Joel Achenbach

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Rough Draft Live
With Joel Achenbach
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 14, 2001; 1 p.m. EST

Ah, the onset of spring. The weather gets warmer (barring any freak snow storms), grass grows, buds form on the trees -- it's Porch Season. Meanwhile, we can take a big deep breath of CO2 emissions, avoid foot and mouth disease by not eating European meat and take another ride on the Wall Street roller coaster.

And speaking of taxes, President Bush was on the road this week, plugging his $1.6 trillion tax cut -- in Florida. Bush promises his budget will be a kinder, gentler -- whoops -- simpler, more candid account of government spending.

Achenbach, author of Rough Draft, is sitting on his porch, enjoying the onset of spring. He was online Wednesday, March 14.

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.

Joel Achenbach: Hey everybody! Can someone please tell me why I bought Lucent at 55.

Today's column, just posted, is your basic "I've just read the newspaper and here are my important thoughts" column, as opposed to the usual, rigorously reported, fact-packed type of
column for which I've won all those Pulitzers.

Al Kamen has just pointed out that all this talk of foot-and-mouth disease is crazy,
because it's really HOOF-and-mouth disease. This is another mistake that the Brits are
making the English language. LEARN TO SPEAK NORMALLY ALREADY. Or else find a different
language. The creatures that get this disease do not have feet. They have hooves.
Although maybe in England the sheep have feet, another weird English thing, like calling soccer "football." Enough with the feet!!!!

washingtonpost.com: Joel's column: Mad Expertise Disease (March 14)

Arlington, Va.: Joel,

I've been waiting on tenterhooks (ouch!) for your book to come out! Do I really have to wait until April, or is there a way I can slip you some cash to get an advance copy?

washingtonpost.com: Uh, that link in the box under Joel's picture might suffice.

Joel Achenbach: Literally two minutes ago I saw my first copy of the thing, so it does exist, but it won't be in bookstores for a week or two, i suspect. It's very ... light. It has no heft at all. It basically sits in your hand with all the heft of an envelope. Why can't I write something thick and incomprehensible like Gravity's Rainbow.

Joel Achenbach: This chat will not turn into an advertisement. This I vow.

18th and K: Bush has just won me over. I will be getting a huge tax break (according to Sally Struthers I can feed a family of four with the amount I will be getting back) and with no limits on CO2 Washington will be a warm coastal resort town with skyrocketing property values. Can S.E. be the next South Beach? Buy now while the getting is good!

Joel Achenbach: You know, I think it's fair to question the science behind global warming, but it IS increasingly compelling, there is widespread consensus that it's happening and is caused by human industry, and the Bush decision is a reminder of the man's priorities. I'm not completely unsympathetic to that view -- you don't want to cause an energy crisis -- but it doesn't scream "courageous leadership" does it.

Washington, D.C.: Though I am a Bush supporter, I am also an aerospace engineer for NASA and I am surprised he has not taken more heat while in Florida. If his budget is passed unchanged, the space station takes a huge hit. Where are the flocks of angry rocket scientists threatening to not give the GOP their votes in the next round?! I think that is a major demographic that both parties are ignoring.

Joel Achenbach: Somehow I suspect the space station will get its funds one way or another. Keep in mind, the Bush budget is a REQUEST. He knows that powerful congresspersons will make sure that aerospace dollars flow to the right districts. In a way the station is an easy target. (Why did they build that thing again?)

Vieques, Puerto Rico: You are AWESOME. I always look forward to your midday columns because your irreverent approach never fails to make me laugh. The funniest I've read was one about the Elian case and the ridiculousness of the whole ordeal.

Question: Do you ever stress out over having to be funny, or does it come naturally for you?

Joel Achenbach: The crafting of a joke is, for me, an arduous and time-consuming process requiring that I scan reference books and look up words in the dictionary and call Dave Barry long distance and ask for a punch line. But thanks for being awed. (Odd?)

London and laughing like a mad cow: Speaking of foots and hooves, did you see the article that McDonald's is now complying with federal law to inspect its meat? Puts your mind at ease, eh?

Joel Achenbach: Maybe the feds can intervene and give those burgers some flavor. Ever notice that after you eat at McDonald's you're literally dumber? The fat chokes the brain, I think.

Wall Street, Va.: Just a reminder. You don't gain or lose money until you sell.

Joel Achenbach: Good point. I will just wait for Lucent to climb back to 55. What would that be...let's see...a 500 percent gain from its current valuation?

Joel Achenbach: I will note that I've been feeling very glad I didn't actually have much money to start with. It's not that painful if your portfolio loses half its value but was only 13 dollars to begin with. Did anyone here Glassman and Schiller on NPR this morning, debating which way the market would go? Glassman is the author of the now-unfortunately named "Dow 36,000," and a smart guy, but Schiller sounded convincing when he pointed out that the market is still very highly priced.

Inside the Beltway: O Joel, I finally got around to reading "Captured by Aliens," which had been on my to-read list for too long because you're my hero. I hope it didn't keep you up too many nights wondering when I was going to get around to reading it. My question is, what do you think of the latest Mars-rock story? And don't you think Alan Hills 84001 sounds like some kind of melodramatic space alien-teenage soap opera? Better than "Roswell" any day.

Joel Achenbach: Whats with all the fawning messages? Its my tan, isnt it. From the vacation. I don't know much about the new evidence, other than what Kathy Sawyer has ably documented in our paper. It's definitely a strong line of evidence for ancient martian life, BUT...(there's always a but)...it's always going to be a leap to say that we've found some chains of magnetites in a rock and this proves that microbes lived on mars 3.9 billion years ago. I think its suggestive and might give the Houston NASA scientists a real boost. But that rock came a long way; the thing it suggests is somethign that happened long ago and far, far away, as they say in star wars.

Wiredog: RE: Mickey D's burgers.

Read "Fast Food Nation" (author was on live-online a few weeks ago) and you'll never eat fast food again. Ever read Soylent Green?

washingtonpost.com: Eric Schlosser was online Feb. 6.

Joel Achenbach: Yeah, Lisa, just put in a link so that everyone will leave the chat and go to the Schlosser one. BUH-BYE...
Actually I'm planning to read his book and hopefully talk to him, the whole topic is fascinating, part of a big story for the 21st century, our Fear of Food.

Royal Oak, Mich.: Joel --

My sister was recently diagnosed with a "floating kidney." Is it just a coincidence that this startling discovery occurred during the first 100 days of the Bush administration?

Joel Achenbach: Um...where was it floating. Did she retrieve it. Did it SINK???

DuPont Circle: Will there be a big book tour? Perhaps including such locations mentioned in the book, like Palm Beach polling booths; Tallahassee courtrooms; the Lincoln Bedroom?

Joel Achenbach: No big book tour but I do plan on walking across the newsroom and saying hi to some old friends. That's pretty much the extent of it.

Helena, Mont.: Admit it, aren't you secretly ecstatic that Bush won the election? I can only imagine the ammunition for columns he's going to give you over the next four years. You should send him a contribution for his re-election campaign.

Joel Achenbach: I think it was Kornheiser or Wilbon who said they don't care who wins the games. Same for those of us in the breaking humor biz. There's always material.

Miami, Fla.: I read yesterday where one of your columnists thought the low protest turnout in Panama City (a heavy Republican bed) was indicative of the cooling of anger over the presidential election.

Nothing could be further from the truth. One should not be surprised there was little protest when Bush goes to a heavily Republican area, vs. a Democratic area. Second, Jeb is always in the news, reminding the voters of what happened in November (he should beware of voter anger come next November). Third your columnist should not think that Dems and the 500,000 other voters throughout the U.S. who voted for Gore are not paying attention to the flip-flop Bush is doing and how he is catering to the right.

Have you seen any similar sentiment in Washington? Thanks.

Joel Achenbach: Interesting observations. I have to say that I think the anger over the election HAS subsided for most people, or given way to a different kind of emotion. Remoteness, in some cases. People have a Dubya chip in their TV (this is a joke a reader invented) and it blocks the president from appearing. On the whole, the media will gradually turn the president into The President. maybe Clinton will eventually recede from the front page...

Washington, D.C.: JOEL, I THINK YOU'RE AN UNCULTURED BOOB. (There, an uncomplimentary comment. Feel better?)

Joel Achenbach: Now we're getting somewhere. Bring it on.

West Chester, Pa.: Joel,

Thanks for coming off the porch to join us here today!

If Congress can't cut taxes now, i.e., when we have budget surpluses, spending cuts, and a slowing economy that wouldn't mind some extra cash flowing into it, when WILL we feel comfortable about tax cuts? To hear Tom Daschle talk it doesn't seem unreasonable to assume that he would advocate the government garnering ALL of our pay, providing for the things he feels we need and want, and then providing to us those wages that the government feels we need to sustain ourselves. After all, who wouldn't want to give their entire paycheck to save our schools? Anyone who objected would undoubtedly be branded a traitor and hung, posthaste.

I'm just getting a little tired of hearing how we should support a smaller tax cut to provide more funding for education, when the federal government regularly admits that the block grants they provide to the states for education total less than 6 percent of the state's education budget. Does anyone think it matters all that much if its 5.9 percent or 6.1 percent?

Thanks,
Joshua Weikert

Joel Achenbach: I agree that the Democrats need to state at some point what they think, philosophically, is the government's longterm claim on marginal income. In other words, is 39 percent the figure the Democrats like? That's the current rate. It used to be higher, then got lower under reagan, Bush the Elder raised it up some and Clinton et al raised it back to 39. Under the Gore/Daschle philosophy any tax cut that benefits disproportionately the rich folks is to be loathed. But any cut of that marginal rate will benefit those folks. THAT SAID, given the fact that we're plunging into a depression and will soon be selling pencils, and given that its really really hard to RAISE taxes, i think cutting them is something that should be done with great care.

McLean, Va.: Hello, Joel,

Enjoyed your column and chat!

I am sure you have heard about the close-off of I-495 during the morning rush hour.

I wonder whether this will gradually becoming a trend for some crazy people to get some attention. Wonder if similar situation happens in future, what else can we do?

I would like to know your thoughts on this.

Joel Achenbach: I didnt hear about that. what happened?

Seattle, Wash.: Dear Joel:

Just thought you'd like to know that on Monday Steve Ballmer, they guy I'm writing the bio on, lost about $1.18 billion in the stock market. He's down to only about $12 billion -- this is just under $2 million for each day he's worked at Microsoft. In perspective, he made more in one day of being president of Microsoft than Bill CLinton did in his eight years being president of the United States. Is this obscene?

Joel Achenbach: Wait, which communist is this writing me? Because i know so many. Why is it obscene for Ballmer to get really rich compared to Clinton? Ballmer had a better decade.

Still Angry in Massachusetts: Joel -- I don't know about your theory that anger over the election has subsided. We're all still hopping mad in this here bastion of liberalism.

You are certainly not an uncultured boob. And you should plan a book tour to Boston and Cambridge -- everyone reads you up here.

Well, everyone who IS anyone.

Joel Achenbach: I am a CULTURED boob. Huge difference.
Thanks for the nice note, I do like liberal bastions because there usually are good coffeeshops. You're not some Harvard elitist are you? As for the anger, I think it should be directed now toward the policies of the administration rather than the election. Personally I think Deadlock, the new Post book by David von Drehle and Ellen Nakashima et al, pretty much nails what happened (this is a naked plug for it, yes), and raises the question of whether it could have turned out any other way after that initial ballot count.

Alexandria, Va.: Speaking of "I've just read the newspaper and here are my important thoughts," what's the story with the Naked News? Any thoughts on why so many women are watching it?

washingtonpost.com: Story: On the Internet, It's the 6 O'Clock Nudes (Post, March 14)

Joel Achenbach: I only read that story to the jump -- like only buying playboy for the articles. My feeling about this whole topic is that the Internet is starting to feel a little bit...you know...sleazy. Soon you might find actual pornography there.

Iowa: I find it curious and funny that GW and the Republicans don't want some kind of stop gap measure on their $1.6 trillon tax cut if the budget surplus falls short. If GW is so sure of his projections, then why not have those triggers in place -- after all, they won't go into effect. I suspect he doesn't want them in place for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which is most cuts go to the wealthy and corporations, both to whom he is beholding. Do you agree?

Joel Achenbach: They probably know, the Republicans do, that if you put a big "maybe" on something like this, it's doomed to never happen. Because the gummint would rather have the revenue. Congress would rather spend money. Pork.

Silver Spring, Md.: Joel, any predictions about the first departures from the the reign of George II? I mean, how long can someone like Christie Todd Whitman remain in office if she repeatedly is saying one thing and then she is cut off at the knees by the unpresident?

Joel Achenbach: She must feel completely betrayed. I mean, what can she say? This is a major about-face on a nontrivial issue. I love the explanation: During the campaign, the people who wrote up that position paper didn't realize that carbon dioxide isn't a pollutant under the Clean Air Act. So I guess it's not a problem...

Arlington, Va.: I can't believe you're charging $12 (!!!!) for your little book. Isn't this just a collection of Rough Draft columns? Sounds like it from the description. I can get those for free online. Where does the added value come from? Is there any?

Joel Achenbach: That's CHEAP. That's what you pay to park downtown. I'll do a chat about the book down the road, maybe, and tell you what its about, but it does have some new material interspersolated into it. Mostly its just the drafts.

DuPont Circle: Re: the NPR stock-market guru slugfest --

I thought Bob Edwards was going to verbally dress those guys down on the air! Who knew someone could get so excited about bear markets and PE ratios?

Joel Achenbach: You'd be feisty too if you'd written a book called "Dow 36,000" at a time when it looks like we may soon see "Dow Thirty-Six Hundred"

McLean, Va.: Some guy decided to jump off a bridge, so the police closed the west bound I-495 for about an hour (between 6 and 7)this morning.

Can you imagine?

It reminded me of the similar situation on the Wilson Bridge a couple years back.

Joel Achenbach: is the guy ok? that's awful. i mean, who cares about the drivers, its their own fault for not working at home like reasonable people.

Joel Achenbach: Sometimes I think all these questions are written by the same person, and that this person is sitting near me, in the newsroom, and that there are no actual readers out there, and if I try to leave the building I'll be followed. By a big white sphere, like in the Prisoner.

Reston, 20190: Joel,

How was the City of Lost Wages, Nev.? I used to got there when I lived in southern Utah. But only for the shopping and Comdex. Really. Honest. (Want to buy some oceanfront property in Wyoming?)

Joel Achenbach: Playing blackjack was, for me, a speeded up version of investing in Lucent.
Vegas is great, its over the top, I spent most of the time with Frank, Dean and Sammie.

Seattle, Wash.: Dear Joel:

I'm the "commie" who wrote you about Ballmer. Fred Maxwell in Seattle. While we're on the subject, didn't Fidel offer to have poll watchers come to Florida to survervise the recount? And didn't your former employer Palm Beach Post recently report that the Gore/Buchannan ticket got some 6,100 votes? And wasn't one of Gore lawyers the former assistant U.S. attorney who had to resign after biting a stripper? Why did you ever leave that paradise?

Joel Achenbach: Hey Fred! I thought it was you. Actually fyi i worked for the herald in palm beach, not the p.b. post. Yes by all means the place is a snakepit of sleaze and underhanded backbiting grafting bribery. My point about the election not turning out differently (is that what you are referring to? Or are we still on Ballmer being obscene?) is that, since you couldn't revote, and have a do-over on the butterfly ballot mistake (gore voters for buchanan), there wasn't much chance that recounting ballots selectively would work to give Gore the victory.

Columbia Heights, D.C.: My anger (OK, really just the heebie-jeebies) is still directed at the unnatural sight of Ricky Martin and George W. shimmying together in front of the Lincoln Memorial at inauguration time.

More seriously, do you think W stands a real chance of luring significant numbers of non-Cuban latinos into the Republican fold? And what do you think might come out of his apparently good rapport with Mexican President Vicente Fox? This seems like an incredible opportunity to redefine bilateral relations between the U.S. and Mexico, which is one of the few silver linings I see in this administration.

Joel Achenbach: Dont really know, but maybe a reader would, so chime in if you do...

Bethesda, Md.: The reason we don't want a "trigger" in place on the tax cut isn't because we're worried the the revenue won't be there to create the surplus, it's because we worry that spending will go up so fast that the surplus will disappear, thereby killing the tax cut. What'll happen if there's a trigger is the dems will try to force big spending increases through. Then they'll say "oh no, no more surplus. no more tax cuts." and everybody'll get screwed. The trigger should be on spending increases.

Joel Achenbach: That is what I meant to say.

Herndon, Va.: Mr. A: Well my retirement fund has crashed with the market, my 12th grader has been accepted at a great university which has budget-crushing tuition (his 10th grade brother wants to go to a college where he can "join a frat and drink beer") and my 59th birthday is rapidly approaching. I know, however, that YOU can write something which will cheer me up. So . . .?

Joel Achenbach: With today's medical advances you might live to be 120, which will be necessary if you want to pay off the debts you will soon accrue.

Joel Achenbach: Be thankful for the party-boy son. State school here we come!

Mobtown: Steve Ballmer deserves every penny he has and should be a candidate for sainthood. After all, they named that city in Maryland after him.

Joel Achenbach: Great point! Back to this question raised by my communist friend Fred, is it obscene for someone to make all that money? My own thought is that a person can't CONSUME 12 billion dollars in goods and services. you cant really do anything with 75 yachts, you know? So ultimately he will not really use up our resources that much more than someone with only, say, 10 million bucks, which is a lot but not completely disgusting.

Porchless: I don't have a porch. I grew up in a town of porches, and you really made me miss them. Since most people aren't using theirs, it probably wouldn't be a big deal to anybody for me to just go sit on random porches, huh?

Joel Achenbach: I would be judicious about that. Unless you have a kevlar vest.

Buffalo, N.Y.: Hi Joel,

Bush used to sign death warrants every few days in Texas. It's been quite a while.

What do you think he does to relax now?

--Outside the Beltway

Joel Achenbach: Reverses himself on campaign promises.

Vienna, Va.: It appears to me that Bush is helping the free fall of the economy. He says that he wants to be honest, and not giving any encouragement. Can you image Winston Churchill, during World War II, being honest, and not saying anything encouraging during the Battle of Britain? Leadership needs to be encouraging.

Joel Achenbach: I believe this is the first time Bush and Churchill have been mentioned in the same breath.

Bethesda, Md.: Another way to cheer up the guy whose son wants to join a frat and drink beer: Someday, this son will be president!

Joel Achenbach: bingo!

Washington, D.C.: Each time we have put a Bush into the White House, the economic boom ran out of steam. Coincidence? I think not. If only we remember this pattern when the next Bush throws his/her 10-gallon hat in the ring.

Just came back from overeas where the news of Dick Cheney's heart episode caused folks to note that Bush is a heartbeat away from the presidency. I think he has a credibility issue abroad.

Joel Achenbach: Economic events and presidencies are not actually linked, I think. We just assume they are. Post hoc ergo propter hoc. (right?)

Washington, D.C.: Being an expert in a field that often induces unwarranted public hysteria, I have an alternate hyposthesis:

Would you consider it fair to say that if the media didn't edit out or fail to explain qualifiers that usually come along with expert opinion that perhaps we wouldn't have the same degree of real or perceived public panic? Let's keep in mind that the more of a frenzy the media induces, the more papers they tend to sell. This seems to take a front seat to truth. For some reason, everyone expects an expert to have a concrete answer to a problem or question, but often the expertise only provides the expert with the knowledge to definitely say that no answer exists. I don't understand why this is so often a criticism. Knowing the question or problem can't be answered with the tools at hand is half or more of the battle. Rarely is an answer, especially in health, conrete and certain, and it is the qualifiers that MUST be included to put the data that are available in context.

Definitive answers are usually only found in matters of belief or religion, neither of which has to deal with public health and their hypothesis aren't generally tested; safe to say they are not hypothesis.

So before you [the media] jump to criticize the experts, perhaps you should look at how you [the media] present the information.

Joel Achenbach: oh, i totally agree. first, the media edit out the qualifiers, as you say. but the media also, over time, gravitate toward the people who are most likely to make dramatic pronouncements, qualifier-free. hence certain stock market analysts get so much publicity. But you're right on the money there...

San Juan, PR: Here come the flip flops. Bush just got finished saying that he would not support one of his campaign promises (this is somethng new for a politician?) on the environment. With less than 100 days into his presidency, how many more promises will he break and how easy is it to satirize these flip flops?

Joel Achenbach: maybe he'll break his promise to drill for oil in the arctic national preserve.

Joel Achenbach: I'm sorry, I just seized up with boredom. I had a boredom event. A spasm. I may actually have passed out for about 5 minutes.

Laurel, Md.: Your article about porching makes a more profound point than you perhaps realized. Comparing a pre-WWII neighborhood of single family homes to one today reveals startling contrasts related to zoning and automobiles.

Many of us haven't walked to the store in years. We don't talk to our neighbors. Kids are at the mercy of parent-chauffers and some believe the ensuing boredom is part of the reason for many teen-age pathologies.

Visit an older suburb like Alexandria, Takoma Park or the center of a former small town like Laurel or Manassas and you can see in the architecutre a community character missing from the modern suburban development.

Joel Achenbach: The porch column was sad, you know? Because we have definitely lost something in the way of community, of knowing our neighbors, etc. Of course I'm as guilty as anyone else, I only talk to my neighbors if there's an earthquake or something. Deadly hail or a hurricane. The American Dream is to reach the point where you no longer need your neighbors for ANYTHING.

Fred in Seattle: Dear Joel: Thanks for correcting me on your Palm Beach gig. I wrote a story a year ago and said that no one area of America has a monopoly on ignorance but Florida is trying. And don't you find it interesting (no segue here)that the stock market liked the "commie" Clinton but doesn't like the Harvard Business School grad Bush? My friend Ugly Dave says, "Don't try to make sense of this country, Fred, after all, Hawaii has interstate highways." Best

Joel Achenbach: It was so astonishing when we all realized that the future of the presidency, of America, of the planet Earth, was going to be decided by obscure public officials in South Florida. Fortunately the rational minds of the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in and cleared up any controversy.

Joel Achenbach: Who's dumb idea was it to write a column AND do a chat. This is starting to feel like work. I think i have to go now...can't type...

Arlington, Va.: Bethesda's ant-trigger argument really doesn't make a whole lot of sense. What's to stop Congress (the idiot Republicans like Lott are good at it too, not just the Dems) from spend, spend, spending like they've always done tax cut plan or no? The plan is phased in over many, many years and I don't think it contains any provisions to stop the pork. We had deficit spending before and there's nothing to stop us from it now.

The idea that this tax cut will dramatically effect the economy in a positive way is overstated I think. The rich people who get the biggest break already spend as much as they want to. Now they'll have some more to save. If I've already got six Mercedes and Lexus I'm not likely to go buy another car just ti stimulate the economy. I'm going to save my money for when I retire or to pass it to my kiddies.

Joel Achenbach: That's right! The people who get the money, for the most part, are people who don't need ANY stimulation. They're overstimulated. You want to target the tax cut to people who will use the money to go out and buy a dang lawn mower. The working stiffs. That's why the Rough Draft proposal for a cut in the PAYROLL TAX makes much more sense, politically naive though it may be.

K St.: The "science" behind tax breaks spurring the economy, especially tax breaks for the wealthy, is much, much shaker then any CO2-global warming science. Tenuous science has never stopped any administration for doing what their buddies wanted. CO2-global warming science is well founded and warrants action because the consequences eventually will be greater than any economical repercussions. Bush just wants MTV Spring Break Beach Party-To-Go to take place on the Ellipse in 2006.

Joel Achenbach: I like the way Bush said his 1.6 trillion figure wasn't something he got by throwing darts at a dartboard -- and yet the figure never changes, from the start of the campaign through the first months of the administration, even as economic situation goes from boom to bust. Meanwhile he's a STICKLER for scientific accuracy when it comes to global warming. Which, of course, is what you just said more elegantly.

Los Angeles, Calif.: Joel,

Never heard of you before, never read your column until today. Just wanted to let you know that cows aren't just stupid slabs of beef chewing cud (and waiting to be slaughtered so you can enjoy or not enjoy your burger at McDonald's), just as I'm sure you're not just some stupid columnist writing stupid jokes.

Joel Achenbach: Oh, boy, if THAT line offended you, you should read some of the other columns. This was the nicest thing I've had to say about cows EVER.

Tenafly, N.J.: When will George II's Cabinet learn: don't open your mouth til u have cleared your statements with The Puppetmaster (Dick Cheney)? -- last week Powell got the "Cheney smack-down" on Korea, this week its Whiitman on CO2.

Also, notice how George II is only keeping those campaign promises that benefit corporations and the rich?

Joel Achenbach: Yes I'm starting to suspect that Dubya is a ... what is the word...REPUBLICAN. (this sentence cleared with Cheney.)

Joel Achenbach: gotta go, thanks for checking in! see you later...best, joel

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