Last night, before taking in Arias with a Twist at the Woolly Mammoth Theater, Cerise and I were relaxing over tapas at Jaleo. While we waited for our order to arrive, Beaumont noticed me and sidled over. He’s a very decent sort, and works for the Secret Service. Some people, of course, might wonder about the native intelligence of somebody who did, after all, spend eight years willing to take a bullet for George W. Bush. To them I would say, as de Tocqueville pointed out, Americans elect idiots, geniuses, saints and scoundrels to high office without making any apparent distinction, and there’s nothing to be done about that. So I would suggest that if you consider Beaumont as being [...]
Apr 212012
The unusually warm winter and early spring here in Washington this year resulted in some strange and wonderful things – the flowering cherry trees, which respond to temperature, came out in advance of the forsythia, which responds to the light cycle. Crocuses, daffodils and tulips, which ordinarily bloom in a predictable sequence, all decided to go off at once. Two weeks ago, the flowering plum trees started up, and, as the official Washington Cherry Blossom Festival Parade was held today, even they were well past peak. So it was that I relaxed on my deck this afternoon, marveling at the concurrent displays of azaleas, lilacs, roses and honeysuckle, that my land line rang. I decided to let it roll over [...]
Ballantine and I went to college together, which is to say, we attended it at the same time and were in several of the same classes. The last I knew, he was in the Senior Executive Service with GSA Region 9, which is out on the west coast. So I hadn’t seen him in quite a while and was rather surprised to find him in the Round Robin Bar yesterday evening. After a few minutes catching up on the last fifteen years or so, I finally asked the obvious question, that being what brought him to DC. “The truth is,” he confided with a knowing wink, “I wangled a transfer, to the Public Building Service in the GSA Headquarters building down on [...]
Bo Xilai and Bo Guagua – Beaux Yeux or Bo Zeux?
He began calling early Thursday, trying to get a telephone consultation appointment, but I was booked solid. Since we were working this weekend, Gretchen finally managed to fit him in on Saturday afternoon. Bo: Hello? Tom Collins? Tom: Yes. Bo: This is Bo Guagua. How are you? Tom: Fine, thanks. And you? Bo: I’ve been better, actually. That’s why I called. Tom: Sure, I understand. Bo: My Dad’s innocent. Tom: Of threatening to kill Wang Lijun? Bo: He never did that – Wang Lijun had no reason to hide from my father at the United States consulate. Wang must have had a psychotic break or something. Tom: And your father didn’t poison Neil Heywood? Bo: That’s right; and neither did [...]