From a reader:

I understand your quandry,: how can I go to my next cocktail party with all those think-tankers, lobbist and politicians and say “I supportrd Wilson!” Beltway wins again!

I’ve always enjoyed this sort of e-mail, which comes over the transom every now and then. I generally think it says vastly more about the person who sends it than it does about me because, you see, I have no idea what cocktail parties these people are talking about. I don’t particularly like cocktail parties. I don’t go to very many and the idea that I would write something so as to ensure I get an invitation to one is hilariously implausible. In fact, I could go to cocktail parties with lobbyists and politicians quite a bit if I wanted, but as I’m no longer in my twenties and therefore not quite so desperate for free food and open bars, I actually spend far, far, far more energy trying to avoid going to such affairs than trying to get invited to them.

Also, given all of the things I’ve written in the past, not least a certain book, the idea that there was this grand vista of elite cocktail parties available to me that would be suddenly closed off if I refused to criticize Joe Wilson is kind of hilarious.

Update: Just to clarify. Disliking Washington cocktail parties is not the same thing as disliking cocktails in Washington.