Norm Mineta, Meet Jack Sparrow

These Washington Post "Off Camera" profiles of Bush administration officials and other politicos are priceless. If you're not familiar with them, they look at the non-public lives of these folks, including absurd details about them. The Norman Mineta one from , in which Post reporter Laura Blumenfeld went out on the outgoing Transportation secretary's boat, is one of the better ones. In it, Mineta reveals that while out on the water, he likes to "imagine I'm a pirate. Of the Caribbean." You might think he'd leave it at that, but no. He adds plenty of detail about this particular fantasy: "As the captain of the ship, I'd be directing my crew," he says. "I'd have cannons, depending on how large the target I'm after. I always like to think my boat is more powerful, at least 160 feet -- a multi-masted 200-footer."