The problem eliminator?
"Twenty-eight years after 'Modern Times' first appeared, Mr. Johnson is perhaps the most eminent living British historian, and big government as problem-eliminator is back with a vengeance—along with trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see. I visited the 82-year-old Mr. Johnson in his West London home this week to ask him whether America has once again set off down the path to self-destruction. Is he worried about America's future?
'Of course I worry about America,' he
says. 'The whole world depends on America ultimately, particularly
Britain. And also, I love America—a marvelous country. But in a sense I
don't worry about America because I think America has such huge
strengths—particularly its freedom of thought and expression—that it's
going to survive as a top nation for the foreseeable future. And
therefore take care of the world.'"
More:
"Then he deepens his voice for effect and adds: 'And I like that lady—Sarah Palin. She's great. I like the cut of her jib.'
The former governor of Alaska, he says, 'is in the good tradition of America, which this awful political correctness business goes against.' Plus: 'She's got courage. That's very important in politics. You can have all the right ideas and the ability to express them. But if you haven't got guts, if you haven't got courage the way Margaret Thatcher had courage—and [Ronald] Reagan, come to think of it. Your last president had courage too—if you haven't got courage, all the other virtues are no good at all. It's the central virtue.'"
Thanks, David.
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