Every year round comes Davos, where the Important gather to comfort each other and then tell us less important folk what they really think.

The Davos Journals by NRO‘s Jay Nordlinger are neatly turned reports on the mood, style and substance of these grand deliberations.

This is a good example for those unfamiliar with his work, a short account of the presentations by Bill Clinton and then (in the next link) Tony Blair with some positive thoughts about them from Jay, not exactly a fan of either of them:

Blair is a piece of work — an extraordinary politician. He is full of charm, humor, personality, naturalness, fluidity. No wonder he went so far. In my experience, he always speaks fervently, even “evangelically,” as many people have noted. This can be a little wearing, but it can also be admirable.

He talks about the current dour mood, owing to financial and economic ills. But the general mood “should not diminish our natural optimism, or dampen our desire to use philanthropy” to accomplish good in the world. In the presence of Tony Blair, you may feel a bit churlish for not being an optimist.

Read the series of Jay’s Journals to get a handily human feel for how these Important People all performed in front of each other.