A Cockeyed Optimist — Perspectives

“But I’m stuck like a dope
With a thing called hope
And I can’t get it out of my heart”
- Oscar Hammerstein II (“A Cockeyed Optimist”)

It’s not easy to be an optimist these days, especially for an octogenarian with nine young grandchildren who are constantly in his thoughts. And yet, despite the chaos and carnage our country seems bent on inflicting, both at home and abroad, the last several days have brought unanticipated good news.

First was Artemis II’s 10-day, 252,000-mile voyage around the moon and back. With Trump hogging so many headlines, this record-breaking flight got astonishingly little coverage. Yet this was the first trip to the moon in over 53 years ago, and it’s a sign that humans are daring to explore again. But what really thrilled me were the crew members themselves. Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen seem like four special and courageous people. As a white American male, a black American male, a white female American, and a white male Canadian, they represent the kind of diversity – of race, gender, and nationality – that we are told is weakening our country. And they didn’t just bring great technical skills, they talked about loving each other and they built a community in a small space capsule with a malfunctioning toilet. For me, the four astronauts are not “heroes,” a word we have trivialized by overuse. They are simply people of great courage, a virtue we have seen too little in this country of late.

Then came the landslide defeat of Viktor Orban, Hungary’s long-time dictator, who had become the poster boy for America’s far right. The Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) has even set up an office in Hungary. Sunday’s loss came despite a campaign visit from J.D. Vance and years of vocal support from Donald Trump. His close ties with both Putin and Trump made Orban the link between eastern and western fascism, which left Ukraine caught in the middle. That the Ukrainians have managed to survive in the face of military force should have been a warning about what we might face in Iran.

From Hungary, Vance proceeded to Pakistan to negotiate with the Iranians. He was joined by Jared Kushner and Steve Witcoff, two shameless private dealmakers who masquerade as public diplomats. The breakdown of the talks made Vance zero for two for the week (which is itself reason for optimism). But he wasn’t quite finished, as he went on to lecture Leo XIV on theology and suggested the pope “let the president stick to dictating foreign policy.” Finally, he said the president deleted the post of himself as Jesus “because a lot of people weren’t understanding his humor.” Did he just discover that?

I’ve asked my doctor start wearing scrubs like Dr. Trump.

So why is all this good news?

For one thing, the Artemis voyage and crew rekindled a sense, less of conquest, than of wonder, of the human desire to explore and to understand our small place in this vast universe. It was carried out by a crew who represented the diversity that has been the foundation of this country until it came under attack a few years ago.

In Hungary, the popular and peaceful transition of power, after 16 years of a dictator bent on destroying his country’s democratic institutions, can only embolden those here who seek to do the same. In the efforts to establish Christian nationalism in America, we got is a man of no fixed beliefs who thinks of himself as Jesus. At last, people are getting the joke.

I am an optimist today because I believe we are taking our country back, not only for ourselves but for our grandchildren.