Washington traps.

• Author: Postrel, Virginia I.

Why Republicans should be irresponsible and impolite.

I KNEW THINGS HAD CHANGED WHEN I saw Al D'Amato on Nightline and he started talking about privatizing air traffic control. Al D'Amato, heretofore a hack extraordinaire, had latched on to an esoteric free-market policy idea developed by...my boss.

Then things got even weirder. I ordered a transcript of that Nightline, which I'd only seen the end of. And lo and behold, in between discussions of Whitewater subpoenas, this same Al D'Amato started ranting about how the government won't let you say "within walking distance" in real-estate ads. Now that's an esoteric regulatory issue nobody ever talks about in public--nobody that is except...me. (See last month's editorial or various newspaper columns.)

When Al D'Amato has to bone up on substance--and Ted Koppel solicits his opinions on spending cuts and regulatory reform--something has definitely changed. And when a porkbarrel pol like D'Amato appears to be getting his ideas from REASON, we have entered a whole new world.

Or so it has seemed since November 8.

A year ago, the Clintons were getting ready to nationalize health care, Bob Dole was rushing to help, and Newt Gingrich was murmuring support. The only members of Congress you could count on to defend freedom over Clintonite "security" were economists from Texas, one for each house. Now Dick Armey is going to be House majority leader and Phil Gramm is all over television drawling such heretical sentiments as, "Why should we want to go halfway in the wrong direction?"

Why, indeed? And yet, until recently, that was exactly the plan. Which is why, despite a certain giddy delight at the triumph of people who speak the language of limited government, I'm not convinced. The culture of Washington is desperately trying to reassert itself, and the Republican upstarts should beware its traps.

THE MOST DANGEROUS IS THE "RESPONSIbility" trap. Here's how Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) explains it: "It's easy to be a critic. I mean, Sam Rayburn said that any jackass could kick down the barn, but it takes a real carpenter to build one... [W]hen you see the Republicans having the responsibility of governing, it's going to be different."

But "responsibility" in Washington doesn't mean living up to your commitments, sticking to your principles, or bearing the consequences of your actions. It means not rocking the boat. It means minding your manners. It means treating government like a dinner party.

Washington's...