After the Dark Week
In the old, prehistoric, almost unimaginable pre-Internet days, a “dark week” was really a week off–no print magazine, no pressing deadlines, a chance to catch up. Even then, of course, other obligations and activities meant one never seemed to catch up as much as one had planned. Now, with weeklystandard.com operating 24/7, and especially in the midst of a presidential campaign where all is not (spoiler alert!) going smoothly, one catches up, or even catches one breath, even less.
Not to complain! All of us at TWS feel lucky to have the jobs we do. (If anyone wants to speak up to the contrary, go ahead…you’re fired!) And so as we reassemble for our weekly editorial meeting, we’ll get back to serious work–trading stories from our week off, swapping family and friends updates, discussing the NCAA tournament (has Fred Barnes recovered from the total collapse yesterday of his Virginia Cavaliers?), and debating the merits of the new Batman v. Superman movie. We’ll also be planning this week’s issue, sharing thoughts on the fate of the Republican party, and considering whether our generous travel budget permits John McCormack, when he goes to Wisconsin tomorrow to cover the crucial primary there, to upgrade to a Holiday Inn Express from his normal Red Roof Inn.
One of my colleagues (who will remain nameless, for obvious reasons) likes to exclaim, when we return from a dark week, that he’s relieved to be back in the office, because “family vacation” is so exhausting. Without endorsing such a familially incorrect opinion, I do look forward to our meeting today. I always learn something from my colleagues. Some of what I learn is even true….
How was my dark week, you ask? Actually, it was fun. I did catch up some. And then, on Friday, I had a speech in South Florida. When my return flight was cancelled and I was re-booked on a later one, my host drove me to Donald Trump’s country club, Mar-a-Lago, to look around. He took a photo of me at the entrance, which I posted on Twitter, letting Donald know that I’d enjoyed my visit, and that Mar-a-Lago seemed a pleasant (if a bit tacky) second-tier club. I haven’t looked yet to see if Donald has responded to my provocation–but I have instructed the receptionist at the office to let me know if someone turns up from his law firm with what look like legal papers.
In any case, the visit to South Florida included a breakfast and a lunch with various political and business types from the area, several of whom knew Donald. It was all off the record, but I can say what I learned generally reinforced my sense a) that he shouldn’t be underestimated, and b) that he shouldn’t be president.
After getting back from Florida late Friday, we had a busy weekend–a family engagement party Saturday in Philadelphia, and the wedding of the son of old friends here in the D.C. area Sunday (with ABC’s This Week in between–you can watch the roundtable here). Both were happy and cheerful occasions, and an excellent break from worrying about the future of the republic. Which I return to doing today….
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A couple of conversations
Speaking of the future of the republic, I have two new conversations from the Foundation for Constitutional Government to recommend to help you think about that weighty topic. Both are with Harvard professors, but despite that I think you’ll find them lively and thought-provoking.
Just released today is a conversation with Stephen Rosen, an old friend, grad school roommate, and one of the most thoughtful students of international relations and American foreign policy around. Steve and I discuss the current geopolitical environment and challenges to the United States from the chaos in the Middle East, European retrenchment, Russian aggression, and the rise of China, among other things. You might find the last part of the discussion particularly helpful, where Steve recommends some classic and recent books that can help us think about foreign policy.
A couple of weeks ago, the FCG released a conversation with Robert D.
I think you might find both of these worth a listen.
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A Tikvah summer program
Despite the presence of professors like Steve Rosen and Bob Putnam, our young people often don’t get the education they need or deserve at our colleges and universities. That’s why efforts to help students educate themselves outside our colleges, either at summer programs, on online, or elsewhere, are so important. So do let anyone who’d be interested know about this Tikvah Summer Institute for college students on The Spirit of Jewish Nationalism, from August 7, 2016-August 12, 2016. This is an intensive one-week institute for college students that will explore the moral and spiritual roots of Jewish nationalism and the current intellectual and strategic challenges confronting the modern Jewish state. During the institute, students will study the careers and intellectual legacies of the great thinkers and statesmen of Jewish nationalism, both ancient and modern, and engage in a close reading of George Eliot’s great Zionist novel, Daniel Deronda. Admission will include room, board, and a $500 stipend.
If you know someone interested, pass on this link to the Tikvah website.
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Mozart
And finally, I happened to hear the Met’s performance of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro while driving to Philly Saturday. Which reminded me that this year is the 260th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, and that on his 250th we had an excellent article by Fred Baumann that deserves to be read by those who happened not to be subscribers then–or re-read by those who were. Here’s a link, and a highlight of Baumann’s argument:
In invoking, and to some degree creating, such a person, Mozart implicitly makes a kind of moral case, a case for how we should live. It is not “aesthetic” in the sense of replacing the moral with formal beauty; it is much closer to what we find in Shakespeare’s Tempest or Measure for Measure; i.e., models of a kind of control of the passions that gives them their due.
Read the whole thing. In my editorial in that issue of TWS, I quoted the British critic, W.J. Turner, who wrote in 1938.
And I continued,
So, if you’re depressed by Trump–listen to Mozart!
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Onward!
Bill Kristol
