Nation's Capitol
Trip Start
Oct 03, 2008
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Trip End
Oct 21, 2008
Washington,,
District of Columbia,
United States
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Arriving in the US on the day after the Vice-Presidential debate relegated the weather to second place on the list of topics to take up with strangers or when running out of something to say. You had (and still have one day later) to be very careful of what you say, all depending on your duologue partner's political inclinations. However, one thing is clear to everybody: what is happening on Capitol Hill is no longer in the interest of the people! There seems to be a consensus on perceiving Congress and the Executive Branch as being out of touch with the nation. For very different reasons, indeed, but nevertheless, there is a certain feeling of agreement across the aisle, to use a Congressional term.
It appears our trip is very timely. You can literally feel the times-a-changing in DC. It's not in your face, but there is a subtle air of transformation about. Comparisons are made to the times of Lincoln and the crisis of the Secession War. Not that I think we are in any situation of the same proportions, but there is some truth in it once you begin to think about the possible turn the nation might take, with supporters and opponents making it their duty to point (or pull) the populace in their direction.
On an aside, I overheard a little piece of information this morning, which was just casually thrown in on the morning news between the political pundits discussing Sarah Palin and the weather report: The National Debt Watch needs to be repaired: another digit will be added! Small and insignificant as it may seem, I think it speaks volumes.
Enough of the preambling! Post 9/11 Washington has drastically changed. The White House is hermetically sealed off. New York and Pennsylvania Avenues are closed to traffic near the White House all in the name of security. Now, I know that Washington is a magnet for all sorts of people, crazies and false prophets with a mission, but this resembles a state of siege. I've had my problems with the present Administration's leadership in the face of adversity, but this is sending out the wrong signals. I understand that the Presidency needs to be protected, but the President also needs to be in contact with the People. In my recollection, the White House has never been as inaccessible to the citizens as now. Only thirty years ago, while heavily guarded, it was possible to casually drive past the White House and point out to foreign visitors, that this was the residence of our President, the leader of the free world. Maybe the difference is that in those days it was true.
Making our way around the West Wing and the Old Executive Building, heading down to the Mall, we came by the Corcoran. A picture of Ronald Reagan on a banner promoting a Richard Avedon exhibit of portraits immediately caught my eye. As he is one of my heroes, I just had to abandon all plans for the day and go in. The kids did not protest and we were treated to a photographical history lesson of the second half of the nineteenth century. Apart from him being a genius when it comes to portraiture, he had an uncanny ability to take pictures of those people who were going to be important to the progress of the century. For me it was like walking down Memory Lane. Names (Bella Abzug, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, George Meany, George McGovern, George Wallace, Daniel Cohn Bendit, Malcolm X, Tip O'Neal, Julian Bond, Dean Rusk, Buckminster Fuller, Rosemary Woods, Herbert Marcuse) needed to be explained to the kids, who were kind enough to bear with me. However, I think in the two hours we spent in the museum, they learned more about the US and what makes it tick than I could have by marching them up and down the Mall.
We did march down the Mall to the Washington Monument and watched the people there because it was impossible to go up in it. These days, tickets need to be reserved or bought in advance. A notion we should come across quite frequently in the next few days. Further down the Mall towards the Lincoln Memorial, we passed the WWII Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial, which remains a gash in our history. The Memorial is an eloquent comment on what shaped my generation.
In the Lincoln Memorial we took note of the Gettysburg Address, which includes the words "under God", even though it is highly unlikely that Mr. Lincoln said that on the cold November morning when dedicating the cemetery. Neither of his two handwritten notes in preparation for the speech include them.
Onward to the Arlington Cemetery to witness the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier! We were fortunate enough to see a changing of the wreath, which included taps being played. Wandering through the thousands of graves crowding your view as far as the eye can reach and all the tragedy behind each and everyone of those headstones, be they small or big, makes me wonder how anybody in good conscience can commit a nation to war without there being a vital need for it.
We'd had enough of war and the perished degraded to casualties for a day.
Comments
photo exhibit
wow, sounds like a great photography exhibit. I probably could have used the lecture too, I only recognized a name or two on that list. Sounds like you guys are having fun, glad to hear things are well.