Weigel

The Sword of Chang

TAMPA, Fla. – It’s far from the newsiest piece of Marco Rubio’s New York Times interview, but heck, it interested me.

After you became the first Cuban-American speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, in 2006, your mentor, Jeb Bush, presented you with a sword. What was that about? 
Chang is a mythical conservative warrior. From time to time, if there’s a big issue going on, you’d see Jeb say, “I’m going to unleash Chang.” He gave me the sword of Chang.

From which mythology does this conservative warrior hail? 
I think it’s a Jeb Bush creation.

This was reported at the time, and the world forgot. Like his father, Jeb Bush mentions/summons the name of a “mystical warrior” to announce that it’s time to simmer down and make deals. The Gainesville Sun, reporting on the Change Handover, reprinted the mystical lesson that the governor gave his cherubic, incoming speaker.

”Chang is a mystical warrior. Chang is somebody who believes in conservative principles, believes in entrepreneurial capitalism, believes in moral values that underpin a free society.

”I rely on Chang with great regularity in my public life. He has been by my side and sometimes I let him down. But Chang, this mystical warrior, has never let me down.”

Bush then unsheathed a golden sword and gave it to Rubio as a gift.

”I’m going to bestow to you the sword of a great conservative warrior,” he said, as the crowd roared.

Odd, and another example of what we’re missing because Jeb isn’t in the presidential race. Our consolation prize: Lots of slow-news-day columns begging him to get in, until July or so.