Merli Column: The case of the misplaced quote

In my 24 years in this precious space, if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s simply this: If you really want to see if folks are paying attention, just try misquoting the Roosevelts!

Pleading temporary insanity (it’s worked before), last week I attributed the famous “Speak softly and carry a big stick” quote to Roosevelt — only to FDR, not Teddy, the real originator, of sorts.

Some of you also pointed out the quote wasn’t really Teddy Roosevelt’s, either. As one astute reader (we’ll simply call him “Donald” because that’s his name) noted, “Teddy picked it up in West Africa. In
a letter he wrote in 1900, a year before he became president, he wrote, ‘I have always been fond of the West African proverb, “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”’ He repeated what he
called this ‘homely old adage’ in a speech as president in Chicago in 1903, and twice again in his writings after that.”

So (apart from contemplating this last quote inside a quote inside a quote!), I’m figuring Donald knows what he’s talking about, and I would like to say thanks to him and several others of you. Well, most
of you, anyway. One of the things I’ve always found a bit odd are Web sites (including our own here at the News & Messenger), which allow users to contribute comments using a moniker other than their
real name. Admittedly, this is rather typical for online chatter, but it also give some folks license to get as snarky and rude as they care to without others knowing their real identities. They’re not really
accountable for their comments because most people don’t know who they are.

While it’s true that online contributors have to register their true identities with the Web site itself, the bit too convenient anonymity gives some of them the ability to address issues and people in ways
they normally would not if they were using their real identities. (Using one’s real name is what’s typically required for Letters to the Editor in print, of course. I’m not sure why saying something online for
the same publication makes one’s identity a mystery.)

* * *

A quick word about that recent Metro train accident that took nine lives and injured scores of rider: While the number of serious accidents on Metro has been incredibly low in the 33 years it’s been operating (albeit part of that period on a smaller scale than it does today), at least it was good to see that a sort of dumbing-down mob rule didn’t consume the several hundred-thousand passengers who
ride the Metro several time a week.

In the few days after the fatal collision between an older car that rammed a newer one, there were reports that some passengers were crowding into the middle cars of the four- and six-car trains — as if
suddenly both the manual engineering by humans and the automated safeguards of the system itself were no longer to be trusted. Usually such actions are emotion driven, rather than practical or logical,
but judging from a roundtrip I took to Washington, D.C., from Franconia-Springfield three days after the accident last week, most of us were pretty much back to business as usual.

Part of the complex problem facing investigators is the growing sophistication of Metro’s automated system. As one engineer studying the Ft. Totten incident points out, the irony is that as automation
becomes more reliable, it’s harder for humans to intervene manually because the automation becomes so highly trusted. In fact, there have been times in Metro’s history when engineers simply have been
told to never engage the trains manually. And many automated systems (trains and otherwise) are not shy about “instructing” their human overseers to “disengage” and get out of the way. (Sort of brings
back memories of Hal in “2001: A Space Odyssey.”)

We can only trust that a sane combination of automated services to help lessen possible human error — and optimizing quick human intervention to override possible automation mistakes — will be fine-
tuned here in the aftermath of the recent Metro tragedy.

John Merli has been a Prince William County resident since 1984, and a Potomac News columnist since 1985. He has worked in the media for more than 30 years. E-mail him at .