Depopulate DC

For John, BLUF:  I have heard calls to make the District of Columbia a Ghost Town.  I think it is a bridge too far.  It is as good a place as any to hold the politicians.  But, disperse the Agencies and their bureaucrats..  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Dismantle the D.C. Company Town

Here is the sub-headline:

It’s time that Americans faced up to the reality that their governing apparat is a corrupt, self-engorging Leviathan.

From American Greatness, by Author Roger Kimball, 4 June 2022.

Here is the lede plus one:

Gertrude Stein famously warned that it was important to know how far to go when going too far.

It pains me to admit that Democrats seem to have a far better sense of all that than do Republicans.  Perhaps it’s because Democrats have a visceral appreciation of William Hazlitt’s observation that “those who lack delicacy hold us in their power.”  The Democrats, that is to say, long ago became expert at the game of holding their opponents to standards that they themselves violate not just with impunity but with ostentatious glee.

The Author, Mr Kimball, then goes on to compare the treatment of a Ms Hillary Clinton Lawyer, Mr Michael Sussmann, with the treatment of GoP (and Trump Administration staff members) retired Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn and Mr Peter Navarro.  Just for spice the Author mentions Attorney General Eric Holder being cited for Contempt of Congress and nothing happened.  Definite double standard.

The author mentions:

Increasingly, once-respected institutions like the FBI, Congress, the Justice Department, to say nothing of the educational establishment and corporate culture, have lost their claim on the people’s allegiance.$nbsp; That allegiance is not something that can be repaired by diktat.

Too right.  And President Biden's hectoring manner also isn't going to heal this.

There used to be a West Virginia Senator who made it a practice of moving DC Federal Agencies to West Virginia.  That would be Senator Robert Byrd.

We could all benefit by encouraging that state of mind.  The Nation's Capitol is a corrupt City.  Has tended that way for a long time.  Likely can't be reformed, so we should spread it out.

Electing Republicans won't fix this, nor would the election of Socialists.  Our best hope is to reduce the bureaucracy in DC.  Not close the City.  We need a national capitol.  But, reduce the bureaucratic concentration of power in Washington and its environs.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff