Where Did All the Classy Americans Go?
Wall Street Journal
By Matthew Hennessey
April 28, 2025 5:03 pm ET
I’ll bet it’s been a while since you heard someone in public life described as “classy.” The word, and what it represents, has gone AWOL. The culture has time only for outrageous characters—F-bombers, exhibitionists, interrupters, slobs. The sublime has given way to the garish, the sacred to the profane.
Personal qualities once synonymous with good character have fallen so far out of fashion as to seem like rumors from an ancient age. Did athletes really once accept defeat with dignity? Did people really restrain themselves from saying everything that popped into their heads? Did known philanderers refrain from trying to mount political comebacks? Did ex-presidents stay out of the limelight as a courtesy to their successors?
Yes, kids, there was a time when prominent people were expected to exhibit grace. You couldn’t smack someone in the face on the Oscars broadcast and expect to resume your career in Hollywood. Shooting a CEO in cold blood earned you no fans. All that’s gone. Sorry you missed it.
Blame Donald Trump if you like. That’s the easy answer. He’s coarse and wears baseball hats. He eats steak with ketchup and says things that people in high office shouldn’t say. There’s no excusing Mr. Trump’s crudest behavior other than to point out that it’s worked for him. He’s insulted, lied, bluffed, manipulated, moaned and wisecracked his way into history. Like it or not, Mr. Trump is the dominant political figure of our age. Mitt Romney chose the classy route. What exactly did it get him?
Democrats accuse Republicans of debasing themselves to imitate or appease Mr. Trump. There’s truth to that. But the party of Jimmy Carter and Daniel Patrick Moynihan isn’t doing better. Part of the reason Democrats got whipped in November was their inability to convince Americans that they could still think and speak like adults. They lionize perversion. They beatify criminals. They screech.
Lately they’ve started cursing. Two dozen Democratic senators released a coordinated set of videos in March accusing Mr. Trump and his allies of saying “s— that ain’t true.” Last week Politico reported that Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin will soon start urging national Democrats to “f— retake the flag” and oppose Mr. Trump with “goddamn alpha energy.” To adapt the old Fat Albert joke: Politicians in both parties are like school on Saturday—no class.
And what about the rest of the culture? Radio playlists feature songs whose lyrics can’t legally be broadcast. Every other word is dropped or bleeped. “Saturday Night Live” aired an unfunny sketch ridiculing an actress’s teeth. Houston Rockets fans serenaded controversial Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, and any children who happened to be present Wednesday at the Toyota Center, with an obscene chant. Kneecap, an Irish rap group that is the current darling of the edgy set, led the Coachella music festival crowd in a chant of “F— Israel, free Palestine.”
Podcasts are a cesspool. Joe Rogan rhapsodized about the return to common usage of what is sometimes called the R-word—a term offensive to people with disabilities and those who love them. That Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson and bros everywhere now regularly drop the word without penalty is, according to Mr. Rogan, “one of the great culture victories” of his lifetime. If that sounds like a low bar, remember that this guy rose to fame as host of a TV show that dared people to eat bugs.
All the young dudes say Mr. Rogan’s favorite word now solely because the woke scolds said they couldn’t. Never mind whether it’s necessary or decent to say it. The only thing that matters is owning the libs, just as the only thing that matters to the “resistance” left is running Mr. Trump’s presidency off the rails. Never mind if they demean themselves in the process.
Let it be acknowledged that the good old days weren’t all class, all the time. Politics, in particular, has always rewarded a degree of ruthlessness. Some of history’s greatest monsters hid their depravity behind a smile. But it was long said that hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue. There was something laudable about the impulse to couch vulgarity with an apology. It seems we’ve lost even that.
Societies get the politics, and politicians, they deserve. This may not be our finest moment, but the pendulum always swings. Class will make a comeback. When it does, maybe try and show some respect. Tip your baseball hat or something.
Mr. Hennessey is the Journal’s deputy editorial features editor.
By Matthew Hennessey
April 28, 2025 5:03 pm ET
I’ll bet it’s been a while since you heard someone in public life described as “classy.” The word, and what it represents, has gone AWOL. The culture has time only for outrageous characters—F-bombers, exhibitionists, interrupters, slobs. The sublime has given way to the garish, the sacred to the profane.
Personal qualities once synonymous with good character have fallen so far out of fashion as to seem like rumors from an ancient age. Did athletes really once accept defeat with dignity? Did people really restrain themselves from saying everything that popped into their heads? Did known philanderers refrain from trying to mount political comebacks? Did ex-presidents stay out of the limelight as a courtesy to their successors?
Yes, kids, there was a time when prominent people were expected to exhibit grace. You couldn’t smack someone in the face on the Oscars broadcast and expect to resume your career in Hollywood. Shooting a CEO in cold blood earned you no fans. All that’s gone. Sorry you missed it.
Blame Donald Trump if you like. That’s the easy answer. He’s coarse and wears baseball hats. He eats steak with ketchup and says things that people in high office shouldn’t say. There’s no excusing Mr. Trump’s crudest behavior other than to point out that it’s worked for him. He’s insulted, lied, bluffed, manipulated, moaned and wisecracked his way into history. Like it or not, Mr. Trump is the dominant political figure of our age. Mitt Romney chose the classy route. What exactly did it get him?
Democrats accuse Republicans of debasing themselves to imitate or appease Mr. Trump. There’s truth to that. But the party of Jimmy Carter and Daniel Patrick Moynihan isn’t doing better. Part of the reason Democrats got whipped in November was their inability to convince Americans that they could still think and speak like adults. They lionize perversion. They beatify criminals. They screech.
Lately they’ve started cursing. Two dozen Democratic senators released a coordinated set of videos in March accusing Mr. Trump and his allies of saying “s— that ain’t true.” Last week Politico reported that Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin will soon start urging national Democrats to “f— retake the flag” and oppose Mr. Trump with “goddamn alpha energy.” To adapt the old Fat Albert joke: Politicians in both parties are like school on Saturday—no class.
And what about the rest of the culture? Radio playlists feature songs whose lyrics can’t legally be broadcast. Every other word is dropped or bleeped. “Saturday Night Live” aired an unfunny sketch ridiculing an actress’s teeth. Houston Rockets fans serenaded controversial Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, and any children who happened to be present Wednesday at the Toyota Center, with an obscene chant. Kneecap, an Irish rap group that is the current darling of the edgy set, led the Coachella music festival crowd in a chant of “F— Israel, free Palestine.”
Podcasts are a cesspool. Joe Rogan rhapsodized about the return to common usage of what is sometimes called the R-word—a term offensive to people with disabilities and those who love them. That Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson and bros everywhere now regularly drop the word without penalty is, according to Mr. Rogan, “one of the great culture victories” of his lifetime. If that sounds like a low bar, remember that this guy rose to fame as host of a TV show that dared people to eat bugs.
All the young dudes say Mr. Rogan’s favorite word now solely because the woke scolds said they couldn’t. Never mind whether it’s necessary or decent to say it. The only thing that matters is owning the libs, just as the only thing that matters to the “resistance” left is running Mr. Trump’s presidency off the rails. Never mind if they demean themselves in the process.
Let it be acknowledged that the good old days weren’t all class, all the time. Politics, in particular, has always rewarded a degree of ruthlessness. Some of history’s greatest monsters hid their depravity behind a smile. But it was long said that hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue. There was something laudable about the impulse to couch vulgarity with an apology. It seems we’ve lost even that.
Societies get the politics, and politicians, they deserve. This may not be our finest moment, but the pendulum always swings. Class will make a comeback. When it does, maybe try and show some respect. Tip your baseball hat or something.
Mr. Hennessey is the Journal’s deputy editorial features editor.
