This is the start of something new

And so begins a grand experiment, conceived on a walk through some of Washington's trendiest neighborhoods and sealed over a meal at DC's best sushi bar.

Having already let one blog out to pasture (and let's face it Elaine, the dust is stacking up on yours too), can the two of us motivate each other through a communally-shared, District-centric conversation masquerading as a webpage? And will it be interesting?

I guess we'll find out. At the very least...it's a capital idea.

Powell punted

You and I became friends about the time Colin Powell became my hero (if I have the dates when you were breaking Gilman boys' hearts right). I'd just read his boring-but-uplifting autobiography, heard him speak through Lancers, and was generally convinced that Colin was the future for America as well as for comedians with routines on the intestinal tract. Think a prehistoric Obama, just 8 years ago.

Well, relationships change; as ours moves digital, Colin has slipped from my personal pedestal. Count Post columnist Richard Cohen among the disenfranchised; according to him, Powell blew it. He blew it because he disagreed with the Bushies--after the revelation that Jumbo Slice is bad for you, the second worst kept secret in DC--but went along anyway. And if Powell wanted to make a difference, Cohen argues, he could've taken a bold stance, he could've quit out of protest. But he didn't. Instead, he resigned this week from an administration that just received a four-year affirmation on their foreign policy policies. It sucks to read such a sharp critique of someone so likeable, but I don't think Cohen makes any wrong points here.


1,000 calories? Who knew?

But put yourself in Powell's shoes. Go ahead...you there?...ok.

You're a career soldier--you follow orders; you're in a system built on self-reinforcing rhetoric, oblivious to outside criticism. But you're already on the inside; you nominally have the President's ear. Maybe you change the system from within. Maybe your voice counts more as Secretary of State, rather than as a disatisfied political casualty.

Not to mention the professional risk a resignation would be. For a man whose doctrine relies on overwhelming force and maintaining a clear exit strategy...you'd be in the murky waters of going outside the politically acceptable.

Ok--enough of that.

I don't want to be a Powell apologist. I think his star has significantly dimmed...there's no talk of him as a presidential candidate these days. And having not resigned, perhaps he missed his chance to make a mark on history, to go beyond the merely genial to transcendantly charismatic. But I always find it interesting to see when chapters in lives open and close...and unlike in a book, Powell can't go back and experience being Secretary of State all over again. He made his choices--what does his future now hold?

But you know what? Not everyone in DC lives and dies by the political agenda...so I'll give you something else to mull over.

Time to prove my cultural literacy

At the very least, the past four years of Colin Powell's life will make for an interesting tell-all, one day--a book worth buying early. Some would say don't even bother with Tom Wolfe's latest: I am Charlotte Simmons. It's receiving the worst reviews of any of his work--the main complaint seems to be that an out-of-touch Wolfe has gotten college life all wrong. Black pant-wearing squadrons of sorority girls dragging themselves out night-after-night to hook up. Athletes walking like gods among geeks who should care less. Studying in secrecy to avoid the social stigma. Exaggerated, absolutely. But based on truth--that even at the country's finest colleges, you find America's best students trying their hardest not to be. I'm speaking from experience. Those black pants got tight after a while.

But I bet you have a different perspective...

She fills out the uniform


Perfectly acceptable locker-room behavior!

And what's up with the fuss over the Monday Night Football lead-in? I've caught the Desperate Housewives product placement several times on Sportscenter, etc. and it was nothing beer commercials haven't done and little different than the camera lingering on the cheerleaders. Some coaches are calling it a disgrace, others racially insensitive. Did I miss something? When did the NFL get so prudish? In some respects, I agree that at 8 p.m. on network television, things should be a bit toned-down...but why pick a football game to draw the line? Is this part of the wave of moralism sweeping the country?

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Ok, one posting, three disparate topics.

You're on the clock, E.