Tilting at Windmills

...I'm indebted to Donald Graham, the publisher of The Washington Post, one of the few journalists to actually have had experience as a cop, for reminding me in a recent article he wrote: "Amazingly, the department still has a promotion system in which effectiveness at a patrolman's job has nothing to do with promotion...

...Why...

...The figure for the German children was 258...

...Because 1990 is the centennial of Eisenhower's birth, there are sure to be some new books—one already scheduled for publication in October is a biography by Stephen Ambrose—and probably scores of articles about Ike's life and his years in the White House...

...Why not expand that lesson and require that new Post reporters be hired at least partly on the basis of having real experience in government and the other areas they cover...

...My favorite of the noncommittal buzzwords has always been "appropriate," which is also, by the way, enormously popular among bureaucrats, many of whom manage to include it in every paragraph they write...

...It either frightens away potential opponents or discourages their potential supporters...

...Who makes sergeant is based partly on an exam and partly on a brief interview with two police officials and a citizen, who are supposed to be unacquainted with the officer they're interviewing...

...In other words, the answer to the question on the cover of our April issue, "Will the Department of Energy Stop Nuking America...

...It describes legal writing as "bleak and turgid" with "long sentences, awkward syntax, and overweening commitment to noncommittal buzzwords...

...He would instantly recognize padding in the military budget because he had been, if not an actual padder himself, a friend and confidante who would hear over lunch or dinner in the officers' mess exactly how the figures were inflated...

...This is my month to be traumatized by headlines...

...Rather than drive himself to his Santa Clara home on weekends, Democratic Assemblyman John Vasconcellos has a sergeant drive him in his convertible so he can rest or read...

...She has him picked up from his Sacramento high school as often as two or three times a week...

...Instead of spending your days chasing ambulances, ask your editor to give you six weeks to find out why the ambulance service doesn't work...

...But even those who profess to be unworried about reunification may find cause for concern in research recently reported in The New York Times...

...Having outlined a problem, they boldly recommend that an "appropriate" response be made...

...If you have wondered what the legislative officials called sergeants-at-arms actually do, be grateful to Teresa Simons of UPI, who reports that those of the California Assembly have "driven legislators or their children to ballgames, movies, and rock concerts...

...Why, you may wonder, would a congressman think it politically wise to brag that he has the most money...

...Charles Peters...

...Sen...

...The Department of Energy is saying it will take 10 years for it to decide whether the United States can agree to new restrictions on nuclear testing...

...Those who put their faith in the experts should ponder this tale: The day before the Kentucky Derby, USA Today published a list of the horses selected to win by 23 of the leading racing writers of America...

...It's the Syrians...

...The Danish children committed 20 aggressive acts, such as throwing rocks, against other children...

...Assemblyman Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), who works out daily at the Capital Athletic Club four blocks from the Capitol, is almost always driven there...

...Another sergeant follows in a second car to take the first driver back...

...We can be grateful there are still men of principle among US...

...I am proud of the fact that this magazine was the first to candidly cover the culture of the legal profession...

...But the current champion at skewering the bar has to be David Margolick of The New York Times...

...This includes neoconservative columnists, who are trying to think of something else to write about besides The Red Menace, and the entire defense establishment, including the famous Beltway Bandits of the consulting industry...

...Assemblyman Elihu M. Harris (D-Oakland) once sent a sergeant to his home to turn off a CrockPot and put it in the refrigerator...

...Reporting done in this kind of depth will enrich your intellectual capital in a way that daily journalism never will...

...Commander Scott Lustig, its weapons and combat systems officer, the two men who were most obviously culpable in the trigger-happy shooting down of that Iranian airliner in the Persian Gulf in which 290 lives were lost...

...Think a little while about what that actually means and you'll see why the word is so beloved throughout the bureaucracy and the legal profession...

...Here is an especially illuminating quote that Professor Lerman was able to elicit from one of the lawyers: "The worst clients from the point of view of the lawyer are the ex-partners who know damn well that lawyers do want to run up the meter...

...One of the problems with police departments is that promotion often has little to do with previous performance...

...As Scott Shuger mentions in his article "How to Cut the Bureaucracy in Half," starting on p. 38, such awards are a telltale sign of an organization that's confused about what it's supposed to be doing...

...An example of the kind of things he digs up is a recent article by Lisa Lerman in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review that tells how lawyers, when promised anonymity, will reveal that billpadding, expertise-puffing, posterior-covering, and lying to clients are all common in the practice of law in modern America...

...It can be argued that we should not reward the Iranians for releasing hostages...

...Seek assignments that permit you to investigate subjects thoroughly...

...The reason such a rule is needed is suggested by the disclosure that in the most recent academic term, five of the 13 members of the Oklahoma basketball team had D averages or worse and that nearly half of the football lettermen had below C averages...

...Now, don't you have the tiniest suspicion that the governors' own tourism also had something to do with those trips...

...S peaking of experience, my guess is that this will be the year in which the nation as a whole becomes aware of its value in still another job, the presidency...

...Danish and Italian adults committed no acts of aggression, not even spanking, against their children...

...As one who prays daily that some wise statesman may yet throw a monkey wrench into the machinery of German reunification, I am obviously not coolly rational about the prospects for a Fourth Reich...

...They have carried out legislators' household garbage, moved furniture into lawmakers' homes, picked up prescriptions, fetched a forgotten umbrella or coat, and even purchased underwear...

...Back to journalists and life experience again...

...Italian children, 48...

...Don't waste your time on small charities, however worthy, since, as the author notes, "positions with large, well-known institutions often require no more work than small, unknown ones...

...The regents of Oklahoma's higher education system are proposing that students must have a C average to participate in sports...

...The fruit of this frantic brainstorming at one agency was evident in a headline that appeared in the April 30 Washington Times: CIA Task Force To Monitor Business Activities Abroad...

...Apparently the United States Navy does...

...Experiences at the top, such as George Bush had in the NixonFord-Reagan years, are useful, but there are things a subordinate knows that the bosses will never understand unless they have been one...

...That's right, the Syrians...

...What's the threat they would guard against...

...What especially delights me about articles such as this and the one I cited earlier from the Harvard Law Review, is that they show how the students who edit the law journals are waking up to the truth about the profession they plan to enter...

...Toby Moffett that points with pride to an article in a Meriden, Connecticut Record Journal headlined, "Moffett Leads in 5th District Fund Raising...

...GM should be putting every penny it has to spare into the development of products that are good enough to clobber the competition from abroad...

...You realize how much we need Eisenhower now when we read news stories such as this by Richard Scarborough of The Washington Times: "The Navy is moving full speed with plans to maintain its 14 aircraft carriers...

...Robbins once asked that his cat be brought to the Capitol, sergeants said, but that request was refused...

...S till another am-I-losing-mymindor-has-the-world-gone-crazy headline, this time from The Washington Post: DOE Says Decade Is Needed To Weigh More A-Test Curbs Yes, you got it right...

...One is take a leave of absence to work in government...

...Make your inquiry sufficiently thorough so that, instead of ending up with "he said"-"she said" quotes from the experts, you'll know and be able to tell your readers which of the experts is right...

...If you are a reporter who didn't spend a couple of years in the bureaucracy before joining your paper, don't despair...

...There are still two things you can do...

...As part of their efforts to increase exports, encourage foreign investment, and promote tourism," reads a recent press release from the National Governors' Association, "last year governors from 41 states and territories made 82 trips to 35 countries...

...It compared the playground behavior of Danish, Italian, and German children, and the adults who were watching over them...

...Donald Graham must know that because of his experience, he understands a lot about police work that his reporters don't...

...And, of course, the intelligence agencies...

...I'm confident that one conclusion of these new appraisals will be that Eisenhower was without rival among his fellow presidents in his ability to oversee the Pentagon...

...Another that I found hard to believe was: GM Seeks Sharp Increase In Top Executive's Pensions Of course, the top levels of the auto industry are already disgracefully overpaid...

...Only one of the experts, David Austin of the Baltimore Sun, picked the winner...

...I have in my hands a press release from the office of Rep...

...But does anyone think we should slap them in the face...

...He once was driven to a restaurant a block from the Capitol...

...By "too late" I refer to the time that will soon come in their professional lives when they begin to justify the tax-deductibility of a "Midyear Legal Seminar" held in Monte Carlo, which is exactly what the members of the Virginia Bar Association are doing this year...

...A glimpse into the true nature of the legal profession's altruism is provided by the managing partner of a prominent firm in a new book published by the American Bar Association called Managing Partners 101: A Primer on Firm Leadership: "As leader of a board or organization, you have the opportunity to strut your stuff, showing clients, potential clients, and community leaders what you can do...

...I hope that, except for the handful who truly love the law and have the ability and honor to serve its finest traditions, they decide to get out now, before it's too late...

...And I applaud Steven Brill, who, by launching The American Lawyer, made such coverage the subject of an entire magazine and inspired a raft of similar publications, some of them quite good...

...Assemblywoman Sunny Mojonnier (R-Encinitas) once asked a sergeant to take a blanket and snacks to her teenage son in Nevada City...

...Vice Admiral Richard Dunleavy, assistant chief of naval operations, recently told a Senate Armed Forces subcommittee: "Right now I'd be more worried about going against the Syrians than the Soviets...

...S peaking of lawyers, the current issue of the Harvard Law Review deserves high praise for running Kenneth Lasson's attack on law review articles, "Scholarship Amok: Excesses in the Pursuit of Truth and Tenure...

...is no, at least not until the year 2000...

...I have found that nothing has meant more to me as a journalist covering government than my experience in the federal bureaucracy and before that as a state legislator, lawyer, and soldier...

...I decided to clip the predictions and review them after the race...

...This reminds me of another important point...

...Alan Robbins (DTarzana) has had cat food delivered to his home and office...

...Knowing what it's really like on the inside gives one a sense of where the bodies are buried and what are the right questions to ask...

...On the same day Robert Polhill was released, this headline appeared in The Washington Post: 2 Vincennes Officers Get Medals The Navy, the accompanying story explained, was awarding the Legion of Merit to Captain Will Rogers, the ship's captain, and Lt...

...TILTING AT WINDMILLS Now that the Cold War appears to be winding down, a lot of fellows around town are scratching their heads wondering what they're going to do next...

...The other is to refuse to become permanently mired in superficial coverage of the day's events...

...This compared to 73 aggressive acts committed by the German adults against their children...

...The reason—and this helps explain why incumbents are so obsessed with fundraising—is that this kind of headline intimidates...