Potomac Confidential
Slicing and Dicing of the Issues People Are Talking About

Marc Fisher
Post Metro Columnist
Thursday, November 3, 2005 12:00 PM

Potomac Confidential fills the midday lull with discussion by Metro columnist Marc Fisher of the latest news and a rigorous slicing and dicing of the issues that define who we are and where we live.

Fisher was online Thursday, Nov. 3, at Noon ET to discuss the Virginia elections, avian flu fears and the impending decision on ownership of the Washington Nationals..

In his weekly show, Fisher veers wildly from serious probing to silly prattle, and is open to topics local, national, personal and more.

Archives: Discussion Transcripts

A transcript follows.

____________________

Marc Fisher: Welcome aboard, folks. Only five campaigning days left in Virginia, so plenty of you want to talk politics. And how about that avian flu? We haven't seen this kind of advance panic on something that might not happen since the swine flu, and we all know how that fizzled. Are you freaked? Which unnerves you more, bird flu or terrorism? I wonder if we can make use of our duct tape stockpiles this time around.

There's actual movement on the Nationals front, as the city and Major League Baseball have resumed negotiations on a stadium lease and the city has started the 90-day clock on the property owners at the stadium site. Who will be the owner? Still hard to handicap, even though the announcement could be just days away.

On to your many good questions and comments, but first, the Yay and Nay of the Day:

Yay to U.S. Labor Department judge Stuart Levin, who yesterday reinstated Seema Bhat, the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority water quality manager who tried to blow the whistle on the District's heavily leaded water. WASA, in classic bureaucracy form, sacked Bhat for doing a great deed. Now, she's being reinstated and WASA must pay her more than $500,000. Though it's simply pathetic that that money will come from the ratepayers, WASA deserves any and all punishments that the judge can deal for this kind of evil behavior.

Nay to Maryland Democrats who had the audacity this week to condone and even support the use of racial slurs against Michael Steele, the lieutenant governor who is now the Republican candidate for the US Senate seat being given up by Paul Sarbanes. Sorry, but hurling Oreo cookies and shouting "Sambo" at someone because he's somehow not black enough for you, or dares to be a black conservative, is appalling behavior and cannot be condoned no matter how much you disagree with his positions. (We don't even know what those positions are yet!)

Your turn starts right now....

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Marc,

Russ Potts is clearly not dumb. Surely he realizes that by staying in the race there is a good chance he could end up swinging the election to the person he claims to severely dislike? How does he justify that?

Marc Fisher: Combination of reasons: Once you're in, you're in, and politicians never like to admit defeat before the bell rings. Also, it's not at all clear that Potts does hurt Kaine more than Kilgore. Potts actually believes the opposite is true, and there are those in the Kaine camp who agree. Remember, it was Kilgore who wanted to keep Potts out of the debates, not Kaine.

Oh, and I forgot to urge you to take part in today's poll, which you'll find a link to near the top of this page. Questions today on the perennial problem of what to do with all that Halloween candy, and of course the Virginia elections.

_______________________

Fairfax, Va.: Is Potts really done? Is it only a two-man race?

Marc Fisher: When you run a consistent four percent in every manner of poll, it's fair to say you are toast. Find yourself another candidate.

By the way, Rocci the Producer tells me there's a little glitch on the results page of our poll--it shouldn't prevent you from voting, and he's got the tech folks fixing the results page right now.

_______________________

Midlothian, Va.: Conditions were not right for a third party candidate in Virginia this year and Russ Potts was an imperfect messenger for the kinds of discontent that fuel a viable independent/third party candidacy. It's as if he woke up one morning and decided to run. He didn't establish himself as any kind of spokesman or leader of a "different" approach during the 2004 and 2005 General Assemblies He was essentially a "me too" on the tax increase/"investment" outcome that Tim Kaine ran on. Potts obviously more to settle his personal grudges than he was to win.

Marc Fisher: Right, and another important distinction between Potts and the third party wonders he tried to model himself after (Jesse Ventura, Lowell Weicker) is that they were household names when they started, and Potts was not. Also, Potts' rhetoric is way too inside--reminds me of Bob Dole, speaking legispeak to voters who wouldn't know a subcommittee from a amendment.

_______________________

Vienna, Va.: Great perspective with Russ Potts in your column. It's enjoyable to read an already frank candidate being, if you'll permit me the word, frank-er. And he's spot on in his assessment of needing candidates who are pro-something complex but good vs. anti-something simple but positioned as bad. As we learned with after Gilmore administration, a campaign built around "No Car Tax" will get you elected, but doesn't exactly make for sound fiscal policy. Yet how do you, Media Man, think we can elevate campaigns beyond the usual hot button topics (abortion, death penalty) that have so little to do with most of our everyday lives?

Marc Fisher: Great question. Sadly, there's not a very good track record for candidates who try to level with the people and say hey, this is what we can afford and this is what we can't. But I think there is a huge swath of the electorate that is ready and eager for candidates who take a populist approach and present themselves as left libertarians--that is, pols who are almost Perot/McCain like in their loyalty to balanced budgets and tight spending, but have a traditional American let 'em be approach to social issues and a welcoming, open attitude on tolerance questions.

_______________________

Apathetic-ville: Who cares who gets to be governor of Virginia for a few years? Whether it's Tweedledum or Tweedledee, the winner will do NOTHING to solve the real transportation, education, etc., problems.

Marc Fisher: Quite true--both Kaine and Kilgore appear determined to adopt transportation approaches that virtually guarantee that no major projects will get done. And there are those, such as the Father of the Beltway, Til Hazel, who argue that you really can't build anything big because of all the NIMBY, green and other special interests that will object til kingdom come. Hazel, as that implies, supported Russ Potts.

_______________________

Leesburg, Va.: Nice piece this morning on Russ Potts.

But it should be noted that he probably never rose above 4 percent in the polls because he didn't get adequate news coverage; he didn't get adequate news coverage because he never rose above 4 percent in the polls. A vicious cycle that only gets fixed through the infusion of MONEY.

I really want my country back.

It's not reassuring that Potts thinks that Kilgore will be the worst governor ever. I had once assigned that honor to George Allen, but then Jim Gilmore proved me wrong. If Gilmore loses the title to Kilgore then we really are a benighted province in a far too troubled land.

I keep waiting for the Progressive Revival, but the White Sox are the surer bet.

Potts should do the honorable thing and endorse Kaine.

Marc Fisher: Hey, if the Chisox could win, maybe the Progressives will return. They were very much in the mold of what I was talking about above--many contemporary conservatives would find a lot to admire in the Progressives' approach of a century ago. As the Dems search for a message, they could do a lot worse than to read up on TR.

_______________________

Rockville, Md.: Washington Post reporter David Nakamura wrote in today's edition about Ms. Bhat, the WASA employee who blew the whistle on the D.C. water-lead situation a few years back. Her vindication in court was a good story to read, but I think justice demands that her supervisor, Kofi Boateng, and his supervisor, Michael A. Marcotte, should somehow be held accountable for their illegal and demoralizing behavior. Nakamura reports that these gentlemen have since left the agency. Did they walk away scot free? If so, that sends a reprehensible message to all ethical WASA employees.

washingtonpost.com: WASA Whistle-Blower Wins Vindication, Reinstatement (Post, Nov. 3)

Marc Fisher: Good point. WASA remains in the thrall of PR as the answer to all its many ills. The slick, self-serving propaganda they churn out is really sickening when compared to the lack of action on fixing the lead problem. On my block, we were notified more than a year ago that WASA would be replacing the lead pipes "this year." Of course it never happened. But the self-congratulatory missives continue to fill the mail box.

_______________________

Today's poll: Something's wrong with today's poll. It gave me an error the first time I tried to submit and then yelled at me for submitting twice when I tried again. Meanie.

Plus, on my computer the results on the second question have variable errors.

Marc Fisher: The fix is in the mix. Or something like that. Best I can tell, it's still possible to vote, but the results aren't showing up right on the last question. It's being worked.

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: Read your Tuesday column re riding the bus and contemporary racial segregation and found it somewhat ironic that you, a white guy, seemed so much more downcast about race relations in the U.S. than Eugene Robinson, who wrote more optimistically about race relations on the same day (and, for other chatters who might not know, is black).

Any comment on that?

washingtonpost.com:

Fisher: Still Divided, With No One to Blame But Ourselves (Post, Nov. 1)

Robinson: A Chill Night Warmed by a Righteous Flame (Post, Nov. 1)

Marc Fisher: Oh, I'm really not downcast about the state of race relations at all. Gene and I just chose different pieces of the issue to focus on. I think we'd agree both that enormous progress has been made--probably more than the political conversation in the country has figured out how to talk about--but that large and frustratingly fixed inequalities remain, and we've failed to address those effectively. I look at my kids' generation and see a far greater comfort across racial lines, a fact that is changing family and community composition across the country. That bodes well for the future, but the fact also remains that a significant number of people are left out of that new comfort and ease.

_______________________

Marc Fisher: Poll update: Now I'm told the repair crew is fully engaged on the poll and needs us to stand by and wait a bit til they finish up.

_______________________

Gaithersburg, Md.: Thank you, THANK YOU for assigning your weekly "Nay" to Maryland Democrats for their lunacy and apparent intolerance. I add that I am a Democrat, and that I am ashamed of my party and my "leaders." I heard the smarmy Terry Lierman on WTOP this morning, and his excuses made me want to scream. And I called my congressman (Van Hollen) this morning to express my outrage, which only angered me more. I'm tired of excuses. How hard is it for these purported leaders to publicly distance themselves from negativity, intolerance, and yes, racism? SHAME!

Marc Fisher: This really shouldn't be a hard one, but clearly there's a divide between the white Democrats who are issuing mealy mouthed statements about how racism is bad, and the black Dems who earlier in the week said it was OK to slam Steele using racial epithets and symbols.

_______________________

Annandale, Va.: Just when I thought that the Virginia governor's race was reaching new lows, along comes the Maryland Democratic Party and its racist attacks on Michael Steele -- not to mention the fishing expedition into his credit records by the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee. Thanks my neighbors to the north for making Virginia look not so bad.

Marc Fisher: Steele was on the radio this morning characterizing the opposition research that the Dems did as identity theft since they apparently used his Social Security number to poke around into his past. Of course he's right to slam them for that sort of intrusion, but let's be real--all sides do this, and there's nothing remotely secure about Social Security numbers. I can look yours up in a matter of seconds, and so can just about anyone who has a computer and works somewhere where there are lots of databases available.

_______________________

Navy Yard, SE. D.C.: Submitting early. Why no columnists decrying the actions in the Maryland Senate campaign? Why has the Post buried coverage of the Democrats' dirty campaign practices in Steele's Maryland Senate race? Fraudulently obtaining his credit report? Using racial slurs? Then defending them? If Republicans acted this way toward a Democratic candidate the Post would have the story on the front page -- not buried in Metro.

Marc Fisher: I don't see a double standard in play--I see the Steele story getting lots of attention and plenty of talk, such as quite a few posts right here and now.

_______________________

Cube-Ville: Yay for Marc Fisher for saying on-line what the Post will not print about those who use racial slurs instead of political ideas!

Marc Fisher: Thanks, but I don't see a reticence to cover the story--I read about it right here in the ole' WashPost.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: What's the word on the street after Marion Barry pleaded guilty for not paying his taxes? It's so hypocritical for a man of the poor to be not paying his taxes that go directly to help the government provide services to the poor.

Marc Fisher: I've been saddened, if not terribly surprised, to hear some people defending Barry on this one, but overall, by far the most popular point of view is that a former mayor above all knew that he had to pay taxes and had no excuse for failing to do so. That he got off with such a light punishment is evidence only that the powerful get off easy. You know that if you or I didn't file returns year after year, we'd end up with hefty fines and a visit to the slammer. I know people who've done time for less than what Barry did.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: I was a little surprised and disappointed in Courtland Milloy's columns about Howard University. Particularly the one that seemed like an all-out attack on the student body. There are all variety of students on HU's campus -- some activist, some into studying, some who are focused on partying and some who could care less about all of the above. Milloy seemed to paint all students an inaccurately broad brush.

washingtonpost.com: Time for Some Soul-Searching At Howard U. (Post, Nov. 2)

Marc Fisher: I loved Courtland's column from yesterday--he pointed the finger right at the Howard students and their failure to engage politically. I was disappointed to hear the Howard students who came to the front of the Post building yesterday with a bullhorn say that somehow their lack of engagement was the fault of Courtland's generation. Excuse me, but we all make our own ways and our own missteps.

_______________________

Portland, Ore.: Does WP have different standards in using information peddled out by this White House in support of their spin? It was so obvious when Ms. Judith Miller of N.Y. Times was going round in cable news and in her N.Y. Times articles promoting this W.H. spin. She clearly appeared to play oneupmanship game and fell for W.H.'s tactics without even realizing she is being used. Now she missed her next Pulitzer prize and was awarded a jail term.

Marc Fisher: I don't see any difference in how reporters use information from this administration than from any other. Good reporters welcome any and all leaks and then report around them to decide what information is good and what is spin. Ideally, we then report it for what it is. Obviously, it's not always possible without benefit of hindsight to know what is well-founded and what isn't. Some reporters are better than others at conducting that filtering process. The best solution is always to lay everything out for the reader--here's what we know, here's what we've been told, here's who told it to us and why they might have done so.

_______________________

Herndon, Va.: Marc,

Do you support a federal shield law for journalists? If no, why not? Before you answer yes, please be prepared to describe how a "journalist" or the act of "journalism" will be defined in the law. Otherwise you are no better than some politicians on both sides of the divide who support lower taxes and reduced spending, but can't produce the details of their plan.

Marc Fisher: Obviously, reporters like shield laws because they give us a legal fig leaf, a way to tell sources that it's guaranteed they will be protected. But even with shield laws, we're only as good as our word. And that's as it should be. I'm perfectly fine with there not being a shield law because I don't want government playing any role in the news gathering process. Yes, our job is easier with legal protection. But in the end, the only protections that matter are the Constitution and our own honesty.

_______________________

Silver Spring, Md.: Hi Marc, what do you think will happen now that the faculty senate is so ticked off with AU's Board of Trustees?

Marc Fisher: Sadly, those on the American University board who would have seen the wisdom of listening to the faculty, staff, students and parents are gone. They resigned in protest over the craven decisions to award President Ladner buckets of free money for his misdeeds. I wouldn't expect this board to do anything but pretend to listen to the protests and then go about their merry way of rewarding wrongdoing.

_______________________

Marc Fisher: This just in: The poll is now working. But the bad news is that the earlier results were wiped clean, so please do vote again--and soon! This has been another edition of Technology on the March. Thank you.

_______________________

Ward 4, Washington, D.C.: When the lead in the water testing was done, the levels in my house were well over 300. We were among the highest in the city.

Yet I have not been able to find out anything at all about when the pipes in our street might be replaced. Nor have they been back to run any tests lately, so I have no idea what our current levels are.

I'm very frustrated. Do you have any idea who I should be talking to about this?

Marc Fisher: I'm in that same boat. I can only advise making noise--especially to the feds (the EPA) and the D.C. Council. WASA seems to respond only to its overseers.

_______________________

Columbia, Md.: Re: Nationals new owners. Everyone is trying to make Jeff Simulyan into the bad guy, and I agree his credentials seem less than sterling. I'd much prefer local ownership. However, isn't Fred Malek the person who compiled lists of Jews in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (or some such agency) for Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal? If so, his credentials are less than pristine as well.

Marc Fisher: Absolutely right. Malek is the guy who put together the list of Jews when Nixon ordered up such a document because of his suspicion that Jews were cooking the labor stats against his policies in the Bureau of Labor Statistics. I would imagine that this does not sit well with Commissioner Selig. Perhaps in part to ameliorate the impact of his history, Malek invited Jeffrey Zients, a highly respected D.C. entrepreneur and financier who is Jewish, to be his partner in the ownership group, and Zients argues strongly that Malek has never shown the slightest sign of anti-Semitism. But certainly this is an issue for the commissioner and some of the owners.

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: So is there a flu vaccine shortage or not? I read today's Post article about all the vaccine clinic cancellations (including the one we were supposed to have at work) and limits to those in high-risk groups.

But then there are claims that there will be plenty of vaccine. Why isn't it here already?

Marc Fisher: There does seem to be a shortage in spots, but there are also reports of places that have a surplus. Our story indicates that the distribution of vaccine has been a problem, but that plenty of vaccine is in the pipeline, so the overall picture is ok.

_______________________

Bird Flu: Marc, I'm checking in from Europe, where all the major TV channels run the same three or four stories every day (and you thought our TV news was bad). Anyway, for the last few days, they've been reporting on the bird flu as if we've all been infected and are about to drop dead. CNN here -- even more unbearable than in the U.S. -- is even planning a special on bird flu that is being hyped with all the portents of doom you can imagine.

I don't know how much more I can take, either here or in the U.S.

Marc Fisher: Buried in so many of those stories is the throwaway line that um, no, this strain of flu has not yet jumped to humans and no, there's no guarantee that it will, and yes, we've had such scares before that have resulted in nothing. The defense of the hysteriamongers is that a pandemic of some sort is inevitable sometime. Yep, but it's also true that our sun will go dead someday. It's all a question of when. We will get a pandemic, probably in the next few decades if history is any guide, but this year, this month? Nobody can say that.

_______________________

University Park, Md.: Metro Misbehavior: Here's a new one (at least for me). On Tuesday afternoon, three middle-school-aged girls on my train were flinging tubular latex objects at one another. Yup, those. I told them they were behaving disgracefully and they said they would pick them up (!). Then I went to another car and called the driver.

Probably the worst thing was that no one else on the car seemed to turn a hair, and certainly not to scold these girls. What next?

Marc Fisher: At least they weren't, um, pre-owned, as the used car industry likes to put it.

And you now have proof that the sex ed propaganda is working and the girls are equipped.

_______________________

Crofton, Md.: If MLB does not pick an owner for the Nationals by its November owners meeting, something tells me they won't pick an owner until next year. Are they waiting for D.C. to break ground on a stadium? What's the hold-up?

Marc Fisher: The lack of a signed lease and the success of the White Sox have been the main holdups in recent weeks. Now that the Series is over, Jerry Reinsdorf, the White Sox owner and MLB's point man on talks with the District, is engaged and my sense is that things will move quickly in the next few weeks. I'd bet on an owner by Thanksgiving, and that's the first time you've heard me say anything remotely that optimistic on that subject.

_______________________

South Riding, Va.: How can I find out where Chris Craddock received all of those speeding tickets? I want to see if any of them were issued in my neighborhood.

Also, I wish there was a political do not call registry. I am getting eight calls a night! I hate to sound like such a crank -- both my husband and I have degrees in political science and even we are sick of hearing from the various parties.

Marc Fisher: For some reason, it's those pre-recorded political phone messages that get to me. I am considering invoking a hard and fast rule that I will not vote for any candidate whose voice befouls my answering machine. (I tend to be very rigid about enforcing these arbitrary rules. For example, I immediately put down any book I am reading as soon as I come across any untranslated French.)

_______________________

Usually in McLean, on business in Atlanta: Nay of the Day down here:

Today is Nov 3.

The street lights down here are already bedecked in giant fake holly wreaths.

The local eateries are playing Christmas Muzak.

Other than doing one's best Edvard Munch, what's a person to do?

Marc Fisher: That's a great challenge--anybody have any good strategies for dealing with premature holiday affliction? Jump ahead to the next holiday, maybe? Ask retail clerks for Valentine's Day items?

_______________________

Media Bias . . . Again: How often do you bang your head on the wall in response to questions from readers about why something that they read about in the paper or heard on TV or radio isn't being covered in the media?

Marc Fisher: Thank you.

I do try to respond to such people by getting them to think about exactly how they happen to know about the story that The Media Will Not Report. If you get such folks to trace back their knowledge, 99 times out of 100, you can lead them right back to--horrors--the MSM.

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: As someone who has voted for 14 years in three different states, the choices in the Virginia governor's race are the worst I've ever seen. Jefferson must be turning over in his grave.

That said, I'm going to end up voting for Jerry Kilgore and the sole reason is the way Tim Kaine will stake out a moral position (opposition to the death penalty) then quickly abandon it to appeal to voters.

I can't even articulate why, but something about that is very discomforting to me, and I usually vote Democratic.

Marc Fisher: I understand your discomfort. It's hard to square Kaine's obviously honest and heartfelt religious and philosophical objections to death penalty and abortion with his stated position that he will nonetheless enforce the law on those issues. I don't think for a moment that he's lying--I'm sure he will go ahead and fry bad guys. But I can't get past the idea that if you deeply believe something, you have an obligation as a public official to argue for and sell your perspective, even as you of course enforce the law.

_______________________

Marc Fisher: The poll is working beautifully now, so here's your last chance to vote before I opine on the results....

_______________________

Silver Spring, Md.: Montgomery College of Takoma Park/Silver Spring seems to have taken over the historic Giant Bakery on Georgia Ave near the district line! What can be done to stop such rampant over-development? I miss the smell of bread as I drive by. Would you be willing to join the Preservation Society, your name may lend weight to the cause Comrade Marc.

Valamir Ho Il-Mao

Marc Fisher: I've somehow missed this development, but I'll drive by and have a look. If you know more, shoot me an email. Thanks.

_______________________

Alexandria, Va.: Saw your wine-tasting piece in yesterday's paper. Did you ever think, when you were a baby journalist, that your job would turn out to be so much fun?

washingtonpost.com: Wine Tasting

Marc Fisher: Thanks for noticing. This is one of Food Editor Judy Havemann's new initiatives and it's a dandy. If you haven't been reading them, once a month a Post writer invites in a bunch of regular folks who, like us, enjoy wine but know little about it, and we join with wine critic Ben Giliberti in a tasting. It was great fun--Ronnie Mervis showed up with some spectacularly lovely ladies, as you might expect a premier diamond merchant to behave. He's funny and wise, and the other guests were terrific too. Check out the writing from Blake Robison, director of the Round House Theater--great stuff.

_______________________

Untranslated French?: Gosh, doesn't having such rigid rules cut down on your joie de vivre? Why don't you adopt a more laissez-faire attitude?

Marc Fisher: You're OUTTA HERE!

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: Marc,

Can you tell us some of the comments Gene made yesterday on his internal posting about the Post?

Marc Fisher: Tattle on Weingarten? Why, I'd never!

It was hilarious, smart, all the things you'd expect it to be. He passed along a bunch of your criticisms, as he'd promised, and some of them were really on point. And he noted the results of his poll, which showed what too many people in the newspaper industry fail to think about in this very troubled time: That the readers we have tend to really like and depend on what we produce, even if they have some good and specific gripes. The change in technology and reading habits has some implications for how we report the news, but not nearly as many as we might think.

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: Regarding Marion Barry, I fear he's just preparing for another run for mayor. What scares me more is that he would win.

Marc Fisher: Clam yourselves, or, as we say in proper English, calm yourselves. (No spell check in ChatLand.) Barry is, sadly, a man in decline. His health is poor, his ambition and energy nowhere near what it was. He didn't even make it to the last council vote on the baseball stadium. He's not running for anything else. And don't tell anyone, but he wouldn't win, either. This city has changed--and its voting population has changed even more than the overall population.

_______________________

Goodbye Charles and Camilla: Marc, how long do you think it will take to disinfect D.C. after they are gone?

Marc Fisher: Depends on how many British hacks stay behind so they can spend some time sneering at us and enjoying the ridiculously low prices.

_______________________

Del Ray, Va.: Please, please, please make it stop! If I hear one more vile attack ad in the Virginia governor's race I'm going to throw up. I have decided to vote against Kilgore. Even if the other guy has horns and a tail, he couldn't be worse.

Marc Fisher: The poll data in the WashPost survey from last week make a good case that the death penalty ads backfired on Kilgore. You'll notice that you're not seeing them on TV anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if there was one last negative shot from the Kilgore side today or tomorrow, but I bet we don't see the relatives of the killed again.

_______________________

Ward 4, Washington, D.C.: Metro brats -- I've seen these brats on both the rail and the bus. My major experience with them is on the H buses from Tenley to CUA, but they're all around.

I'm scared of these kids. They are loud and abusive, and do not hesitate to call me "White bitch" and threaten to either "cut you up," or "rape you," if I say anything at all. I have yet to figure out if the drivers are also scared of them, or if they agree with them.

I wish I could think of a good way to cope with them.

Marc Fisher: It's a real issue and politicians and Metro are too quick to cast aspersions on those who complain about it. Take race out of the complaint and what you have is kids who are misbehaving in an unsupervised public setting. It's not up to bus drivers to police the behavior of kids, so it falls to the adults riding the bus, yet many of us are fearful of confronting any bunch of teenagers who are acting in a threatening manner. But my experience is that kids will indeed back down if they are told off. That said, you have to use your street smarts to gauge whether the kids are just being boisterous or genuinely want to get into a battle.

_______________________

French: I've never taken a French class in my life and I must have spent 2 hours using an on-line translation to get thru a book, perhaps by Tracy Chavlier?, a few years ago. Very frustrating that the author assumes the reader will know another language.

Marc Fisher: You'll notice that hardly any authors ever even consider littering their text with untranslated Swedish, or Chinese, or Greek. Just French. They are lording their superiority over you the reader, and the only just and right thing to do is to give their book a big old heave.

_______________________

Re: Malek: Malek doesn't deserve the team because or in spite of his past national service. (whether you agree that what Malek did was morally reprehensible or not, he was serving the president, and that should count for something)

Rather, he deserves the team because of the work and money that Washington baseball put into convincing MLB that D.C. works as a baseball town. We would have NO TEAM without Malek.

Marc Fisher: I've met with Malek and heard his story and he has clearly devoted many years to trying to live down that episode. And I believe him when he says he has no ill will toward Jews. But his act was not the act of an immature aide, as he portrays it. He was more than 30 years old and he should have known better. I do not consider him proper material to own a baseball franchise, but I do agree that he has done excellent work in helping Washington to land the franchise and that he has put together a superb group of partners who would likely be excellent owners.

_______________________

George Mason U: Thanks for the wine reviews, but for us students what do you suggest in the under $10 range?

Marc Fisher: Think South African, Spanish and, thanks to the guy at Rodman's who pointed me in this direction recently, Argentinean wines.

_______________________

Malek and Nixon: Now, why should that matter? Didn't stop MLB from selling the Yankees to Steinbrenner ... nor did they make him (permanently) divest ownership. And this is A CONVICTED FELON for Nixon money-laundering!

Marc Fisher: Two wrongs....

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Re: Feelings and the Law: I will vote for Kaine. I do believe one can have personal feelings in one direction and govern in another. I don't believe it's pandering to get votes. One can not believe in abortion, but the ability to have one is the law. If he can enforce that law, he can enforce the death penalty. Kennedy faced the same dilemma, being the first Catholic president. And that is what is behind all these Supreme Court nominees who are in a very similar situation. It is the history of this country to separate personal beliefs from governing. Jefferson was a devout believer in freedom, when all the while, he owned human beings.

Marc Fisher: That's an excellent argument, and I buy it with one exception: Yes, it's totally fine to believe one thing and yet do your duty and enforce a law you disagree with. But in the case of the death penalty, and probably abortion too, these are matters of ethics and principle, and we elect officials because we buy into their approach and their principles, and therefore it's fair to expect them to stand up for their beliefs. So if Kaine were saying hey, I will enforce Virginia law but I will also work to persuade voters and legislators why my beliefs are right, then I'd be absolutely fine with him. But he doesn't say that--he just says he will suppress his own principles, and that I don't buy.

_______________________

Olney, Md.: Hey, maybe Judge Palumbo can be the next president of AU ... he has that self-importance and egotism that seems to be required for the job.

But seriously, Marc, nothing to say on the school bus riot? Where's your "boys (who assault police officers, each other, and female classmates) will be boys" platitudes? Sounds like they got off lightly, and the parents need to stop fuming at the police and focus that indignation on their children and their behavior.

Marc Fisher: Exactly right--sounds like that behavior was beyond the pale. You'll find me supporting kids in creative pranks, but when it comes to downright dangerous behavior that has no creative purpose, I get a whole lot more hardline.

_______________________

Alexandria, Va.: Marc, Jerry Kilgore's radio ads speak of "extra state dollars" which he plans to spend on road building without raising taxes. Where can I get some of those "extra" dollars? My house needs a new roof.

Marc Fisher: Kilgore's keeping it all in the big old barn on the family farm you see in his TV ads. Go on down to SW Virginia and grab yourself a wheelbarrow full.

_______________________

Fairfax, Va.: Russ Potts thought he could ride quirky ad guru Tom D'Amore's Jesse Ventura playbook to "steal" 34 percent of the vote. When D'Amore's pot-banging ads flopped, Potts was sunk. It's really that simple.

Marc Fisher: Yes, but most people never even got to see those silly pot-banging ads. Potts never had the bucks to get them out there.

_______________________

Untranslated D.C.: GOOD LORD!I have read many books by Marquez and Cormac McCarthy with expansive passages of untranslated Spanish. I would be loathe to have tossed those books for their apparent belief that I speak another language. Is this hatred just directed at the ever-smarmy French? I could honestly understand that.

Marc Fisher: I've read and enjoyed many great Latin American writers--in translation. If I had the skills to read them in the original, I'd do that. Translators should translate; it's a great and underappreciated art. Leaving phrases in the original is merely a way to thumb your nose at the reader.

_______________________

Kaine:: I sent the original post and you articulated it about Kaine better than I could.

I'd vote for him if he would lead on the issues he feels morally strong about, not just say that he's against cap punishment, will enforce the law, and now let's talk about something else.

I don't respect that.

Marc Fisher: Thanks--but the tough question then is Do you then vote for the guy because you agree with him otherwise, or do you vote for his opponent as a punishment, or do you sit it out? I find myself running into that quandary in many elections.

_______________________

Marc Fisher: That has to kick things in the head for today.

The Poll:

You're liking Kaine over Kilgore by two to one--you're not reflecting the statewide vote, I can promise you that. I'm still thinking Kilgore wins by a few points, but the various polls showing Kaine ahead are wearing away at my confidence on that prediction.

And you love Mark Warner. I thought throwing in some enticing non-politicians might lure you away from your favorite orange-haired pol, but you're sticking with the one who brought you. Warner '08?

And I'm pleased to report that you're with me on relatively quick confiscation of Halloween goodies. The kids will be weeping come Tuesday, but I'll be contributing to the subversion of hundreds of diets at the office. So it's a win-win.

And on that note, I'm outta here. Please join me on Election Night for a special evening-long edition of this here chat and swap shop. We'll have results, analysis, Q&A and all sorts of fun blather. Please tune in.

_______________________

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.