Normal Parameters

Which is what we don't have now

I once interviewed PJ O’Rourke, the late, very funny humorist who helped create National Lampoon, back when it was absolutely wonderful in the 1970s

PJ, who was from Toledo, was a serious Republican. But in 2016, he supported Hilary Clinton, who he said was the first Democrat he ever voted for.

I asked him if he had changed his views. “Oh no,” he said. “She’s wrong about everything.” But, he added, “she is wrong within normal parameters. She was running against Donald Trump. and I didn’t have to ask what he meant by that.

That was a decade ago, and one of the things I believe and fear is that we no longer remember and young people, even young reporters, have no idea what “normal parameters” (basic honesty, rationality, common decency) are.

And even if we survive the current monster and his unspeakable regime, I don’t know if we can ever get back there again.

In the state dining room at the White House is a quote from John Adams, our second president: “May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof.”

I wonder if they’ve covered it up or removed it yet.