If a reader writes me, I reply fast. It is such a relief to get something somebody wrote personally to me instead of that endless stream of forwards of articles somebody else wrote that I am supposed to read.

And it is especially fine to get a comment by someone who has actually read my stuff. I put a lot of work into this, and if I didn’t think it was worth reading, I wouldn’t write it.

Sine I do answer so promptly and I keep up the dialogue, one reader asked if he had offended me somehow. He also wrote about Beasley’s defeat inthe South Carolina Republican primary and Bush’s chances in 2004. This gave me a chance to vent on a couple of things, so I quote my reply below:

“You haven’t offended me.”

“One thing I guarantee you. If you offend me, I’ll let you know. I have had so many people suddenly go into a pout when they felt offended and just go silent. I HATE that!”

“Grown men don’t pout.”

“And you did not offend me by asking that. I know what you mean, as I said, it happened to me many times, so I understand your concern. You have apparently had to deal with it, too. Isn’t it sickening?”

“I was glad to see Beasley lose, though it if he had won it would have given me a chance to talk about those fake Christians some more.”

“I did not think it was possible for even a Bush to be dumb enough to lose to a Massachusetts Democrat, but Republicans are experts at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The Clintons tried to hand him victory in 2004 on a silver platter, so it is a race between Clinton’s political genius and Republican stupidity.”

“Republican stupidity is about the only thing that could overcome Clinton’s genius at electoral strategy. This is truly the case of an irresistible force meeting an immovable object.”

One time I was suddenly informed of a Brilliant Strategy I had been working on for years. It turned out that the only person who didn’t know I had planned and executed this Brilliant Strategy was me.

I discovered this Brilliant Strategy one time when we were having a session on whom we needed to contact. One guy was particularly hard to reach, so somebody said, “Bob can get in touch with him. All the secretaries LOVE Bob!”

Everybody agreed. It turned out that I had been “cultivating” these secretaries and receptionists for years.

Actually, I had always been friendly with receptionists and secretaries. I like smart, competent people, and these women didn’t get where they were by magic.

By the way, in Washington the top “secretary” is not a secretary. She is Office Manager and she has a salary to match the title.

An office is not The Great Man Himself. An office is a team. While other people waxed apoplectic about “having to talk to the secretary” I spent the time I got talking to her filling her in on the situation and finding out the best way to deal with it. Often she would take care of it for me, including a quick check with The Great Man Himself. That was easier than me getting to the Great Man Himself and then having him instruct her on it.

And let me tell you something else. If I get to the Great Man Himself and he promises something, he might forget before he tells his “secretary.” If the Office Manager herself asks him, the result is not forgotten.
All the time, it turns out I was “cultivating” this office manager. Like any competent person, she liked to be treated like one of the team. So she liked me for it.

I just didn’t realize I was being so shrewd!

That “little receptionist” up front can tell you plenty that you need to know. Whatever you have in hand will be handed over to a staff member, and she knows who that staff member will be.
And she likes being treated like a human, too.

I knew all this going in. I didn’t plan it. But it turns out that everybody knew it was a brilliant strategy I came up with.

I can live with that.