I SAW LEON FUERTH on FoxNews yesterday. I tuned in midway through, and the discussion seemed to have degenerated — I didn’t get much from the conversation except that Leon was pissed with the interviewer.

What did strike me, though, is how good he looked. I’ve noticed this phenomenon a lot — get people out of the White House, or off the Hill, and they just look so much better. Clearer eyes, better color, the sleep-deprivation-induced puffiness gone from their faces, the stress-induced overtones gone from their voices. You see the same transition in the other direction when they go in, but the breakdown is usually more gradual than the recovery, so it’s not as dramatic. It kind of makes you wonder why people want those jobs, though.