Jeff Likes to Tell Stories

Please settle a bet (the loser has to cook dinner). My wife says Arnold Schwarzenegger is only 5 feet 8. I say he's taller. Who is right? P.C. Kearns, Utah Parade Magazine It's the beginning of a new era in California politics so let's get this straight right from the start. Arnold is short. I once stood right next to him and Maria at the Pace Gallery in New York. Schwarzenegger is far from the 6\'1\" his official bio states. The Terminator terminates at 5\'7\" at best. Oh, and one other thing: "Arnold" is an anagram of "Ronald." My DC politico sightings continue. Last...

As my family sits down to dinner I'm waiting for the phone to ring. The other day I wondered why political and charitable calls at dinnertime were exempt from the Federal Trade Commission's "Do Not Call" list. Now I have a better understanding. According to Charles Lane's analysis in Saturday's Washington Post, the FTC created these exemptions because it felt the First Amendment required it to do so. Lane: The Supreme Court has long recognized a distinction between political and artistic speech, which are entitled to the highest degree of protection from government regulation, and commercial speech, defined as statements about...

Jason Levine is mad about the end-around the American Teleservices Association did this week by filing suit to stop the "Do Not Call" list, set to begin October 1. He passed on Dave Barry's advice: call the ATA and force them to pay for the call (updated number: 866-500-4272, if you're interested). Instead I recommend calling your Congress people and letting them know what wusses they are. The Senate and House salivated over easy political capital by overriding Tuesday's court ruling by the U.S. District Court in Oklahoma. Judge Lee West determined the Federal Trade Commission needed legislative authority to create...

Isabel is was here.

The Federal government made an early decision to close last night after the Metro said they'd be stopping all subway and bus service today at 11 am. Subway cars can sustain an 80 mph (128 kph) wind gust but officials were afraid people could be blown into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

The talk around the office water cooler yesterday was about what seems to be our annual Fall Emergency Festival. Two years ago it was 9/11 and anthrax. Last year it was the sniper and now wind and rain from the heavens. This, of course, is nature and not an act of deranged men. Moses where are you?

We live at the edge of a forest and over 70 trees surround our house. We are more worried about the expected high winds than the 6-12 inches (15-30 cm) of rain. During less severe storms we've seen branches break and fall to the ground as powerful javelins; forcefully imbedding themselves into the front yard 12 inches deep. Most of our trees are tulip poplars, with deep root systems. We think they should be able to hold tight but one can never be sure. Our neighbors across the street are leaving. They have a white oak that could fall.

It's 2 pm and the winds are starting to pick up. Everyone around here is wondering what to do with their cars. For the first time ever we are using our garage as a garage, safely protecting mine while we sacrifice my wife's as an offering to the hurricane should we need to get away fast.

We are also preparing for a loss of electricity. Even though we live in a populated area our connection to the grid is often tenuous. It's hard to see your next-door neighbor and the good folks across the street with lights while you sit in the dark/cold/heat (depending on whether it's a blizzard or a tropical storm). But that has been our history. Pepco, our electric utility company is under fire for a multiday blackout that occurred a few weeks ago after a violent rain storm. They claim they are prepared. We are not confident.

Luckily, our terrorist preparedness tactics are serving us well. We have gallons of bottled water and lots of flashlights with an ample supply of batteries. Why, we even have rolls of duct tape in case we need to shore up broken window.

The brunt of the storm is expected to hit the DC area in the early (and dark) hours of the morning. Some of our neighbors are setting up homesteads in their basements. We are about to fill our inflatable Aero bed soon (requires electricity) and have the girls sleep with us tonight.

If my Net connection remains in the "on" state, I will provide updates. Life was never this complicated when I lived in Los Angeles.

In the 1970 tear-jerker Love Story, Ali McGraw's character Jenny Cavilleri emotes "Love means never having to say your sorry." It became the "Have a good day!" catchall phrase of the new decade. Crocodile tears were indiscriminately shed everywhere by everyone.

Many have tried to connect love with politics. But whether it's love, politics, or love of politics that drive President Bush to ask us for more money to bring democracy to Iraq, should his actions be held to the standard set by Cavilleri? Having been married for ten years, I know that's not very realistic. Should he have to say "I'm sorry" for miscalculating his foreign policies? Washington Post columnist Michael Kinsley thinks so.

I walked outside my office, exactly as I'd done two years ago. Back then, I was running to retrieve my daughter from her daycare on the National Mall. News reports of fires at the State Department and smoke rising over the Potomac pushed me towards her. I was met with throngs of pedestrians and gridlock. Today, as I reached the sidewalk, traffic was normal but a familiar feeling slapped me. I tripped, banking 90 degrees as I neared the pavement. It wasn't an emotional flashback but a strong physical one: a deja vu that was more powerful than any 9/11 remembrance...

For the second year the date of awful remembrance is approaching. The day that for all of us alive today will never be just an ordinary date. September 11th is coming around again.

But the anniversary this year is very different than last year's. For one thing we'd fought a big war in Iraq--are still fighting it. A war that we would have not have fought had 9/11 never happened. But on the other hand, this year's memorializing will also be different because we are much further from that nightmare morning in 2001.

For most of us those horrible events are less present than they were a year ago. The intensity has faded. And the memories of 9/11 are becoming simply memories.

Kurt Andersen
Studio 360

So right. A year ago I was planning a memorial across from the Pentagon. This year the dread of the oncoming anniversary is gone. Instead I've had to work just a little to keep it in the forefront of my mind. The memories are indeed becoming more distant memories. But their effects are far from simple.