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A SUMMER EXPERIMENT |
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Written by Dr. Jack Wheeler
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Thursday, 29 June 2006 |
Since we launched To The Point at the end of March,
2003, we have issued the TTP Weekly Report every single week for the last
three+ years. I'm really proud of that
and have every intention of continuing this record.
It's going to be challenging to do so this summer, so here
we go with an experiment. I haven't
been stuck in DC for these past three years straight, but wherever I wandered
off to in the world during that time, it's been for a short while, like a
couple of weeks or so here and there.
This summer is different, for I'll be out of the country for
all of July and August. Sometimes I'll
be in places where there will be an Internet connection, and sometimes
not. Wherever I'm in the former, you'll
hear from me - but there may be a gap or two when I'm in the latter.
The TTP staff will make sure that the Weekly Report gets out
in time, and with our brilliant regulars like Joel Wade, Michael Ledeen, Jack
Kelly, Neal Asbury, Dagny D'Anconia, and Dennis Turner.
As for me, I'll be providing at least a "sitrep" (situation
report) on each country I'm in. As of
now, that will be: Japan, Thailand,
Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Israel, Croatia, Montenegro, Austria,
Switzerland, France, and Spain. Plus a
surprise or two.
I have to tell you I'm looking forward to be away from the
American National Zoo here in Washington for such an extended time. The only way you can tolerate the insanity
of this place is to pretend you're sitting in a box seat watching the funniest
circus show on earth. If you don't do
that, you'll go as nuts as everyone else is in DC.
Actually, there are a lot of truly decent pro-American folks
here. One of them is my next-door
neighbor who's the chief of staff of a solidly conservative Republican
senator. Here's an example of how cool
he is:
He's very close to getting a number of senators to sponsor
legislation requiring that any Bill proposed in the Senate or House must
include language that repeals a minimum of two prior laws. No new law could pass without the simultaneous
repeal of two other laws deemed obsolete.
The inspiration for this is the immortal line in Barry
Goldwater's Conscience
of a Conservative:
I have little interest in streamlining government or
in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake
to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass
laws, but to repeal them. It is not to inaugurate new programs, but to cancel
old ones that do violence to the Constitution, or that have failed in their
purpose, or that impose on the people an unwarranted financial burden.
It's going to be called the Weed Removal Act or the Clearing Brush
Act. As any gardener knows, for the
plants to flourish, you've got to remove the weeds. Or take GW who is always "clearing brush" at his Crawford ranch
so the trees can grow.
OK, I can't resist, given that this month - June 18 - saw Paul McCartney's
64th birthday: it could be
called the When I'm 64 Act, from the line in the song, "Doing the garden,
digging the weeds, who could ask for more?"
It would make a good motto for senators: You can't have a good garden without removing the weeds. It's one basic reason why the Federal
Government is such a mess. Its growth
is never pruned and its weeds are never dug up.
So come September, I'll be looking forward to being back in DC and
working with guys like my neighbor on ideas like this. But until then, I'm outta here.
I want to wish you all the most pleasant of summers, and want to thank
each of you for your support of To The Point. I'll do my best to have To
The Point make your summer more interesting and
informative.
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