GENERATIONAL SONGS

Inside the Beltway reader Jeff Johnson writes: "I noted your blurb about Mr. [David B.] Gergen quoting the Oak Ridge Boys at [Old Dominion University's] commencement last weekend. Now, showing my age of 29, I didn't know that those lines came from the Oak Ridge Boys, and I imagine many of the graduates didn't either.

"For those 35 and under, 'you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here' could easily be attributed to 'Closing Time' by Semisonic, a popular song used to close out parties when I was in school. It basically says to the slightly inebriated partygoer: 'There's the door, now use it.' Great memories. Thank you for the history lesson though."

YIKES

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), in a new report obtained by this column on Tuesday, estimated that 87 percent of about 3,500 investigative reports that adjudicators used of late to make security-clearance decisions for Defense Department personnel were missing required documentation.

DOCTOR'S PROGNOSIS

"We have a steamroller of socialism being driven by Nancy Pelosi and by Harry Reid, and it's being fueled by the administration and Barack Obama. The American people need to put a stop sign and speed bumps in the path of this steamroller."

-- Congressman and medical doctor Paul Broun, Georgia Republican, speaking to the nation from the House floor this week.