Thanks to TTP general manager Miko, and TTPers like Mitch Tyree, the dates and the deal for the TTP Summer Rendezvous are set. One of the most distinguished hotels in Colonial Williamsburg, the Williamsburg Hospitality House, will host the Winning the Revolution Rendezvous from Friday, September 11 to Sunday, September 13. Colonial Williamsburg  recreates the America of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington.  Nearby Jamestown is where the settlement of America began in 1607.  And close by is Yorktown, where America achieved victory in its War of Independence in 1781. It is an incredibly emotional experience to be at Surrender Field, where the British troops under Lord Cornwallis gave up their arms and surrendered to George Washington while the British band played "The World Turned Upside Down."  This is where free America was born, this was where our Revolution was won. What more appropriate place could there be - and what more appropriate date than September 11 weekend - for TTPers to join together and commit to winning our American liberty once again?

Las Vegas, Nevada.  How old were you before you realized your actions could result in unintended consequences? Men create democratic governments to protect life, liberty and property. Yet much of what modern government does daily has the largely unintended consequence of endangering and/or reducing all three. Taxes reduce liberty and often erode the value of property. Most regulations reduce liberty and some erode property values and even endanger life. We now spend much of our lives trying to figure out how to reduce our tax burdens and to comply with never-ending government regulations and forms. Most of those who enter government, either as elected politicians or bureaucrats, do not start out to deliberately erode basic freedoms and property rights, but all too many in the political class act like children -- irresponsibly and thoughtlessly.

With unemployment in June at 9.5 percent, and with the president himself now acknowledging the unemployment rate is likely to exceed ten percent before year's end, it's pretty bizarre for Mr. Obama to say, as he did in his radio address Saturday (7/11), that the stimulus bill "has worked as intended." A report from New Hampshire suggests why the stimulus bill hasn't stimulated the economy much. According to the state office responsible for tracking the funds, New Hampshire has received so far $413.6 million in stimulus funds, which have resulted in the creation of 50 jobs, all in government, most of them temporary and only 34 of them full time.  Last February, I called the stimulus bill the porkalooza, and predicted it would define Mr. Obama's presidency, even shorten it.  That's why I'm glad it passed.

"The distinctions between Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, are being overshadowed by that between what we might call the ‘Court Party' -- made up of the well-connected, the people who feel represented by mainstream politicians who argue over how many trillions should be spent on reforming American society, who see themselves as potters of the great American clay -- and the ‘Country Party' -- the many more who are tired of being treated as clay." So observes Princeton Professor Angelo Codevilla, with whom I was acquainted when we were both staffers in the Senate. People in the Court Party think it proper they should decide what kind of cars the hoi polloi in flyover country should drive, and how much medical care they may have. People in the Country Party are desperate for a champion to protect them from the depredations of the Court ruling elite.  So are Tea Party conservatives.  If that person were the same, uniting the two into a political force, it would sweep the field.  That champion is Sarah Palin.

Quitter.  That's what Sarah Palin's enemies, and many of her friends, are calling her in the wake of her surprise announcement Friday (7/3) that she'll resign as governor of Alaska. A big scandal must be looming, some speculate.  Sarah or a member of her family must be seriously ill, speculate others.  If either is true, we should learn more in a few weeks. Viewed from the perspective, so common in Washington these days, that the only thing more important than holding public office is seeking a higher one, Sarah Palin's decision makes no sense.  But if her priorities are different, it makes perfect sense.