Actually you can scratch “windy” and substitute “sticky.” Nobody told me

Chicago could be that hot. I go on a vague principle of, the further north,

the cooler. That doesn’t work, though, except as a first approximation.

There’s something called “continental climate,” which means that if you’re

far enough from the ocean, you can get extremes of heat & cold. I think

that’s what it means, anyway.

Talking about extremes, my email bag is all clogged up with people

commenting on that fleeting thought I had about voting for Hillary. Look,

all I was saying was:

Some part of what the POTUS has to do is poker. How big a part, depends on

the geopolitical environment the POTUS finds himself in. In happy times,

it’s not much, and most times are happy times, thank goodness. However,

when we’re in a serious confrontation with one of the thugs, crooks,

Leninists, or bazaar-traders who still run far too many of the world’s

nations, poker skills — ruthless bluffing, lying, scaring, hinting at

barely-controlled insanity — are real important. You might even — it

would be unusual circumstances, but you might — want to put them at the

head of your list of reasons to vote for a POTUS candidate.

Suppose, for e.g., fall of 2008 comes around and we’re in some really,

really nasty — nuke-nasty — face-off with the Norks, or Iran, or the new

super-revolutionary regime that’s just taken over in Saudi Arabia — the one

that just got through FedExing interesting body parts of the Saudi ex-royal

family to the White House — or even China or some new Russia. And I’m

looking at a POTUS ballot that says: CLINTON, H. (Dem.) // PATAKI, G.

(Rep.) Hey, politics turns up some weird choices. **And** there looks to

be no doubt that the GOP will hold solid majorities in Congress. Whom do I

pull the lever for — Ice Queen, or Spurious George? Go on, think about it.

You telling me you wouldn’t hesitate for an instant? I don’t believe you.

“When times are easy, you don’t burn joss. When times are dire, you hug

Buddha’s foot.”—old Chinese saying (really).

As for the alleged British yearing for a strong, mean woman in charge

– really! I never heard anything so ridiculous! Did you, Kathryn?