Only on the DC beltway can you be doing 70 in a 55 zone and have a little old blue-haired grandmother in a Thunderbird behind you hammering on her horn and pitching a conniption fit because you’re not going fast enough for her. The moment traffic opens up, that grandmother will stand on the gas pedal and burn past you like you were standing still, flagging you off as she did so. If you’re very fortunate she’ll hurl her $8us vaguely-coffee-flavored mixed beverage from Starbucks out of the driver’s side window at your windscreen in an …

A moment of silence, please, for comedian, satirist, and renegade intellectual George Carlin, who died on Sunday afternoon at the age of 71 of heart failure. Carlin was one of the first hosts of Saturday Night Live and an outspoken voice against censorship, stemming from his famous "seven deadly words" skit, which culminated in an indecency trial that went all the way to the Supreme Court. Since then, he had been arrested a number of times for performing that particular set, but every time the charges were thrown out of court. Over the years, he released many stand-up comedy recordings …