‘The pursuit of happiness” — what a wonderful right, inalienable. You and I may want certain things for certain people. But they have a right to determine their own lives (as long as they’re not hurting others). In 2006, Sarah Palin was elected governor of Alaska. John McCain asked her to be his running mate in ’08. They lost that election, of course. In the summer of 2009, Palin resigned her governorship, after about two and a half years.

At the time, I wrote a column saying the following: If I had my way, Palin would complete her term as governor. She would knuckle down, do an excellent job, gain more experience, and develop a record. Then she would reemerge on the national scene. But I don’t get my way. People make life choices, and career choices, for themselves.

Some people were really ticked at me for that column. They wanted me to say that Palin could do no wrong, essentially. Others agreed with me. Ah, well.

We have a saying in golf: “Every shot pleases someone.”

Speaking of which: I am loath to see Tiger Woods become a “ceremonial golfer.” I borrow the phrase from Jack Nicklaus: “ceremonial golfer.” He applied it to himself, years ago. I am loath to see Tiger limpin’ around, making a few cuts, letting the fans bask in nostalgia. I want to see him a world-beater — or out.

But it’s his life. And how would I feel, if I were in Tiger’s shoes? I can’t say.

It wounded me to see Nicklaus become an “honorary starter” at the Masters, along with Byron Nelson and Sam Snead (as I recall). I thought it was beneath his dignity. Oh, look at Grandpa, lopin’ it out there, to kick off the tournament. Isn’t it sweet?

Now that I think about it, people older than I might have thought the same about Nelson and Snead. (I only knew them as retirees, basically.)

I could go on for a few hours in this vein, but you grasp my point: People make choices about their own lives. You and I might make different choices for them. Also, who knows what we would do, in their shoes, or cleats?

(I’m not sure anyone still wears cleats. But I can still hear their click-clack, on cart paths and so on.)

Tiger Woods has said that he does not wish to become a ceremonial golfer. Either he plays well or he doesn’t (play). If he did decide to be a ceremonial golfer — my eyes would still be glued to him, as ever.

And I think he is incredibly brave, incredibly tough, to be doing what he is, on that semi-leg.

• In recent days, I have flashed back to the Lewinsky period — late ’90s. There was much debate about legalities: perjury, subordination of perjury, obstruction of justice, etc. But some of us said, “What about the underlying moral questions? Don’t they count? Perhaps even more?”

That seems like a thousand years ago.

Today, there is a similar debate about legalities. That debate ought to be had. But what about the underlying moral questions? What about paying hush money to a porn star in the middle of a campaign?

Don’t nobody care, it seems to me — including people who cared a lot, or professed to care a lot, about such matters before 2016.

And we are not talking about athletes, movie stars, or pop singers, mind you. We’re talking about party leaders, national leaders. Does it make a difference? Some think so, some don’t. (Many don’t.)

Gertrude Himmelfarb spoke often of the “de-moralization of society” and the “re-moralization of society.” I am all for re-moralization — no matter how square it sounds.

(How can you be a conservative without being, in some way, square?)

• Check out Marjorie Taylor Green:

Who can dispute her? Trump is “THE leader of the Republican Party,” right? Party of Lincoln, Party of Reagan, Party of Trump . . .

(I think of a phrase never used: “the third time as farce.”)

• The New York Young Republican Club issued a statement, which includes the following passage:

President Trump embodies the American people — our psyche from id to super-ego — as does no other figure; his soul is totally bonded with our core values and emotions, and he is our total and indisputable champion.

It’s amazing that Americans should talk that way. And that these Americans should be Republicans. And that the object of their adoration should be — Donald Trump.

• Leaving the hospital, Pope Francis was asked how he was feeling. He said, “Ancora vivo, sai?” “I’m still alive, you know?” (Go here.) I like this guy’s style.

Let me give you something else: Last summer, I asked Riccardo Muti, the venerable conductor, how he was. He answered, “Ancora vivo.” I replied, “Anch’io” (“Me too”).

• Something less pleasant: “Bob Lee, Cash App founder, fatally stabbed in San Francisco.” The article is here. It is possible to make too much of one murder. We are a nation of murders. The violence in this country is appalling, out of control. But it is possible to make too little of one murder, too. San Francisco is a mess. We lovers of that city should say it louder than anybody. A backlash is brewing — a backlash against crime and lax government — and that backlash is righteous.

• You may have seen that, under Elon Musk, Twitter has labeled NPR “state-affiliated media.” For an Associated Press report on the subject, go here. I will quote a bit from that report:

NPR does receive U.S. government funding through grants from federal agencies and departments, along with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The company said it accounts for less than 1% of NPR’s annual operating budget.

Until Wednesday, Twitter guidelines said that “state-financed media organizations with editorial independence, like the BBC in the UK or NPR in the United States, are not defined as state-affiliated media.” Twitter has now removed NPR from that sentence.

One more line from the AP report:

Asked for comment, Twitter’s press office responded with an automated poop emoji.

Elon Musk has favored the poop emoji for a long time — see this article from May 2022, for example: “Elon Musk Responds With Poop Emoji as Twitter CEO Explains Anti-Spam Policy.”

The poop emoji reflects the spirit of our times. May better times be ahead of us.

• Did you notice this? “Pandemic pounds push 10,000 U.S. Army soldiers into obesity.” (Article here.) Oops.

• Let me recommend a piece by Chris Stirewalt in The Dispatch. It’s about Grover Cleveland. The piece made me think of Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., and his discontent with President Jimmy Carter. Carter, said the historian, was “the most conservative Democratic president since Cleveland.”

Here is the kind of thing that dismayed Schlesinger — I will quote from Carter’s State of the Union address in 1978:

We need patience and good will, but we really need to realize that there is a limit to the role and the function of government. Government cannot solve our problems, it can’t set our goals, it cannot define our vision. Government cannot eliminate poverty or provide a bountiful economy or reduce inflation or save our cities or cure illiteracy or provide energy. And government cannot mandate goodness. Only a true partnership between government and the people can ever hope to reach these goals.

• A curious and interesting story, from the AP: “Alaska Natives rescued Navy crew in 1955. Their medals have arrived.”

• Let’s have a little language — starting with the word “capitalism.” This word has been discussed and analyzed for ages. About its origins, many articles have been written. I would simply like to say: “Capitalism” is an ugly word — pejorative-sounding — for something so beautiful and beneficial.

A reader writes,

Jay,

As a life-long golfer, I have to admit to chafing (at least a little) whenever I see the phrase “golfing.” I know that other sports and activities use that form: “fishing,” “bowling,” “running,” etc. But “golfing” just doesn’t sound right to my ear. Am I alone in feeling this way? After all, nobody says “baseballing,” or “footballing,” or “basketballing.”

Would love to hear your thoughts.

A long time ago, my dad complained of the same thing. People were starting to say, “Let’s golf on Tuesday.” “He golfed yesterday.” “Golf” had never been a verb. You played golf. But English is so, so flexible this way. I welcome it, this flexibility (most of the time).

You play the fiddle. But you also fiddle. What a language . . .

One more thing: I’m like my dad. I don’t think I’d ever say “to golf” or “he likes golfing.” I am traditional — old-school — in a thousand ways.

Then again, I once heard Johnny Miller use a neat piece of slang. A golfer on Tour had shot a low, low round. Remarked Miller, “That’s really golfin’ your ball.”

• A vehicle, spotted on the streets of New York this week. Not the best day for such a vehicle — rainy. But still . . .

• Speaking of the streets of New York: I spotted Jonah Goldberg on them a couple of days ago. Amazing how you can run into people in New York — just as in a small town. Jonah is a New Yorker, born and bred, but he has lived away for a long time. Still, he looked pretty natural on the streets. When I approached, he muttered, “Who is this hick from the Midwest?” (Just kidding. Jonah actually said, “Sorry, don’t have time for an autograph just now.”)

(Seriously, I have been a fan of his since he was in his early or mid twenties, before he was famous. A phenomenal talent.)

• A little music? Here is a review of Fatma Said, the Egyptian soprano, in recital. (Her collaborator: Rafael Aguirre, a Spanish guitarist.) And here is an Easter present: a music podcast, a Music for a While, appropriate to the season.

Catch you soon, my friends. All the best.

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