Spells Of Acute Loneliness Are An Essential

Every White House Has Had Its Intellectuals, But Very Few Presidents Have Been Intellectuals Themselves - Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Woodrow Wilson, The List More Or Less Stops There.

Because Washington State Now Votes By Mail, Elections Here Tend To Play Out, At An Agonizingly Slow Speed, Over Many Days And, Sometimes, Weeks.

'rage' Is The Word That Most Often Attaches Itself To The Tea Party Movement, And It's True That, From The Outside Looking In, Their Public Demonstrations Appear To Be More Enraged Than Any Political Events In America Since The Race Riots And Anti-war Protests Of The 1960s.

By The End Of The 1980s, Seattle Had Taken On The Dangerous Lustre Of A Promised City. The Rumour Had Gone Out That If You Had Failed In Detroit You Might Yet Succeed In Seattle - And That If You'd Succeeded In Seoul, You Could Succeed Even Better In Seattle... Seattle Was The Coming Place. So I Joined The Line Of Hopefuls.

Seattle Is Not An Overly Friendly City. It Is A Civil City, But Not Altogether Friendly. People From Outside Mistake The Civility For Friendliness. Seattle Is Full Of People Who Have Their Own Lives To Live. They Won't Waste Their Time Being Friendly. But They Are Civil.