TigerHawk

TigerHawk (ti*ger*hawk): n. 1. The title of this blog and the nom de plume of its founding blogger; 2. A deep bow to the Princeton Tigers and the Iowa Hawkeyes; 3. The nickname for Iowa's Hawkeye logo. Posts include thoughts of the day on international affairs, politics, things that strike us as hilarious and personal observations. The opinions we express are our own, and not those of each other, our employers, our relatives, our dead ancestors, or unrelated people of similar ethnicity.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Notes from Washington: at the National Press Club

By TigerHawk at 9/27/2006 06:06:00 AM

I am on the 6 a.m. Accela out of Union Station on my way to New York. Since that required getting up at 4:50, and since I was out talking about politics and corruption at the United Nations until after midnight, I have to husband my energy against the demands of the day. Don't expect too many deep thoughts today.

As previously reported, I spent yesterday evening at the Pajamas Media event at the National Press Club and was delighted to have done so. Around the formal event there was a lot of time to chat with people whose work I very much admire and -- surprisingly for me -- people who said very nice things about some of the work we have done here. When you blog anonymously you don't get out much. Anyway, I had very nice conversations with Paul Mirengoff (to whom I am particularly indebted, Power Line having been a big supporter of this blog from the first year), Roger L. Simon (ditto), Claudia Rosett (whose deconstruction of the UN/Ba'athist "oil-for-food" scandal is Pulitzer caliber work, at least according to me), Austin Bay (a bundle of energy and enthusiasm with whom I've had an extended conversation over several Pajamas Media events) and Michael Barone, who needs no introduction. Talking to Barone, whose command of the history, trends and statistics of American politics has no peer, is like -- if I may butcher a metaphor -- drinking from a very congenial firehose. He asked me where I was from. Me: "Princeton." Barone: "72% for Kerry in 2004." Me: "I'm surprised it was that low, since at least 72% of the cars in Princeton still have 'Kerry' bumper stickers on them."

Glenn Reynolds, moderator of the panel discussion, graciously mentioned this post in his introductory remarks. He has been a huge supporter of this blog for almost two years, for which I am very thankful.

I finally met Fausta Wertz, who has a son the same age as my own and lives less than a mile away. For some reason -- my poor scheduling habits, no doubt -- we have never met. She is delightful and I was very happy to have had dinner with her. I also had a nice conversation with "Baron Bodissey," half of The Gates of Vienna.

Last but not least, I had a nice long conversation with Pamela of Atlas Shrugs, who already has posted a bunch of pictures, including a couple of me (if I don't lose some freakin' weight soon, people are going to start calling me "TigerChins"). She was very complimentary and gracious, although I think she deplores my moderation and turned violent when I leaked my guarded view that among Democrats, Hillary would be tougher on the jihadis than any of the other likely nominees.

I had briefer encounters with countless others, and I'm sorry if in the hurly-burly I've given any of them short shrift. Whether I remember our talk the morning after or not, I consider myself greatly enriched by the time that I spent with them.