In Your Own Clever Way

1) You in your own voice describe them as “muscular”

–Philippe Reines to Marc Ambinder

There’s nothing new here. We have known it all

since we grew out of our college commitments;

got our WaPo gigs; became assistants

to undersecretaries; bought our Falls

Church houses; unsolicited, got called

by Blitzer’s harried booker when a different

call-in pundit’s call was dropped. This persistent

shock that gambling’s going on recalls

that scene, you know the one, that quote I can’t

quite place my finger on; but why is it wrong

to give a little courtesy to those

on whom one’s access is dependent, grant

anonymity, bury a strong

lede from time to time, soften one’s prose?