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Levey Live: Speaking Freely
Washington Post Columnist
Friday, May 30, 2003; 1:00 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.
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.
Submit your questions and comments before or during the discussion.
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.
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Bob Levey: Howdy, gang, and thanks for joining our every-Friday excursion into the occult, the insane, the timely and the trenchant (some weeks, we even go four-for-four). As always, any subject is fair game, as is any viewpoint. "Speaking Freely" means what it says.
To cases.......
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Washington, D.C.:
So, Bob, in Lloyd Grove's chat today it was said that you and Gene Weingarten do not like each other. I'd love to hear more ...
Bob Levey: Complete unadulterated horse puckey. Gene is a kick. There's no feud. There has never been a feud. Gene is right there on my list of Five Guys I'd Always Want to Have a Beer With.
What gave rise to this was some punchy remarks Gene made in his chat last week. He thought that my recent movie reviews were off base. That's hardly the definition of a feud.
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Alexandria, Va.:
Bob, I've always thought you were a reasonable man. That is, until I read today's column. Did you seriously think Michael Jordan could come into DC and turn the Wizards magically around from pathetic doormats into NBA champions in three years?
Before Jordan came on board, the Wizards never even got within spitting distance of the playoffs. Now they're challenging for them. Of course, they'll be doormats again if they don't land Larry Brown, and end up with some other team's former scout.
These things take time. Boy, are you ever impatient.
Bob Levey: No, I didn't think Jordan could right into town on his magic carpet and win right away. But he not only didn't win--he made decisions that were disasters. Leonard Hamilton---a joke. Kwame Brown---a bigger joke. Plus he put his running buddies in the front office to handle scouting. Did that produce a single impact player? No, all it produced was hefty paychecks for his pals.
Obviously you're right that the Bullets/Wizards were horrendo for many years before Jordan came aboard, too. But that doesn't give him a clean bill. He took a mess and made it a bigger mess.
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Washington, D.C.:
Regarding Wednesday's column about the ex-employee: Would you be willing to share the name of the woman who is suing her old boss, so that if she ever applies to MY company, I can show her the door? Or are you afraid of being sued? (Normally, that question would be a joke, but that woman sounds like a real piece of work, and I would understand your hesitancy to tell us her name!)
Bob Levey: Sorry, if I couldn't publish the name, I'm not going to type it here.
I don't live every waking moment in fear of a suit. But in today's climate, anyone who works in my business has to be aware that even the slightest slip might carry a very large price tag.
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Arlington, Va.:
If you were moving out of the country next week, what are the top three things you'd do in the DC area this week?
Bob Levey: Have a chili dog at Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street.
Listen to every CD Koko Taylor, the queen of the blues, ever made.
Cheer my son's soccer team onto its fifth consecutive state soccer championship.
Guess which of the three I'll be doing this weekend?
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Landover, Md.:
Bob,
What good or great books have you read lately? Any suggestions for a summer book that is a must read?
Bob Levey: I'm about 50 pages into David Halberstam's "The Fifties," and I recommend it at the top of my lungs.
What a decade! He captures it beautifully, at least so far. I've just finished the section on Whitaker Chambers and Alger Hiss. How compelling to see a story about morals and patirotism captivating the country, instead of a tale about Altoid Mints and serial stupidity.
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Takoma Park, Md.:
Seems like the Jayson Blair bug has bit you too, Bobby. I cannot believe Thursday's column on Washington Adventist Hospital. As a fellow journalist I am dismayed that you could drone on and on about three non-threatening words in a radio ad. Let's be real here Bob, a hospital is a business, and advertising brings in money, er, patients. Like any good advertiser the aim is simply to highlight the positives of a business. A hospital in the suburbs may be an important asset to some patients, so why not put that in your ad? It's simply good business Bob. You have done more damage to WHC with this one column by mentioning all the things that people are supposed to fear by going to WHC. I bet the WAH people are thanking you for Thursday's column. The Jayson Blairism part of this that enrages me is that you have taken the three words that do not mention "the competition" and turned it into a war of words. Please give me a break! What makes you think that WHC has not placed ads that are in its best interest that make it sound better than its competitor? It's a business; that's what its supposed to do. How did one simple ad turn into a torpedo aimed at WHC? You're implying things that are not there by writing a potentially libelous column. I'm surprisd your editor let that one slip through. But I guess when you've been a "fixture" for as long as you have no one questions you. P.S. Leave polls to professionals! How can you not get favorable results when you twist and turn the radio ad to make it sound how you wanted it to?! Why didn't you just play the spot for them without any of your biased comments? Or better yet, ask more than 10 people?
Bob Levey: Let's save the Jayson Blair brickbat for stuff that warrants it. You didn't like the column. You didn't agree with it. That hardly means I made it up.
There's no libel possible in a column that has all its source bases touched and all its sources revealed. And don't kid yourself, pal. I get edited--plenty--fixture or not.
By the way, why is it "bias" when I simply take a position?
By the way again, WHC loved the column, despite your guess.
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Arlington, Va.:
Um, Bob, they do have CDs and CD players available outside of the United States.
Maybe I'll just head for Ben's.
Bob Levey: Give them my best. Thanks
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Kingstowne, Va.:
Do you think the recent USA Today Gallup poll results showing a marked decrease in public trust in the media can be linked to the Jayson Blair fiasco, or at more insidious forces at work -- namely, cable TV shout shows?
Bob Levey: This erosion of trust has been going on since Jayson Blair was in knickers. We're mostly to blame.
We've been very slow to acknolwedge mistakes, and very slow to indicate to readers that we're rooting for them in any way. There's a preachy, top-down tone to a lot of stories and a lot of columns. I suspect this will change quickly--it has already started. But it may be too late.
The cynicism of some readers is just amazing. For instance, my column yesterday (about the radio ads bought by Washington Adventist Hospital) brought forth an e-mail from a man I didn't know, who accused me of being on the take from Washington Hospital Center! He has no basis for this (and by the way, it's totally false). But such is the public attitude. He really believed this!
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Bethesda, Md.:
Bob, a somewhat strange question I have wondered about for a while now: When your column announces that you are "on vacation," are you actually on vacation? Or, since you write days in advance, have you already been on vacation?
Bob Levey: I usually write about three days ahead, sometimes a little more. But when a vacation appraches, I write ahead "into" the week when I'll be back.
To make this clearer than mud:
It's Friday, May 30.
I've either written or mostly written all my columns for next week.
But if I were taking next week off, I'd be writing columns this week to run the week after next.
All of which means: When I say I'm gone, I'm gone.
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Bob's Weekend Plans:
Number three, silly. The soccer game. Good lucky, Allie!
Bob Levey: Thanks!
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Alexandria, Va.:
Some people seem to have a really problem the whole columnists vs. reporters thing. Listen up fellow posters: columnists are paid to express their personal opinions. Reporters are the ones that report the news, without injecting personal bias (we hope). Got it?
Bob Levey: Amennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!
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Arlington, Va.:
Bob, I feel your pain. Philip Roth once wrote, "The novelist is powerless against what he knows he will read in the newspaper the next morning." "The Clarry" may be the unfortunate victim of bad timing. What with Jayson Blair making a far more compelling true story than a fictional one about "the struggle for a newspaper's soul," I fear your tome may never interest a publisher, at least not in this climate. My heart goes out to you, but I urge you to write another book in the meantime. Best wishes.
Bob Levey: You are a total sweetness. And a total prophet.
One reason I'm glomming Halberstam on the 1950s is that I'm hot to start a history of Washington, D.C., during that decade.
What a story! Full of racial tension, fantastic economic expansion, searing political battles, post-war Cleaverism. Of course, my wife Jane, a historian who specializes in the local history of local Washington, D.C., will be right there to do the book with me.
Won't you, babycakes?
Babycakes?
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Washington, D.C.:
Hey Bob. I get a kick out of everyone making a big think of the Mav's foul shooting in the play-offs -- they were 42 for 42. And they make a big thing of it. I guess they're not aware of the amazing young Mr. Levey, who made 100 straight every night as a youngster. You should be in the NBA!!
Bob Levey: I've said this for ages. Alas, I couldn't make it up and down the court more than three times any more--maybe not even that many.
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Sacramento, Calif.:
Hi Bob,
Any news yet on your son's school pick? Ivy or State school? East coast or mid-West?
Bob Levey: He's only a sophomore in high school, so it's still early. We've done some looking, and plan to do some more looking. Long and the short of it: He has no clear idea yet.
For instance, back in March we visited Williams College (teeny town in Massachusetts, total enrollment 2,200) and Columbia University (megaschool in New York City, total enrollment in the thousands) within 20 hours. You couldn't find two more different schools if you tried. After Columbia, I asked my guy what he thought. "I could be happy at either place," he said.
Sounds as if we still have some work to do? I think we do.
Allie also has an issue that most kids don't face: at what level he wants to play college soccer.
This is very, very tricky, and he's nowhere close to an answer. I believe he could play at any Division One school. But those coaches require a 20-hour-a-week commitment, all year. Division Three coaches insist on only a fraction of that.
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Washington, D.C.:
Are you aware that Tony Kornheiser on PTI this week joined the many scoffers that Freddy Adu is 13, despite the shoe contract? Any truth to his skepticism?
Bob Levey: Tony doesn't know what he's ranting about.
I have seen Freddy's birth certificate. It's typed. It isn't festooned with Wite-out. It's sealed by a hospital in Accra, Ghana. It would strike anyone on earth (even Tony) as being legitimate.
It's very easy to aim slurs at Freddy and his mother. The truth is that he's an exceptional kid--and he's only 13.
By the way, he'll be 14 on Monday. My birthday falls on Monday, too.
I'm a lot older.
But I have to share the joke I have with Freddy.
I always tell him: "Only great men are born on June 2. And Freddy, in our case, I'm half right."
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Re: Takoma Park, Md.:
Man, there was a lot of anger in that post. I think your column made an excellent point, Bob. Some people in the real-estate industry use similar code phrases to play upon buyers' fears of urban life. Even worse is that some of the code uses racial stereotypes.
Bob Levey: Thank you for the support. Just the point(s) I was trying to raise in that column
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Clifton, Va.:
So, Bob -- where has Paul Barry (sp?) been? Any chance your temp assignment at WTNT could turn into a full-time gig?
Bob Levey: Paul is in Asia on business. I've been filling in for him for the last two weeks during afternoon drive (4-7 p.m.) on WTNT-AM (570). I'll be there today.
Who knows about something permanent at that station? I'd love it. But "permanent" has a very strange meaning in the radio biz.
I've been hired seven times and fired seven times by local stations. Each time I was hired, the Big Boss said it was "permanent."
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Laurel, Md.:
Speaking of cynicism, you know what I hate? Whenever I'm on Live Online and read the forums, I go into some threads and read not only stuff on politics, but there are things on American Idol, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the weather, etc. And almost every time, there's a post that says, "Geez, it must be a slow news day. Why are we talking about this fluff when we killed children in Iraq?"
It's as if they believe a newspaper's only job is to report hard news that is guaranteed to make readers miserable. Anything else is not worthy enough to be printed. Can you believe that?
Bob Levey: News flows in many directions, and covers many areas. Iraq is not the only story. It never has been
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Oh To Be a Jordanaire ...(Not!):
Was your column today a satire piece? You can't be serious about naming 7th Street after Abe Pollin, can you? I hope that it doesn't happen. I'm glad that Pollin used his own money to build the MCI Arena. I'm glad that he pimped MJ and suckered him into coming here. I'm also glad that he's been a great philanthropist, but a street? He has a monument of concrete, steel and glass that will be flanked by condominiums, museums and $200 a night hotels. What more could one man ask for? It's not like he brought this town the greatest player to ever play along with six world titles. Oh. I forgot. He fired that guy and has only won one title. What a pity.
Bob Levey: Not a satire, exactly. But I wasn't rooting either way. I was just captivated by the idea, and decided to run it out to see if it might be possible. As I reported, it sorta-kinda-maybe is.
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11th Floor Rockville:
Hi Bob ... happy soon-to-be-birthday! I have a question for you ... what are your three must-go-to Web sites?
Bob Levey: DCRTV (local elctronic media buzz)
Poynter (national journalism buzz)
MLB.com (to see how my rotten fantasy-league pitchers did--again--the night before).
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Potomac, Md.:
I believe that you casually referred to John Denver's "Country Road" song in a recent column about Montgomery County. Well, that turns out to be coincidental and ironic. Did you know that D.C.'s own Jon Carroll wrote "Country Road" for Denver, and that his inspiration for the song was -- actual country roads in Montgomery County, Md. That's the truth, and you can look it up.
Bob Levey: I stand educated.
Thank you for this.
I had no idea.
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Arlington, Va.:
Hi Bob,
Is it legal to make a right-on-red in the District? I seem to remember from driver's ed 10 years ago that it was legal in Maryland and Virginia, but not in D.C. But then, when I'm driving around D.C., I see signs at some (but not all) intersections saying "No Right on Red", implying that it's okay at the other intersections. Or is it just illegal all the time, and doubly so when there's a sign? Thanks!
Bob Levey: It is legal in D.C. unless a sign at that corner tells you it isn't legal at that corner.
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Arlington, Va.:
I'd rather see a street named for Darrell Green, frankly.
Bob Levey: He'd have to be dead for two years, too.
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Washington, D.C.:
You should check out the LOCAL schools for your son. UVA and UMD are excellent schools in soccer and in academics. It will also help your wallet since those schools aren't as expensive as those little private schools.
Bob Levey: I don't live in Virginia, so UVA would be VERY expensive. Also, those soccer programs recruit all over the world. My guy is good, but I'm not sure he's THAT good.
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Silver Spring, Md.:
The poster who ranted about the hospital "code" phrase was off base, but I think he/she just missed the point, really. I know when I tell people that I live in Silver Spring, they say "Silver Spring is ghetto!" I ask them who they are trying to insult because when I tell them the origin of the word, they begin to back off of the statement. No one says Adams-Morgan is ghetto because there are $400,000 brownstones lined up and down the corridor. It's sad, but true that these "code" phrases can cause so much damage, but they really do.
Bob Levey: You've skirted the real issue: race, as always.
Tell someone who's a white suburbanite that Washington Hospital Center is in the center of Washington, and you can almost see the thought creep across his face:
Black neighborhood.
Tell a white suburbanite that the Silver Spring of 2003 is "ghetto," and he'll get it: Hispanic people live there. Lots of them.
You're dead-on about code. But I'd argue that it's always fundamentally about race, and the fear that inspires in many, many people (of all races).
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Driving Question, Northern Virginia:
Bob, I have a question for you about four-way stops. I grew up driving in Boston and while I know I learned a whole different set of traffic rules than almost everyone else, I'm confused about four-way stops down here. I was taught to take turns in a counter-clockwise rotation. Proceed after the person to the left of you. Driving in the DC area, it seems to be clockwise, if they obey the rules at all. What's the right answer?
Thanks!
Bob Levey: Driver to the left has the right of way in case of any doubt. But it helps for all drivers to notice which car gets to a four-way stop first. That guy has the right of way, regardless.
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The District:
Hey Bob,
Metro question here. How would you suggest dealing with people who play their music so loudly that you can practically hear the lyrics from the headphones!
I take the metro to and from work every day and nearly always am surrounded by one or more persons who are just blasting their music.
I'd confront them but I worry about getting yelled at for their lack of common courtesy. THere are some people who would even get offended at a polite request!
What do you think?
Bob Levey: You're right that you might be bucking for a curse-out, or a left to the jaw, but I'd try it anyway. No cop will bail you out, because odds are that no cop is right there. And offer your comment in a solicitious, non-argumentative way. Many Metro riders don't realize how obnoxious they're being.
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Code Words???:
So "quiet" is a code word for what? Not loud?
I'm sure you're right and that all hospitals are just as quiet. But come on Bob. This was just a bit of advertising puffery. Isn't it possible it wasn't aimed at anyone but just trying to fix that hospital in someone's mind? Kind of like a "refreshing" soda or an "exhilarating" car. It is possible to build something up without tearing something else down.
Bob Levey: "Quiet" is a code word, I believe, for "Not in the dangerous, crowded, ethnic center of Washington, D.C."
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Washington, D.C.:
Everytime I take the Metro to the Smithsonian there are people standing outside of the metro station "selling" Smithsonian maps, brochures, or admission to the museums, and they are aggressive. Most people from the DC area probably know that these things are free and don't give these guys the time of day, but what about the tourists? They could easily be duped into paying the $1 for a map or $5 for admission that these guys are asking for (and they must be because these guys wouldn't be out there if they weren't getting any money). I've been told that the area outside the Metro station is under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service but that it won't do anything about the problem because it has higher priorities. I don't see why it can't send someone over every couple of hours to shoo the people away. Don't you think this is a disservice to DC tourists? Why isn't it treated as a bigger problem?
Bob Levey: I wasn't aware of this. I'll saunter down and have a lunch-hour look. Thanks very much
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Silver Spring, Md.:
Hey Bob,
Just south of the Rhode Island Ave Metro Station, as the red line runs 15 feet or so above ground, their is a single metro track at ground level that disapears into an underground tunnel. Is this metro's secret undgergound lair? Can your friends at metro clarify?
Bob Levey: Well, I could tell you that this is Cheney's undisclosed secure location, but you might not believe me!
It's where trains are taken for repairs.
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The Catskills:
Hi Bob,
My question has to do with a term I see used on the WP chats. People seem to use it to say this person deserves our recognition/applause. They say "we really should give XXXX our 'props." I've been puzzling over this and can't find an explanation for "'props." Any idea?
Bob Levey: Samantha Ganey, world's greatest chat producer (and linguist), thinks it's slang based on "propping up." When you give something "props," you support it, the way a prop supports, say, a pier.
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Silver Spring, Md.:
Bravo for letting "His Airness" have it with both barrels. I knew that his stint here was publicity only, but Washington's fans have been in the desert so long they thought the oasis was real. It looks like these people are drinking the sand instead!
It's hard to give up the limelight, folks. We chided local boy Sugar Ray Leonard for doing the same thing. Why shouldn't it be the same for MJ. Besides, with all these Georgetown, Virginia and Maryland alums around, you'd think Jordan went to school here and really had some local ties! Red Auerbach, John Thompson, Elgin Baylor and Dave Bing are from this town and you'd never know it. They all want to touch MJ's Carolina blue robes. Give me a break!
Bob Levey: Thanks for your good sense.
Now give us the benefit of more of same:
Will Larry Brown really come here?
Will he have a free hand if he does?
I'd give those both a resounding, "I have no idea."
Clicksters?
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Dupont Circle, 4th floor, Washington, D.C.:
Is there a polite way to handle it on Metro when the person who tries to sit next to you is too big for one Metro seat?
I know that's insensitive, but I shouldn't have to stand to accommodate someone who is built for two seats. That person should wait for two open seats.
Bob Levey: I have had only two columns killed by editors in all my 22 years of hacking every weekday. One was about what to do if the person sitting next to you on the bus has too big a.... um, well, you know.
My advice then is my advice now: Get up and move. You can't make the person slimmer by ootching and wriggling.
For you Curious Georges out there:
The other killed column had to do with a guy who lived in Rosslyn. Every morning, he would walk his dog across Key Bridge into Georgetown, where it would do its business on a D.C. street. This was before the scooper laws, so those "bequests" sat there for days. This was the master's way of expressing his opinion of D.C. and the mayor at the time (three guesses).
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Props:
I thought it was short for "propers," as in Aretha Franklin's "Respect"--"All I'm askin' in return, honey, is to give me my propers when you get home."
Bob Levey: Essentially the same idea. Thanks
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Dear white people:
"Props" is short for "proper," in terms of "proper respect." When you give someone props, you give them respect.
Bob Levey: Thank you
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Fairfax, Va.:
Hello Mr. Levey,
Have you ever been to Charlestown Races in WV? If you have, what was your impression? With all the controversy behind the slot machines, do you think it's wise to make a trip there?
Thank you!
Bob Levey: I haven't been there for more than 20 years, so I'm not going to be much up-to-date help.
I can't say that playing slots is ever wise--not if you're hoping to win money. Slots give you the worst odds of doing that.
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Silver Spring, Md.:
Thanks for putting "Code words?" on the right track! I feel you, Levey!
Bob Levey: Much obliged.
But please don't plan to feel me literally.
I'm not in NBA shape.
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"Altoid Mints and serial stupidity":
Is that a slam at Sid Blumenthal's memoir? Recently in Slate, Michael Isikoff ran down the book's many factual errors.
Bob Levey: It's a slam at Mr. Clinton and Ms. Lewinsky, who continue to make my mouth drop whenever I think about what they did.
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Sue City, Iowa:
I know that, technically speaking, you can sue someone for having brown eyes. But it seems way overboard to sue someone for giving an opinion that you requested him to give. I mean, the lady in your story did ask the guy if she could use him for a reference. And she didn't make stipulations about 'only if you give me a glowing review' right? It sounds like she was being pretty stupid to think he wouldn't be honest or that she had a right to a rave review. Can't imagine that she would get anything but grief for suing though. No implied warranties on that article.
Bob Levey: Understand that winning a lawsuit is one thing. Muscling someone into a settlement by filing a lawsuit is another. It all produces money--and a settlement often produces more of it sooner.
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Takoma Park, Md. (Why do people hate Freddy?):
Why is there all this hate for Freddy Adu? Kornheiser may have been joking, but it didn't sound like SportsTalk 980 (Andy Pollin and Steve Zaban) were kidding around. We don't make wisecracks about European sports phenoms who have been doing what Adu has been doing for years. Would it have anything to do with his coming from an African country? I hope not.
All this kid did was get legal residency in this country and go to school. If he weren't a great soccer player, he may not have had that chance, but in the same situation, I can guarantee a lot of these naysayers would do the same thing.
As for his age, he looks fourteen from the neck up which is good enough for me. He has a little bit of acne which is normal and not even a hint of peach fuzz on his face. As I recall, there was some guy named Boris Becker who was seventeen when he became a world beater in tennis and no one batted an eyelash when he stepped on the scene, so be fair everybody. If Boris from Germany can do it, so can Freddy from Ghana.
Bob Levey: Here's the other important point:
It wouldn't matter if he really WERE 16.
Because he has always played with kids that age.
He's playing "up," not "down," like that Little League pitcher from the Bronx.
So Freddy has never gotten any unfair advantage, even if his doubters are correct (which they are not).
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Boston, Mass.:
Bob, it's still 30 minutes locked in and out of National, six months ago you promised to have it corrected, what gives? We need your voice to kick some sense into those FAA DOLTS!
Bob Levey: I'm trying, Boston! Thanks for your good sense. I'll try to knock some of it into our FAA dolts.
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Rooting for the Expos:
What would Mr. Cub say about a day like today?
Bob Levey: Let's play four
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Washington, D.C.:
Hey Bob,
I hope you can help with this. I need to find a place where I can recycle an old dinosaur of a computer.
It's a 486 pc from 1993. The computer itself is in fine shape, just old and slow. The thing is that the monitor, mouse and keyboard are all shot.
I have a replacement one and am going to throw out the monitor, mouse and keyboard but just don't want to throw out a usable computer. I figure it might be helpful at some computer tech school or something for teaching folks how to take them apart or something like that.
Do you know of any places like that? I tried writing one of our local consumer reporters but all this person suggested was places accepting donations of working computers, not ones intended for tech students or something.
HELP! Thanks!
Bob Levey: Levey's List to the rescue yet again!
Call 202-334-7662 and describe both yourself and the machine. We'll place it on our giveaway list. We give the list to needy and deserving people each day. One of them will call you--and keep that machine out of the dump.
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You don't live in Virginia?!:
Wow ... all this time I thought you did. I thought for sure I remember you talking about taking a bus from your front steps to the Vienna metro on your AM commute. But maybe it was the other end of the orange line. Or maybe I'm going crazy. (I'm voting for the last one.)
Bob Levey: You're not going crazy.
But I would if I lived in Virginia and it took me 45 minutes just to get to a grocery store that's two miles away......
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Re: Headphones on Metro:
This happened to me once and I recognized the song. I turned to the woman and said, "So that's the Beastie Boys, eh?" and she smiled meekly and nodded and then turned it down some. Sometimes a gentle and humorous approach like that helps. Call me naive, but I think very often, people just have no idea that their headphones are bothering other people. After all, it's what Metro says to use.
Bob Levey: Good approach. Let's also bear in mind that after a few minutes of listening to a CD that's cranked very loud, your ears kind of adjust, and you are no longer aware of "spill."
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Reston, Va.:
Okay, I'm a little biased, but as we mention basketball stars from this area, let's not forget David Robinson, who played over in Annapolis. You wouldn't realize it from the hype surrounding MJ's (third is it?) retirement, but he's leaving the league this year too. It would have been difficult to pull him away from San Antonio, but judging by the mark he has left on that region, he would have made much more of a contribution to the D.C. area than that Illinois state resident who hung around the area.
Regards ...
Bob Levey: Robinson has been a total plus in every way. Thanks for a good point.
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Norfolk, Va.:
Bob -- Your biggest fan here, who was dragged kicking and screaming away from my DC three years ago for my husband's supposed dream job. He was laid off in the Tyco scandal a year ago, and is now communting back to DC to work M-F every week while I'm here. We'll probably end up back there this fall -- and now I need to be convinced to leave this place. Convince me away from this much easier place to live where I might even afford to buy a house soon. And where I can get to Nags Head in 1.5 hours for a day trip on the best beach day of the weekend ... Never thought I'd be having a hard time with the thought of moving back!
Bob Levey: It's always about more than money or beaches. The great thing about the D.C. area is the level of the dialogue. So many people here are so smart, so tuned in, so well-educated, that it's really a pleasure to go to the water cooler. Do you want your mind stretched? I'm sure that's possiblen in Norfolk. It's unavoidable here.
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Chantilly, Va.:
I appreciated your hospital column. I have a family history of heart disease and sadly know first-hand that when you are having heart problems, you don't always have your choice admission of hospitals. I listen to the "all-news" station a lot and the first time I heard the ad you referred to I made an audible gasp. I didn't think that the remarks were all that "coded" -- I am middle-class white, and female and got the gist of what they were getting at loud and clear. I find this type of advertising apalling and I work in public relations so I have seen it all.
Shameful -- especially for a health care facility that should be dedicated to serving ALL!
Bob Levey: Thanks for "getting it."
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H2:
Hi Bob--
Has anyone written to you about your H2 piece? I have to say, I was really surprised when you quoted a H2 salesman saying that he has refused to sell Hummers to men of Middle Eastern descent who want to pay with cash. Is that legal? Paying cash for a car is not that unbelievable and this just plain racial profiling. Any if no Jersey barrier can stop them (which I doubt) then maybe they shouldn't be selling them at all. That nut on the mall in the John Deere tractor wasn't Middle Eastern.
Bob Levey: It would be up to a lawyer and a court to prove intent in this case. But at the very least, it's a controversial I-won't-sell decision. The sales people said they were especially wary because this icnident took place onm the day that the U.S. began bombing Iraq. That makes "human sense" to me. I'm not sure it would make legal sense to a jury.
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Arlington, Va.:
Bob, with all this concern about who trusts what in the media, I have to say that like so many things in America and the world, our freedom of speech and press is not perfect. However, it's about the best there is. There will always be Jason Blairs and Janette Cookes and others who will ruin it for the majority of the good ones. There will always be "slants" depending on the organizations or owners or what have you, but I think that 99 percent of what we get in the USA is good hard work by writers, reporters and others who support them. It's called the news BUSINESS for a reason, but all in all, I think we're doing fine. Cheers, Bob!
Bob Levey: May I interrupt this program while I head for the frame store?
Thank you, Arlington, for your maturity and wisdom.
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Washington, D.C.:
Suing over 'bad' references ...
It is becoming more and more common for businesses to refuse to give refs for this reason. I used to work for a large, well respected research institution and whenever someone called for a reference, they were referred to HR, where someone would only confirm dates of employment, salary, title, and division worked for. It made things very awkward when someone called for a reference and all I could say was 'we can't help you, you have to talk to HR.' I always wondered if I could use my performance eval as a 'reference.'
Bob Levey: This refers to a column of mine this week, in which I wrote about an executive who told the truth about a former employee and got sued.
I hate to say that this tell-little approach is the right way to go. But it's certainly the most painless way to go.
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Baseball in D.C.:
Bob, I really enjoy your chats, but must sound off (in opposition to your opinion) about baseball in D.C. I get absolutely furious that the District (the mayor) has pledged millions of dollars to build a stadium if D.C. gets a baseball team. How can they justify this in view of the deplorable state of the public schools (physical state of the schools) in the city??What a ghastly waste of taxpayer dollars, especially since most of the District's poorer residents will never ba able to afford tickets to a baseball game. What a colossal waste of money!! I am vehemently opposed to bringing baseball to D.C. What a shame to waste so much money to bring a sports team to D.C. (most people don't like baseball anyway), when there are so many people in need in the city -- in need of better housing, better public schools and the basic necessities of life. I am suprised you support such an effort.
Bob Levey: For half a century, the reasoning has been: Bring baseball, and that will be the rising tide that lifts the ships of many industries. Restaurants, hotels, bars, souvenir stands, etc. But I hope you saw our terrific piece on the front page of sports today. When a baseball team loses on the field, not even a neat, new stadium can save the day. I suspect the same would be true here, at least after a few seasons of 54-108.
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Metro:
Bob --
Last Friday evening on the red-line, a visually-impaired man got on the metro in the same car I was in. After a few stops, he asked some of us in the car, the final destination of the train. Since I was only going a few stops, so I wasn't paying attention the the final destination, but I noted that the operator was not announcing the destination. So to answer his question I got out of the metro car and looked at the sign on the train. Later that night coming home, I noted that the Train operator was not announcing the final stop for that train. Just thought I'd share.
Bob Levey: The operator is supposed to recite the final destination at (or just after) every stop.
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Four Way Stops:
Um, Bob, you're gonna cause some accidents here ...
Whoever gets there first has the right of way, if the arrivals are simultaneous, the car to the right (not the left!) has the right-of-way.
Bob Levey: Sorry.
Right.
You are.
And the law is.
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New York, N.Y.:
With all due respect, I very much disagree with your column yesterday. The city-suburb dichotomy has been around FOREVER and it's an established cliche that the "country/suburb" is quieter than the city, and more peaceful -- that you go away from the city to "get away from it all" (Shakespeare drew upon it for As You Like It and A Midsummer Night's Dream, eg.) I'm think you're jumping at code phrase shadows -- the ad hardly implied you were escaping drug deal gunfire. Whether or not the suburbs realy are quieter is debateable but it's an ad -- of course it's going to use that preexisting cliche because that's what ads do. There's nothing racist about it, and I think people are being waaay too PC to get offended.
"The Fifties" is great, BTW. Wonderful exploration of that decade -- really opened it up to me.
Bob Levey: Thanks for your take on this. But why would a suburban institution bring up its "quiet" home town if not to throw a dart at the competition? It matters not whether the burbs have always been quieter. The point is: It's an attempt to wound.
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Kingstowne, Va.:
I live in Virginia, and it takes me 10 minutes (on foot) to get to a grocery store, the cleaners, a big box store, a video store, a liquor store, a furniture store, a Post Office, a toy store, a home furnishings store and many restaurants. That's because I live in a walkable community. You should visit Virginia more often. Stereotyping the Old Dominion with disparaging generalizations does not become you.
Bob Levey: You are a Virginia rarity. Most of Fairfax (and much of Loudoun) is car-addled and car-dependent. Even Alexandria and Arlington are not walkable everywhere.
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Bob Levey: Thank you, gang. We'll do it again next Friday at noon Eastern.
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