If you want to see a bunch of really happy folks who think Christmas has come early for them and can't wait for the coming new year, come to the Capitol Hill Club, the power watering hole for Republicans in Washington.

There, you'll see GOP Congressmen, Senators, and their top staffers all slapping each other on the back and saying, "We're not in 2006 anymore, Toto," or "2006 is like, so over."  Happy, happy guys n'gals.

And why shouldn't they be?  The President's got their back and they've got the hapless Dems by the short hairs.  It's fun to be in DC this December.

What's that?  Do I hear you saying in a tone of cynicism, "Yes, Jack, but the Pubbies never know that when you've got your foe on the ropes, you put him down on the canvas.  As always, they'll let the Dems off the ropes rather than finishing them off."

There's a lot of history to justify such cynicism.  Arguing that it's different this time is like the definition of a second marriage:  the triumph of hope over experience.

Yet there are three good reasons for such hope:

Chapter Eight: Malinche

Aguilar found Malinali cowering in the lee of large sand dune. Perspiration was pouring off her, her chest was heaving with rapid breaths, and her eyes were glazed with panic and terror. “Doña Marina!” he cried, “What is wrong?!” He got a wet cloth and patted her brow. Her eyes slowly focused on him. Finally, she stammered “I… must talk… to Captain Cortez…”

Aguilar was startled. Nonetheless, he said he would relay her request. A few moments later he returned and beckoned, bringing her to the Captain’s tent. Cortez was sitting in his chair and looked up at her. Malinali stood still, legs quivering, desperately trying to subdue her breathing and her emotions. Cortez quickly saw the girl was abjectly terrified. He motioned for Aguilar to bring her a drink of water.

“Doña Marina,” said Aguilar, “What is it that you wish to speak of to the Captain?”

Malinali closed her eyes to listen to her father’s voice. “Ixkakuk!” she heard her father say, “a true queen is always in command of her feelings and fears!” As she opened her eyes, Cortez saw her transformed into a different person. Instead of a shaking slave girl scared out of her wits, suddenly standing before him was a regally erect woman of extraordinary beauty, poise, and calm. A woman who looked directly into his eyes as she said to Aguilar:

“I must ask Captain Cortez if he is a man or a god.”

Would you make an effort to find additional ways to reduce your tax burden if your tax rate was suddenly raised 50 percent?

The higher one's income, the more incentive a person has to find ways to minimize his tax burden -- which is why very high tax rates on the rich always fail to produce the projected revenue.

Republican congressional leaders have pledged to undertake tax and spending reform. To do so, they need accurate projections of the impact on tax revenues, job creation and economic growth resulting from their possible alternative reforms.

This requires realistic models of what is likely to happen, so they need to find the best possible experts to manage the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Congressional Budget Office.

These are two key questions I would pose to the candidates for these positions:

The current Attorney General for the State of Florida is Bill McCollum.  After being a Congressman representing Florida's 5^th District for 20 years, he ran for Senate in 2004 only to be screwed by Karl Rove, who wanted Bush's buddy Mel Martinez.

Thus we have the pro-illegal alien Martinez in the Senate - but at least Florida lucked out to have McCollum bounce back to be elected its AG last year.  How lucky can be seen by a letter McCollum wrote this week (12/03) in his official capacity to the president of the University of Florida.

American universities are today dominated by professors and administrators who viciously attack any attempt at giving their students a pro-America education.    Finally, here is one state attorney general who has the guts to legally prosecute such viciousness.  America needs more Bill McCollums.

Here is his letter:

Chapter Seven: QUETZACOATL

Don Alonso was unlike any of her previous masters. True she had never been abused or raped either by her Xicalanca captors or the rulers of Pontochan. But Don Alonso exhibited a courtesy to her, treated her with a dignity, that the others had not. Was it because he recognized her royal birth, or did he and the other Spaniards treat women differently in general?

To her Pontochan masters, she didn’t really exist in a certain way. She had been invisible to them - an invisibility Malinali strove consciously to maintain. She did all she could to hide her beauty, for example. She didn’t walk straight, tall, and proudly - she compressed herself and slunk around the palace doing her chores.

She decided to abandon this shrunken invisibility with the Spaniards. She no longer wore her cloak over her head. Her bountiful long black hair was now free to glisten in the sun. She carried herself as her father taught, tall and proud, head high. She was never insolent and obediently did as she was asked without resentment. She could do this because Don Alonso always made requests of her, not dismissive demands. He treated her as an individual person, not an invisible non-entity.

Now being so clearly visible, Don Alonso could not help noticing Malinali’s beauty.