Author: Vic Socotra

Look Away

Bobby Fischer at the End It is barely above freezing, but the wet white sludge lingers on the parking lot at Big Pink, and the moisture makes the chill penetrate that much more effectively. I was researching the primary race in South Carolina based on the latest polls to see how John McCain was doing, […]

We Get Letters

Dear Vic, My candidate recently won a major primary election and I am considering relocating to Washington to assume a major Cabinet level position in his-or-her’s prospective Administration. I have heard that you are the go-to guy for information on the Arlington area, and you live right near Carl Rove and other national figures who […]

Clipboards

The heebie-jeebies are abroad in the land. I hear it everywhere, and not just places like Michigan. The Hill is sputtering about jump starts to the economy, tax refunds that sound absurd, like a couple hundred bucks in the form of a rebate for the average working stiff is going to make any difference. I […]

Dinosaurs

It is cold again, and all’s right with the world. The January thaw has drifted away and chill radiates from the glass and penetrates all the way to my desk, precisely halfway across the room. I could either turn up the heat, or don additional clothing. I choose to do neither, since the goose-bumps on […]

The Man Without a Country

There is so much going on that it is understandable some things are slipping off the table. The last really qualified candidate left the presidential race and no one has noticed. A man without a country died, and no one cared. I am not talking about Kurt Vonnegut, since he left last year. But one […]

Cold Day in Hell

It snowed in Baghdad, lacy flakes that came down white and turned almost immediately into gray puddles. The residents were stunned with the wonder of the heavens, since the white ephemeral lace fell on Sunni and Shia and Coaltion troops and contractors alike. You could have knocked me over with a feather, since I always […]

Slime

The dirty tricks are only just starting. Now that Bill is out of the race, at least he won’t have to deal with them. That is the reason that one of our greatest Americans, Colin Powell, will have nothing to do with electoral politics. I had hoped to put the whole sordid mess out of […]

Dirty Tricks

I found myself misting up this morning when I heard the news that my man Bill Richardson is dropping out of the race for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency. I was emotional, not so much for Bill, though I know he is disappointed, nor for the American People, though I care for them deeply […]

Campaigning

I would tell you about the Iranians who were in the building, messing with the cable communications, since I find it interesting to deal with refugees, but I don’t have time. The man I talked to was a Bahai, and the Mullahs had driven him out, fearing for his life. He was matter of fact […]

Doughboys

I will not be querulous. I will not start off this year by railing at the broadcasters, or the greedy NCAA Division I schools, or any of the other collective idiots that have so perverted our notion of normal life that the biggest football game of the year is played on a school-night. I grimly […]