Portias, Porsches, and More
On the U.S. military, manliness, Zohran Mamdani, the Carter Doctrine, cults of personality, ‘The Merchant of Venice,’ etc.
On Friday, I circulated a piece titled “The Trump-Hegseth Military.” It warned of dragging our military into partisan and tribal politics. I would like to say a few more words.
Preparing that piece, I looked into some recent incidents (controversial ones) involving flyovers. Here’s the good news:
In every case, the commanding officers, in the Army and Navy, acted professionally. They suspended pilots. They began investigations. They followed procedure. They upheld standards. They observed our traditions and ethos.
Damn good news.
And the civilian leadership, the Trump appointees? All performative bro-ness.
I hope, and expect, that our military will outlast it.
***
That piece involved two themes of mine: patriotism and manliness. I hope for the recovery of a proper understanding of those things.
In 2022, I wrote of a campaign event. I will recall it now. Kari Lake was running for governor of Arizona. She was the Republican nominee. Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, came to rally with her.
Introducing him, Lake said, “I’ll tell you what he’s got—I don’t know if you’ve heard of this—but he’s got BDE. Anybody know what that means? Ask your kids about it later.”
I had never heard of “BDE.” Lake meant “big d*** energy.” Pretty cool, huh?
She continued, coyly, “I call it ‘big … DeSantis energy.’ Right? He’s got the same kind of BDE that President Trump has. And frankly, he has the same kind of BDE that we want all of our elected leaders to have.”
***
One of the great dividing lines in America is over President Trump and manliness: Is he or isn’t he? Is he manly or not?
“Trump is a manly man.” That’s what the chairman of the Claremont Institute, the think tank in California, said.
Dick Cheney had a different view. “He is a coward,” said Cheney in 2022. “A real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters.” Cheney was talking about the 2020 election in particular.
***
Looking at a video a few days ago, I thought of my hometown of Ann Arbor. We had our own foreign policy—I mean, the city government did. That policy was pro-Sandinista.
New York mayor Zohran Mamdani made a video, in which he began, “Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal: the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people.”
I will say a few things. First, has there ever been a genocide that was non-“horrific”? Does the word “genocide” really need to be intensified?
Second, there’s a lot of work to do in New York. The subway is filthy. Mental illness abounds on the streets. Etc., etc.
Third, is what Mamdani said true? I don’t think it is. I think the charge of genocide against Israel is false and defamatory.
Let me return to language (I mentioned “horrific,” above): If the word “genocide” is devalued, we have done harm to an extremely important word, and concept.
What is the Chinese government doing to the Uyghurs? Some people think that Putin is guilty of attempted genocide in Ukraine: the destruction of a nation, culture, and people.
***
In reading about Iran, and our on-again, off-again war against it, I thought of the Carter Doctrine. This is something that President Carter enunciated in the 1980 State of the Union address:
Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.
The Carter Doctrine, I’m afraid, is dead and buried—to the detriment of the United States, the Middle East, and the world at large.
***
In Stalin’s day, people were afraid to be the first to stop clapping—the first to stop clapping for the Big Man, Stalin.
On Thursday, Aaron Rupar circulated a video, putting the following comment above it:
Cult sh** at the White House as Trump’s cronies give him a standing ovation for minutes on end. Note how nobody wants to be the first to stop clapping.
Republicans bristle at the phrase “personality cult,” understandably. But …
***
What do you make of this wording, with its capitalization?
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It was time for the cabinet to praise the president. Said Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, “You are fixing everything with your policies. You have changed America and created the Golden Age.”
Mario Vargas Llosa wrote a novel called “The Feast of the Goat.” It’s about Trujillo and his dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. People talk to Trujillo in just the same way.
It’s uncanny, and creepy.
***
When I mentioned this on social media, Terry Moran, the veteran journalist, said, “Best political novel I’ve ever read.” Yes, a masterpiece.
***
Trujillo renamed his country’s capital city, Santo Domingo, after himself (“Ciudad Trujillo”). Our own national capital is named after our first president. Would Trump and his party dare try to change it? Trump put his name on another man’s memorial—the Kennedy Center. But maybe Washington, D.C., itself would be a step too far.
Penn Station seems within reach, though.
***
The other day, I thought of Sarah Palin. It was like hearing a dog not barking. (I’m not calling Palin a dog, I promise you.) For years, she was a big figure in America’s political life. And she has been absent from the Trump era, in which she might have been expected to fit in.
Curious.
***
A little language? During the World Cup, I thought of the adjective going with “Argentina”: “Argentinian”? “Argentine”? And if the latter, “teen” or “tyne”?
I tend to say “Argentinian” (whose alternative spelling is “Argentinean”).
In the cases of other countries, it’s simpler: “Brazilian.” “Bolivian.”
***
More language: The algorithm—the great Algo in the sky—fed me a clip from The Mary Tyler Moore Show. It showed Betty White’s character, Sue Ann Nivens, saying, “Everybody stay right where he is! We’re going to have a little meeting.”
Almost brought a tear to my eye. “Everybody stay right where he is!” That’s English. The “he” goes with “everybody,” and it’s not sex-specific.
(Every time I note something like this, people say to me, “Language evolves!” Really? I had no idea. Thank you so much.)
***
At the end of my column last Sunday, I mentioned Greenwich, the upscale (very) town in Connecticut. A reader writes,
Jay,
I grew up in Norwalk, also part of Fairfield County, but not as rich as Greenwich (or Darien or Westport). My late dad knew a lady who had been a high-school English teacher in Greenwich. She gave a test on The Merchant of Venice. One came back with the name of the character Portia spelled “Porsche.”
Only in Greenwich, the teacher told my dad!
Magnificent. Thanks for reading, y’all, and subscribing if you can/want. Talk to you soon.