Jimmy B And Me

Ah, the joys of the one and a half day business trips. The rushing around, sitting in airports, and...political celebrity sightings! In past trips, I have exchanged menancing looks with Bob Dole on the U.S. Airways Shuttle up to NYC, blown off friendly overtures from Oliver North and jostled for space in the Dulles Airport moving lounge from Terminal C with Ari Fleischer. That's just on my travels. My non-travel interactions with politicians are another story. For example, at a campaign stop at my college during the 1992 primaries, I told Jerry Brown to his face that he'd lose because he refused to shake my hand (he muttered some nonsense about being late to a speech).

Yesterday, I rode on a flight to Houston (on my way to Austin) with James Baker, III, former Tresury Secretary, Secretary of State, and Shrub's tough in the 2000 election aftermath. I glared at him, but he proved impervious to my glaring. In fact, he smiled, or perhaps grinned, an inordinate amount. A creepily inordinate amount. And, he was taller than I thought he might be.