Obama Pegs Annise Parker in an Awkward Position

Around ten yesterday morning, Gretchen began receiving calls from “some pushy woman named Parker,” as she put it, more or less demanding an immediate telephone consultation.  Gretchen managed to work her in during my lunch break, which she accomplished by canceling my reservation at the Capital Grille and having a taxi deliver sushi from the… Continue reading Obama Pegs Annise Parker in an Awkward Position

Ach du Liebe Zeit! NSA Private Cell Phone Tap Penetrates Angela Merkel

Fortunately, despite the desperate state of the world, it did not prove necessary for Gretchen to book any consultations on this particular weekend.  So she had both days off – although I am, technically speaking, on call year-round, 24/7.  And so it was that shortly after breakfast in bed, while Cerise and I relaxed with… Continue reading Ach du Liebe Zeit! NSA Private Cell Phone Tap Penetrates Angela Merkel

Boris Does HealthCare.gov Like Debbie Did Dallas

Yesterday, my sister-in-law Katje called and dropped some serious hints that I should invite her little family over for dinner at my place in Great Falls, Virginia.  It made sense – she and my brother Rob Roy both work for Whizzonator-YoYoDyne Information Systems, one of the huge gaggle of federal contractors and subcontractors that created… Continue reading Boris Does HealthCare.gov Like Debbie Did Dallas

DC Government Endures Humiliation and Injustice

Maybe there were several hundred thousand federal workers with nothing to do this week, but Gretchen and I have been as busy as one-armed paper hangers.  Apparently, there’s nothing like the economic repercussions of a government shutdown combined with the impending financial cataclysm of a US government default to increase the demand for nearly every… Continue reading DC Government Endures Humiliation and Injustice

Washington Gets Them Federal Shutdown Blues

Five days into the US federal government shutdown, the one striking effect that sticks in my mind is how extraordinarily easy it has been to drive downtown.  With the vast majority of federal workers – who, truth be told, are among the worst drivers anywhere – stuck at home with their families (who, truth be… Continue reading Washington Gets Them Federal Shutdown Blues