White House Reality Check Bounces

Friday, my office was closed.  It was the day after Thanksgiving, after all.  But five-thirty p.m. found me downtown anyway, at the Willard Hotel’s Round Robin Bar, quaffing one of their signature branch water mint juleps, just as Mark Twain might have done there, more than a century ago.  Hell, I could have been sitting… Continue reading White House Reality Check Bounces

What Do They Do On a Rainy Night in Rio?

Around four o’clock yesterday afternoon, Gretchen told me she had a totally distraught, sobbing man on Line Two.  When I answered, it turned out to be Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. Daley: Hello, is this Tom Collins? Tom: Yes, Your Honor, it is I. Daley: Have you… heard what’s just happened? Tom: To tell the… Continue reading What Do They Do On a Rainy Night in Rio?

Mysterious Epidemic Sweeps America

Things were actually pretty quiet around here today – after all, I don’t decide when people desperately require my consultation, they do.  And so, there are, as might well be expected, a certain amount of, shall we say, stochastic process variations to my appointment schedule.  Not that I mind; in fact, considering how messed up… Continue reading Mysterious Epidemic Sweeps America