Congressional Delegation to Easter Island? Cancelled

I found this bit of news in today's post, on Congressional junkets. Some congressmen were planning a trip to Easter island -- but the trip was, for some reason, cancelled.

I'm not sure whether i should be glad, that some congressmen may be into tiki, or annoyed that they were trying to subsidize this trip at taxpayer expense.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/26/AR2008062603375.html

*"Bad news on the travel front. We had planned a Four-Loop rating for a spectacular congressional delegation to be led by Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) to Easter Island and the Galapagos during the upcoming Fourth of July recess.

It's unclear how Easter Island -- one of the most isolated places on Earth, at 2,200 miles off Chile in the Pacific -- is essential to foreign or domestic policy considerations. But who cares? What a fantastic conversation starter! Amaze your friends, confound your rivals with tales and photos of those extraordinary large stone statues, the "moai," for which the island is famous.

Alas, when we called for reservations on the military jet, Shelby's office told us he "has canceled the trip due to scheduling conflicts and will be at home during the recess."

The initial itinerary, we had heard, was just about perfect. It centered on three days going to and from the island with a stop in the Galapagos. But apparently there were problems getting reservations on the Galapagos for the delegation's preferred night. There are, after all, just so many codels the hotels can accommodate. *

I'm all for anything to promote tourism and to improve/ease travel to Rapa Nui.