Burt Reynolds centerfold regrets and other comments
Letter to “Anonymous”: Show Courage — Name Yourself
The anonymous New York Times op-ed about staffers sabotaging President Trump paints a picture of the author’s character — “and it’s not pretty,” David French at National Review charges in a “letter” addressed to the writer. “If you’re actively defying the president to pursue your own preferred policies, you’re subverting an American presidential election. If you’re withholding from the American people actual hard evidence of presidential unfitness, then you’re placing your own career before your country.” French calls on “Anonymous” to reveal his identity and the reasons for his and his colleagues’ supposed alarm. After all, the writer invokes the name of Sen. John McCain, who was known for his courage. “Show one-tenth his courage,” demands French, and “name yourself.”
Clintonworld vet: How Trump Can Recover
Mark Penn can remember a White House experiencing the chaos President Trump is dealing with: Bill Clinton’s in 1995. The Clintons “faced many of the same problems of runaway staff, investigations and chaos in the White House,” he writes at The Hill. Clinton recovered by following a very different playbook than Trump: “Clinton’s reaction, after disastrous midterms, was to take back his White House from his left-leaning staff, bringing on a new team to help move him back to the center.” In contrast, Trump’s “instincts have led him to reinforce the 46 percent base that voted for him.” He’ll need to “realize that this remains a centrist country looking not just for economic success but for leadership that brings a majority of the country together for a higher common purpose.”
Labor desk: Stop Dumping on Everyday Jobs
No one works any more, complains Liel Leibovitz at Tablet. At least not in the “traditional” sense. He cites a New York Times article pushing the idea of working at a hated but well-paying job for a short time, then retiring and living off the earnings. But nowhere in the “glib, vaguely revolting piece does anyone entertain the proposition that work is its own reward.” Yet one person is an exception: Geoffrey Owns — the former “Cosby Show” star recently photographed by a shopper as he bagged groceries at Trader Joe’s. The shopper found it sad the actor was reduced to the indignity of that job. But Owens, who still works as an actor and teaches at Yale, valued the position. “Every job is worthwhile and valuable,” he insists. “I’ve had a great career ... so no one has to feel sorry for me.”
Film critic: Reynolds’ Nude-Picture Regrets
“Burt Reynolds probably wouldn’t like that, in death, so many of us are remembering him naked,” notes Kevin Fallon at The Daily Beast. Within minutes of news of the actor’s death, fans began tweeting “his iconic 1972 Cosmopolitan centerfold: Reynolds, stark naked, reclined on a bearskin rug.” Today, 45 years later, “the photo is still hot as hell.” But the actor regretted it: “It was a total fiasco,” he wrote. “I’m still embarrassed by it — it was one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made.” Still Fallon thinks Reynolds did the world a favor. “Reynolds had the courage to do what no man before and only few since have done in the name of equalizing sex and gender … And millions — generations — are forever grateful for it,” he argues. “Hot, bothered, and grateful.”
From the right: Crying To Get a Nuclear Deal
In 2015 in Vienna, as Iranian negotiators wore down US nuke-deal negotiator Wendy Sherman, tears began to flow. Sherman wrote on Twitter that she broke down and the talks continued, eventually leading to the deal. At The Washington Free Beacon, Matthew Continetti is horrified: “Confidence and decorum are traits of strong leaders. Surrender to one’s emotions is a sign of loss of hope and will, of a lack of self-control ... That is exactly how the Iranians got the deal of their dreams.” And it’s a deal that President Trump has already rendered inoperative. The real lesson, he says, is that power is “a function of resources and fighting spirit,” not having “a fit when negotiations reach an impasse.”
— Compiled by Seth Mandel and Adam Brodsky
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