Publications by David Bradley

The Fifth Column: A Power Grab By Any Other Name

That’s a joke, of course. As was Chairman Scott York’s insistence that the maneuver isn’t some kind of a power grab.

The Fifth Column: I Read, Therefore I Am

My wife is a library person. They don’t understand why anyone would want to buy a book that they could just as easily borrow. I have tried to explain to her the comfort and satisfaction I get from having my bound friends filling my bookshelves. But you’re either born a book store person or a library person, and there doesn’t seem to be any way to bridge that gap.

The Fifth Column: The Pause That Refreshes

They were all weird games, though. I saw quarterbacks throw the ball 30-40 yards downfield. And there were receivers waiting for the ball—and they caught it. When was the last time you saw something like that around here?

The Fifth Column: Don’t Delay, Order Today

I’m not the soundest of sleepers to begin with, but I was lying awake that night because I’d forgotten to refrigerate my Chillow. I thought it might have a leak.

So I got out of bed. It was chilly, so I wrapped up in my new Wild Side Zebra Snuggie. I suppose it was a bit of a luxury to buy another one so soon, but shipping and handling was only $12.99. Besides, that old lime green Snuggie was so 2008.

The Fifth Column: Tales From the Old Country

...the hideous truth I have for so long hidden within my heart: I am an alien in this fair land.

The fact is that I have only lived in Loudoun County for 16 years. I can hear newspapers being torn apart and bathroom doors slamming all across the county’s western end at the very thought. But hold – there is far worse to come.

The Fifth Column: Elephants & Donkeys in the Home Stretch

...and vote for whoever paid for the ad on Nov. 3.

This Election Day isn’t the big quadrennial affair, when the presidential race brings out nearly two-thirds of voters. That was last year. You might remember it.

The Fifth Column: Remembrance of Things Past

Of course, today we are a much more sophisticated bunch, using pocket-sized supercomputers to do the important work of humanity – receiving the up-to-the minute, innermost thoughts of bench-warming rookie NFL linemen, for instance, or downloading the complete lyrics to the first Doors album. That sort of thing.

The Fifth Column: Hail to the Redskins Revolution

Those of you too young to remember the Redskins as a dominating team really missed something, but that all came to an end many, many years ago.

THE FIFTH COLUMN: We Must Cultivate Our Garden

The Fifth Column: Everybody’s In Showbiz

Pen and pad in hand, I cornered the manager as he came out of the dugout, awaiting what I was sure would be an emotional endorsement of the kid’s arm.

"We’re going to take one game at a time. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves," the manager said in what I will only call a world-weary drone. "They never gave up."

The Fifth Column: Tough Time in the Old Brick House

It is to my eternal shame that I must admit I was excited at the prospect.

The Fifth Column - Setting ‘em Up and Mowing ‘em Down

The Fifth Column: The Incredible Shrinking News Business

That is as true as ever this year, with the recession apparently bottoming out, the local real estate market struggling to get back on its feet and federal, state and Loudoun County elected officials all on traditional late summer hiatus.

The Fifth Column - Is This Any Way to Run a Railroad?

The federal government has committed $900 million to the project, which will extend Metro’s Orange line from the existing East Falls Church station to Dulles Airport and on to a station at the intersection of Ryan Road and the Dulles Greenway. In theory, Metrorail is on its way to Loudoun County.

The Fifth Column: No Cure for the Summertime Blues

One of the problems when you’re a teenager–and adults often forget that being a teenager is a never-ending laundry list of problems, with adults and adult-imposed inconveniences always high on that list–is that just about the time you’re old enough to get a driver’s licence and a little piece of grownup freedom, you’re expected to get a job. Nothing can take the fun out of driving quicker having to drive to work. And nothing can suck the life out of a beautiful summer more efficiently than a bad summer job.