Some Republicans fear that Mr. Tauzin has sped up Washington's infamous "revolving door" between Congress and the K Street lobbying shops to a point that could hurt the public perception of Congress.---Opinion Journal.

Excuse me? How is that possible??

R.J. and I were trailing around after Monica Saturday, as she searched for a restaurant. "I'm not making any suggestions," he said. "Safer that way." So I thought I'd tell him about our trip to Norwich in 1971.

We lived in a little village near Newmarket, Burwell. We had company consisting of the inlaws and also one of the librarians from Laramie, who had Known Me When. Miss K. had just taken a trip to see the Land of the Midnight Sun and was stopping by to see us. We thought a trip to Norwich Castle might be in order. I'm trying to figure out how we did this, and can only assume that we put everyone, 5 adults, 3 children, into the Ford Fairlane (the "Yank Tank"). Must have been an uncomfortable 70-mile trip!

In our family, there are areas where Rich is the ditherer, and I the person who jumps right into things and to heck with the consequences. Parking is one such area. Rich can be confronted with a quarter-full parking lot and be unable to find a spot. This wasn't exactly the case in Norwich, but he passed up a couple of good places while looking for a good place. He finally found a spot and took it, and then it was "where should we have lunch?" There was a perfectly good cafe or two which he ignored, where should we eat, what should we do. Everyone was hungry, but he wouldn't settle, so I eventually took matters into my own hands. "We'll eat here!" I said and turned into a restaurant door. I realized my mistake as the properly-dressed maitre-d' bowed and asked "how many, modom?" Oops.

Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, as they say, and we WERE hungry. They sat us at two different tables, and I had the girls at mine with the 2-yr-old sitting with the inlaws. I must admit I was worried... it was apparent that not only had the wait staff never seen a child, they had never BEEN children! "Behave!" I hissed.

This is when I learned that if you expect children to be really good, they will rise to your expectations. They were exemplary, even the toddler. No food spilled, no whining, no poking around, nothing. They sat there and prattled endearingly, ate their food like grownups, and generally stunned me. We left noses high, sailing out with pride after slinking in. It was great.

The main other thing I remember about Norwich is the well in the castle. It has a strong grate over it, but it's very deep indeed and fascinated our son, who lay on top and looked Dooooooooooooooooown.

Also Saturday, the conversation came up as to when the girls had learned to read. Well, we know Bernadette was 3, but her sisters were a little older. I was 4, I remember, and I think the girls were too. I remember when I KNEW Roni could read, not just parrot words. We were travelling and there was a sign for Harwich. This is properly pronounced Hairridge and that's how she heard us say the town name. "HAR-witch 60 miles," pipes up this voice from the back seat. Ohhhh-Kay, she's reading.
--------

Public and private, Roger L. Simon. Comment by Hovig:

Clinton needed to say, in 1992, that he has a sexual problem, and he's going to either do something about it, or keep an eye on it, or something. He didn't. He buried it. In fact, he went on public TV with Hilary, they both said "everything's OK," and that was that. But it wasn't. And it came back to bite everyone. Was Monica "sent"? No, of course not. But I can tell you, if I were a foreign leader, I'd be watching the US President for any sign of weakness, with plans to pound on it. Thank heavens Bin Laden is such a numbskulled moron, or who knows what might have happened to the US in 1998 or 1999.

The alternative to war was simple: defeat.

Advice from Machiavelli.

I can't see this one without spending an hour downloading a fancy program, but I hear it's good. Here's another.

Impeach Norm Mineta. This is the "nasty guns" argument. Meanwhile, a local woman knows her Second Amendment. Mark Steyn on Canada, gun control, etc.

Red books and blue books. Meanwhile, I discovered Rory's Book Club. I imagine she'd read blue books... she admires Hillary, for instance.