MrL8Nite goes back to school

The First Trip

It was in the late 1960s, as a schoolboy, when I last toured Washington, D.C.  My Dad's family lived in Baltimore, so we planned a day trip to see the nation's capital. We parked near the White House and walked up to the fence and talked to the guard. I was told that President Nixon was in the Oval Office that day, so we waved at him through the fence.  I remembered seeing images in the window--it might have really been the President! Then again...

We then walked down to see the reflecting pool. I remember passing the old "World War I" buildings along the Mall, some being torn down, others still housing military supplies. We made a trip to the Smithsonian and bought lunch from one of the last functioning Automats--the pie was warm. We rode the elevator to the top of the Washington Monument where we took black-and-white photos of the Capital and the Lincoln Memorial. At the end of the day we drove back to Baltimore with memories that would last a lifetime.

The Business Trips

I've been there on business on many occasions since, but I never seemed to have time to enjoy the sites and history. I would look at the sites as the taxi whisked me from the airport to the hotel at L'Enfant Plaza and I might walk down the hill to the waterfront for a seafood dinner, but I never seemed to find time to explore. During these early to mid-career trips, before I became interested in politics, I saw D.C. as just another city.  Yes, I knew the history of the city--I had to, since my Dad was a high school U.S. history teacher. But I looked at it mostly as ancient history, not anything relevant to me.

The Vacation Trip

This recent trip was different. I decided that I'd combine the 4-day class trip with a 5-day vacation. I would take my wife and we'd tour the city and sites as part of our annual anniversary trip (we were celebrating our 28^th on April 25^th). We booked a tour bus and had gathered all the usual tourist guides prior to arriving in the city and were actually getting excited to do the "tourist thing". 

We arrived Friday the 24^th. My wife had toured D.C. when she was in college, so we had roughly the same memories. We walked up to the White House that first evening--not as close as on my prior trips, but it was still a memorable. We traveled the next day to Arlington Cemetery where we watched the somber changing of the guard. We later stood at the foot of Lincoln, walked along the reflecting pool, and watched some aging vets shuffling around the World War II memorial with tears in their eyes. A short walk further took us to the base of the Washington Monument...I could see the different colored stones used to build the memorial over the period of many years.

The vacation trip ended with us sitting in the gallery of the House while a Georgia Representative was speaking on the bailout issue, a visit with my Representative's Deputy to discuss employment issues, and one last walk down part of the Mall.

The Class Trip

A change of mindset was coming. After meeting with my Representative's Deputy and then joining my Cadre in meeting with Senator Feinstein, it started to become clear how power was the real currency in D.C. The Deputy was candid with me, indicating that my idea had merit, but I needed either a huge groundswell of public opinion or he would need to "trade" the idea for something else. That an idea of merit wasn't worthy of carrying forward on its own without bargaining or without immense pressure was eye-opening.

I later met with aides for both of my Senators to discuss my employment-training issue. The story was the same, although the discussions were more open and exploratory...maybe because of the closes balance of power in the Senate. The results of the discussions were similar regarding any action on the Hill. However, Senator Isakson's aide gave me the name of a person in the Georgia state government that they suggested I talk with and they'd send a quick e-mail to let them know to expect me.

The agencies and departments seemed to be the places where ideas were considered with a bit more open-mindedness. Labor seemed genuinely interested in the ideas being presented. Education seemed willing to talk, but not very interested in solutions. SBA had some very interesting programs that many in the cadre thought worth following-up.

The Access Oddities

Access to D.C. changed considerably after 9/11. Almost every building has a metal detector. Some of the museums or department buildings (e.g. Labor, Education) have tighter security than Congress. In the agency buildings we had to get badges and indicate who we were visiting and why. But the Congressional buildings were surprisingly free for access once you passed the metal detectors. Some of the access that the public used to have, such as using the subways beneath the Capitol is now restricted to government staff. But I was wandering the halls in the Russell building and came upon my Senator walking by himself to his office. We exchanged "Good Mornings" and went our ways...but that availability of access to Congress is still quite amazing.