http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...

Republicans are said to be experiencing their winter of discontent, aimlessly adrift and trying to get their bearings after a couple of tough campaign cycles. So why not join like-minded folks and be literally adrift, on a luxury cruise ship meandering for 10 days in the Mediterranean and the Adriatic?

You'll be able to commiserate with and enjoy the grand company of luminaries from the conservative National Review -- Rich Lowry, Jonah Goldberg, Kathryn Lopez, Kate O'Beirne and others.

The luxurious Holland America Noordam sets out from Rome to Dubrovnik to the Greek Isles, then to Sicily and back to Rome. The 2009 Mediterranean Cruise has a "sunny itinerary" perfect to brighten an otherwise gloomy time, the magazine's ad says. There are "exclusive cocktail receptions and smokers (featuring H. Upmann cigars), scintillating seminars and intimate dining with guest speakers."

Some of the guest speakers include Karl ("Permanent Majority") Rove, author Michael Novak, former U.N. ambassador John Bolton and ace political analyst Dick Morris, who appears fully recovered from that toe-sucking incident. Also on board will be columnists Tony Blankley, Cal Thomas and George Gilder.