Brett Stevens: Hello Gail. I think last week’s theme was the resurgence of adult supervision. House Speaker Mike Johnson finally showed some backbone by staring down Marjorie Taylor Greene and working with Democrats to pass a major foreign aid bill. And Columbia University President Minoush Shafik has given police the authority to arrest pro-Palestinian student protesters who have taken over parts of campus in violation of university policy.
Will you cheer with me?
Gail Collins: Brett, I have mixed feelings because I was once a college student as well. I’m not saying that President Shafiq was wrong, I’m just saying that I don’t sympathize with administrators who call the police and try to resolve nonviolent protests on campus.
Brett: Since Hamas massacred Israelis on October 7, Colombian demonstrators have called for Israel’s removal and praised Hamas. encouraged the murder of Jewish students and physically assaulted an Israeli on campus. That’s not my idea of a young idealist reliving the Peace and Love March of the late 1960s. I also wonder how these kids have the time to protest at a time when term papers are due and final exams are just around the corner.
If it were up to me, I would give them six months of rigorous study at the University of Chicago.
Gail: When it comes to Mike Johnson, I’ve been thinking all week about how we can all come together to honor him. I never expected him to be such a stand-up person, but any reasonable lawmaker would feel he was doing the right thing. And every rational voter will have to consider those who are leading his opposition and come to his side.
Brett: There is nothing more difficult in American politics these days than going against your own ideological tribe. And there is nothing more admirable than a politician who is willing to challenge his base and risk his job for a cause. I wasn’t much of a fan of Johnson when he became Speaker of the House of Commons, but what he did was a show of courage. No doubt the MAGA folks will figuratively tear him limb from limb for that.
Meanwhile, the Trump trial will take place! Your thoughts, hopes, fears, prayers…
Gail: I really like the idea of Mr. Trump sitting for hours listening to other people talk about him and not being allowed to interrupt.
Brett: I’m not a fan of this particular prosecution, but I agree with you on that.
Gail: My ideal ending would be one that exposes him as a completely failed businessman without giving him a prison sentence that would make him a martyr.
Brett: Was there any suspicion before this trial that he was a completely failed businessman? I mean Trump University, Trump Shuttle, Trump Steak?
Gail: Team Trump can’t say enough about the left-liberal bias of Manhattan jurors, and I can admit that in years of walking around my neighborhood, I don’t come across anyone who voted for Trump.
But I believe the jury will try to do the right thing. Brett, have you ever served on a jury?
Brett: I have been called up twice, but I have never been called up. At one point, there were no cases to try. I went to the voir dire stage the other day, but I wasn’t selected. Later, I go out to lunch in Chinatown with some of my fellow rejects, and it turns out they all have advanced degrees. Make it what you want.
Gail: I was on a jury a trillion years ago, long before I worked for the Times. There was a case of a man who attacked an elderly woman on a bus, and his only defense was to claim that he hit her first. Everyone knew before deliberations that the defendant was deeply and completely guilty. But we wanted him to understand that we were trying to be fair, so we argued for a very long time until we got the verdict that everyone, including the accused, was expecting within 15 minutes. I was forced to do it.
Brett: You are a better person than me. But getting back to the Trump trial, I’m very concerned about that. The case is built on the legal scope that falsifying business records, normally a misdemeanor, should be treated as a felony. Former Democratic senator and vice presidential candidate John Edwards was also acquitted on similar charges. The acquittal would be a political victory for Trump. A conviction (though there is a good chance it could be overturned on appeal) would undermine his assertion (at least to voters) that he was the victim of politicized justice by progressive prosecutors. It will be justified. And it would pave the way for conservative prosecutors to pay back their political opponents.
What I’m saying is that the only way to defeat Trump is through normal political means. So while President Biden still trails in most battleground states, it’s encouraging to see him doing a little better in the head-to-head polls recently.
Gail: You’ve given me yet another opportunity to complain about the fact that presidential candidates are obsessed with Pennsylvania, a state of 13 million people, and completely indifferent to California, a state of 39 million people. .
The whole “battleground state” thing is a polite way of talking about the electoral system, and ignores the total number of votes a candidate actually receives nationwide — in seven of the past eight presidential elections. Did I mention that the Democrats won the popular vote?
Brett: Your complaint must be submitted to the Founding Fathers. Personally, I think this system is good. This keeps smaller states relevant, forces candidates to campaign in areas with tighter races, and usually yields decisive results.
Gail: …and disenfranchising urban residents.
Brett: Or a conservative who lives in a blue state.
However, no matter how you look at it, this system is not going to change anytime soon. And I think Mr. Biden can still win if he pushes hard on the abortion issue. If he wins a second term, it will be thanks in part to Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, and other conservative justices who foolishly decided to overturn Roe v. Wade. It’s a bit ironic that this is the case.
Gail: I have to say I was a little surprised at how strong the political support for abortion rights was. In a good way, but it was wild to see politicians who had spent their careers anti-abortion suddenly finding ways to readjust their positions.
Brett: If Roe’s reversal means that Kari Lake loses the Arizona Senate seat, it would be a glimmer of hope.
Gail: And, as I wrote last week, it really bothers me that gun safety doesn’t have more political support. At the very least, I think there will be an all-out campaign to require gun owners to take a safety course before getting a license and to enact national rules that prohibit walking around a shopping mall with a loaded revolver in your pocket. Dew.
Brett: That’s fine, but I don’t think gun safety laws will do much to change gun violence. California has such a law, but gun violence is slow to go away.
That’s a different story, Gail. The Biden administration just closed millions of acres of land in Alaska, including huge copper deposits, to energy exploration and mining. It’s understandable that Biden wants to appease environmentalists in his own camp, but how does that tie in with his calls for more electric vehicles? Please help here…
Gail: I think the copper issue is a short-term issue. Future electric cars should be better at that. And the benefits of eliminating gas guzzlers are more important.
But I get the impression that you don’t support the whole gas-to-electricity transformation?
Brett: I have no problem with electric cars, but I think the environmental benefits of electric cars are overrated given all the minerals and energy that goes into manufacturing and powering them. What I don’t understand is the argument that we need millions more of them while refusing to mine the copper, lithium, cobalt, etc. used to make them. Trade-offs are a fact of life, and too many environmentalists confuse virtue signaling with clear thinking. We should especially want to mine these minerals within the borders of the United States, where we can regulate their production, rather than getting them from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where we cannot regulate their production.
Gail: I’m rooting for future electric cars that can be manufactured more and more efficiently, but I agree with your point. The journey is long. And further research is needed.
Brett: Speaking of which, Gail: The most important book I read recently was by our colleague and friend Frank Bruni. It’s been called the “Age of Grievance,” but it’s not just the most astute diagnosis of the culture of anger, blame, and revenge that plagues our nation. It is also the best prescription for our salvation. At its core is a call to humility. It’s the humility to accept that we don’t have all the answers. That we have much to learn from those with whom we disagree. If you can’t listen well, it’s impossible to think well.
Gail: I completely agree with Frank’s analysis. He is one of the smartest people I know.
Brett: I also need to get a copy because I need to keep Frank’s dog, Regan, well fed.
