Pence’s profile, &c.

‘Former vice president Mike Pence,” reads a news story, “repeatedly invoked the Constitution and said it is what ‘binds us all together’ after receiving the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.” I will continue to quote the story.

Pence received the award for his refusal to go along with President Donald Trump’s efforts to remain in office after losing the 2020 election. The award recognizes Pence “for putting his life and career on the line to ensure the constitutional transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6, 2021.”

“Yeah, he was in danger, sure,” you might say, “and he made himself a pariah in the Republican Party. But not going along with an unconstitutional scheme? That’s the least he could have done, right? Not betraying his oath of office? That’s a pretty low bar, right?”

Right. I understand.

During the 1925 U.S. Open -- almost exactly 100 years ago -- Bobby Jones called a penalty on himself. He wound up losing the Open by a shot. When people praised him for his honesty and sportsmanship, he would have none of it. “Sooner praise a man for not robbing a bank,” he said.

I understand this sentiment. But I still admire Jones for what he did -- calling the penalty on himself.

And I admire Pence for what he did. In the context of his administration, and his party, it was a brave and patriotic thing to do.

What would JD Vance, the new vice president, do in similar circumstances?

Accepting the Profile in Courage Award, Pence said, “To forge a future together, we have to find common ground. I hope in some small way my presence here tonight is a reminder that whatever differences we may have as Americans, the Constitution is the common ground on which we stand.”

Huh. I suppose. But it seems to me that no one is real hot on the Constitution. Or rather, they’re hot on it when the Constitution breaks their way, and cool on it when it doesn’t.

Liberal democracy is a dicey thing. Contra naturam, in many ways.

(Writing about the 2020 election, Trump said in 2022, “A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”)

(Three months ago, he put out this: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”)

• In a presidential memorandum, Trump ordered the attorney general, the director of national intelligence, and others to investigate Christopher Krebs. At the Department of Homeland Security, Krebs was the head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. His offense, in Trump’s eyes? He “falsely and baselessly denied that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen.”

A story from last week informs us that the administration has now revoked Krebs’s membership in the Global Entry program.

I am temped to call the administration’s behavior “Nixonian,” but that would be insulting to Nixon.

• A headline: “Threatened by Trump tariffs, Japan walks a delicate tightrope between U.S. and China.” (Article here.) If we pushed Japan into the arms of China, that would be foreign-policy malpractice in the extreme.

• Let’s pause for a language note: Are there tightropes that are not delicate?

• In one of her Fox appearances, Pam Bondi, the attorney general, said, “We’re gonna lock ’em up forever, and if not, we’re gonna send ’em back to El Salvador where they belong, and they need to be in a horrible prison where they’re never gonna get out.”

Like you, maybe, I have often thought, “Lock ’im up and throw away the key.” There are people who should never be on the outside again. At the same time, civilized people do not wish for horrible prisons. And to hear a U.S. attorney general say such a thing . . .

• In another news story, a phrase jumped out at me: “result-oriented.” For years, we conservatives have said of progressives, on the subject of jurisprudence, “They are results-oriented; we follow the rule of law, wherever it takes us.”

Well, the story I have linked to quotes Jamal Whitehead, a district-court judge in Seattle, and a Biden appointee. He wrote, “This Court will not entertain the Government’s result-oriented rewriting of a judicial order . . .”

Huh.

• President Trump berated a reporter, on finding out he worked for the Wall Street Journal. “Rotten newspaper! You hear me, what I said? It’s a rotten newspaper!” One helluva commendation. I hope the men and women of the Journal take it that way -- and keep going, undeterred.

• To me, Pope Francis’s tombstone is classy: simple, unfrilly, striking, dignified. To see a photo of it, go here. But there is a controversy over the tombstone -- as related in this New York Times headline: “Designers Do a Double Take at the Lettering on Pope Francis’ Tombstone.”

The article’s subheading reads, “Irregularly spaced letters spelling ‘F R A NCISC VS’ have caused a stir among typography nerds who specialize in spacing and fonts. One called them ‘an abomination unto design.’”

• On the subject of language: Above, I wrote “Pope Francis’s tombstone.” The Times, in its headline, wrote “Pope Francis’ Tombstone.” Which is correct? Both are correct.

All right, how do you pronounce “Pope Francis’ Tombstone”? Do you say “Pope Francises Tombstone” or “Pope Francis Tombstone”?

The latter, I believe. (We should all have our Strunk & White no more than ten yards from us at any time.)

• “Joel Krosnick, Longtime Juilliard String Quartet Cellist, Dies at 84.” That obit is here. My point is a language one, not a musical or other one. (It is also a social point, I suppose.) Twice, Gilbert Kalish, the pianist, is described as Krosnick’s “musical partner.” I had a memory -- from the 1990s? A little earlier? Not quite sure.

Rowland Evans and Robert Novak had always referred to each other as “partners.” They wrote the Evans & Novak column together. On television, Rowlie would say, “I’m here with my partner Bob Novak” -- that kind of thing.

There came a time, though, when the two of them switched to “writing partner.” Why? Because “partner” had taken on a romantic connotation. To be the partner of someone was to be the sort-of spouse of that person.

• A story begins, “George Santos has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison on federal wire fraud and identity theft charges in New York.” Santos was a Republican congressman. Piece of work. Future -- near-future -- Trump pardonee?

• Warren Buffett is stepping down as the CEO of his company, Berkshire Hathaway. He will remain chairman of the board (as you can read here). Surely, he has had one of the great business careers in history. And, you know? For someone so powerful and consequential -- I don’t recall ever hearing a bad word about him. Nothing but admiration, and, “I want to learn from him.”

(Last year, I did a podcast with Buffett’s son Howard -- Howard G. Buffett. Another impressive guy.)

• I have one music review for you. Nina Stemme, the Swedish soprano, gave a recital in Carnegie Hall. My review is here. And I’ll tell you something funny. When I posted my review to Bluesky, the social-media platform, my post was slapped with a label: “Adult Content.” The reason is, my review is adorned with a painting (Rogelio de Egusquiza) of Tristan and Iseult, and one of the latter’s breasts is bared.

You know, I don’t object to this -- to Bluesky’s move. The Internet is awash in porn. Our society is socked by porn. And to err on the other side -- the side of Comstockery -- is fine with me.

Later, y’all.

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