The Dog that Didn't Bark

Some folks are all in a lather over the meeting between Denny Hastert, Andy McKenna, Tom Cross and Frank Watson over the weekend. I'm not sure why anyone thinks they should be invited any time prominent officials get together in small groups to chat, but I'm aware that if the papers reported that any one of these people had coffee at Denny's this morning, some folks would call it the "Moon Over My Hammies Conspiracy" and demand to know why they were not invited.

If excitable types could stop the hyperventilating for just a little, it might dawn on them that one name was prominent in its absence: Bob Kjellander. Chew on that one for a while.

And please, please, please....would all my fellow reform conservatives figure out that, while corruption and venality have cost us dearly; unrelenting stridence, overblown rhetoric, and general nastiness are not going to bring us out of the wilderness. In fact, it has kept us here far longer than we should be. I am dead serious here...would my fellow conservatives please stop and take a look at themselves - and in this Christmas season rediscover the value of a little grace, a little humility, and a little prudence?