December 15, 2008, 6:30 a.m.

‘Not a fan,’ &c.
By Jay Nordlinger


In 2006, President Bush was campaigning with a congressional candidate in Washington State, and a guy flipped him off. (It was a schoolbus driver, which is why the story made national news.) (And the guy was driving the bus at the time. May have been a woman — can’t remember.) Anyway, Bush turned to his traveling companion and said, “Not a fan.”

I thought of that when reading about the shoe-throwing incident in Baghdad: He wasn’t a fan. But Bush has a great many, including in Iraq — maybe even especially in Iraq. You can read about some of them in the journal I wrote from Iraq, two months ago: here.

Remember Colonel Abbas, who wanted a monument to Bush in Baghdad, and said that a man like him emerged only once in 300 years? Which do you think is more representative of Iraqis: Abbas or the shoe-thrower?

And I remember poor Saddam Hussein, when he was ruling Iraq: I mean, when he gave press conferences, the journos just abused him, endlessly . . .

I sometimes think of Bush’s remark when I receive nasty mail: “Not a fan.” Of course, if you listen to the “Obamacons” — remember them? — they’re really the only ones who receive toxic mail. I wish they could see the missives from their fellow Obama supporters: They don’t exactly follow Emily Post . . .

Reading the news lately, we have been reminded of “the Chicago way.” Governor “Blago” has given a splendid example of it. Of course, we read quite a bit about the Chicago way during the last presidential campaign: from the likes of Stanley Kurtz, Byron York, Andy McCarthy, and David Freddoso. They wrote in National Review and here on NRO. (And thank you, guys: renewed thanks.)

But you read precious little about Tony Rezko and that general pit from the mainstream media. (Does that sound whiny? So be it.) They were too busy checking into censored books at the Wasilla Library (never happened), and Palin’s wardrobe, and the true maternity of her youngest child, and . . .

Don’t get me started on the treatment of Palin: We would never discuss anything else, until the end of time (at least I wouldn’t).

A reader wonders about the New York Times in the era of Obama: Will they continue to expose clandestine programs in the War on Terror? Or were such acts only for the Time of Bush? Now that Obama will be in charge of the War on Terror — if he chooses to be — will the Times be supportive, or more so? Or will they still consider such programs as they exposed to be outrages against the Constitution, deserving of “sunlight,” and, thus, termination?

An interesting question.

I have a feeling that the Obamites — those in charge of the War on Terror — will be rather more appreciative of ol’ George W. as they assume the work of keeping the United States free of terrorist attack. No picnic, you know.

Back to the Times for a minute: They seem to have a thing for Bill Ayers. In September 2001, they published, not one, but two extremely friendly features on him. The first appeared on September 11. (Remember that day?) This profile began, “‘I don’t regret setting bombs,’ Bill Ayers said. ‘I feel we didn’t do enough.’”

Whoops. Three of Ayers’s bombings, by the way, were of New York City Police Headquarters, the U.S. Capitol, and the Pentagon.

The Times published its second feature on Ayers on September 16, in its Sunday magazine. This was a cozy Q&A — and you can find it, revisit it, here. (The September 11 piece, you can find here.)

Okay. Earlier this month, the Times published a piece by Ayers himself, on its op-ed page. They called it “The Real Bill Ayers” — and, in it, the author described an unreal Bill Ayers: just an idealist who may have crossed a line or two, but only hated war and racism. What he did was commit “symbolic acts of extreme vandalism directed at monuments” to those things: war and racism.

“Symbolic acts of extreme vandalism”! Why haven’t other bombers thought of such language?

Ayers made no mention of the plot against young men and women as they danced at Fort Dix, and no mention of the Brinks murders. (Three men died, including the first black policeman on his local force.) Ayers contended that Republicans, having nothing else to say, tried to injure Barack Obama through “guilt by association” — association with him. But, thank the Lord, “the politics of fear did not triumph, not this time.”

The entire piece (here) was absolutely nauseating. And some people pointed out that the Times refused to publish an op-ed piece by John McCain — a Vietnam War hero, at a minimum.

Years ago, I read something about Billy Ayers in a Collier & Horowitz book — must have been Destructive Generation. (A marvelous, illuminating book, by the way.) And they cited what Ayers said when he was acquitted of his crimes: “Guilty as sin, free as a bird — what a country, America.” Yup, what a country, America. And what a newspaper, the New York Times.

In Greece, “hooded youths” have run riot — that’s the way they’re described in press reports, “hooded youths.” It started when police fatally shot a teenager. Then, the country experienced “a dramatic eruption of a long-tolerated self-styled anarchist movement.” Those are the words of the Associated Press.



Well, maybe those movements — self-styled anarchist ones — should be tolerated less long (certainly as they break laws). And we are reminded, in Greece, Britain, and elsewhere, that “hooded youths” aren’t so cute.

In fact, look out for hoods in general.

Take you on the road a bit? I’ve spent the weekend in Moscow — not Moscow, Russia, but Moscow, Idaho. To me, Moscow, Idaho, has seemed more remote and exotic than the Russian capital. It is certainly harder to get to, from New York — but, of course, it can be well worth it.

Was in a few airports on the way. And the homecoming of troops is always a stirring sight. Some people, greeting our troops, had a banner that referred to them — the soldiers — as “our defenders.” Very nice.

Had a drive to Moscow — from Spokane to Moscow — and listened to some radio. And I heard a lot of “holiday” — as in “holiday music,” “a holiday concert,” “holiday” this, “holiday” that. And I’m thinking, caustically, “What holiday could they mean? Presidents’ Day?” (But no one hesitates to say “Presidents’ Day,” right?)

I have written a lot about the verbotenization of the word “Christmas” (and have written a lot about my writing about it — a worse sin). Time to plug my book, in which my magazine piece on the subject appears:

Where were we? Oh, yeah: Moscow. It is pronounced, by the way, “Moscoh.” Of this, I was informed immediately. “There is no ‘cow’ in ‘Moscow,’” said a friend of mine. And a British friend told me later that they do it that way on the Auld Sod, too: “Moscoh.” Well, I never.

The pronunciation of place-names is a glorious thing. In New Hampshire, and perhaps elsewhere, the town of Berlin is pronounced “BER-lin” (unlike the German capital). In Kentucky, Versailles is pronounced “Ver-SALES.” And so on.

The University of Idaho (which is at Moscow) is an appealing place — and the kids seem pretty happy to be there. The music school is named after Lionel Hampton — feel the vibe. (For the uninitiated, Lionel Hampton is the most prominent vibes-player ever.)

Want to tell you, too, that the school nickname is the Vandals: and that is meant in the nicest way.

Ran across a noteworthy name (you know how I collect them): Murf Raquet. Yes, Murf Raquet. I wonder if the “Murf” comes from “Murph,” as in Murphy. The fellow’s in the local paper, writing a column called Biz Bits. By the photo, he is bearded, burly, and classically western. “Murf Raquet” — a phenomenal handle.

A word to the wise, if you stop into the New Hong Kong Café: The men’s room there, which is a one-seater, has no lock on the door. Very interesting. And that does seem rather New Hong Kong — the old Hong Kong having been much more concerned with things like privacy. (A strained joke, sorry.) (Actually, maybe not so strained. We’ll see how Hong Kong fares . . .)

Had a brush with the law in Moscow. Was walking along the side of the road, as is my custom — often better than the sidewalk (for reasons we can discuss later). And this harsh, rebukeful voice over a loudspeaker said, “Whoever’s in the road, get out of the road.” That would have been me.

I looked forward to returning to New York, where the cops are oh so gentler . . .

Regular readers may remember a comment I made about rural Illinois last summer: that the sky is so all-fired big. A huge, never-ending, all-enveloping sky. A vast umbrella of a sky. And so it was in Washington and Idaho.

When you live in the city, you can forget there’s a sky.

A final word about being in Moscow: It was good to be in the atmosphere of Sarah Palin. She graduated from there — from the University of Idaho. And I remembered something that Charles Murray said. In fact, this occurred during a Q&A with the New York Times (they don’t only do Bill Ayers):

Q.: “What do you think of Sarah Palin?”
A.: “I’m in love. Truly and deeply in love.”
Q.: “She attended five colleges in six years.”
A.: “So what?”

I loved Murray for that. And here’s something curious: So many of Charles’s biggest fans — bio-cons, generally — are the fiercest anti-Palinites. Kind of delicious.

Well, y’all, I could say a lot more — including about Palinites and anti-Palinites — but I think I’ll just drag my knuckles on out of here (as the anti-Palinites would imagine). Oh, one more thing: Impromptus is now RSS-able. I’m supposed to say that (repeatedly, I believe). If you want this column by RSS — go here.

And have a kick-a** Monday. Hang on, that seems a little vulgar, even with asterisks. Have a fruitful Monday. But that sounds a little — well, fruity. (Is that hate speech?) Have a good Monday, and I’ll see you later.

Ellie