October 27, 2021 • 20 mins
George Will was the first political columnist to call for President Richard Nixon’s impeachment, and he's lent a leading conservative voice to the Washington Post and other publications ever since. Most recently, he’s out with a collection of his work — "American Happiness and Discontents" — first published between 2008 and 2020. He joins the podcast to talk about polarization in America; former President Donald Trump's hold on the Republican Party; and a column he wrote about his son, Jonathan Will, who is living a full life with Down syndrome.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
From the Recount on Rina Ninan, and you're listening to
the Recount Daily Pod. Today's Wednesday, October. Why do we
so that the current temper in Marshanton this forever? Nothing's forever.
I think this is a fever, and favers don't usually
kill their hosts. They usually burn out. That was George
will Renound conservative columnist. I talked to him a bit
(00:28):
later about America's current predicament and about his new book,
American Happiness and Discontents. But first your morning headlines. As
Senate Democrats continue negotiations over a massive spending bill, they're
preparing a proposal for how to pay for it. One
idea attacks increase that would hit just a few of
(00:50):
the country's richest people. Think Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and
Bill Gates truly just the uber wealthy. Some legal scholars
believe such a target tax could be struck down by
the Supreme Court. A competing idea from Democrats would apply
a three percent surtax on millionaires making more than five
million a year either way, with the cost of perhaps
(01:12):
one point seventy five trillion dollars spread out over ten years.
That money's got to come from somewhere. College enrollment is
down again. New data from the National Student Clearinghouse suggests
there could be nearly half a million fewer freshmen this
academic year compared to last. That's roughly a three percent
(01:32):
drop on top of a three and a half percent
decrease last year. Enrollment in higher education has declined since
two thousand twelve. The pandemic only fired up that trend.
Even schools that conduct classes mostly online have suffered. All
that lost education could, of course, have huge consequences on
the future US economy and on the lives of many
(01:53):
Americans and families. And federal law enforcement on Tuesday announced
a hundred and fifty arrests, the result of a ten
month long operation conducted by international law enforcement agencies against
drug sellers on the dark Net, hidden for most users.
Sixty five of those arrests were made in the US
(02:14):
and the rest across Europe. Authority seized more than two
hundred thousand pills in the US, including some that were
laced with deadly substances. As Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monico
put it, one pill can kill well. Operation Dark Hunt
or went after the illicit drug distributors who use the
(02:35):
dark net to traffic these illicit drugs. Other investigations are
still ongoing, according to the Justice Department. And now to
our interview. George Will has been a leading conservative voice
for The Washington Post and other publications for decades. His columns,
sometimes controversial, always sharp, cover politics, domestic and foreign affairs.
(02:59):
He's wont to pull a surprise for commentary, and he's
made it onto Seinfeld is a topic of debate. Most recently,
he's out with the collection of his essays. The book
is called American Happiness and Discontent The Unruly Torrent two
thousand eight. George, welcome, Thank you. The first and last
time my children took me serious was when I appeared
(03:20):
on Seinfeld. That is a huge moment. How did that
come about? I didn't know what was coming, and I
didn't see it when had happened, but instantly was informed
by thousands of people. Yeah, what a moment. So when
I asked you about your book, George, what motivated you
to put this all together? Between two thousand and eight
and two thousand twenty, the beginning of the Obama presidency
(03:43):
and the end of the Trump presidency, we went through
an era that I do not think historians are going
to call the era of Good Feelings two point zero
that turn a script into our politics. And I was
surprised to realize when I was assembling these columns how
much I had written lot about politics, but about I
wrote a lot about parenting and the related fact that
(04:06):
we seem to have now produced a large cohort of
a generation that arrives on college campuses having experienced modern parenting,
demanding safe spaces and not freedom of speech, but freedom
from speech that might disturb their brittle selves. It turned
out that in this twelve year period they were cultural
as well as and indeed more important than political developments. George,
(04:30):
I was first introduced to you as a little girl
watching you on Sunday mornings on This Week with Coakie
Roberts and Sam Donaldson, and you always had such a
different take. How do you think from that period of
when you're on television A gosh, I think that was
in the nineties. How has the Republican Party changed the
severest judgment is it stopping a party in a normal sense,
(04:53):
and has become a cult of personality, a kind of
performative institution for expressing grieving. So it's most intense acolytes
at this point, because their grievances have to do with
status and the feeling of neglect and resentment of condescension
perceived condescension on the part of other Americans. I don't
(05:14):
know how you write a law to assuage this sense
of grievance. You actually left the Republican Party in two
thousand sixteen because it became clear that Trump would become
the nominee. What do you see for the future of
the Republican Party? So one would like to think that
when Mr Trump departs, as surely he thought someday, that
certainly his manner of politics will depart, and not all
(05:38):
of the substance, because he clearly struck some chords with people,
and there will be Republicans who are try and pluck
up fallen banner of populism. But conservatism, it seems to me,
is just about everything that populism isn't. Populism says that
the passions of the people are self validating. They should
(06:00):
be translated as directly as possible into public policy, which
means you need a president unfettered by the separation of
powers and all that other Medicinian architecture. So conservatives have
to decide they want to go down this populous road
of a rampid presidency, of a rancid anti elitism. Georgia
(06:23):
want to ask you about President Trump. It's clear you
were no fan. You actually called for his removal last summer,
and you wrote this. You said, he's proven that the
phrase malignant buffoon is not an oxymoron. That said, he's
managed to get three conservative judges onto the High Court
looking at his time in office for conservatives, was that
worth it? Yes, it's the Butt Gorsage argument. Yes he's
(06:46):
a liar, Yes he exacerbates social tendencies. Yes he has
coarsened our public life. But Garsage, I got that. Now,
any republic would have taken basically a list from the
Federalist Society US as any Republican would have cut corporate taxes.
Good grief. That's not what distinguished Mr Trump. But distinguished
(07:07):
Mr Trump or the way he behaved and the coursening
of our public life. It seems to me you cannot
unring a bell, You cannot unsay the things he said.
You cannot resensitize an electorate desensitized by the coarseness of
the man and his indifference. Two facts. Do you worry
(07:27):
about a loss of legitimacy? Public support for the Supreme Court?
One poll found is down to that was in July
and last year sixty six. This is the Supreme Court.
You've spent a large part of your career covering it.
That's true. The Supreme Court got an enormous infusion of
prestige from the brown part of education, school dissegregations, and
(07:52):
it got the prestige precisely because it acted against prevailing
public opinion, not just in the South but in the
North as well. But prestige is a perishable commodity, and
I think part of the diminished prestige of the Court
is simply the withdrawal of prestige from government generally. I'm
a part of the American people, not specific to the
(08:14):
Supreme Court, but you're quite right. The Supreme Court partly
because of the contentiousness and unseemliness of the nomination the
confirmation fights in the Senate Tradiciary Committee over nominees has
made the Court seem partisan and soiled. We've got to
do a quick break and we'll be right back with
(08:35):
George Will, author of American Happiness and Discontents. You're listening
to the Recount Daily Pod. Welcome back to the Recount
Daily Pod of podcast from the Recount and I Heart Radio,
joined by George will and we're talking about his new book,
American Happiness and Discontents two thousand fourteen. One of your
most criticized columns in recent years, you suggested that women
(08:58):
who report sexual assault on campuses actually enjoyed privileged status.
And rape and sexual assaung on campus was really a
hotly discussed issue at the time, partially because of the column. St.
Louis Dispatch ended up dropping you as a calumnist. But
you chose, you chose to include that column in this book.
Why Well, what I said in the column was about
(09:20):
three things. They said. A woman can say no before sex.
She can say no you're in section. She can't say
no six weeks later when she's decided she doesn't like
her sexual partner after a second that do process should
not be suspended. That is, this is an extremely serious accusation.
It's a felony sexual assault and if it should be
the business of the criminal justice system, not jerry built
(09:43):
campus tribunals. And third that it unquestionably is the case
that various grievance groups on campus feel that by establishing
themselves as victims, they can get marvelous attention, in some
cases special status and privileges on campuses. Just hence the
(10:05):
proliferation of grievance groups. The incentives are there. I also
want to ask you about China. You've written quite a
bit about it. There's building tension between the US and China.
Australia's plan purchase of nuclear submarines involving the US and
UK it only added fuel to the fire. And then
we've got this new report that China just tested a
(10:25):
nuclear capable hypersonic missile in August. Where do you see
the relationship between China and the US added? What are
you watching? There's never been anything quite like this in
American history since the United States became a superpower. We
are now competing with a peer in a way that
the Soviet Union was. China is culturally dynamic, economically muscular,
(10:51):
and innovative. That's the sense in which this is not
just a near peer, this is a peer rival and
we're in this for the long haul. And the competition
for things like hypersonic weapons and anti satellite capabilities could
simply blind the United States. This is dangerous and fast
(11:11):
moving and largely secret for necessary reasons. But what's going
on in laboratories and out on the high seas on
the United States Navy is, as I say, without president,
either in the scale of the danger or the fast
moving changes of it. What would you say the Biden
administration should do at this point? The heart of the
(11:33):
matter is Taiwan. The Taiwan Straits is replaced in my
judgment of the parallel in Korea is the most dangerous
place in the world since the Shanghai Communicative back in
the seventies. The United States says, maintain strategic ambiguity about
our commitment to Taiwan. We are statutorially committed to enabling
(11:55):
Taiwan to defend itself. We are not committed to participating
in that defense. However, the Japanese, one of whose islands
which they claim is about eighty miles from China. The
Japanese have indicated that to the extent of the United
States is militarily involved in the defensive Taiwan, Japan will
(12:16):
be Also the submarine deal that you have just decided
about Australia indicates that Australia has come off the fence.
It's no longer neutral, so strategic ambiguity maybe being alluded
to the point of disappearance. We may wind up committed,
in which case when President she says, we cannot pass
the problem of China, the renegade province, as they say,
(12:37):
down from generation to generation. And it just could be
that the American admiral was onto something when he said
he thinks within six years, China will think the window
is open but not forever, and will try to act military.
That's the big dangers and what the Biden administration has
to do has decide whether or not we should plant
(12:59):
the flag there right eliminating ambigut and being committed to
the military defense of Taiwan. We're gonna take a quick break.
We'll be right back with George Will, author of the
new book American Happiness and Discontents, on The Recount Daily Pod.
Welcome back to The Recount Daily Pod, a podcast from
the Recount. We're joined by George Will. We're talking about
(13:20):
his new collection of columns, American Happiness and Discontents. One
thing that people can say about you is you've always
I felt kept your personal life personal and you're not
one of these Washington people to flash it. But in
two thousand and twelve, you wrote a remarkable column about
your eldest child, Jonathan, who was born with Down syndrome.
(13:43):
Tell me a little bit more about why you chose
to write that column and what was in that column.
Right about John for several reasons. First, because of in
utero medicine, because of the screening of pregnant women before birth,
you can identify Down syndrome children and of those who
(14:05):
are identified in utero are aborted, which I think is unfortunate,
and that the world would be a better place if
there are more people like John Iceland. There's a column
in my but it's collection about Iceland seemed rather proud
of itself when it said, we're just just about eliminated
literally genocide, getting rid of a genius, a category of people.
(14:27):
But also, there are lots of people in this country,
many hundred thousands of people with experience with dam syndrome,
and they need encouragement. And I frequently get letters from
people will say, we just said child is DWN syndrome,
what do we expect? And I can help them. John
when he was born in Georgetown hospital on my birthday
(14:50):
in hospital of official came in and said the first
question you have to answers are you going to take him? How?
But in nine two it was acceptable to say might
John for adoption? The life expectancy of a Dan syndrome
child was twenty. John will be fifty when you're not isolated,
(15:12):
when you're stimulated. I mean John whips around Washington on
the Washington Metro much more agilely than I do. He
works in the clubhouse of the Washington National Baseball team
when protocols are in the place, which means he gets
up in the morning, it goes to a Major League
all park. I just think it's encouraging and it should,
I hope cause them to think. I've got four children.
(15:35):
It's as I until none of them are perfect as
a mom of two. Absolutely right before you go, I
went to one thing you say in the book is
and quoting for Americans, the pursuit of happiness. His happiness.
What do you mean can move the French let's play,
right philosopher. But unless they called the myth of Sisippus.
(15:57):
But the man is constantly rolling a boulders to the
top of a mountain, which constantly rolls back down. Kimbers
frital line is one imagined says of us happy. That
is Kimer said, and I agree. The striving is the
pleasure the pursuit of happiness. Happiness is the pursuit of happiness.
(16:18):
One of the things that vakes American exceptional is that
our constitution does not tell what the government must do
for us. But what the government may not do to us,
but the government may not do to us is define
happiness for us and deliver it. That's one of the
exceptional features of the American Revolution is we didn't say
that revolution is going to deliver happiness. It's gonna Revolution
(16:38):
means government is going to get out of the way
and let us get on with pursuing happiness as we define.
That's what I mean. Georgia, you and and COKEI were
a huge part of the reason why I chose to
come to George Washington University and come to d C
study politics. And I just feel the Washington d C
I arrived in freshman year is of very different place today,
(17:01):
so polarized. Do you see that ever changing? You know
nothing less. The continents are drifting for pizza, So why
do we assume the current temper in Washington this forever,
nothing forever. I think this is a fever, and fevers
don't usually kill their hosts. They usually burn out. And
I think there will be ferocity fatigue. People are tired
(17:23):
of being up on their tiptoes with their teeth clenched in,
their fists clenched, and all the rest. Someone's going to
come on and have as profound and benign effect on
public temper and President had in a negative way. Just
think Americans are not happy, being unhappy, and they don't
want to feel that way about their country. The book
(17:45):
is called American Happiness and Discontent, The Unruly Torrent two
thousand eight. George, so grateful you can join us. Thank
you for having me. And now let's look ahead at
what's happening today. Is that a Judiciary committee will hold
hearing on oversight of the Department of Justice later this morning.
If it's anything like last week's House oversight committee, topics
(18:07):
could range for the US capital attack to gun violence
and the opioid epidemic. Attorney General Merrick Garland will attend.
He's expected to pay criticism over a Justice Department memo
that Republicans claim ties anti mass parents with domestic terrorism.
The memo actually did not reference domestic terrorists. Earlier this month,
(18:27):
Garland asked the FBI to connect with local law enforcement
to address his spike and threats against educators over issues
like mass mandates and teaching around racial issues. And the
House Intelligence Committee will be holding a hearing on diversity
in the intelligence community. According to a report last year
by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, minorities
(18:49):
made up only twenty seven percent of the workforce, and
women thirty The intelligence communities seventeen agencies are less diverse
than even the federal government overall. Last summer, the CIA
ran its first ever television recruiting ad featuring a diverse
cast of young staffers. Your achievements, while unknown to the public,
(19:10):
are critical while our national security. This translation is technically accurate,
but in this context it really means this. The mention
scrowning on new witnesses will include CIA Director William Burns
and the Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haynes. Looking for
some new reading glasses, Southeby's will auction off two pairs
(19:32):
of diamond encrusted eyeglasses. Today, the Gate of Paradise has
emerald lenses. The other object, Halo of Light, holds lenses
made of yes more diamonds. The lenses are said to
hail from seventeenth century India's Mogul Empire. The frames date
back to the late nineteenth century. Each artifact is expected
(19:53):
to fetch up to three point five million dollars. No
word on whether you can actually get them to match
your prescription. This is the Recount Daily Pod, a podcast
from the Recount Our. Thanks to George Will for being
on the show and if you like this episode, I
hope you'll subscribe to the Recount Daily Pod and do
leave us a rating on the Apple podcast app. I'm
(20:14):
your host, Rena Ninam
From the Recount on Rina Ninan, and you're listening to
the Recount Daily Pod. Today's Wednesday, October. Why do we
so that the current temper in Marshanton this forever? Nothing's forever.
I think this is a fever, and favers don't usually
kill their hosts. They usually burn out. That was George
will Renound conservative columnist. I talked to him a bit
(00:28):
later about America's current predicament and about his new book,
American Happiness and Discontents. But first your morning headlines. As
Senate Democrats continue negotiations over a massive spending bill, they're
preparing a proposal for how to pay for it. One
idea attacks increase that would hit just a few of
(00:50):
the country's richest people. Think Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and
Bill Gates truly just the uber wealthy. Some legal scholars
believe such a target tax could be struck down by
the Supreme Court. A competing idea from Democrats would apply
a three percent surtax on millionaires making more than five
million a year either way, with the cost of perhaps
(01:12):
one point seventy five trillion dollars spread out over ten years.
That money's got to come from somewhere. College enrollment is
down again. New data from the National Student Clearinghouse suggests
there could be nearly half a million fewer freshmen this
academic year compared to last. That's roughly a three percent
(01:32):
drop on top of a three and a half percent
decrease last year. Enrollment in higher education has declined since
two thousand twelve. The pandemic only fired up that trend.
Even schools that conduct classes mostly online have suffered. All
that lost education could, of course, have huge consequences on
the future US economy and on the lives of many
(01:53):
Americans and families. And federal law enforcement on Tuesday announced
a hundred and fifty arrests, the result of a ten
month long operation conducted by international law enforcement agencies against
drug sellers on the dark Net, hidden for most users.
Sixty five of those arrests were made in the US
(02:14):
and the rest across Europe. Authority seized more than two
hundred thousand pills in the US, including some that were
laced with deadly substances. As Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monico
put it, one pill can kill well. Operation Dark Hunt
or went after the illicit drug distributors who use the
(02:35):
dark net to traffic these illicit drugs. Other investigations are
still ongoing, according to the Justice Department. And now to
our interview. George Will has been a leading conservative voice
for The Washington Post and other publications for decades. His columns,
sometimes controversial, always sharp, cover politics, domestic and foreign affairs.
(02:59):
He's wont to pull a surprise for commentary, and he's
made it onto Seinfeld is a topic of debate. Most recently,
he's out with the collection of his essays. The book
is called American Happiness and Discontent The Unruly Torrent two
thousand eight. George, welcome, Thank you. The first and last
time my children took me serious was when I appeared
(03:20):
on Seinfeld. That is a huge moment. How did that
come about? I didn't know what was coming, and I
didn't see it when had happened, but instantly was informed
by thousands of people. Yeah, what a moment. So when
I asked you about your book, George, what motivated you
to put this all together? Between two thousand and eight
and two thousand twenty, the beginning of the Obama presidency
(03:43):
and the end of the Trump presidency, we went through
an era that I do not think historians are going
to call the era of Good Feelings two point zero
that turn a script into our politics. And I was
surprised to realize when I was assembling these columns how
much I had written lot about politics, but about I
wrote a lot about parenting and the related fact that
(04:06):
we seem to have now produced a large cohort of
a generation that arrives on college campuses having experienced modern parenting,
demanding safe spaces and not freedom of speech, but freedom
from speech that might disturb their brittle selves. It turned
out that in this twelve year period they were cultural
as well as and indeed more important than political developments. George,
(04:30):
I was first introduced to you as a little girl
watching you on Sunday mornings on This Week with Coakie
Roberts and Sam Donaldson, and you always had such a
different take. How do you think from that period of
when you're on television A gosh, I think that was
in the nineties. How has the Republican Party changed the
severest judgment is it stopping a party in a normal sense,
(04:53):
and has become a cult of personality, a kind of
performative institution for expressing grieving. So it's most intense acolytes
at this point, because their grievances have to do with
status and the feeling of neglect and resentment of condescension
perceived condescension on the part of other Americans. I don't
(05:14):
know how you write a law to assuage this sense
of grievance. You actually left the Republican Party in two
thousand sixteen because it became clear that Trump would become
the nominee. What do you see for the future of
the Republican Party? So one would like to think that
when Mr Trump departs, as surely he thought someday, that
certainly his manner of politics will depart, and not all
(05:38):
of the substance, because he clearly struck some chords with people,
and there will be Republicans who are try and pluck
up fallen banner of populism. But conservatism, it seems to me,
is just about everything that populism isn't. Populism says that
the passions of the people are self validating. They should
(06:00):
be translated as directly as possible into public policy, which
means you need a president unfettered by the separation of
powers and all that other Medicinian architecture. So conservatives have
to decide they want to go down this populous road
of a rampid presidency, of a rancid anti elitism. Georgia
(06:23):
want to ask you about President Trump. It's clear you
were no fan. You actually called for his removal last summer,
and you wrote this. You said, he's proven that the
phrase malignant buffoon is not an oxymoron. That said, he's
managed to get three conservative judges onto the High Court
looking at his time in office for conservatives, was that
worth it? Yes, it's the Butt Gorsage argument. Yes he's
(06:46):
a liar, Yes he exacerbates social tendencies. Yes he has
coarsened our public life. But Garsage, I got that. Now,
any republic would have taken basically a list from the
Federalist Society US as any Republican would have cut corporate taxes.
Good grief. That's not what distinguished Mr Trump. But distinguished
(07:07):
Mr Trump or the way he behaved and the coursening
of our public life. It seems to me you cannot
unring a bell, You cannot unsay the things he said.
You cannot resensitize an electorate desensitized by the coarseness of
the man and his indifference. Two facts. Do you worry
(07:27):
about a loss of legitimacy? Public support for the Supreme Court?
One poll found is down to that was in July
and last year sixty six. This is the Supreme Court.
You've spent a large part of your career covering it.
That's true. The Supreme Court got an enormous infusion of
prestige from the brown part of education, school dissegregations, and
(07:52):
it got the prestige precisely because it acted against prevailing
public opinion, not just in the South but in the
North as well. But prestige is a perishable commodity, and
I think part of the diminished prestige of the Court
is simply the withdrawal of prestige from government generally. I'm
a part of the American people, not specific to the
(08:14):
Supreme Court, but you're quite right. The Supreme Court partly
because of the contentiousness and unseemliness of the nomination the
confirmation fights in the Senate Tradiciary Committee over nominees has
made the Court seem partisan and soiled. We've got to
do a quick break and we'll be right back with
(08:35):
George Will, author of American Happiness and Discontents. You're listening
to the Recount Daily Pod. Welcome back to the Recount
Daily Pod of podcast from the Recount and I Heart Radio,
joined by George will and we're talking about his new book,
American Happiness and Discontents two thousand fourteen. One of your
most criticized columns in recent years, you suggested that women
(08:58):
who report sexual assault on campuses actually enjoyed privileged status.
And rape and sexual assaung on campus was really a
hotly discussed issue at the time, partially because of the column. St.
Louis Dispatch ended up dropping you as a calumnist. But
you chose, you chose to include that column in this book.
Why Well, what I said in the column was about
(09:20):
three things. They said. A woman can say no before sex.
She can say no you're in section. She can't say
no six weeks later when she's decided she doesn't like
her sexual partner after a second that do process should
not be suspended. That is, this is an extremely serious accusation.
It's a felony sexual assault and if it should be
the business of the criminal justice system, not jerry built
(09:43):
campus tribunals. And third that it unquestionably is the case
that various grievance groups on campus feel that by establishing
themselves as victims, they can get marvelous attention, in some
cases special status and privileges on campuses. Just hence the
(10:05):
proliferation of grievance groups. The incentives are there. I also
want to ask you about China. You've written quite a
bit about it. There's building tension between the US and China.
Australia's plan purchase of nuclear submarines involving the US and
UK it only added fuel to the fire. And then
we've got this new report that China just tested a
(10:25):
nuclear capable hypersonic missile in August. Where do you see
the relationship between China and the US added? What are
you watching? There's never been anything quite like this in
American history since the United States became a superpower. We
are now competing with a peer in a way that
the Soviet Union was. China is culturally dynamic, economically muscular,
(10:51):
and innovative. That's the sense in which this is not
just a near peer, this is a peer rival and
we're in this for the long haul. And the competition
for things like hypersonic weapons and anti satellite capabilities could
simply blind the United States. This is dangerous and fast
(11:11):
moving and largely secret for necessary reasons. But what's going
on in laboratories and out on the high seas on
the United States Navy is, as I say, without president,
either in the scale of the danger or the fast
moving changes of it. What would you say the Biden
administration should do at this point? The heart of the
(11:33):
matter is Taiwan. The Taiwan Straits is replaced in my
judgment of the parallel in Korea is the most dangerous
place in the world since the Shanghai Communicative back in
the seventies. The United States says, maintain strategic ambiguity about
our commitment to Taiwan. We are statutorially committed to enabling
(11:55):
Taiwan to defend itself. We are not committed to participating
in that defense. However, the Japanese, one of whose islands
which they claim is about eighty miles from China. The
Japanese have indicated that to the extent of the United
States is militarily involved in the defensive Taiwan, Japan will
(12:16):
be Also the submarine deal that you have just decided
about Australia indicates that Australia has come off the fence.
It's no longer neutral, so strategic ambiguity maybe being alluded
to the point of disappearance. We may wind up committed,
in which case when President she says, we cannot pass
the problem of China, the renegade province, as they say,
(12:37):
down from generation to generation. And it just could be
that the American admiral was onto something when he said
he thinks within six years, China will think the window
is open but not forever, and will try to act military.
That's the big dangers and what the Biden administration has
to do has decide whether or not we should plant
(12:59):
the flag there right eliminating ambigut and being committed to
the military defense of Taiwan. We're gonna take a quick break.
We'll be right back with George Will, author of the
new book American Happiness and Discontents, on The Recount Daily Pod.
Welcome back to The Recount Daily Pod, a podcast from
the Recount. We're joined by George Will. We're talking about
(13:20):
his new collection of columns, American Happiness and Discontents. One
thing that people can say about you is you've always
I felt kept your personal life personal and you're not
one of these Washington people to flash it. But in
two thousand and twelve, you wrote a remarkable column about
your eldest child, Jonathan, who was born with Down syndrome.
(13:43):
Tell me a little bit more about why you chose
to write that column and what was in that column.
Right about John for several reasons. First, because of in
utero medicine, because of the screening of pregnant women before birth,
you can identify Down syndrome children and of those who
(14:05):
are identified in utero are aborted, which I think is unfortunate,
and that the world would be a better place if
there are more people like John Iceland. There's a column
in my but it's collection about Iceland seemed rather proud
of itself when it said, we're just just about eliminated
literally genocide, getting rid of a genius, a category of people.
(14:27):
But also, there are lots of people in this country,
many hundred thousands of people with experience with dam syndrome,
and they need encouragement. And I frequently get letters from
people will say, we just said child is DWN syndrome,
what do we expect? And I can help them. John
when he was born in Georgetown hospital on my birthday
(14:50):
in hospital of official came in and said the first
question you have to answers are you going to take him? How?
But in nine two it was acceptable to say might
John for adoption? The life expectancy of a Dan syndrome
child was twenty. John will be fifty when you're not isolated,
(15:12):
when you're stimulated. I mean John whips around Washington on
the Washington Metro much more agilely than I do. He
works in the clubhouse of the Washington National Baseball team
when protocols are in the place, which means he gets
up in the morning, it goes to a Major League
all park. I just think it's encouraging and it should,
I hope cause them to think. I've got four children.
(15:35):
It's as I until none of them are perfect as
a mom of two. Absolutely right before you go, I
went to one thing you say in the book is
and quoting for Americans, the pursuit of happiness. His happiness.
What do you mean can move the French let's play,
right philosopher. But unless they called the myth of Sisippus.
(15:57):
But the man is constantly rolling a boulders to the
top of a mountain, which constantly rolls back down. Kimbers
frital line is one imagined says of us happy. That
is Kimer said, and I agree. The striving is the
pleasure the pursuit of happiness. Happiness is the pursuit of happiness.
(16:18):
One of the things that vakes American exceptional is that
our constitution does not tell what the government must do
for us. But what the government may not do to us,
but the government may not do to us is define
happiness for us and deliver it. That's one of the
exceptional features of the American Revolution is we didn't say
that revolution is going to deliver happiness. It's gonna Revolution
(16:38):
means government is going to get out of the way
and let us get on with pursuing happiness as we define.
That's what I mean. Georgia, you and and COKEI were
a huge part of the reason why I chose to
come to George Washington University and come to d C
study politics. And I just feel the Washington d C
I arrived in freshman year is of very different place today,
(17:01):
so polarized. Do you see that ever changing? You know
nothing less. The continents are drifting for pizza, So why
do we assume the current temper in Washington this forever,
nothing forever. I think this is a fever, and fevers
don't usually kill their hosts. They usually burn out. And
I think there will be ferocity fatigue. People are tired
(17:23):
of being up on their tiptoes with their teeth clenched in,
their fists clenched, and all the rest. Someone's going to
come on and have as profound and benign effect on
public temper and President had in a negative way. Just
think Americans are not happy, being unhappy, and they don't
want to feel that way about their country. The book
(17:45):
is called American Happiness and Discontent, The Unruly Torrent two
thousand eight. George, so grateful you can join us. Thank
you for having me. And now let's look ahead at
what's happening today. Is that a Judiciary committee will hold
hearing on oversight of the Department of Justice later this morning.
If it's anything like last week's House oversight committee, topics
(18:07):
could range for the US capital attack to gun violence
and the opioid epidemic. Attorney General Merrick Garland will attend.
He's expected to pay criticism over a Justice Department memo
that Republicans claim ties anti mass parents with domestic terrorism.
The memo actually did not reference domestic terrorists. Earlier this month,
(18:27):
Garland asked the FBI to connect with local law enforcement
to address his spike and threats against educators over issues
like mass mandates and teaching around racial issues. And the
House Intelligence Committee will be holding a hearing on diversity
in the intelligence community. According to a report last year
by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, minorities
(18:49):
made up only twenty seven percent of the workforce, and
women thirty The intelligence communities seventeen agencies are less diverse
than even the federal government overall. Last summer, the CIA
ran its first ever television recruiting ad featuring a diverse
cast of young staffers. Your achievements, while unknown to the public,
(19:10):
are critical while our national security. This translation is technically accurate,
but in this context it really means this. The mention
scrowning on new witnesses will include CIA Director William Burns
and the Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haynes. Looking for
some new reading glasses, Southeby's will auction off two pairs
(19:32):
of diamond encrusted eyeglasses. Today, the Gate of Paradise has
emerald lenses. The other object, Halo of Light, holds lenses
made of yes more diamonds. The lenses are said to
hail from seventeenth century India's Mogul Empire. The frames date
back to the late nineteenth century. Each artifact is expected
(19:53):
to fetch up to three point five million dollars. No
word on whether you can actually get them to match
your prescription. This is the Recount Daily Pod, a podcast
from the Recount Our. Thanks to George Will for being
on the show and if you like this episode, I
hope you'll subscribe to the Recount Daily Pod and do
leave us a rating on the Apple podcast app. I'm
(20:14):
your host, Rena Ninam
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