I will forego, without real regret, the regular ritual of routine recitation, reiteration, repetition, and rehearsal of a prolix prologue purporting to portray particular pleasure and personal pride at the profound privilege of being present to participate in your program, professors, even from the pitiable position of this postprandial podium.
It is now more than 18 months since I decided that rather than spend most of my time as a commuting consultant, I might as well interrupt my main line of work and accept a full-time appointment at what is known euphemistically as the policy level in the federal government. Since this transplantation from an environment of peripheral political speculation to one of practical political implementation involved relinquishing a major portion of control over my calendar, my schedule has allowed time for far less direct contact with academic affairs than I had hoped for when I signed on. Nevertheless, I