Booby Trap

One time in April of 2007, my friend Liz was visiting me in DC (her plane to Beijing out of Dulles was delayed by a day), and we walked down U St. to find a place to have dinner. At one point she was looking around and saw a mysteriously abandoned set of golf clubs in a tattered golf bag leaning against a column in the shade of a street lamp.

She pointed it out to me, and just being a smart-ass, I said, "Don't touch it, it may be a roadside bomb."

She started laughing helplessly, maniacally, far out of proportion to whatever amount of wit my comment may have had. I waited for her to calm down and tell me what was so funny. Finally, still gasping, she said, "It's like a booby trap for politicians!"

Yes! The perfect bait. We both started laughing then, imagining Carl Rove walking by, noticing the golf clubs out of the corner of his eye, stopping in his tracks, looking around surreptitiously to make sure no one was watching, creeping slowly toward the loot, and then...