move, the publication of the Renew Democracy Initiative, founded by Garry Kasparov in 2017. That column is headed “Hail, Caesar? Hell, No.” Its subheading is: “On Donald Trump and the names of things.”

Garry had a comment on social media:

I agree with Jay, and with Vladimir Nabokov, who said in 1964, “My desires are modest. Portraits of the head of the government should not exceed a postage stamp in size. No torture and no executions.”

Just yesterday, this news came out:

The Trump administration asked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for the Washington region’s Dulles International Airport and New York’s Penn Station to be named after President Donald Trump in exchange for releasing the federal funds required to build a long-delayed tunnel between New York and New Jersey, multiple sources told NBC News.

Does anyone doubt it’s true?

***

I remember the pine-tar controversy. This new sports controversy seems—not only weirder but more painful:

***

Perhaps you wouldn’t mind a little shot of New York last night—along the East River. It was a peaceful night. A little cold. In fact, the cold might have added to the peacefulness:

***

This is a little weird, but since when did my column exclude weird? (See two items above, for example.) On the inside of my bedroom door were two posters: one of Mickey Lolich and one of Beethoven.

Saw this two days ago:

Thanks for everything, Mickey. See you later.