The Week

Few human beings have been able to slow the steady takeover of the U.S. by the Army Corps of Engineers. It is very pleasing to report that some thirty furbish louseworts have apparently stopped cold a Corps of Engineers plan to turn a sizable piece of Maine into a mosquito swamp at a cost of $600 million, meaning $2 billion after the costs triple as they do in all federal projects. The furbish louseworts, a kind of wild snapdragon, were found in the endangered area of Maine, after having been thought to be extinct. The Corps of Engineers is not permitted to flood rare and endangered species, although it can flood your land or ours with impunity.

Tom Wicker, that Carolina roundhead, thinks this is a peach of a time for stripping down the Imperial Presidency, and accordingly offers Jimmy Carter a few suggestions on how to make the office “more democratic with a little ‘d’ ”: to wit, “Walk to your Inaugural. . . . Give the commercial airlines a try. . . . If you must use Air Force One, rename it ‘The Peanut.’ … Tell the Secret Service to stop flying those armor-plated limousines around the country at our expense.” We’d like to add a few tips of our own: Walk barefoot to the Inauguration; hitchhike around the country at least once a year; install a still in the White House for official receptions; have the Marine Band get into the habit of greeting you with “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.” And don’t pay too much attention to Tom.

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William F. Buckley Jr.

Abortion

Few human beings have been able to slow the steady takeover of the U.S. by the Army Corps of Engineers. It is very pleasing to report that some thirty furbish louseworts have apparently stopped cold a Corps of Engineers plan to turn a sizable piece of Maine into a mosquito swamp at a cost of $600 million, meaning $2 billion after the costs triple as they do in all federal projects. The furbish louseworts, a kind of wild snapdragon, were found in the endangered area of Maine, after having been thought to be extinct. The Corps of Engineers is not permitted to flood rare and endangered species, although it can flood your land or ours with impunity.

Tom Wicker, that Carolina roundhead, thinks this is a peach of a time for stripping down the Imperial Presidency, and accordingly offers Jimmy Carter a few suggestions on how to make the office “more democratic with a little ‘d’ ”: to wit, “Walk to your Inaugural. . . . Give the commercial airlines a try. . . . If you must use Air Force One, rename it ‘The Peanut.’ … Tell the Secret Service to stop flying those armor-plated limousines around the country at our expense.” We’d like to add a few tips of our own: Walk barefoot to the Inauguration; hitchhike around the country at least once a year; install a still in the White House for official receptions; have the Marine Band get into the habit of greeting you with “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.” And don’t pay too much attention to Tom.