Something is not right
In the middle of one night
Miss Clavel turned on the light
And said, "Something is not right!"
-- "Madeline," by Ludwig Bemelmans, 1939
WASHINGTON -- Many of us these days find ourselves channeling our inner Miss Clavel.
Defense Secretary James Mattis, for one. In Dexter Filkins' profile of Mattis for The New Yorker, the most striking moment comes when Mattis is asked what worries him most in his new role. Filkins expected to hear about the Islamic State, or Russia, or the defense budget.
Instead, Mattis went to a deeper, more unsettling problem: "The lack of political unity in America. The lack of a fundamental friendliness. It seems like an awful lot of people in America and around the world feel spiritually and personally alienated, whether it be from organized religion or from local community school districts or from their governments."
Something is not right. If anything, Mattis' diagnosis seems understated. This national distemper, the sour, angry mood infecting the body politic, was evident before Montana congressional candidate Greg Gianforte body-slammed a reporter for daring to ask a question; then had his campaign lie about it; then failed to apologize -- until after he won the election.
It was evident before Gianforte's current allies and future colleagues were muted, to put it mildly, in the face of his audio-taped assault. "We all make mistakes," said Ohio Rep. Steve Stivers, who chairs House Republicans' campaign arm. This was not a mistake; it was an assault on a reporter doing his constitutionally protected job.
Something is not right -- and Gianforte's attack is simply a well-documented illustration of this larger ill. The events of a single week serve to underscore the gravity of the malady.
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