Kathryn — In the first months of my job as Ben Wattenberg’s research assistant, Ben brought me to a party in New York where I ended up in a situation where I had to shake Vladimir Pozner’s (SP?) hand. Remember him? He was the Soviet flunky with the perfectly accented english who Phil Donahue thought was the most brilliant man in the world. I was new to my job and I didn’t want to cause a scene around Ben. But I’ve regretted shaking his hand ever since and not saying something particularly biting. When I told a friend I shook Pozner’s hand he immediately replied “How long did it take to wash the blood off.”

I always thought something along those lines would have been perfect.