Gagging Grenell was a bad play for the Romney team because it guaranteed the issue wouldn't go away. The only way to dispel concerns about the man's fitness for the job was to let him do his job. Muzzling him until he resigned was the worst possible way to handle it because all it did was feed crocodiles like Fischer.

How will the new Congress address the daunting policy challenges related to health care, the economy, and constitutional limits on the federal government?

Novak's Francis Boyer Lectureon religion and the survival of republican principles. Deliveredat the 1999 AEI Annual Dinner.