HAPPY 1OTH NRO!

Last night I attended the 10th anniversary soiree for National Review Online. I was an early reader back when it appeared just Jonah Goldberg, his couch and Cosmo holding the fort. Now I check it several times daily. Anyway I will only mention some of the folks I spoke with but it was a tremendous turnout and a great time.

In any event, the NRO crowd was out in force. I ran into several friends (one of whom works for a big Democratic law firm and had to travel incognito) and met a number of the writer/bloggers of NRO. Stanley Kurtz and John Derbyshire had a "gloom-off" on who was more certain we are all doomed. Laura Ingraham was there and looked smashing. She is also shier than you would expect if you listened to her show. I reminded Kate O'Beirne (also smashing) of her singing Laura's praises at the last DC NR event. I was surprised to find (from his wife Chris) that Ian Murray does not live in England as I'd supposed but right here in Virginia.

Jonah Goldberg held court behind the bar and left his bathrobe and shoebox shoes at home. The scourge of "the suits" was wearing one. We discussed his LA Times syndicated column and the differences with that and writing for little ideological magazines (my words). The mail is apparently.... interesting as the liberal mind collides with unaccustomed arguments in a surprising venue.

Lewis Libby was there, very nice and in good spirits. I refrained from giving him my card as he's in better hands and indeed, in my view its one of the few high profile cases where its clear the Defense is sitting in the catbird seat. He has contributed an enormous amount to his country and does not deserve what he's going through.

Michael Ledeen and Mario Loyala (great name) were also there and I met them for the first time. Charles Krauthammer showed and he is one of the great opinion writers of all time, not just currently.

Katheryn Lopez, mistress of ceremonies, was able to cajole her beloved Mitt Romney into coming and he certainly go a leg up on the 2008 conservative blogger vote. She was her highly caffeinated self. At the end of the formal evening I saw Judge Bork and his wife, he is a hero of my youth and I always feel a twinge when I seem him and think of Kennedy on the bench intstead.

Anyway, Dave has implored me to tell this story so I will. After the event at Charlie Palmer's some folks were going to another spot and John Derbyshire kindly offered to give me a ride. I had had more than a few scotches by then and took him up on it. He followed the car in front of him to where we were going (I forget the original destination). He tailed the fellow all the way, not to a bar but a house. The fellow walks in to his house and I follow Derb up the stairs. He knocks. A completely surprised and none to happy fellow opens the door in the wee hours. We beat a hasty retreat. Like bad spies, we had followed the wrong car. Freed from tailing another car, The Derb easily found his hotel and I got a cab back home. I can't think what the fellow we accosted in the wee hours thinks was going on with strange (but polite) Englishman bothering him at that hour. I would have given anything for the Derb to say he was selling Encylcopedia Brittanicas but you can't have everything.

That was a brief evening with the NRO folks, imagine what the cruises are like!

Update: I forgot to mention David Frum who I am always happy to see and his lovely wife Danielle Crittenden (author of AmandaBright@Home, which is a blogging title if eve there was one.

Update: Mr. Derbyshire reminds me that we followed the fellow, not blindly, but because he had a Bush/Cheney bumper sticker and how many of those could there be in D.C?