Jimmie Lunceford, American jazzman (1902–47) (via YouTube)

I have an Impromptus today, filled with disparate items, as an Impromptus is supposed to be. (I started this column in 2001 — so the 20th anniversary is in sight.) My lead item has to do with a rapper, the U.S. president, and the prime minister of Sweden.

The rapper has been arrested and jailed in Sweden. The president is knocking the prime minister for not springing him. (The rapper is American.) The prime minister’s government says, in short, Hey, Sweden is a democracy. We have a process: courts, prosecutors, etc. The PM is not a dictator who can say “Jail him” or “Spring him.”


This is why Western leaders often prefer to deal with dictators: Dictators can make things happen. Democracies have these frustrating old processes: the rule of law, separation of powers, and all that sissy stuff. (Long may it last.)

For many years, we conservatives noted a difference between us and the Left: They wanted the results, process be damned; we wanted the process, and if the process led to our desired results, fine — but the process was the important, fundamental thing.

I’m not confident that one side is better than the other in this regard. Most people, it seems to me, want what they want when they want it. The process is great when you get your way. Otherwise . . .


In any case, I’d like to share with you a song, shared with me by a friend of mine. It speaks to this theme I’m pushing, about the process. The song comes from 1939 and is “Tain’t What You Do (It’s How You Do It).” The song is by Sy Oliver and Trummy Young, popularized by Jimmie Lunceford. Have a listen.


Would that every political point had such an apt, infectious theme song.