About Room 12A
Room 12A is the official Web log of Ethan Wallison, a ten-year veteran of Washington political reporting, most recently with Roll Call, where he was White House Correspondent. But let’s not make such a big deal of it. Most White House reporters would find more action covering their sofa cushions with thick plastic. Mr. Wallison recalls feeling dejected that no one phoned to tell him about Valerie Plame, and still wonders why this information was wasted on nitwits who judged it irrelevant. He also wonders how many of those who delighted in the public humiliation of Jeffrey Gannon also bored their friends with earnest rants about the “invasiveness” of the Patriot Act. But he digresses. Mr. Wallison left daily reporting in the summer of 2005 to find greater adventure abroad. He currently resides in Kiev, Ukraine, but may just pick up and move somewhere else at any moment. He’s kind of just that way.
“Ethanistan” was a cute play on words until Mr. Wallison got carried away and decided, in contravention of all laws of physics and human reason, to wedge it into Room 12A. Now he spends a good deal of time puzzling over what to do with it, but expects that it will become a real asset in the future.
Jesus, it's cold here in Kyiv. Confined more than usual to my apartment, I've been checking in with the journalists at the BBC. And I have an observation. If BBC producers would just instruct the reporters to end every field segment with the words, "But what does this mean for global warming?" they would be able to slip seamlessly into the next report - and maybe save a few quid on staffing the presenter desk. A modest proposal.
February 22, 2007 11:19 AM · 
A middle-aged Ukrainian woman told me last night about her experiences as a member of the Komsomol, the Communist Youth organization during the Soviet era. On Christmas and Easter, she and other members of the group were ordered to the local churches, where they were instructed to form two concentric rings around the buildings by locking arms. These rings were intended as a defense perimeter that would keep people from going to church on religious occasions. This peculiar Soviet abhorrence of religion is one reason that in Ukraine gifts are not exchanged on Christmas, but rather (last night) on New Year's Eve. In 2007, let's all of us, and especially us Americans, make a little more effort to keep in perspective our astonishing good fortune, and be grateful for what some sacrifice to preserve it. America may not be perfect, but it's the closest thing we've got.
January 1, 2007 06:51 AM ·
Kofi Annan has stepped down at the U.N. - at least a decade too late. I predict future historians will find it difficult to judge whether this ineffectual dupe was the puppet of genocidal regimes and autocrats or just their indispensable enabler. It is tough to fully enumerate the sins and consequences of this repugnant figure, but this WSJ editorial begins the grim task.
December 17, 2006 05:59 AM ·
