Walter E. Williams frowns over U.S. congressional contempt toward the Constitution. I've been growling about this myself for many years, and I'll admit that lately, as the walls close in tighter and the serpentine beasts beneath the water wrap their slimy tentacles about my legs, that growling has risen more to the pitch of a roar.

Sad, I'm sad now. This, though inevitable and probably overdue, sucks. Of all the written voices that once crowded my younger mind eager for influence, it was his, just after Heinlein's, that claimed the most of it. He helped teach me -- in a very real way -- how to live. I guess we'll never get that Harlot's Ghost sequel now.