There is a quote - probably apocryphal - by John F. Kennedy shortly after he was inaugurated. When asked what the biggest surprise was after taking office he said, "You know, during the campaign, how we kept saying how bad things were? It turned out we were right."
The nation's Republican Governors - current, soon-to-be-ex, and incoming - met in this Southern California resort to talk among themselves, hob and nob with donors, listen to Senior Administration Officials, political pollsters and media mavens; and - most importantly - to hear from two former colleagues and a former mayor about safeguarding their citizens.
There was undisguised glee BY the Governors in attendance AT the number of Governors in attendance. If the pre-election Democratic predictions had come true, this meeting could have been held in a phone booth; A $450-a-day phone booth, but a phone booth nonetheless.
A common theme among incoming Governors was surprise at the sheer volume of information which was flowing into them and the number of decisions which they were being asked to make on a minute-by-minute basis.
The information flood continued to fill the intellectual embankments on the first morning of the conference:
Secretary of Health and Human Services (and former Wisconsin Governor) Tommy Thompson told the group how they needed to beef up their public health operations to be ready to react to a biological or chemical attack.
Soon-to-be Secretary of Homeland Security (and former Pennsylvania Governor) Tom Ridge, told the Governors how they had to bulk up their public safety operations to be ready to react to other types of terror attacks.
Second-most-popular Republican (and former Mayor of New York) Rudy Giuliani told the Governors how important communications between police and fire departments - over many jurisdictions - would be in the event of another attack.
In the face of growing budget deficits, shrinking tax revenues, and increasing demands for services and capital improvements, this new emphasis on Home-State Security will add to the burden.
Not much knee-slapping humor on day one.
If the Republican-controlled Congresses of the 90's and 00's are to be known for anything, it will be for the reinvigoration of the Tenth Amendment the last Amendment in the Bill of Rights.
The Tenth Amendment reads: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
If the popular press were as interested in the Tenth Amendment as they have been in protecting the First and obliterating the Second, the concept of Federal expansion - led by FDR in the 30's and 40's and, 20 years later, by LBJ - might never have been adopted, and certainly would never have survived this long.
Power is shifting from Washington to the State Capitals. With the GOP in control of a large percentage of those State Capitals, the Governors would be wise to use the next two years to improve their strategic position with regard to the Federal government.
A good starting place would be to demand that unfunded mandates - rules imposed by the Federal government on state governments, but without the money to implement those rules - be reversed.
It is time to - at a minimum - have a serious review of the Federal system as it exists in the 21st Century. It is quite likely that state governments have matured to the point that differences between them - it is not a particularly brilliant insight that Alaska has somewhat different issues than Florida - should be embraced not blurred.
Basic human rights and Constitutional protections are not on the table, but everything from speed limits to land use should be returned to the States.
Republicans control a majority of Governors, State Houses of Representatives and State Senates and have a majority - nationally - of State Senator and State Reps.
There may never be a better time to reclaim their Constitutional right to self-governance.
On the Secret Decoder Ring today: A MINI-TRAVELOGUE about my trip from Atlanta to Baltimore; a short history of the Bill of Rights, and a beefcake Mullfoto.
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