There’s Such a Thing as Doing Your Job Too Well

Around Washington, anyway, black helicopters almost always fly around in pairs.  Rarely, I have seen one, and even less commonly, three of them at once.  Therefore, I must confess, when strolling down K Street early this afternoon, I was astounded to see more than dozen of them, flying west-south-west, no more than five hundred feet above the… Continue reading There’s Such a Thing as Doing Your Job Too Well

The Elephant in the Bed Room (or Maybe the Back Seat)

Around eleven-thirty this morning, Gretchen walked into my office to deliver some news. “Mr. Collins, there’s this guy, he calls himself “Wrangler Jones” – he sounds young, probably not very sophisticated, most likely an ignorant, nose-picking, mouth-breathing redneck jack-off, actually, and he’s been calling, asking to talk to you, since, like, seven this morning, and… Continue reading The Elephant in the Bed Room (or Maybe the Back Seat)

Any Friend of Uncle Sam is a Friend of the Devil Too

I had another one of those clients this morning – obviously South Asian, with a military bearing, paying cash and giving an obviously fabricated name – this one insisted his was “Steven Phillips.”  He claimed he was a graduate student from Catholic University doing research for his doctoral thesis. “Catholic University?” I smiled innocently as… Continue reading Any Friend of Uncle Sam is a Friend of the Devil Too