Bob Levey (Barbara Tyroler)

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Levey Live: Speaking Freely
Washington Post Columnist
Friday, Jan. 31, 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, me hardies, and thanks for joining us on "Levey Live: Speaking Freely" today.
As always, you're welcome to weigh in for the next hour on any subject that tickles your fancy. Recent Levey columns are always fair game. So are news stories, findings, sightings, whims, rants, whatever.
Before we get going, a retort to one of Marc Fisher's chatters yesterday.
This dude (dudette?) claimed that Yours Truly ducks the high, hard ones on this chat, and talks mostly about Metro.
Oh, yeah?
Both he (she?) and you are welcome to comb the archives of these discussions. You will find Metro discussed, often and regularly. But you will also see that Levey doesn't duck high, hard ones, or low, outside ones, or sneaky fast ones that brush him back from the plate.
I say it again: ANY and ALL subjects are fair game hereabouts. And they're fair game every single Friday.
OK.
Feathers unruffled.
Let's git goin'......

Beantown, Mass.: Bob,
What kind of security policy would you favor then? Who should the security agents stop and search...just the brown folks with beards? I mean, I understand your outrage at searching a great grandmother but clearly beneath that sentiment must be a belief that only certain people should be stopped and searched...who are these?

Bob Levey: The TSA security we have now is perfectly fine. Please bear in mind that it replaced the at-the-gate extra searches that gave us most of the 2-year-olds sneaker searches and the great-grandma brassiere searches. Now, the pros and their super-duper machines will do the heavy lifting. And that process will prove yet again the Levey Maxim:
If you do the job on the ground vis a vis security, you don't have to do it again in the air.

Arlington, Va.: Hi Bob, a friend of mine mentioned that you had posted some correspondence with a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine a few years ago. I haven't been able to find any links searching The Washington Post site. I was hoping you could provide them for me. I am headed there in the same capacity fairly soon.

Thanks!

Bob Levey: That series of columns ran in the early 1990s, before washingtonpost.com existed and before my columns began to be routinely archived on this site. I'd be glad to dig out a set for you, however. Fire me an e-mail at leveyb@washpost.com and I'll get cooking.

Atlanta, Ga.: Bob, soon we will be in the dreaded doldrums which runs between President's Day and Memorial Day. Yes, no federal holiday for 69 straight days. For some of us, it is pure hell to try to keep coming to work without at least one long weekend as a freebie. How about a campaign to get a designated holiday in this period? Is someone dead with a birthday in this period that is worthy of note? Or can someone be killed? You seem to be able to work wonders. Can you push for this?

Bob Levey: I've always said that Final Four Monday (first week of April) ought to be a national holiday.
Actually, the following day usually is, in effect, because everyone will have stayed awake so late to watch the game that them there peepers have a tough time opening on Tuesday morning.

Washington, D.C.: Bob,

I know you've mentioned the "quality of life" cops Metro has put into place, but are they actually out there? The reason I ask is over the past few weeks I have seen an increase of people smoking (not eating or drinking, Bob) in the system. I even had someone last weekend ask me if I had a lighter! When I told him you couldn't smoke in the Metro system, he was shocked.

Bob Levey: Please be sure to check out Bob Levey's Washington next Monday, for a full report on how these squads are doing. Short answer: They aren't working miracles, but they're making a dent.

Arlington, Va.: Dear Bob,

I really wish you would get off your rant about the 30 minute rule. Way before Sept. 11, every plane I ever flew on mandated no one be out of their seats until the plane hit its cruising altitude. So during ascendency and descendency (is that a word?) the "seat belts fastened" light was clearly lit. Although I never clocked it, it seems to me, it was more or less a half an hour.

So, in actuality, the "30 minute rule" is nothing new. Now, I agree, that in certain EMERGENCIES, there should be exceptions, but lets face it -- for 99.9% of the flying population, this should not be a problem.

Isn't it amazing that people have learned to attend meetings, ride metro, and drive in cars for periods of longer than 30 minutes, yet for some reason on airplanes we expect a God given right to use the toilet whenever we like?

To me, it is commen sense. If you anticipate a problem or if you have a small bladder, simply use the restrooms before the "seat belts fastened" sign goes back on.

I really don't see this as being rant worthy, and frankly, am tired of hearing you beat this drum without any rebuttal.

That said, TGIF!

(I bear no grudges :)

Bob Levey: You must never have been pregnant, or a male over the age of 50 (more than half of whom have enlarged prostates--THEY CAN'T WAIT!!!!--and they can't often endure 30 minutes without going to the head).
Such people can manage their time a little more efficiently, I'll grant you. I have seen 50-plus men quaff three beers in the Friendly Skies, and then complain because they can't go do their thing at the end of a flight. That's crazy. That's wrong. That's a big failure to look in the mirror for the cause of your bladder ache.
But the bigger wrong is a matter of logic.
See previous post.
If you do the security job right on the ground, you don't need to do it again in the air.
The 30-minute rule buys you nothing in terms of additional security. Nothing. I can only hope that a Levey correspondent was right when he wrote recently (from inside the federal security world) that the 30-minute rule will soon be quietly allowed to expire.

Chinatown, Washington, D.C.: Bob,
What is the quickest way to drvie from Chinatown to Georgetown University?

Bob Levey: My choice: H Street west to 13th. Right (north) on 13th to K. Left (west) on K to Wisconsin. Right on Wisconsin to Dumbarton. Left on Dumbarton to main gate of GU.

Washington, D.C.: Your spitting diatribe yesterday was pardon the pun just sour grapes. Go to India where spitting isn't the only thing that's swashed everyone. There, people don't believe in blowing one's nose into paper or linen and carting the stuff around -- they just close one nostril and let it fly out the other. Everywhere. What a country. I guess our humor and manners are just a bit drier here in America. I'm glad. But I don't see the spitting problem here as rampant and, compared with India, it's a breeze/sneeze.

Bob Levey: I'm sure that nostril-clearing is more common--and more repellent--in India. Does that mean we have to grin and bear it here?

Twin Cities: Bob, I know this isn't your bailiwick but maybe you can tell me where to turn. We moved from Arlington to the Midwest in August. We cancelled our subscription with The Post. We got bills for after the time we moved. We called and told The Post this. We still get bills from The Post. Who do I need to yell at to explain this situation?!?

Bob Levey: The director circulation here is David Dadisman. You can reach him via the main switchboard, 202-334-6000. As the cheerleaders used to chant back in my sainted days as a high school football star, if he can't do it, no one can.

Fairfax, Va.: HOV:

The purpose of HOV lanes is to encourage people who would normally drive in separate vehicles, to "pool" together and drive in the same vehicle.

Shouldn't the HOV rule state "two2 or more passengers of driving age can use this lane"?

Why should a person carting their infant to daycare have the benefit of HOV when they aren't helping to reduce the amount of cars on the road? The infant can't drive, neither can my dog, but I couldn't get away with me and my dog driving in the HOV lane.

Bob Levey: You make an interesting point. But very few of the cars I see on the HOVs around the area are "gaming" the system by bringing a baby along. HOV rules were designed to apply to rush hours, and to the adults who ply the highways during those times.

Washington, D.C.: Bob --

What are your thoughts on the prez dissin' the D.C. scene just because he's more comfy down on the farm or out in the woods? As a near-native Washingtonian (here for 28 of my 35 years and since Carter was sworn in), I take offense.

Just because D.C.'s a city that happens to have a major political problem, doesn't mean he's becoming an insider by visiting with the locals. I don't buy the buzz about him not wanting to be a hypocrite by rubbing elbows with those he disdains. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth -- as I'm sure it does for the rest of us who voted for him!

Makes me want to holler. What about you?

Bob Levey: Bush really fried me when he declared, very early in this term, that he wouldn't be spending weekends in D.C. because he wanted to get back to "real America" (or some such). It's typical of politicians who don't understand how cosmopolitan and representative this city has become. Let's just say, in as kind a tone as I can summon, that Bush doesn't understand Washington. He should.

Columbia, Md: Do you know about the outcome of the Plans that Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan has on when the ICC can possibly get approved and start working on getting the highway built?

Bob Levey: Duncan does not have absolute authority over the timetable. The federal highway people, Gov. Ehrlich and Congress would also have a great deal to say about it (because that's where the money will come from). In any event, the highway is nowhere near being constructed, even if you assume (which you can't) that opposition is done. If a spade of earth is turned in the next five years, I'll be amazed.

Day Care: A new form of day care -- your baby will be cared for a commuter who will use the child to get into HOV lanes!

Bob Levey: Don't laugh. For ages, a similar system worked at Springfield. College kids home for the summer would hire themselves out as "third passengers" (in the days when Shirley Highway was HOV-3). They'd charge ten bucks a trip. They'd make one trip into DC at 7 a.m., hitchhike back, make a second at 8:30, go to the movies in D.C. all afternoon, then repeat the process coming outbound at night. Forty bucks a day still sounds like serious money to me.

Alexandria, Va.: The REAL spring holiday should be baseball's Opening Day -- often it is the same as Final Four Monday, although it's a week earlier this year. Hopefully next year it will really be a holiday in D.C.!

Bob Levey: Well said. I can get behind that, for all SORTS of reasons!

Washington, D.C.: I'm glad you talk about Metro because I have a gripe. I experienced the following three times this week, which is very surprising to me because I have never experienced it prior to this week:

I boarded the train and had to stand. I try to move as out of the way as possible, which means that I was in the center of the car holding the bar on the back of a seat with my right hand. The person in the seat behind the bar was reading the paper and repeatedly pushed the paper onto my hand. Even after I said, "Excuse me," and noted the problem, the person did not move the paper for longer than five seconds. Instead, I had to change where I was standing. And this happened three times this week! As soon as I got to work (or home), I had to wash the newsprint off the top of my hand.

Has this ever happened to you? If so, what have you done? Thank you!

Bob Levey: No.
Move elsewhere in the car.

Alexandria, Va.: In your column about the "upgrade" to Soldier Field (and that photo certainly showed what a bad idea that is turning out to be), I was surprised you didn't draw a parallel with the World War II memorial, which is unfortunately on its way to reality, and the proposed "tunnel" entrance to the Washington Monument, which would likely have many of the frills you mentioned.

Bob Levey: You can't do everything in every column, but the comparison certainly suggests itself. Many e-mailers have made this point. Thanks for making it, too.

Washington, D.C.: Bob, a Metrobus made an illegal left turn from the center lane on 13th Street and nearly sideswiped my car while I was turning from the left turn lane. The driver must have seen me since we were both waiting at the same traffic light. There was a line of us waiting to turn left and the bus cut in front, but more to the point it was dangerous. Something to let WMATA know about, or just the cost of doing business?

Bob Levey: You should definitely let WMATA know. I sure hope you got the bus number and the route number, and that you made a note of the time of day. Without that, it'll be tought to track down the appropriate (or should I say inappropriate?) driver. Despite occasional appearances, Metro does not condone bad driving by its bussies.

Waaaaaaaaaaah: Atlanta can cry me a river over the lack of holidays between President's Day and Memorial Day. I get five holidays off a year, so it's the killer stretch between New Year's and Memorial Day for me. Sure would like to have MLK Day and President's Day off like almost everyone else in the area, but I sure don't waste my time whining about it!

Bob Levey: In my case, most national holidays (especially those that fall on weekdays) are Just Another Day At The Office. I owe the great gods of the desk a column, so I come in and write one. I'm sure that many, many Washingtonians have similar schedules. I'm sure that many, many more have careers where, if they miss Presidents Day, for example, they just have to work twice as hard (and twice as much) on the next day. So I really think that many of us secretly dread holidays. They clump and lump the workload, and make our work lives harder, not easier.

Metro Buses: Is there a specific number of department at WMATA to call with driver complaints? If so I want to program it into my cell phone. I constantly see metro buses running red lights, making illegal turns, and blocking intersections.

Bob Levey: I don't know what it is offhand, but the WMATA Web site probably has it. In a pinch, ask WMATA public affairs, 202-962-1051.

Bethesda, Md.: Bob, what is with the D.C. police department and its patrol cars prowling the streets with lights flashing?

I have thought I was being pulled over about six times and have jetted out of the way of on-coming police vehicles countless times over the last two weeks thinking they were on a call. But it seems they are just leisurely driving about with their lights on.

What gives? It's pretty annoying if they're not headed to an emergency.

Bob Levey: Chief Ramsey saw this policy in effect in Israel when he visited recently. So he ordered it adopted here.
What he didn't do was explain (loud enough or often enough) what he's trying to accomplish (beside making the bulb companies rich).
The idea is to make us all vigilant. But without sufficient explanation, the lights-always policy has made us all confused and edgy. Thanks for a good bleat.

Bethesda, Md.: Is it me, or is Dubya speaking at an ever-slower rate? He. Stops. After. Nearly. Every. Word. Listen to him as a candidate in 2000, and although he wasn't about to be confused with Sam Isuzu, he at least spoke at a normal rate. Now. He. Seems. To. Think. That. Every. Word. He. Says. Is. Of. Great. Historical. Import. And. Can't. Afford. To. Be. Missed.

Bob Levey: As a professional speaker and a professional commercial voice "talent," I'm extremely tuned into the way any person speaks. The seat of my pants tells me that the President has gotten extensive coaching, especially about pacing. He is taking much longer to lay out a thought than he did as a candidate. He's also "punching" key words and not drawling as much. I smell the fine, feathered hand of a pro.....

In the Days When Shirley Highway Was HOV-3?: You mean like today? Or yesterday?

Bob Levey: Sorry, I meant when HOV first went into effect (1970s).

Arlington, Va.: Last June, I got the same story George did from a United flight attendant. My husband, 2-year-old son and I were flying the redeye back from California to D.C. on an A319. We had had upgrades to 1st class, but because of a mechanical problem with our plane, the new plane didn't have enough seats. So we were bumped into steerage. I was 6 months pregnant at the time, and as any pregnant woman will tell you, I had to pee all the time. So, before takeoff and as passengers were still boarding, I used the lavatory in 1st class. A flight attendant came up to me afterward and gave me the "federal rules" line, but she said that because I was pregnant, she'd make an exception for me. As I recall, I just smiled and made sure I used the steerage potty during the flight. The walking was good for my legs anyway.

Bob Levey: Never having been pregnant, and having no plans to change that, I can only imagine what your tum-tum was telling you. At least you drew a simpatico soul. Do you think this was a Sisterhood Moment? In other words, do you think that flight attendant would have been as sympathetic to a male over the age of 50?

Alexandria, Va.: Your article about the holier-than-thou dufuses conducting parking space recon made me laugh (in disgust). How about a few signs that say, "Reserving Spaces Prohibited?"

Bob Levey: I'm for it! Thanks

To the HOV-complainer in Fairfax, Va.: We (me, my husband and two kids) drive on 66 every morning inside the Beltway. We see plently of cheaters (our guess is 1 in 5 cars), and we always look to see if there is a kid on board. Ninety-nine percent of the time there isn't.

Now leave moms alone. They have enough to do, juggling work and home.

Bob Levey: Excellently argued. Thanks

Norman,Okla.:

Good afternoon.

I read you regularly. You know, I see a lot of complaints about Metro but as a former DC area resident, those who complain about Metro should try the bus system in the Oklahoma City area! (Norman is a suburb of Oklahoma City.)

Buses run only 3 or 4 times a a day out to the suburbs and there is NO WEEKEND service at all!

Also, though Norman is home to nearly 100,000 residents, there are only five local bus routes that never leave the city and only run every 1-2 hours, once again with NO WEEKEND service!

If any of your Metroids are lurking, can the Oklahoma City system steal them to run our bus system here?

Bob Levey: A bleat from the provinces to remind us of how lucky we are to live here (despite the occasional problems and occasional blips).

I Can Top That Whine About Holidays: Get a job in the restaurant industry, and kiss ALL those holidays goodbye, including the big Thanksgiving and Christmas. I spent many a year away from my family on those days. Now the ones I get in the nine to five world are quite a gift.

Bob Levey: As I said....
Thanks, ICTTWAH

Transplanted Marylander: Bob -- Enjoy the chats -- Different subject:

Why are it the weather forecasts here are SO BAD? I'm coming from Texas, where the joke is: "If you don't like the weather, just wait an hour", because they get 70 plus degrees in the morning and snow by afternoon, followed by an ice storm in the evening. But they still forecast those shifts accurately. Here, "flurries" turn into 4 inches snowfalls; the predictions of when it'll rain vary dramatically day to day.

Is it because the DC area is uniquely sited between the mountains of Virginia and the Bay in Maryland, or are they just bad forecasters? I'm ready to carry my snow bib next time they predict a sunny day...

Bob Levey: Yes, it's a matter of topography. All Washingtonians who were raised at Bob Ryan's knee know the drill by heart. Because the eastern edge of the Alleghenies confounds any hope of predicting a storm's path, we have to change forecasts all the time.

Final Four Monday?: I'd be much more in favor of Round of 64 Thursday (or Friday). Those are the two best days of the tournament, maybe the best two days in sports, and I confess to ducking out of work in the past to watch a bit. So give people the choice of one of those two days (depending on when your favorite team plays) and I'd be all for that!

Bob Levey: Amendment accepted. Thanks

Rockville, Md.: Do you know what ever happened to Alexandra Steele, the weathercaster at WJLA-TV? In the time it takes for all school systems to shut down upon the sighting of a snowflake, she was gone. I saw no mention in the local media of whether this was of her own volition or at the behest of the station (and, if the latter, why). Do you know where she is working now?

Bob Levey: Gee, sorry, I don't. I'm afraid this happens with TV types all the time. Here today.......

Henderson, Ky.: Is cloning right or wrong?

Bob Levey: Cloning is egomania--an even worse strain of it than inflicting the video of your Christmas trip to Florida on unsuspecting friends.

Montgomery County, Md.: Speaking of busses doing illegal and stupid things. I saw a Montgomery County bus driving down Connecticut, hear East West Highway, move across two lanes of heavy traffic without using his/her signal. I have a hard enough time with regular drivers not using signals, but seeing a county employee with the responsibility for our kids not taking this simple step for safety really drives me nuts. I think I remember the bus number. Should I call the school district?

Bob Levey: Right away!
That could have been your kids or mine aboard....

Germantown, Md.: While I am glad that you printed a correction about pythons in your 1/30/03 column, I am disappointed that you still mistated the facts. Pythons, as members of the Boidae family, do in fact have teeth. If you doubt me, you can see pictures of reticulated python and burmese python skulls at skullsunlimited.com. The teeth are clearly visible. They are used to grip food. When hunting, a python launches a lightning-fast strike to bite the prey AND THEN constricts it. I also have personal experience in this matter, unfortunatly. One of my pet ball pythons, Scooter, once bit me. It did not hurt, although his strike did surprise me. I had several nifty needle-like holes in my hand from his bite. You are correct about the venom: Pythons are not venomous, nor do they have the characteristic long frontal fangs of the viper family. (I think this is where you got confused.) Getting any snake "defanged" would be very painful to the animal and make it difficult, if not impossible, for it to consume food normally.

Bob Levey: Oldest saw in the newsie biz: Be careful with your corrections, because you never want to have to correct a correction.
You've done it for me.
My face is red.
Not as red as it would be if a python were squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeing the daylights out of me, but close.
Thanks and sorry

Washington, D.C.: Bush doesn't understand Washington? You can't be serious. Bush isn't welcomed in the churches of Washington, the restaurants of Washington, and certainly not by the people in Washington. Washington, as a city, doesn't want Bush here (except in the case where they want him here just long enough to beat up on him). It seems to me that his obliging such a sentiment by choosing to spend some of his time in other places means he understands the city rather well. I'm a lifetime native of this area and if I were president, I probably wouldn't be around much either because I know the city wouldn't want me here because I have the wrong ideas.

Bob Levey: OK, I see what you're driving at. But plenty of previous presidents have at least considered this a temporary home, instead of a motel room inside a big white house on Pennsylvania Avenue.
I'm not saying I expect George 43 to "hang" in the clubs of Adams Morgan. But why does he have to DISDAIN us?

Washington, D.C.: Bob, I find all the complaints about the Metrobus drivers interesting. I take the bus every day, and I know that they aren't always at the top of the game. HOWEVER, the way people in cars drive around buses would give me a heart attack. People routinely cut them off, slam on brakes to turn without a signal, etc. Don't they understand that it's much harder to stop a bus than it is to stop a car? With all the crazy driving around here, give me the bus drivers ANY DAY.

Bob Levey: I absolutely agree--especially drivers of cars who want to make a right turn. They pass a stopped bus on the left, then cut sharply across its bow to make that turn. Better: Fall in BEHIND the bus, wait for it to pull off and THEN make your right.

Madison, Wis.: Hi Bob,
Is there any truth to the report by the Washington Times that Bush has signed a document which allows for the use of nuclear weapons in response to a biological or chemical attack? If so, I am speechless. I didn't vote for Bush, but at times have felt reasonably satisfied with his response to things. However, as time goes by I become more and more angered by his arrogance and lack of any sensitivity on how to deal with world or even domestic politics. He is setting America and international relations back 50 years. I have absolutely no faith in his ability to lead us through tricky spots and hence get us out of the quicksand we are now in. I agree that Iraq is a delicate situation, but you don't win world support on any issue by saying that we don't care what anyone else thinks -- we will do what we want to do (even if that's how you feel). I've just had it with his policies in the name of America and really don't know what to do about it.

Bob Levey: Here's what to do about it.
Resolve to vote against him if he runs for re-election.
That's the beauty of our system.
He ain't in the Big Chair for life--not if enough Madisons out there want someone else.

Rockville, Md.: Hi Bob,
Have you noticed an increase in telephone solicitations recently? In the last few months, I've been called twice by the Fraternal Order of Police asking for a donation to some fund or to show appreciation for what they do. They ask for $35 at first and the amount lowers as you provide more and more resistance. For the donation, you get a decal for your car. When told that I don't deal with telemarketers, they respond that they will send info to my home (which address they presumably don't have). Anyway, they seem to call up at least once a year and I don't believe they are a charity.

Secondly, a few days ago, the volunteer firemen of Montgomery County called and asked to contributions.

On the same evening Pepco Energy services is now soliciting business by phone. They constantly send me mail since Montgomery County has allowed people to choose their electricity supplier.

Do you have an idea of what is going on with all these telephone solicitations of late? Is it survival in this economic downturn? lower contributions to United Way? Are you experiencing this?

Bob Levey: In my experience, the slipstream is always clogged by these calls. I don't notice more or fewer lately. But what I do notice is that more and more law enforcement agencies have turned their cold-call fundraising over to private companies. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeg mistake. These people are rude, arrogant and usually ignorant of the cause for which they're soliciting. It was always better to hear from a real cop or a real firefighter.

Fatherly Advice: Dear Bob,

Need some help here. Have three kids from 6-12. Oldest is allowed to watch some TV others are not. Would you have considered putting a TV in your kids room? I'm not a big fan of it but she is a hard worker who takes a lot of responsibility around the house and gets straight A's and she may deserve it

Bob Levey: Never happened in our house, and never will.
I may go down with guns blazing on this one, but I hate TV for the way it isolates people from other people. Why give a child the chance to hide out from her family? If it's going to be watched at all, TV should bring your oldest kid (and all your kids) into MORE contact with one another, not less.
And regardless of where your kids watch TV, they should be encouraged to talk back to the screen--to be skeptical of what they're watching.
If you want a zombie under your roof, let a kid camp in front of that flickering screen and stay silent--as if this is a religious experience. If you want a kid who can think and criticize in the best sense of the word, let that kid say "Nonsense!" to the claim in some ad, or "I don't understand" when a TV news anchor gives a story 20 seconds and it deserved three minutes.

Alexandria, Va.: You know....

If Bush doesn't want to live here, I think we should just take the White House back and he can move to a hotel. It IS the "people's house", is it not?

But if I see that sign in Crawford that says "The Second White House" one more time I'm gonna lose it...

Bob Levey: Bush has done so much clearing of brush at the Crawford ranch that he's probably out of "real guy" projects. Maybe his next one can be to dismantle that sign.

Washington, D.C.: Bob, last week you mentioned that one of the characters in your book is a Bolshevik. Can we take it then the events take place in 1921? And there is an older sports writer as well, if memory serves correct. Is this one of those books where a curmudgeonly character turns out to have a warm heart beneath a gruff exterior?

I sure hope not. I hope the young reporter who everyone believes is naive and excessively idealistic turns out to be right about everything and the old guy gets caught embezzling from the paper.

Bob Levey: No, the book is set in 1999. There were still Bolsheviks around then.
Yes, there's a 72-year-old sports columnist who's a key character in the book. But he's not as salty or curmudgeonly as you might be fearing. He doesn't growl at little children or wish he had drunk shots with Hemingway. He's pretty sweet--and always was.
The young Bolshevik DOES turn out to be right about everything. And the old guy DOES NOT embezzle.

Gaithersburg, Md.: How about a quick reminder to people that when there are bad road conditions (i.e. rain, snow, freezing rain, sleet, sheets of black ice) it is dangerous and stupid to tailgate. I was on 270 this morning, which was just wet (unlike my neighborhood roads, which were slick with freezing drizzle), and I was tailgated the entire length by someone in an SUV. If I had had to hit the brakes suddenly, he would certainly have hit me. And with people cutting in front of me into the 1.5 car length space I left between me and the car in front of me, it could easily have happened.

Bob Levey: Don't you know that anyone who drives an SUV is immune to slipping and sliding?
For the dense of head:
That's a joke!
But you'd be surprised at how many SUV pilots believe this.

Silver Spring, Md.: Actually Bob, as long as they are doing such at-the-gate searches -- I have seen parents make their kids do a lot of dirty work for them (i.e. bird-dog a parking space) and it's not unimaginable for parents to plant something on their kid, and act all indignant that someone dares to search their kid. Meantime, the kid is put in an uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous situation, being guilted into doing what Mom or Dad says.

Bob Levey: But EVERYONE goes through the TSA screening now, including kids of every age. So it's not as if planting something on a kid--even an infant--could avoid those superscope machines.

Fairfax, Va.: Bob the Usually Wise-

I was wondering if you read the excellent article in the Weekend section about the reporter who opened his life to television after years without and described what he saw. I was wondering if you would be willing to set aside your blanket refusal to watch movies for a similar experiment.

I respect your opinions and insights, but it pains me to think of you (or anyone) relying so heavily on a stereotype that he refuses to budge, even for his family. Yes, most movies go way overboard with the sex, violence, and gore. But sometimes those elements are necessary for a quality movie to tell its tale. "Titanic" and "Shakespeare in Love" would not have been the same without the sexual content. "Saving Private Ryan" and "Black Hawk Down" could not have been as potent without the raw portrayal of war. There may be a hundred movies that abuse the First Amendment for every one that uses that freedom to move you.

And it's not just the Best Picture nominees that you can enjoy if you get out of that pigeonhole. There are comedies that will split your sides without using bodily functions. There are action flicks that will thrill you without a high body count. If you post this, I guarantee you will be flooded with quality nominations. We can even keep in mind your sensibilities -- think "Life is Beautiful" instead of "Schindler's List."

Here is what I wish you would do. Find a consensus of 10, run to the video store and give us your reviews the next Friday. Maybe you could even spread it over a few weeks -- see comedies one week, popcorn flicks another, and dramas a third. I'll even give you a start -- "Toy Story", "Lord of the Rings", and "Life is Beautiful." If you can watch those three and not conclude that the movies can still do something right then you can happily return to your boycott.

Best of luck.

Bob Levey: No time to ingest 10 flicks by next Friday, but it's an interesting notion. It might be time to take this on. I REALLY don't try to be a closed-minded grump. It's just that movies are so disappointing, so trite, so foul (as I've said so often). No, not every single one. But enough of them to chase my nose into a book, every time.
I haven't read the TV piece, but it awaits me. It's right on the bedside table. Thanks for the steer.

Somewhere, USA:

Vote the guy out, you suggest? That won't work. Our votes don't matter any more, remember?

Bob Levey: Are you a chad, perhaps?
Sorry, but unless we believe that our votes do matter, there are no checks and no balances. If anyone STOPS voting because of the Florida circus in 2000, that person has missed the point by 180 degrees.

Washington, D.C.: Does Bush disdain DC because we dislike him, or do we dislike him because he disdains us?

Bob Levey: The chicken-and-egg question in a new and fetching form.... Thanks

Chevy Chase, Washington, D.C.: Hi Bob. Our exalted daughter was recently offered a place in the U of Chicago class of 2007. I'm really high on this place (and hope she decides to go), but a colleague (an alum) says the curriculum has been "dumbed down" in some ways in recent years (something having to do with the "core"). I remember seeing an article on this in the Wall Street Journal some time ago. What's your take on this one?

Bob Levey: Congratulations to your exalted daughter!
The University of Chicago gave me the greatest start possible, and I love it to this day.
As for "dumbing down" the famous Common Core, there was much smoke about this on campus a couple of years ago, and very little fire.
The powers that be altered one sequence by turning it from a three-quarter play-out to a two-quarter play-out. Yet the content was essentially the same. That's it. That's all.
They aren't reading comic books out there, Chevy Chase. And they aren't reading Cliff's Notes. This is still a very serious university, one that reads original texts and makes tremendous demands on its students. Your child will get a full-food-value experience out in Hyde Park, believe me.

Rockville, Md.: C'mon Bob, don't you know why Bush isn't using the White House?

It's Cheney's undisclosed location!

Who do you think is really running the country, anyway?

Cheers!

Bob Levey: Don't make an old guy laugh while he's trying to walk, chew gum, type and digest his lunch at the same time!

Re: Cars and Buses: I love when some driver starts blaring their horn because a Metrobus has stopped at a bus stop to let people on or off. Do they not get the concept of a bus? It makes frequent stops! Choose another lane!

Bob Levey: News flash: People are morons.
Selfish morons.
As my daughter would say, get over yourself.

Bush and Us: I thought Eleanor Holmes Norton was quite diplomatic in her comment that it would be hypocritical for Bush to run around DC the way Clinton did.

I think it speaks volumes about the man's approach to life that when he finds himself spending four years in a new city very different from his hometown, he holes up in the residence and ventures out three times a year for cheese enchiladas. If I had to go live in Texas for a while, I'd want to enjoy all the unique and interesting things Texas offers (and there are a lot) before coming home to DC.

Bob Levey: Excatly right. Bush strikes me as the kind of American who would disembark from a plane in Paris, France and immediately ask where the nearest McDonald's is.

Votes Matter.....: Bob, don't forget lots of us live in DC. Our votes really do not matter. If DC votes could influence a presidential election, Congress would take them away.

I know what you are saying, and I vote all the time (even silly ANC elections) but it's hard to be idealistic about it when you live in DC and are a second-class citizen.

Bob Levey: Yet if you fail to vote, you are slipping shells into the shotguns of the DC-disdainers, who claim that we're not "politically sophisticated" enough to deserve congressional representation!

Re: U of Chicago: I think your response to Chevy Chase should have included a "disclosure" statement.

Bob Levey: Did it really need one?
OK..........
I BLEED MAROON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That do it?

Chickens, Eggs, and Bush: I think we don't like him because he's a really bad president. It's just not that complicated.

Bob Levey: On that simple note, have a good weekend everybody.

washingtonpost.com:

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

Stay Tuned to Live Online:
Film: Rita Kempley and the Unusual Suspects, 2 p.m. ET
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