Bob Levey (Barbara Tyroler)

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Levey Live: Speaking Freely
Washington Post Columnist
Friday, Jan. 10, 2003; 1 p.m. ET

"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.

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: Good afternoon, onliners, and welcome to yet another installment of "Levey Live: Speaking Freely." Levey is, and you may. Beyond that, we have no rules. This discussion is what we in the talk radio biz used to call "open phones." Any subject, rant or observation is fair game. For the next 60 minutes, we'll take 'em one at a time.....

Fairfax, Va.: I hear that metro is considering raising prices. Not that it's a bad thing since it's been so long, but won't it cost a fortune to replace all the signs with the new fare prices? Perhaps it's time for electronic signs?

Bob Levey: The fare signs in stations look to me as if they were assembled by a five-year-old with a stick-on set of numbers and letters. I doubt that it would cost serious $$$ to adjust them.
Then again, when Bob Barr insisted that Metro rename the station at National Airport in honor of Ronald Reagan, that job cost $1 million, as I recall. So maybe nothing is cheap, even if it looks as if it should be.

McPherson Square, Washington, D.C. :
Bob,

I ask you: How long does a plastic shopping bag have to hang from a low lying tree branch in McPherson Square Park before it is removed?
One day? No.
Two days? No.
Three days and counting so far.

Bob Levey: Keep counting, my friend.
And be sure you don't assign the blame to the often-ripped District of Columbia government.
That park is under the aegis of the National Park Service. It's on them to fix the matter.

Forest Glen, Md.: I've never been a Glendening fan but, as a lifelong Marylander, I'm embarassed by his "portrait."

Can the man not even manage a TIE to preserve for posterity by this state?

washingtonpost.com: Outgoing Governor, Caught in Oil, (Post, Jan. 10)

Bob Levey: Yeah, I was a little puzzled by that myself. Maybe it was Parris's way of looking different for posterity. For what it's worth, I think he looks as if he's trying too hard to be casual--kind of like a 50-year-old recently divorced man who walks into a dating bar in leather pants, because someone told him it was cool.

Whoville: Well Bob, I hate to say I told you so, but "I told you so!" In the matter of RESPECT, Virginia football gets none. Final ESPN coaches poll of college football -- University of Virginia is number 25 (you did say they wouldn't be shut out). Five other teams in the poll played Virginia, all are ahead of them. Three of those five (Maryland, North Carolina State, and West Virginia) were beaten by the Cavaliers by a combined total of 66 points! West Virginia lost to them in the Continental Tire Bowl by 26 points!

Bob Levey: I'm very surprised. As I told you (last week?), any team that wins a bowl (even a bowl named for a tire!) gets into the top 20 ordinarily. Then again, I'm not sure there's a lot of difference between No. 25 and No. 20.

San Jose, Calif.: Happy Friday, Bob.

Bell Atlantic became Verizon, and Pacific Bell is now SBC. I get the feeling that all these companies are dropping their baby-Bell names so that we won't notice when they all try to merge back together.

Bob Levey: Ma Bell is like the old lady who lived in the shoe. She had all these children and she didn't know what to do.
So the children went their separate ways. But they're all Ma Bell's babies. Some day (soon?), all them babies will come home to roost, and we'll see one phone company again. For my money, that day can't come too soon.

Washington, D.C.: So, Metroids, are you willing to promise me that a fare hike would bring us some basic customer service? You know, the occasional working escalator, station managers who don't focus on their newspaper or their phone call when a customer is right in front of them asking for help, trains with enough cars to hold their passengers, some enforcement of the no-eating rule, buses that show up on time and accept SmarTrip?

Bob Levey: Gosh, don't you DARE ask for all that!!!!!!!!!!
Seriously, I can't imagine a fare increase being politically swallowable without more than half of your Wish List being fact (and not hope) before anyone tries to charge the higher numbers.

Arlington, Va.: While I applaud Metro for realizing that it needs to increase certain fares, I am appalled that they are looking to balance it on the backs of the disabled and those who are teetering between driving and public transportation (i.e. raising the parking fee). I take Metro daily to work, and often use it for personal trips both during the week and on weekends. The $1.10 short fare is the best bargain anywhere, but I would not be dissuaded from riding Metro for any of these trips if the one-way short fare was increased -- even to as much as $2. However, I know many people who live in the suburbs for whom the extra $1/day for parking will take them off of Metro and put them back into their cars -- undoing the tremendous progress over the past 20 years of convincing commuters that public transporation is the way to go. And don't even get me started on the proposal to increase the rates for handicapped individuals.

Bob Levey: I predict that Metro will back away from the steep, steep increase that's being propsed for the disabled. Reason: there aren't that many disabled riders (at least relatively). Even if the agency socks it to such people, it will still face financial problems. Fare increases for the non-disabled will bring in far more dollars.

Ellicott City, Md.: Thanks for taking my question.
What is former Gov. Glendening going do when he leaves office? Let's hope he will be relocating to a new state.

Bob Levey: He's said to be in the running for the presidency of several environmental organizations. I suspect most (if not all) of them are located in that one place that isn't a state (are my wounds showing?), the District of Columbia.

Alexandria, Va.: Bob, please pass this along to the Marylanders who are all kicking their departing governor on his way out the door. Listen folks, it could have been worse. We had Jim Gilmore -- bigger deficits, less accomplishment, and no entertainment value whatsoever!

Bob Levey: And not even a glimmer of a subway along the Dulles corridor.

Glad I Live In Maryland:: Hi Bob. Re: Virginia Bar Raids -- Thank goodness I live in Maryland, where people still have some common sense. I thought this was a free country!

Bob Levey: I couldn't agree more, and I wonder why the cops didn't consult their house lawyer before trying this birdbrained stunt. That lawyer would have pointed out that this tactic was a lawsuit looking for a place to happen.

Washington, D.C.: Bob,

It's been discussed here lately that if Metro installed bench seating lengthwise in all trains and eliminated all row-by-row seating, then they could increase capacity without losing the number of seats. Please help me see this because if you transpose our current seats lengthwise, you just can't fit all those seats. Unless you're talking about narrowing the width of the seats like they do on buses -- which would things much more cramped. That side of the story must be told as well.

Bob Levey: There'd be fewer seats per car, but more capacity. Maybe you wouldn't enjoy standing all the way from Shady Grove to Gallery Place, but at least you'd have more room in which to do it--and much more company

Washington, D.C.: Ye Metro Guru -- any idea when the center escaltor construction at the 13th Street Metro Center exit will be completed? They have been working on it for almost three months now. I see the workers every morning. But its a major problem: on Tuesday, the line to ride up at 9 a.m. stretched almost back to the turnstiles.

Bob Levey: No idea. I've quit asking such questions. Metro never knows, either. Please see earlier answer about the political palatability of fare increases. If half the escalators are still broken? There'll be murmurs. There'll be mutters. There may be worse.

Springfield, Md.: Bob,

I don't even need all my fingers to count the drinks I have in a year's time and, in spite of being politically liberal to moderate in most situations, believe that drunk driving amounts to attempted murder.

But what's going on in Fairfax County is idiotic. I saw the chief or a spokesman on national television defending the bar raids because Virginia is dopey enough to have a law on the books that you can't be intoxicated in public, even if you're being quiet as a church mouse and have long sense given your car keys to a designated driver. This guy essentially was saying, "We're doing this because we can. It's the law."

Well, mister, that's arrogant, wasteful and is the type of behavior that makes most civil libertarians think the worst of cops. We all know how many truly pressing and life-threatening problems our society and our police have to deal with. Spending money this way, taking officers off the streets, is insanity.

Didn't they bring a dozen officers into a single bar? Can you imagine the impact police might actually have on drunken driving if they took a dozen patrol cars and parked one with a waiting officer outside a dozen different bars?

Thanks for letting me vent.

Bob Levey: Good vent. By the way, the legalistic defense advanced by the Virginia authorities--that being crocked in a bar is legally the same as being drunk in public--is a pretty long stretch. Do they think a jury will buy this reasoning?

Rockville, Md.: ‘afternoon Bob,

What was up with the school situation concerning our snowfall Sunday? I think most school districts made the correct choice, but Prince George's County Schools saying they were going to be closed for Monday early Sunday evening? Forgive me if I am wrong, but doesn’t Fairfax, which had a two hour delay, have more hills, more students, and more land area than P.G.? Was it the lack of resources that P.G. has? What gives?

-- Blair High School Student

Bob Levey: PG has plenty of hills, and more than it share of two-lane humpbacked roads (the real issue, because they're very unsafe if you're driving a huge bus full of kids). As always, PG's decision looks super-cautious, perhaps laughably so. But if one kid had been hurt.....

Wrong Way On Wilson : Last night, just after dark, a man on his cell phone somehow drove into on coming traffic on Wilson Blvd. in Clarendon. Where it intersects with a road I don't remember. The area it occurred was right in front of the Clarendon ballroom.

The car he almost hit head on laid on the horn and swerved around him.
I passed him and could see him still talking on his cell phone; he hadn't even backed out or moved even as I drove away and watched in my rearview mirror.

Bob Levey: The world revolves around him. Or didn't you know that?

Washington, D.C.: Hi Bob --

Congrats on your Children's Hospital efforts so far. I would like to help, but have a problem.

I'm a recent graduate and needless to say, I don't have much time or money after starting a new job. During my lunch break, I clicked onto the website you provide for donating to Children's, and was dismayed to see that a minimum donation was listed!

Bob, I don't know that this has anything to do with you, but I was very disturbed, as the minimum amount was far more than I can afford. I want to help, and I understand that large donations are far more important, but why is there a minimum? Especially electronically, where things are much easier to transfer? Can I plug in an amount below that minimum, and will it be taken? I don't need an acknowledgement, I just don't want to be rejected by the computer for being thrifty.

Bob Levey: No, sorry, you can't give less than the minimum amount via the online portal. But you can certainly mail a check. I urge you to do that. The 2002-3 campaign runs through Jan. 1245. Thanks and sorry for teh inconvenience.

Arlington, Va.: Help Bob! In my flurry of post-holiday house cleaning, I have misplaced your column with the address to use to be removed from those gastly junk mail lists. Could you find it and post it here?

Bob Levey: Sure. You can do it by phone by calling 1-888-5OPTOUT. To strike yourself from direct marketing lists, write to Direct Marketing Association, Mail Preference Service, P.O. Box 643, Carmel, NY, 10512. To get a divorce from telephone lists, write to DMA, Telephone Preference Service, P.O. Box 1559, Carmel, NY, 10512. Supply your first, middle and last names, your address and the area code and telephone number of your home phone (if it's unlisted, tough break--they won't process your request without this).

Fairfax, Va.: Bob, what makes the government think that moving the Department of Homeland Security Headquarters to Virginia is a good idea? There are supposed to be 17,000 people incorporated in the department, with 1,000 based at the headquarters. Won't this mean that an awful lot of people will be trekking between D.C. (where the rest of the government offices are) and Virginia? What a waste of time and money.

Bob Levey: The bigger point is that Homeland Security is thinking ONLY of sites where there's virtually no public transportation! Can you imagine how much homeland security we're going to have the first time a tractor-trailer jackknifes? This is the dumbest idea possible. But it's typical of the way this country so often thinks.

Fairfax, Va.: One of the local TV stations has Washington Post reporters (reporting from The Post newsroom?) on its newscast. What are the journalistic implications of this? Will print journalists now have to be telegenic in addition to (I hope) being talented and ethical?

Bob Levey: You're seeing Posties on the local and national NBC channels, by virtue of an agreement (not exactly a marriage, not exactly a flirtation) between the biggies at both organizations forged a couple of years ago. I don't see any odious or questionable implications. All the Posties are doing is talking further about stories that either have already been in the paper or are already up on washingtonpost.com. As for being telegenic, let's just say that many Posties who sit regularly in "the barber's chair" will not set any world's records for gorgeousness.

Falls Church, Va.: I figure there must be icicles in... Texas when I'm agreeing with Bob Barr, but his Washington Times editorial about the awful tactics of Fairfax County police in molesting and arresting bar patrons was exactly right. Have you heard from anyone defending the officers' going into bars and restaurants to give people alcohol tests? What on earth gave Faixfax police such a dumb idea?

Bob Levey: I read Barr's piece in the Tiems (it ran Jan. 9), and I have to say the man was as correct as a man could be.
If only he had been correct even once while he was in office.

Laurel, Md.: Bob,

Have you heard about the new public service TV commercial that's supposed to start airing this weekend that links driving an SUV to funding terrorism? I saw a segment about it on Crossfire Wednesday night. It's along the lines of The House that Jack Built, saying driving an SUV uses petroleum, which is bought from an oil producing country, which sends the money to terrorist organizations.

Your opinions on SUVs and oil conservation are well known. Do you think this commercial hits the linkage on the head, or is a bit over-the-top?

Bob Levey: Haven't heard about this ad, and I question its logic. Most of the poor gas mileage in this country is gotten by heavy trucks. Is any sane person going to argue that we should park every truck in America so we don't fund terrorism?

Arlington, Va.: Just wanted to pass along that at Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro stop that there was a sign on the floor reminding people on the escalator to walk left, stand right. So, maybe the complaints paid off!

Bob Levey: Wonders never you-know-what. Thanks for the report from the front.

20016: Can you explain this?

"The 2002-3 campaign runs through Jan. 1245"

Bob Levey: Sometimes I type too fast.
"The 2002-3 campaign runs through Jan. 24."

Homeland Security: Let's hope there's no security crisis on a snowy day, because no one will be at the new department to do anything.

Seriously, though, the decision is obvious. Virginia has a GOP governor and GOP senators and their getting paid.

That seems to be how most of this administration's decisions are made.

Bob Levey: Obviously, you're right. I really respect this President for surrounding himself with grownups to do the toughest jobs. I really disrespect this President for thinking of the siting of a huge and important government agency only in terms of the votes it will bring.

Washington, D.C.: Why can't this area be "progressive" like New York and require anyone who uses a cell phone in the car for it to be "hands free" via a mic?

Bob Levey: Coming. Don't ask me when. But coming.

Orange Line in Arlington, Va.: Hello, Bob. Have you ever thought about doing a piece on the gentleman who sings on the Orange Line? I don't know if he goes anywhere else, but he used to play a trumpet and now he sings what I think are hymns on the train. He's been doing this for a few years now and I think he's part of the local Metro folklore. Maybe you can do a column on "Legends of Metro." Also, any idea where the Metrorail laws that used to be on placards above the train windows went? How can I tell someone they can't eat on Metrorail when I have no sign/regulation/law to show them and be backed up? Hopefully the new task force is undercover and working on this.

Bob Levey: I've written about this man (although not for quite some time). Sorry, but I can't think of him as a benign part of the landscape, as if he were a human cherry blossom or something.
He's breaking the law by making big noise. And he's breaking the law by soliciting funds on Metro property (we are talking about the same guy, aren't we?--the one who asks you for a few bucks after he recites a Bible passage?). I'm sorry, but I have the right to ride in peace.

Jan. 1245: That's when the campaign started.

Bob Levey: Obviously the natives are getting a little restless out there about the length of the campaign! Thanks for the chuckle.
More seriously, I am VERRRRRRRRRRRY careful every year not to write all-Children's-and-nothing-but-Children's from late November through the 20s of January. The idea is never to lose readers, which I'd certainly do if I were a Bobby-one-note.

McLean, Va.: Bob, just moved into my elderly mother's home and am busy cleaning out closets, rooms, etc. I seem to remember that you have a clearing house for large items -- such as a chest-type freezer. How do I get on the list?

Bob Levey: Call 202-334-7662. Follow the prompts. We'll take it from there.

Southern Maryland:: What is it with The Post and Kathleen KENNEDY Townsend? She lost the election -- get over it. Now maybe she'll have to work for a living. In today's edition, she's mentioned in the snarky article about Glendening's portrait. Okay, so she was his Lt. Governor. Then skimming through a movie review on "The Hours" the writer says Nicole Kidman with a plastic schnoz "looks like Kathleen KENNEDY Townsend." Good grief. Is her publicist doing this? Planting her name in every conceivable print media so we won't forget her? Not bloody likely since she keeps cashing in on the KENNEDY name. Mrs. Townsend, double get over it.

Bob Levey: Not fair. She worked for a living in education long before she got involved in politics. She's just a handy target. No publicist is behind it.

Alexandria, Va.: Think Bush will pick Ridge as a running mate next time around? My brother told me in 1983 that Tom Ridge would one day be president, and I told him he was an idiot. I was right about my brother being an idiot, but looks like I'm wrong about Mr. Ridge.

Bob Levey: Ridge is clearly about 1-to-5 to be on the ticket in 2004--unless Cheney wants to stay on. He may want to. On the other hand, his health may make that inadvisable or impossible. Other possibilities from where I sit: Rep. Rob Portman, Gov. Pataki, Brother Jeb (no foolin').

Annapolis, Md.: What, in your opinion, must Jack Johnson do to turn around Prince George's County to make it not the laughingstock county in this area?

Bob Levey: Straighten out the police department, clean up crime in inside-the-Beltway PG--and then sit back, light up a cigar and wait. PG has by far the lowest home prices of any jurisdiction around the Beltway. People will find it.

Falls Church, Va.: Bob:

Am I the only person in the metro area who does not have a major problem with the Fairfax County cops snagging drunks in bars? The point of the program is to remind bars that it's illegal to serve inebriated people. If that upsets some hard-core drinkers, then tough beans. This is not the start of a new police state in which jackbooted cops haul innocent people off to jail for having a beer, this is sound policy that treats booze like the potential killer that it is.

Bob Levey: The question is: Why couldn't the cops wait on the sidewalk and bust overindulgers once they came outside? Before they came outside, it was no-harm-no-foul.
The whole reason a bar exists is to serve booze. Why is it in effect illegal to drink it in a place where it's legal to serve it?

Alexandria, Va.: Please refresh my memory on "Levey's List". I can't remember how it works.

Bob Levey: IF YOU WANT TO OBTAIN A GIVEAWAY ITEM: Call the number I gave and ask for a copy of the list. On it, you'll find major tiems (furniture, cars, kitchen appliances, etc.) If you see something you like, you call the owner and the two of you work it out from there.
IF YOU WANT TO GIVE AN ITEM AWAY: Call the number and answer the obvious questions. Your item will be placed on Levey's List. Copies of the list are given away every day. When your phone rings, you and the caller can work out what to do.
Coupla caveats:
No money can change hands, please.
We won't accept anything that's broken or "just needs a little work."
We will look very dimly on a person in a Zip Code full of $500,000 houses who asks for a copy of the list. The idea is to help needy and deserving people, not to help some greedy idiot finish his rec room for free.
We won't accept anything onto the list that isn't large. "Large" means too heavy for one average person to lift. No art, no linens, no clothes, no sports equipment.

Washington, D.C.: May I take this opportunity to reach out to any Metrorail riders in your audience? Please, please, please help mitigate the rush hour crowding on trains by moving all of the way into the rail car when you board, even when you plan to get off at the next stop! There is virtually no chance that you won't be able to get out at your stop(I've never seen that happen), and you will thereby allow a few extra people to board safely. This will minimize instances when trains have to be offloaded for inability to close the doors (very frustrating, indeed), and also keep tempers from flaring when there is plenty of room in the center of the car but the door area is blocked.

Bob Levey: Metro could do much more here by reminding people to move into the body of the train. On my rounds, I hear one such announcement every 20 stops or so. Metro's PR meisters are worried about hectoring their "customers," so they don't press this. They should. Metro will lose more riders to blatant disregard of common sense than it will to a few extra loudspeaker announcements.

Re: Orange Line Singer: Me, again Bob. This man doesn't ask for anything at all. He is a man of Korean heritage, I believe. He comes on, says, "Excuse me" and sings something (at least he CAN sing) and then says "Thank you, have a nice day" and exits quickly. He's very polite and if someone asks him to not do it, he apologizes and shuts up. He's always nicely dressed in a sport jacket and trousers and doesn't even sing that loudly. Heck, it's a bit more pleasant than the people who turn their headphones up so loudly I get to hear some kind of tinny-sounding drum machine.

Bob Levey: We must be talking about different people. Still, this dude is breaking the law (until he shuts up). He shouldn't be doing this. My view: Religion is always personal. If he wants to testify to his God while riding a public subway, do it silently.

Crystal City, Va.: Bob: Regarding cell phones and driving, it's not the holding of the phone that is the problem but talking on the phone. Hands-free phones will not improve concentrating on driving.

Bob Levey: Actually, I believe it will, because a hands-free conversation isn't all that different from a conversation between the driver and a passenger. We aren't about to outlaw all talking in a car, are we?

Alexandria, Va.: Well, Metroids aren't the only dopes around. I was at Heathrow earlier this week, and what did I see but a functioning escalator going down while those of us trudging upstairs were on a stopped escalator. Genius pervades worldwide!

Bob Levey: This truly dismays me. When only one escalator works and it's running DOWN............. I'd always seen that as a perfect metaphor for how cockeyed this city can be. Get with the program, Brits! We expect better from you!

I'm Not Sure If This Counts As Irony OK...next weekend (Jan. 18-19, my birthday weekend; I will not be celebrating in the District), there are apparently going to be a wide series of protests against the policies and likely war against Iraq. Is it just me, or is it ironic that there are going to be police-protected protests against our government taking a hardline stance against a regime where, if you protest against your government, you get jailed or shot by the police?

Police do protect our protestors in D.C., really, in much the way a parent protects a toddler by steering her away from stuff she could damage. I love the "you've had your fun, now it's time to go in the playpen" approach that the D.C. police take.

Bob Levey: Plenty of irony here, for sure. But freedom seldom comes in a pure form, does it?
Nice comment about the DC cops. It's a fine line they have to walk whenever's there's a mega-demonstration ehre, and I for one think they walk it superbly.

Ballston, Va.: Here's an idea for Metro to address the budget shortfall: Adopt-a-station. Or, prehaps more specifically -- Adopt-an-Escalator. Just think of the good-will and good PR a corporation could generate by a fully functioning escalator with the sign "Maintained with funds supplied by XX." I, for one, would think well of such a company!

Bob Levey: Would you adopt an escalator that hadn't budged in three months?

Alexandria, Va.: Submitting early on the fare increase proposal. I don't object to the fares going up because I know Metro needs money for repairs. But why eliminate the 10 percent bonus for $20 or more farecards or why raise the transfer metro to bus fee to $.70? No one has $.70 in change in their purse all the time, which means most people will end up paying $1, which is almost as much as the regular fare. I hope Metro at least drops these two ridiculous proposals.

Bob Levey: Like everything in the political arena, these are trial balloons. The final outcome will almost certainly be different.

Los Angeles, Calif.: While in total support of your campaign for the kids, I wonder how you feel about the kids paraded on television by televangelists who eat up 95 percent of the money for "administration." This makes your help that much more important in my mind. Go BOB!

Bob Levey: Thanks so much, LA.

Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C.: Technical query: If your column is located in the Style section, why is your online chat listed under Metro?

Bob Levey: Because I'm a Metro columnist whose column runs in the Style section.
If you figure that one out, you win a five-day free stay at my Aunt Matilda's pig farm.
Seriously, this jerryrigged arrangement dates from 1981, when my column was born.
It was placed on the comics page (where it still appears). But in those sainted days, the comics would jump from section to section. One day my column would be in Metro (and so would the comix). The next day both would be in sports, etc.
About five years ago, the poohbahs around here finally decided to anchor the comics (and Levey) in the back of Style, so few if any of our readers would go nuts trying to find either or both. That's why you have a Hatfield column appearing in what might seem to be the land of the McCoys.

Maryland: North or South?: Bob,

I was engaged in a great debate this morning about Maryland's largest city, Baltimore. I say why even go there (with the dirt and crime) when you have the great DC metropolitan area while my friend was saying it's a charming city?

What do you think?

Bob Levey: I think Baltimore is wonderful. I never have a bad time when I go there. Yes, it's old--but so is Rome, if I'm not forcing a comparison too hard.
Baltimore has attractions that DC simply doesn't--Little Italy, Inner Harbor, baseball.
And the people are terrific. When I worked as a talk show host on WBAL-AM up there, I've never had a better time. The callers were a hoot.

Parris Portrait: My take on this is he is imitating President Kennedy. There is a portrait of Kennedy standing on a beach in khakis and an open collar shirt.

Bob Levey: Sorry, Parris, but I knew John Kennedy, and you're no John Kennedy.

Virginia Law: Bob, Bob, Bob, you're asking for Virginia's laws to make sense. Wake up! This is Virginia. This is the state where most married couples are unarrested felons because of what they do in their bedrooms. This is the state where back in the late 80s or early 90s, a gay bar in Old Town got run out of business because Virginia had a law that made it illegal to serve alcohol to homosexuals. Land of the free, it's not.

The definition of bars as "public" is confusing to many people but it does make some sense. As a public accomodation, bars have to obey civil rights laws. That's why you're "in public" when you're in a bar, a store, a restaurant, a hotel lobby, and so on.

Bob Levey: I'm with you on the literal reading of the law. But my mouth is wide open at how this tactic flies in the face of common sense.

Washington, D.C.: Here's what I think is a better idea regarding the use of cell phones while driving -- make it illegal for the driver to talk on the cell phone if the car is in gear. Zzzzzhow about that?

Bob Levey: Reasonable, and as unenforceable as so many other traffic laws (seat belt laws leap to mind). It's all a matter of people getting and staying sane. You know how that movie goes.....

A Metro Fare Solution: Keep the fares the same. But tax SUV drivers and use the funds for transit. Whaddya think?

Bob Levey: U DA MANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN.
And if you're of the opposite persuasion..........
U DA WOMANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN.

Northern Virginia: Just a comment, but the governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is a Democrat, from Alexandria--the last one we had was the Republican and look what kind of mess we are in!

Bob Levey: Did I say the guv was a Repub? Give me my fifth cup of coffee, pronto.

Washington, D.C.: Whatever happened to Steve Forbes? Did the tech downturn stop him from running for president?

Bob Levey: I believe Steve Forbes is in the running to become head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals. He enjoys challenges.
Seriously, have you ever seen so much ink devoted to such an insignificant job? Lombardi, Landry, Gibbs and Parcells could team up to coach the Bengals, and they'd still stink. It's always about players, sports fans, not coaches.

Arlington, Va: Bob, have you seen the new NewsChannel 9 "News Talk"? It is duller than CNN. How they decided they would be going in a better "direction" without your provocative attacks on SUV drivers, people who don't take Metro and such is beyond me. Question: How come you're never in what you call "The Washington Post Barber's Chair"?

Bob Levey: It's NewsChannel8, not 9.
Thanks for the kind words. I think it's a bit early to make decisions about the new "News Talk." But you're certainly right that it lacks any of the edge that Kyle Osborne and I gave the show for nearly 3 years.
I'm never in the "barber's chair" because NBC seems to want breaking news (and the people who cover it). I don't do very much of that.

Charm City Fan In Washington, D.C.: I love Baltimore. Baltimore is cool, Baltimore is funky, Baltimore has its own accent and weird local cuisine. Baltimore has a great modern art museum. Baltimore has wonderful restaurants and fun clubs.

I'm from Boston and I love D.C. but have never liked its "everyplace" feeling. When I pull out of a parking garage in Baltimore and the attending hands me my change and says, "Have a nice day, Hon!" I feel like I'm in a real place. It's like the feeling I get when I walk through Logan Airport and here those good old Massachusetts accents.

If you've lived here all your life it might not make sense, but it's a real thing.

Bob Levey: It sure is real. Neighborhoods are real. Politics are real (maybe too real).

Mea Culpa: I said the gov was a Republican. You're off the hook Bob, my bad.

I'll just observe that most Virginia Democrats smell a lot like Republicans in more progressive places.

But then, I live in DC where the Republicans act like Democrats!

Bob Levey: Thanks, culp-ie.

Washington, D.C.: Hey, I just called 888-5OPTOUT, and got a recording saying that the number I had called, to be taken off calling lists, had changed, to 888-5OPTOUT (the number I had just called). It gives you no opportunity to do anything further.

Bob Levey: Must be sunspots. I'll check further once I stop chat-typing.

Metro & Homeland Security: Well, if Metro gets its wish, it's going to cost me an additional $144 a year. Perhaps I should just have my employer put my metro $$ in my paycheck to buy new walking shoes. It's only 3 miles each way!

But here's a question for you Bob...since the "enlightened" individuals running the show around here seem to have decided to put the new dept. of HS out in Va nowhere near a Metro stop, do you think Metro might actually get some more money now to extend the blue line? Something good has to come out of this other than 17,000 fewer people at happy hour in the District on Fridays

Bob Levey: An excellent hunch. If Homeland Security really does descend on Tyson's, I figure Congress will suddenly be receptive to extending the Orange Line in a way that Congress never was before.

Rosslyn, Va.: Just thought I would tell you that this morning I actually heard Judiciary (Square) pronounced correctly by the Metro operator. A refreshing change...

Bob Levey: The Ju-dish-oo-ary guy musta had the day off.

Bob Levey: Back to typing columns for a breathless, tortured world. Thank you for joining us, gang. Sorry I couldn't get to every question. We'll come back for more in one week. Hope you will, too.

washingtonpost.com:

That wraps up today's show. Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion.

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