I admit it ? I tuned into ABC?s ?Dancing with the Stars? last night to see how Tucker Carlson would do. The answer is: not well. He tried (a little) and failed (a lot) to dance the cha cha.

In my defense, there are reasons and ironies. For one thing, I used to be a ballroom-dance teacher myself. For another thing, there was a time at the Heritage Foundation in the mid-1990s when I shared an office suite with Tucker and, gulp, Stephen Glass. Got to know both fellas pretty well, though I would not claim to be the public-affairs Zelig that Jon Ham is.

Embarrassing story about Glass, by the way. When he got the offer to join the staff of The New Republic, he asked me to lunch to discuss it, knowing that I had worked at the magazine a few years before. He seemed nervous and concerned that he wouldn’t be able to cut it at TNR. I reassured him ? saying something like ?I’m sure you are a good enough writer and reporter.?

JLF employees may passionately hope I have become a better judge of character. . .