Bob Levey (Barbara Tyroler)

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Levey Live: Speaking Freely
Washington Post Columnist
Friday, Jan. 25, 2002; 1 p.m. EST

"Levey Live: Speaking Freely," hosted by Washington Post columnist Bob Levey, appears every Friday. It is a live, open-agenda discussion offering washingtonpost.com users around the world the opportunity to ask questions and discuss topics of their choice with Bob.

Fearless Bob takes your questions about virtually everything, from sports and politics (there's a difference?) to world events, Metro area traffic and issues raised in Bob's columns.

The transcript follows.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

Bob Levey: Howdy, cowpokes. Hope you're enjoying the unseasonably warm day (I've outed myself--I've been "doing" The Weather Channel a lot lately). Let's get straight to the questions, since the world's greatest producer, Megan Rooney, tells me we already have a bunch.......

I.T.B.: Hey Bob -- what's up with "Anne's Reader Exchange?" Is there really an Anne? I've always wondered.

Bob Levey: ARE bit the dust more than a year ago. Never was an Ann. For years, she was actually L. Peat O'Neill. When Peat went off to write books, Ann "retired."

Washington, D.C.: I don't get it, Bob. The paper says you're on vacation, but here you are online. What gives? Let me guess: you are taking a break from the daily-column grind, but the ease of doing a cyberchat -- which is not unlike talking with neighbors over the backyard fence -- is too easy to pass up, especially with World's Greatest Daughter's college tuition bills to pay. Am I right?

Bob Levey: Paying WGD's college bills is a CONSTANT factor in my humble life. But the truth is that when you write a column every day, you need to build up a cushion. I try to stay at least four days ahead, so I never have to walk in the door on, say a Monday and say, "Golly, what in the world will I write for tomorrow's paper?" I don't have enough cuticles to chew to live that way. So I am hacking columns to appear next week. Already done Monday's, Tuesday's, Wednesday's and Thursday's. Working on Friday's. About a pair of cats named Bill and Hillary. Goodie.

Rockville, Md.: Unfortunately, the Post didn't have a before picture of Maryland's Congressional districts, but what is going on in the shape of the 3rd district? It looks like a sliver is just floating above Baltimore, unattached to the main part that is south of Baltimore.

Bob Levey: I think that's actually a UFO, looking to land in Little Italy

Arlington, Va.: Bob, an open letter to a jerk driver on the road this morning: Hey, you in the Lexus coming off the B'Way at Route 50 onto Gallows heading west -- I hope you got to your destination as quickly as you hoped you could by CUTTING OFF EVERYONE AND THEN GETTING CAUGHT AT THE LIGHT anyway. Also, you know that strange stick on the left side of the steering column? That's called a turn signal, and it's a crying shame that you spent that much money on a car AND IT DOESN'T WORK!

Pant, pant. Thanks.

Bob Levey: And they say people's blood pressures went down on the roads after Sept. 11......

Columbia, Md.: Well, the column announcing the final tally was worth the wait. Congratulations on almost nicking $1 million!

Bob Levey: Thank you very, very much--but really, truly, I just write the columns. It's a measure of how GREAT this community is that they respond, respond, respond.

Rockville, Md.: Any thoughts on the book "Bias" by a former CBS journalist and acknowledged Democrat? It seems to undercut a lot of your claims to the contrary, especially your argument that all the talk about the liberal press is just a product of the vast right-wing conspiracy. The anger it has provoked among his former CBS colleagues and the hysterical reaction to it by, among others, Michael Kinsley and the Post’s Tom Shales indicate that the author has struck a very large nerve.

Bob Levey: I read it last week, and was struck by one thought over and over: Goldberg doesn't prove that the TV Biggies are possessed by liberal bias. He proves that they often do shoddy, shallow journalism. Nuthin new there, I'm afraid.
Also, that much-ballyhood quote from the head of CBS News--to the effect that everyone knows the nets tilt left, but if Bernie ever says he said it, he'll deny it--sounds to me like the kind of lighthearted bull that flies around the watercooler in every newsroom. Does one off-the-cuff comment "prove" bias? Not to me.

Arlington, Va.: Bob, many congratulations on the Children's Hospital smasheroo! I assume we can already donate money to next year's campaign, right? If so, how do we do it?

Bob Levey: We're open for business 365/24/7. Make checks payable to Children's Hospital and mail them to P.O. Box 75528, Baltimore, Md., 21275-5528, or call 202-334-9000, press 5437 and follow directions, or go to www.washingtonpost.com/childrenshopsital and follow directions.
Thanks for being the first giver of 2002-3!

Beltsville, Md.: How can the Lindhs expect us to believe that their son "loves America"?

Bob Levey: I nearly lost my breakfast over that one, too.

Bethesda, Md.: For awhile there I must admit I was getting a bit annoyed when 3/4 of your columns were about the Children's hospital drive. I kept thinking "Is there nothing else going on around here?" I only moved here last summer, so I wasn't familiar with the drive before.

Anyway, last week I found myself reading everyday to see if you made it. At first it was just me thinking "well, once he makes it he will shut up about it." But then, Monday morning I went online to find the column you promised with the final results. It wasn't there?!?! Tuesday, Wednesday, still no answer. I was hanging by the edge of my seat for the results. Not because you would stop talking about it, but because I was really hoping you did. Anyway, I just wanted to share the strange effect you had on me, and to chastize you a bit for keeping us all waiting a few extra days (although, given the final total, almost $300k above Friday's, I understand the delay in counting).

Bob Levey: Please know that I wretsle every year with the question of whether there's such a thing as "too much Children's." Of course there is. I try really, really hard to stop short of the point where I'm disgusting and dismaying readers like you. I actually think that it's more like 2/3 Children's and 1/3 other stuff, but let's not quibble. The point is: I hear you, I care very much about not chasing you away.
As for the non-appearance of the 1/21 column, wherein appeared the GREAT news about a $914,000 bottom line.....
That was a national holiday, and a holiday for the entire crew at washingtonpost.com. No one was around to put that day's Bob column "up." It didn't get up until late Wednesday, when Bob and Megan Rooney bugged the dot-commune and asked them to do it. We'd gotten about 30 complaints very much like yours.

Cadillac Jack: Bob,
When on the metro escalator, are you a right side stander or a left side walker?

Bob Levey: Right side stander when I'm going up, left side jogger when I'm going down.
Actually, I shouldn't admit that, since running (or in my case, semi-trotting) on Metro e scalators is illegal.
But the real reason I shouldn't admit it is that last February, just after a snow, I was semi-trotting down the escalator at Friendship Heights when I fell and landed hard on my right buttock.
You've never SEEN such a blot of purple!
Lasted for weeks.
My son wanted to take a picture of it and turn it into his screen saver.
I accused him of vast disrespect for his old man. But he sure did make the old man laugh.

Virginia: I just about cried when I saw the final tally for Children's. Talk about everybody coming through in the home stretch!

Bob Levey: really amazing. Really buoyed the spirits, too, in a year that contained Sept. 11. I would have bet you a lot of money that we'd have taken a 40 percent "hit" this time. But I now believe that Sept. 11 changed America in many ways--charitable giving being one major way. If you listen to your heart, and your heart says "Give," and you know that $100 isn't going to wreck your checking account balance... well, that's how Bob Levey set a record.

Anglophonia: From today's on-line Post:

"Debris lays strewn near the site of today's suicide bombing in Tel Aviv."

Does nobody know the difference between "lay" and "lie" anymore?

Bob Levey: I sure do. And you sure do. And a few editors I know sure do. But the ranks are thinning, obviously.

Greenbelt, Md.: Hi --

I understand that there's proposed legislation circulating on Capitol Hill that will give the CIA the power to intercept e-mail messages routed through the United States from abroad.

As you know, Congress has already given the CIA new legal powers to snoop on people in the United States. The CIA can now read secret grand jury testimony, without a judge's prior approval. And the CIA can obtain private records of institutions and corporations seized under federal court-approved searches.

Do you believe that most Americans want the CIA reading their e-mails?

Bob Levey: Heck, no. But because the Democrats don't want to howl about this for fear of looking unpatriotic during a war, I'd say the CIA has at least a snowball's chance of getting this done.

Bristol, England: Congratulations on going over the top on the Children's Hospital campaign!

Next year, would it be possible to submit credit card contributions online from outside the U.S.? I tried to contribute online this year, and the form required a U.S. zip code and billing address, which I do not have. I do have a U.S.-based bank account, so I wrote a check and it made it in on the 17th, but that was just under the wire.

Bob Levey: Toni Stiefel, the vastly talented woman who coordinates our online fundraising, says she's already on the case. Thanks for the nudge. This should never have slipped my mind, since one of the main reasons we started online fundraising was so we could keep a hometown hook into our former residents and former reader/givers. But slip it did. No longer

12th Floor Metro Center: Bob,
I am so excited I can't stand it. I saw a trash can inside of Metro Center this morning (the 13th & F St. exit). WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, life is good!!! I know, I know, it's the little things. Have a good weekend!

Bob Levey: It takes so little to gladden a heart.
Now if Metro would just give us cans in every station.....
Please.....
PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ballston, Va.: Marc Fisher says you don't exist. How can you disprove of his theory?

Bob Levey: By showing him my bills. They couldn't have been run up by someone fictitious

Laurel, Md.: Bob,

I know you edit the bridge column, but have you taken a look at the online version? It's almost unreadable the way the deal is laid out.

Could you get someone at washingtonpost.com to:

Eliminate the blank line between suits in the same hand
Put the deal before, not after, the bidding quiz
Put North and South at the top and bottom in the middle of the page, with East and West at the right and left sides. It would be great to have a bridge hand to look at during work breaks. Thanks.

Bob Levey: Hey, dot-commers:
Laurel knows whereof he types.
Get with all them spaces and stuff.
Now.
Bridge is too important to be unreadable.

Arlington, Va.: Bob, why the standing on the up escelator? You're always complaining about your weight, here's something you can do about it. It's not only good exercise, it gets you there faster (obviously a concern, since you jog your way down).

Bob Levey: I do walk up sometimes. But the sad truth is that I can't make it all the way to the top on the longer escalators (Rosslyn, Bethesda, Dupont Circle) without getting winded.

The valley: Bob,

Why don't any of the other Washington Post columnists do regular fundraising campaigns for their favorite charities, like you? Shouldn't there be some kind of a requirement that at least 1/3 of all Post columns be devoted asking readers to give to worthy causes?

Bob Levey: Each columnist here goes his or her own way. I'd be very reluctant to change that--or to see management insist on something like what you suggest.

Bethesda, Md.: On my way into work this morning, I was listening to NPR when I heard that a particular program had been sponsored by "the Wilson Bridge Project." Do you have any idea why the Wilson Bridge Project would need to advertise? Aren't they already over budget without spending our tax dollars on unnecessary advertising??

Bob Levey: I think that's actually the title of the next David Baldacci novel....

Alexandria, Va.: I hope this doesn't sound mean spirited because it really isn't, but do you ever get a look at the Children's Hospital books? Do you see whee this almost $1M goes and what the general financial management is looking like? In light of Enron and the hundreds of millions of dollars that were donated for 9/11 and about we have no heard a thing since, I guess I am a bit worried/cynical about financial (mis)management. Thanks.

PS: what are WGD's plans for post-college? And, where is WGS thinking of applying?

Bob Levey: I can understand your cynicism and worry, so I welcome the chance to clear this up.
No, I have never actually stuck my nose into the books at Children's.
But ever since I started doing this fundraiser 21 years ago, I have insisted (and have gotten repeated assurances) that all the money I raise go into a separate pot. It is accounted for separately and spent separately. It goes only to pay the bills of kids whose families cannot.
In the era of computers, it's easy to build a firewall around the bucks that I raise. Levey donors are coded in the Children's computer system. That tells an unsuspecting or unknowledgeable person at the hospital not to grab these funds for any other purpose.

Metro Media Relations : Shhhh. The trash cans are coming back. The explosion proof kind. Thanks to $$ from the White House. Coming soon to a Metro station near you!

Bob Levey: Coolnesssssssssssssssssssssss!
Actually, fastidiousnesssssssssssssssssssss!

Metro buses and Trollies: I think it was on Marc Fisher yesterday (the same show he said you didn't exisit). The discussion was about the proposed trollys (or is it trollies?) Your thoughts?

And on a similar note, do you ever take the bus? What do you do if you have to go somewhere downtown not near a metro station?

Bob Levey: Trolleys are a loser of an idea. Where would you put them? In one of four lanes along Wisconsin Avenue? There's just too much car and truck traffic right now to give up 25 percent of that artery's capacity.
Then there's the question of safety. Can you imagine people running into the middle of the street to board a trolley--or people disembarking right into the path of a truck?
It works with the cable cars in San Francisco because that city is used to them. Here, there'd be blood and death. No, thanks.
I take the bus every single day. That's exactly how I get where I need to get when the subway isn't convenient. The bus is terrific! The drivers are almost all wonderful, the passengers are courteous and the buses themselves are better than in most cities.
One beef: Those two-year-old "neighborhood buses"--the ones that run on the relatively underused routes. The ones that look like (and sound like) beetles that have had their genes messed around with by a mad scientist.
These have to go.
Horribly noisy. Ugly. Uncomfortable inside. Dangerous (there's no rear emergency door).

Reston, Va.: Congratulations on making and over exceeding your goal for Children's Hospital this year. I enjoyed reading that article more than anything.

Bob Levey: I enjoyed writing it more than anything. Thanks!

Philadelphia, Penn.: Am glad to see that you guys have succeeded so well with your fundraising drive. My wife and I usually donate in lieu of presents but with a new baby and only one income, we had to really cut back.

I was beginning to feel guilty about not sending in our usual donation but feel so much better that some washingtonians picked up the slack!

The local news is going nuts over that bus that disappeared from Berks County, PA and ended up in MD. At my office, the one question was: what was that guy thinking?

Bob Levey: I'm not sure he WAS thinking....

Alexandria, Va.: Do you have any thoughts on when, whether and how to rebuild the Woodrow Wilson Bridge? Alexandria Congressman James Moran told the American Muslim Council last summer that the bridge "is the bane of my existence" and that he was glad the members of that group were not interested in the subject.

Is the public, like Congressman Moran, losing interest? It will affect our lives for years to come.

Bob Levey: The bridge will get built. Congress will end up paying for it. Everything that's going on right now is just a dance over money. Will Maryland pay more than its share or will Virginia? That's all about who controls the Senate and House after the November elections. If the Democrats, the funds should roll. If the Republicans, it'll be a lot tougher--unless Warner and Allen get off their duffs and recognize how important this bridge is to hundreds of thousands of their constituents.

Washington, D.C.: So, Bob, what high school did you average 18 ppg. for? Enjoyed the chat with Dantley.

Bob Levey: Thanks much. I went to the Fieldston School, a private school in the Bronx. Don't let that mislead you: We played good, tough ball. Not Dantley-level ball. Not DeMatha-level ball. But we routinely played public schools whose teams sent all five starters to Division One colleges, on scholarship.
As I tell my son all the time, if only I had played when three-point shots were all the rage.....

Washington, D.C.: Bob,

What do you think of the whole "XXXX-rage" phenomenon?

I think it cheapens what happened because it makes it seem like the person snapped and wasn't responsible for what happened.

"Road-rage" was interesting, if nothing else, because it was first. But now I'm seeing "line-rage," "phone-rage," even "wave-rage" in reference to a surfer.

When is enough enough and why can't they just call it assault?

Bob Levey: It's a little like the "Gate-ization" of every scandal. Y' know, Filegate. Pretzelgate. Gate ad nauseam.
Part of it is a lack of imagination. Part of it is that it's a handy piece of shorthand. Get used to it. Rage-ism is going to be around for a while.

Washington, D.C.: What's up with people wanting to know details about your daughter's future? I mean, really, she isn't running this chat. Not to mention that if I had an online chat moderating parent and they gave out personal details about me in any public way, I'd quit talking to them.

Bob Levey: Please note that I never give out details that would endanger her. All I've said about college, for example, is that she attends New York University. So do 41,000 others.

Washington, D.C: Whatever happened to political folk singers?
Why don't we have these people anymore, like back in the day. There were always songs about political events. Kingston trio etc.

I'd like to hear a song about "Taliban John"
Or W. and the Pretzel.

Bob Levey: You must not be a Tom Paxton fan.
I am, and have been since the mid-60s.
He's still the very, very best.
And he has a new song about Sept. 11 that's as political (not to mention haunting and memorable) as anything you'll ever hear.
Plug for Tom: He sings at The Barns of Wolf Trap on April 12.
Look for me somewhere in the first three rows.

Reston, Va: Marc said that neither he nor the Bobster existed. I think Achenbach is playing the parts of both of them. It'd explain why he hasn't been writing much under his own name lately...

Bob Levey: Achenbach is actually playing Ari Flesicher.

Washington, D.C.: As for your wrestling with whether there's "too much Children's" in your columns, here's my two cents. I generally don't read the columns, and prefer the columns about other things. But there's so much to read in the Post, I don't expect every column you write to interest me. If more columns = more money for the hospital, then my vote is to write as much as you want about it.

Bob Levey: Thanks for your good sense.

Maryland: To say that TV news media is plagued by shoddy journalism is an understatement. My husband is a police officer, and sometimes gets to see his cases on the evenings news. We always laugh at how completely inaccurate they are. I think, in absence of real information, they just make it up. In the process, they end up inserting their own policial viewpoints (perhaphs unintentionally). Just an aside, the Washington Post usually gets most of the facts straight on his cases.

Bob Levey: Wow, a testimonial!
Seriously, it's a huge problem, and it's not getting better. We print-ies often laugh about what happens when a TV type arrives on the scene of a story. First thing most of them do is march right up to a Postie or a Timesie and ask for a fill. Then, often as not, they'll do their stand-up right away, without even trying to do their own reporting.
Please note that the very best local TV reporters (Pat Collins, Gary Reals, Tom Sherwood) never do this. But that's because they all did many years as newspaper guys!

re: Miss Emily and the Levey clan: I, for one, enjoy hearing about Emily's progress in college, Allie's soccer games, and Jane, the Perpetual Trophy wife; and don't think that you've ever told us anything "personal." Thanks Bob. That's all.

Bob Levey: Merci buckets.
By the way, why in the world would I ever endanger a family as marvelous as mine?

Olney, Md.: From the looks of the rather vague map in today's Post, it looks like I'm being shifted to Maryland's 4th Congressional District. Who would I complain to about that?? From what my friends in Silver Spring say, Congressman Albert Wynn and his staff are just plain unresponsive. I like where I am, with Connie Morella representing me. Is there anything I can do??

Bob Levey: Call/write/e-mail the guv. He's the one what dunnit

Arlington, Va.: Hey Bob, have you heard about this one: the fire-police chief of a town in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania refuses to direct traffic because the local YMCA reads Harry Potter to kids? Something to do with the books teaching witchcraft and that's not God's will. May I go on the record as saying UGH please?

Bob Levey: You may. As long as I may join you.

20009: One piece of feedback from a middle aged woman--your beautiful comments about your wife are so touching and refreshing. If we could only clone you and your ideas! Thanks for the warmth, the honesty and the fun.

Bob Levey: Zow! Thanks. And thanks for sensing how totally I mean them. As I always say to Jane the Perpetual Trophy Wife when one of our kids does something great, "It's always about the Mama." She is a terrific woman--an accomplished historian, a terrific partner, a person who has always said yes to life.

"Lie" vs. "Lay": Please, we've got MUCH bigger problems with Their, There, and They're. If I had $0.25 for every time I've seen that screwup your Childen's campaign would've closed a bit earlier...

Bob Levey: You forgot "effect" vs. "affect." Even the WP gets that one wrong on occasion.

Winded's a State of Mind: Bob, it's OK--lots of people get winded walking up the long escalators.

But there's nothing preventing you from walking part of the way up and then dropping out somewhere around halfway or whatever.

As my too-perky BodyPump instructor kept saying last night, "Challenge yourself and you might be surprised what you're capable of!"

Bob Levey: Yeah, but I challenge myself and discover what I'm NOT capable of!

Ashley's Mom: Bob,
I'm having a sleepover for my daughter's 6th birthday next Friday night. Her and 8-10 of her friends. What in the world have I done?! Wanna come and help out?

Bob Levey: Sorry, Sonny Boy and I have tickies to see the Washington Jordans take on the Atlanta Hawks. You and Disney videos will have to handle it on your own.
By the way, Jane the Perpetual Trophy Wife had a hard and fast rule about birthday parties when our kids were young.
Never more guests than the number of years the kid was celebrating.
I can't tell you how beautifully it worked. I think we did about 25 birthday parties before the kids said, "No more." We NEVER had a kid dissolve in tears. We NEVER had a kid start to throw things. We NEVER had to call a parent and say, "Come get your kid early." It's a way of keeping the dynamics manageable, for kids and adults alike.
Remember it for next year.
And tell Ashley HB for me, OK?

Don't forget: "then" and "than." "its" and "it's."

Ah well, English is a Norman man-at-arms trying to get in bed with a Saxon barmaid. We should be thankful it isn't more confusing.

Bob Levey: That is a metaphor for the ages. May I steal it, please? Great one!

Spelling&Grammar, Va.: I notice a lot more spelling, grammar, and copy errors in the Post over the past couple years. I was wondering if this is because of a greater reliance on computer spelling & grammar checkers instead of proofreaders?

Bob Levey: Actually, the opposite is true. Until 1978, we relied on printers to retype every word that left the newsroom. Obviously, errors were possible--and regular. But now trained reporters and editors are the last line of defense--and computer spell-check programs help out greatly. I often read an entire day's paper without spotting a single error. Of course, spell-check won't save you from the improper choice between "effect" and "affect."

Beltsville, Md.: So I hate to say it, but I'm actually getting hopeful about baseball in DC.

Note to the DC baseball group, or more importantly, Bud Selig - I'm ready to put my deposit down now, today.

Move the Expos.

Now.

Please.

Bob Levey: Don't
Count.
Your.
Chickens.
Not just because Selig is a car salesman (nuf sed). Because there is still nothing like a workable solution to the Angelos Problem. Until he is persuaded that a DC franchise will not dent the Orioles' bottom line, we ain't gettin' the Expos, we ain't gettin' the Marlins, we ain't gettin' nuthin'.

Washington, D.C.: Hi, Bob. Just wanted to share a pleasant Metro story. Earlier this week, around 9:20-ish, the Metro was about to leave Cleveland Park, headed downtown, when the doors re-opened and the driver said, "To the person who just ran onto the train...I think you dropped something." Definitely brought a smile to my sleepy face...

Bob Levey: Wow. Thanks.

Cubicle in D.C.: Bob: Happy Friday to you and CONGRATULATIONS! Children all over the Washington metro area will be helped due to your guidance of the ship known as the Children's Hospital Fund Drive. I know that 9/11 made you nervous that perhaps there was no more to give. I think that fear has proved groundless.

Now, on to more serious matters...Steelers or Patriots?

Bob Levey: My deep love for smashmouth football tells me Steelers. Man, is that team down and dirty! They tackle well. They pursue great. They block terrifically.
But this Brady kid looks as if he's kissed by the gods.
I make it New England 17, Pittsbugh 13.

Beltsville, Md.: Boswell, though, had a great column the other day that quoted a baseball official saying Angelos' anti-DC attitude is softening - a possible sign he's getting ready to sell.

How can that not make people optimistic?

Bob Levey: How do you know the next Oiroles' owner won't be as territorial as Angelos has been?

Washington, D.C.: Here's another Post editing question. When will your writers and editors agree on what century it is? I still occasionally see events which took place between 1900 and 1999 as having occurred in "this century".

Bob Levey: Touche! I've seen it, too. Maybe by 2003 we'll realize that the 20th is ancient history

Normans and Saxons and English, Oh, my! : Norman man-at-arms and Saxon barmaid, yes, but also Celtic bard, Roman citizen, Pictish archer....
No wonder it's such a confusing, poetic, beautiful language...

Bob Levey: Saxon barmaids are prettier than ANY of those....

Blood and Death with trollies?: Actually, it's not the cable cars that make up most of the cable-run transit in San Francisco. They have streetcars there that look identical to the ones presented in the Post's article, complete the boarding stations in the middle of the street. (My sister lives in SF...I go there a lot.)

It's certainly not blood and death there, but I believe they were installed in that city before it had a chance to become totally car-filled.

Putting them in DC now would involve tearing up lots of roads and probably bulldozing buildings to make up for the space displaced by boarding platforms of a trolley system.

But, won't our children's children (assuming they're residents of the greater DC area) have to deal with this at some point as well?

In other words, why not install them now? The over-crowding of DC's roads certainly isn't going to get any better.

Bob Levey: If you could promise me that the new-generation DC trolleys would transport 300,000 people a day, I MIGHT say the disruption would be worth it. But the ridership projections I've seen are nowhere near that high.
So it's potential gain vs. potential loss. The only way to evaluate potential long-term gain is to ask how many cars would trolleys take off the roads. My answer: Very few.
You're absolutely right that our children will face the transit and crowding issue head on. But they will have a choice, and it will make more and more sense.
Live near where you work.
Live in the city.
Stop trying to pretend that commuting one to a car is a viable way to do it.
We're not at that point yet, but we soon will be. And when w e are, it won't be a question of trolleys or no trolleys. It'll be a question of who turns the lights ouyt in Loudoun and Howard and Charles and Prince William as all those folks go condo-shopping in Cleveland Park.

Beltsville, Md.: Fine, you win. On this beautiful day, I'm just gonna sit in my gray cubicle and frown.

Hope you have a good weekend.

Go Caps!

Bob Levey: Is that the name of the hockey team that is still a few miles out of the playoffs?
Sorry.
Had to.

Languageland: While we're at it, explain to me the difference between bring and take.

Bob Levey: Bring is what Americans say.
Take is what New Yorkers say.

Bob Levey: Thanks, gang. Be sure to come back for more next Friday, same time, same station

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