---------------Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal Constitution

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Good Links
If you've ever wondered what makes a hurricane tick, the Washington Post had a pretty good article on the subject today. It's not terribly long, and yet goes into the mechanics of it in easy to understand language. Hell, even I could follow it!

And speaking of stormy hot air, controversy continues to swirl around the National Guard memos that CBS news reported on last week. Some experts are claiming they're fake, others are saying that they may be real because certain IBM typewriters did produce the fonts in question in the early '70's. At any rate, USAToday had a pretty good roundup of the latest facts and opinions from both sides.

But here's a question to consider: IF they are in fact fake, why hasn't the President stepped forward to say that they are? Instead the White House continues to give a variation of the "I have no recollection of the events in question" response that politicians so often fall back on.

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Welcome Back, Joe
Generally speaking, Washington is a rather transient town, and loyalties are only as good as the latest poll numbers. But for longtime DC residents, there has been one constant in our lives, and it has nothing to do with Republicans, or Democrats, or Presidents, or Swift Boat Veterans for Bald Faced Lies. And that one island of continuity in a sea of constant change is the Washington Redskins.

That's why it's hard to overstate the esteem with which the name Joe Gibbs is held in this town. The man not only won three Super Bowls back in the '80's, he did with three different quarterbacks--the only NFL coach to ever do that. And when he retired back in 1993, well, people were sorry to see him go. But life goes on, right?

Well, only theoretically. During those intervening years, the Skins slipped deeper and deeper into an abyss of darkness and obscurity. The team went through a change of ownership, five head coaches, ten losing seasons, and only one playoff appearance. Even worse, we lost to the evil Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day of 2001.

And so it was that with each passing season the despair of Redskins fans deepened while the Legend of Joe Gibbs grew.

Consequently, when it was announced last winter that Gibbs was coming out of retirement, this town went nuts. Forget homeland insecurity, the presidential race, and all the pettiness that so pervades politics in DC: Coach Joe was back.

And it's not just that the man is a football genius. It's also that he is so incredibly humble and nice and understated that you want to heave your guts all over the screen of your brand new plasma HDTV. If only the people running our nation were this nice, the world would be a better place.

Thus it was only fitting that Gibbs would win his first regular season game back in the saddle.... And that it would the team's 500th franchise victory.... And that it would be his 125th career win as a head coach.

Yes, it was a close, hard-fought game. And yes, the season is young. And yes, we might well end up losing the remaining 15 games. But for now, all is right in the world of Redskins fans.