On Queen Elizabeth
Andrew Sullivan, a Britisher-turned-American, wrote this excellent piece upon the passing away of Queen Elizabeth (QE II, from here on). I am no fan of monarchies, and hold the view that Sullivan perfectly captures in this line: “It’s a primordial institution smuggled into a democratic system. It has nothing to do with merit…” And yet, I found Sullivan’s tribute/commentary on QE II brilliant: “Elizabeth Windsor was tasked as a twenty-something with a job that required her to say or do nothing that could be misconstrued, controversial, or even interestingly human — for the rest of her life. ” Boy, did she pull it off, he says later: “Perhaps the most famous woman in the world, she remained a sphinx, hard to decipher, impossible to label .” And: “Whatever else happened to the other royals, she stayed the same. And whatever else happened in Britain — from the end of Empire to Brexit — she stayed the same. This is an achievement of nearly inhuman proportions, re...