Pun Salad

Anthony Fauci was "surprised and disappointed" by last week's ruling against the mask mandate for travelers issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "This is a CDC issue," President Joe Biden's top medical adviser told CNN. "It should not have been a court issue."

Fauci, who objects to federalism as well as judicial review, embodies the mild-mannered arrogance of technocrats who assume their scientific expertise trumps the rule of law. Because they believe they know what is best for us, they are dismayed by any attempt to limit their influence or restrain their power.

You discover that your favorite movie star is a full-blown heel. He cheated on his spouse, got caught, and ended up divorced. Now, he’s estranged from his kids.

Question: How do you respond? Do you boycott his future movies? Stop watching his earlier movies? Treat him as an unperson?

Or do you shrug in disappointment, muse “Well, it’s really none of my business” - and continue to enjoy the star’s work?

Now consider each the following other actions.

1. Exposing yourself to acquaintances in your hotel room.

2. Using the N-word during standup comedy.

3. Affirming the biological reality of gender.

4. Using a racial epithet on camera when you didn’t know you were being filmed.

5. Posting a sexist tweet.

Question: Are any of these actions remotely as bad as being a full-blown heel - a man who cheats on his wife, gets divorced, and stops seeing his kids?

Honestly, I doubt almost anyone sincerely thinks so.

Many commentators have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of becoming an autocrat who is using his invasion of Ukraine as cover for turning Russia into an authoritarian state. This analysis is wrong; worse, it’s misleading.

In fact, Putin has been directing a gradual totalitarian restoration in Russia since his ascent to power more than two decades ago. We are now witnessing the denouement of this process. Understanding the totalitarian — not authoritarian — nature of Putin’s restoration is vitally important for understanding not just Russia’s present state, but also its future and the various ways in which Putin’s regime might be susceptible to collapse.

Florida recently passed the Parental Rights in Education bill (tendentiously called the “Don’t Say Gay” law by detractors). The Walt Disney Company, under CEO Bob Chapek, tried to stay out of the controversy. But a pincer movement of internal and external political pressure forced the company to publicly oppose the bill.

Worse, a video of a Disney meeting at which executives boasted of their “not at all secret” agenda to incorporate gay and transgender themes into Disney content was leaked at the worst possible moment. The very online right was already in a full-blown moral panic about pedophilia, basically holding that anyone who opposed the bill was either a “groomer” or “groomer friendly.” (Once a term for adults who manipulate underage children for sexual abuse, “groomer” suddenly meant dissenters from a moral crusade.)

In moments of crisis or trouble, do you look to the people who are losing their minds? Or do you find yourself immediately gravitating to those who remain calm?

I’m reminded of an amusing moment shortly after I returned from Iraq. I was back with my reserve unit, and a young soldier called one of our veteran officers and declared that he was dealing with a “crisis.”

“A crisis?” The officer answered. “Are there body parts on the floor?”

The soldier paused, obviously confused. “No sir.”

“Well then, we’ve got a problem, not a crisis. Let’s deal with it.”

The point was made. Don’t automatically escalate the stakes of any given problem. Pause. Take a breath. Decide the proportionate response.