Despising Democrats

I am back, because I must vent. Yelling into the air only scares the cats.


I am a Democrat. In a few weeks when early voting begins, I will vote for lots of Democrats. However, a small part of me will hate doing it.

Why?

Simple. The party is full of stupid, wimps.

In 1986 when the Iran-Contra scandal was revealed. It was known the Ronald Reagan traded arms for hostages and then the money was illegally provided money to anti-communist Nicaraguan guerrillas. Congressional Democrats took impeachment off the table. Ollie North's shredding and their own wimpiness stops it.

From Jan. 2001 through Jan. 2009 they failed make any effort to stop or reveal a single GW Bush executive power overreach or even stop the idiotic tax cut during wartime via filibuster in the Senate. Investigations to even consider if impeachable offenses were committed when the Bushies started data mining via telecoms? Nope. They didn't even bother to stop efforts to undermine habeas corpus or prevent the retroactive lawsuit protection for the telecoms.

Though they managed to pass some stimulus, a health care bill and a middle class tax cut that no one seems to remember. Now, the wimps rule again. It is just too scary to vote to keep the taxes on earnings below $250,000 at current levels and raise it for the earnings above that level. Why? Because Republicans will say nasty things about it or, in my opinion, the Democrats in Congress are just stupid and wimpy. They'll vote on it after the election.

Watch the losses in November and remember how much they worked to earn them.

Health Care "Summit" Live Blogging

I'm home sick today with a cold. Since my brain doesn't need to be taxed, I figured I can live blog the "summit" at Blair House. I'll also being checking Internet and TV talkers reaction and post some of that too.

1:04 They have started again and Mike Enzi begins with the "cutting Medicare" crap. AGAIN. I'm done. I'm going to sleep and watch post-game later.

12:00 LUNCH! Not sure how much more of this I can take. Time for body language interpretation on CNN. R vs D House members on MSNBC. Afraid to look again at what Fox is doing. I think I'll listen to CSPAN weird callers.

11:44 Eric Cantor is so dumb that he doesn't know that he has no chance taken on points against someone with a working brain like Barack Obama.

11:38 Off topic: My funny mail of the day. The Concerned Women of America sent me mail asking me to fight the "radical homosexual agenda." It has one of the fake surveys with loaded questions aimed at getting you to give you money. Oh, did they send that to the wrong person. This "survey" will now join one from Greenpeace for examples of ridiculously leading questions when I teach polling in American Government for years to come.

By the way, the Concerned Women of America is much more "radical" than any homosexual I have ever met.

11:21 I am now missing the entertainment that would have come from having Michelle Bachmann, Alan Grayson and the other more "interesting" members of Congress.

11:20 Had to go to Fox News to get away from talking heads and hear the summit bloviators.

11:10 Two hours into this and the only things I can tell for sure is 1) the only person in the room who would like to find common ground is Obama; 2) Republicans think "Dr." instead of Rep. or Sen. sounds better today.

11:01 Watching this I think the Dems should just let Obama do all the talking. He takes on each Republican talking point and blows it apart so well while sounding so reasonable. He is demonstrating that he is the best spokesman for the plan. He is also demonstrating why he should have been doing more of that speaking over the past year. I hope he has learned he cannot rely on Dems in Congress to be the frontline troops. He HAS to be.

10:56 I think CNN is running lots of ads so when the Blair House bloviators got to break they can spend long minutes with their panel of talking heads without ads.

10:54 Kyl says, don't raise money to pay for this just do so little that we don't actually need to raise any money.

10:23 Obama actually asks Republicans why they don't like public option. I know this because I've got it streaming via CSPAN. CNN has talking heads and now commercials. MSNBC had commercials but is now back listening to a House Republican not answer the question.

10:20 Steny Hoyer is the first to say "public option." Too bad it isn't going to get in the bill.

10:15 So far no indication that this will be anything more than each side talking past the other. I am waiting for one Republican to suggest something that Democrats haven't said, "it's in the bill."

10:03 I think we are about to have the battle of the poll numbers. It's sound bit time. Oh no, its "Dr." Tom Coburn. Yeah, I want my health care legislation determined by the man who rejects all the science connected to climate change and sees health care as all about fraud and more private sector power.

9:58 CNN goes to commercial and I switch to MSNBC. CNN misses first actual exchange between 2 sides over costs. Yep, those commercials were vital.

9:55 On something completely different, I'm drinking Korean plum tea for my cold. A student gave it to me and it is quite good. Thanks, Haina.

9:48 Harry Reid is coming out feisty today. Verbal slaps back at Alexander. That's fun to watch.

9:35 Alexander says all the Dems and Obama have to do is scrap everything, follow their ideas and renounce reconciliation so that the Republicans have veto power and then bipartisanship will reign. So kind of him.

9:25 Lamar Alexander presents the Republican talking points. He lied early by saying "we want you to succeed." No they don't.

9:20 Obama still thinks 2 parties can agree. Really? The current politics rewards the Republicans for obstruction not compromise.

9:08 The opening statements are on and I expect nothing but platitudes and posturing to start.

Teddy Kennedy (1932-2009) Part 2

I don't remember Teddy before about 1972. This means that the Teddy I knew was already well known as very flawed man. I never knew him as the "heir to Camelot" as it was seen in the 1960's. I knew him as a respected, liberal Democratic Senator whose personal flaws had probably cost him a chance at the presidency. His name would come up repeatedly as a potential presidential candidate even after his failure in 1980. By the time of his divorce in 1982, his philandering and that of his brothers were well known. He was also well known as a hard and frequent drinker. In other words, my first impressions of Teddy were more as a great sinner than a great man.

In 1980 I did prefer him to Jimmy Carter, probably in part out of my own romanticized view of his lost brothers. I loved his speech before the 1980 convention. I loved his call to not abandon the liberal values that defined the party more than it had when JFK was president. But Teddy wasn't Jack or Bobby. Niether of those men were interested in the legislative branch. Teddy was. He became a senator only a few months after I was born in 1962 when I am sure he thought it very unlikely that he would ever seriously be considered a president and always a president's little brother. He became something Jack and Bobby never were -- a real Senator.

In many memorials I've seen and read today, 1980 is marked as the year that Teddy dedicated himself to the Senate as he gave up the drive for the presidency. I agree that he had released himself from the obligation to run for the presidency after 1980, but to say he became serious about his Senate career only after that date ignores all the efforts between 1962 and 1980 that I posted earlier today. By 1980 Teddy was already 11 years into his effort at universal health care. He had expanded rights and opportunities for many with efforts ranging from Title IX to rights for the disabled. He championed in 1965 what one writer referred to as his greatest accomplishments, a new immigration law that eneded the era of a discriminatory quota system that favored northern Europeans over all others. Teddy helped bring the US the talents of the more diverse population we have today.

What changed in 1980 was American politics. The country turned more conservative. Liberal dreams were replaced with conservative ones that attacked and sought to destroy many of the accomplishments of liberalism. Teddy became "the Liberal Lion" who fought back against Reaganism and all its conservative Republican successors. Yes, he would make Republican friends and be willing to make pragmatic deals with his ideological rivals. In doing so, he would also fiercely try to garner his fellow Democrats to block a reworking of the tax code to be more friendly to corporations and the rich, to preserve the right of women to be free of government intrusion into their decisions to be or not to be pregnant, and to resist the use of government for private gain instead of the greater good. Conservatives never liked Teddy, but as the last clear voice in the Senate for liberalism, he became the first and most persistent target of the direct market fundraising, right-wing radio talk show and op-ed pieces. Through the last 29 years of his life he became a hero to liberals and a devil to conservatives.

Somewhere along the way, Teddy also shed his hard drinking and skirt chasing. I do not know when or how. Maybe it was falling in love with his second wife. Maybe it was the shame of having to testifyin court about his partying at a relative's sexual assault trial. Maybe it was finally growing up as he grew older. Maybe he final heard the better angels of his nature. I don't know. Whatever it was, the party boy retired and Legislator continued.

Teddy's record continued to grow more impressive as the Republicans ruled. He did what he could when he could. Health care reform efforts under Pres. Clinton failed, but a year later he was leading the way with a bill on health insurance portability and a year after that he led the pasage of SCHIP which would enable millions of children to gain health care. He would pass a bill to try to improve education with Pres. George W. Bush, but spend the rest of Bush's presidency demanding the funding that Teddy (and lots of states and school districts) knew was needed to make the program a success and not a burden. He failed to slow W's push to go to war in Iraq but he would lead efforts to adequately armor those we had sent to fight and to provide for those fighters upon their return.

By the time his brain cancer was made public last year and it increasingly became clear that his time on this planet was short, he was simply "the Lion of the Senate." Accept to those for whom hatred has become their main focus, Teddy's ideology had been surpassed by an unprecedented legislative record. Both the late Strom Thurmond and 91-year-old but still serving Senator Robert Byrd have longer Senate careers, but neither can touch Teddy's record of achievement. Byrd was Senate Majority Leader for two years in the late 1980s, but his role among the leadership has (like too many recent Democratic Senate Majority Leaders) no great accomplishments.

So after almost 4 decades of following the career of Teddy Kennedy, what is my conclusion?

Great sinners can be great men.

Truly, Teddy was both. He did great harm to himself and others with thoughtless and, at times, cruel and opportunistic acts. This should not be erased from his obituaries. But in his almost 47 years of public service, his record is one of serving others who lack the privileges that protected him. If Teddy too easily followed the ways of those who consider themselves above the routine rules and morals of those less privileged, he also relentlessly sought to use the powers of government and his power within government to help so many who were not born to or helped by a privilege.

Perhaps (and I always hedge on thoughts such as these), God's mercy towards humans comes from the knowledge that great sinners can be great men and women. And since we are all sinners, we are all capable of greatness. We don't have to match Teddy's Senate record, we just have to remember his example that our sinful natures are no excuse for failing to help others.

Thanks, Teddy.

Ted Kennedy (1932-2009) Part 1

Below are highlights of Teddy Kennedy's Senate career taken from his Senate website. I'll write something more personal later.

Why He Was “The Lion of the Senate”

1962

Edward M. Kennedy is elected to the United States Senate.

1964

Senator Kennedy makes his maiden speech to the Senate on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was signed on July 2, 1964, and outlawed segregation in public accommodations. He also strongly supported the Economic Opportunity Act, a key bill in President Johnson’s war on poverty, which was signed on August 20, 1964.

1965

The first major bill that Senator Kennedy managed on the Senate floor was the Immigration Act of 1965. It was enacted and stood as a major turning point in immigration and civil rights policy because it eliminated discriminatory immigration quotas which favored European immigration, but restricted immigration from other parts of the world. The National Teacher Corps, which awarded scholarships to college students who agreed to teach for at least two years in economically-distressed rural and urban areas after graduation, a program which continues today. He was also a strong and vocal supporter of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, to end discrimination against minorities in voting.

1968

Senator Kennedy was a strong supporter of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the third major civil rights legislation of the decade after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As a result of Senator Kennedy's championing of bilingual education, the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 was passed by Congress.

1969

Senator Kennedy gives his first speech calling for national health insurance for all Americans. His amendment creating a minimum tax — the so-called “Alternative Minimum Tax” — becomes law, setting a limit on the amount of taxation for middle-income Americans.

1970

Senator Kennedy amended the Voting Rights Act to lower the voting age to 18, laying the basis for a constitutional amendment moving the voting age from 21 to age 18. He was also a leader in enacting the Occupational Health and Safety Act to protect workers on jobs and the Older American Community Service Employment Act. To ease the high cost of home heating, Senator Kennedy actively worked to create a fuel assistance program for low-income persons now known as the Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program or “LIHEAP”. He was also responsible for legislation laying the basis for the “War on Cancer” by quadrupling funds for cancer research and prevention. When President Nixon attempted to pocket veto Senator Kennedy’s Family Protection of Medicine Act, the Senate won a court decision invalidating the pocket veto and enacting the law.

1971

Senator Kennedy becomes Chairman of the Senate Health Subcommittee. He held a series of field hearings around the country on national health insurance, and is a leader in passing the National Cancer Act to expand research on all aspects of cancer.

1972

Senator Kennedy champions the Meals on Wheels Act, which offers nutritional meals to homebound senior citizens and the Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program, known as WIC, which offers food, nutrition counseling, and health services to low-income women, infants, and children. Kennedy was also a key supporter of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which protects women from discrimination in educational institutions and increases opportunities for women to participate in college sports.

1974

After the CIA-backed military coup that toppled democratic government in Chile and brought General Pinochet to power, Senator Kennedy leads the fight to cut off U.S. military aid to Chile. His amendment to the foreign aid bill marked the first time that Congress had ended military aid to another nation. Kennedy and Wilbur Mills, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, introduced comprehensive legislation providing national health insurance.

1975

Senator Kennedy was an original cosponsor of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, which later became the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and requires a free and appropriate public education for children with disabilities in every state.

1978

Senator Kennedy led the successful effort to deregulate the airline industry, enabling airlines to set competitive rates and reduce costs for consumers.

1980

Senator Kennedy introduced the Civil Rights for Institutionalized Persons Act, which enforced the constitutional rights of persons in government institutions such as the elderly, the disabled, the mentally ill, and the incarcerated. The Act ensures humane living conditions and also protected the religious practices of the institutionalized. Senator Kennedy also authored the Refugee Act of 1980, setting a standard for who gets political asylum in the United States and which refugees are rescued from persecution.

1982

Senator Kennedy sponsors the Job Training Partnership Act to educate and train the nation's front-line workforce and reinstates the Summer Job Program. With Senator Mark Hatfield, he proposed a Nuclear Freeze Resolution to halt the nuclear arms race.

1984

Senator Kenedy is a strong supporter of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act and its major reform of federal sentencing standards to end widespread disparities in the sentences of similar offenders.

1985

Senator Kennedy introduces the Anti-Apartheid Act to impose economic sanctions against South Africa in response to pressure that government to end legalized racial discrimination in that country. The Act ultimately won broad bipartisan support in Congress and was enacted into law when Congress overrode President Reagan’s veto.

1986

Senator Kennedy sponsors several bills to assist persons with disabilities, including the Employment Opportunities for Disabled Americans Act, which made work incentives for disabled individuals part of the Social Security Act; the Handicapped Children’s Protection Act, overturning a Supreme Court decision and enabling courts to award attorneys fees to parents of children with disabilities in litigation under the Education Act; and the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments, authorizing grants for early learning for infants and toddlers with disabilities.

1987

Senator Kennedy led the opposition to the nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court.

1988

Senator Kennedy introduced the Fair Housing Act Amendments to extend the law to prohibit discrimination towards people with disabilities in the sale or rental of housing. Kennedy was also a sponsor of legislation that provided funds to all 50 states to raise awareness about the uses of assistive technology to significantly improve the lives of people with disabilities. Kennedy also introduced legislation to require companies to give sixty-days’ notice to employees before closing a plant that would cost fifty or more workers their jobs — the so-called “WARN Act” whose provisions are in effect today.

1989

Senator Kennedy won passage of the National Military Child Care Act, which established the Defense Department’s child care system that is still viewed as one of the best in the country today.

1990

On July 26, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted into law. Introduced by Senator Kennedy, the Act prohibits discrimination against any qualified individual with a disability in job application procedures, hiring or discharge, compensation, advancement or training. Senator Kennedy was also sponsor of the Immigration Act of 1990 to expand immigration quotas to reunite families in the U.S. and to meet economic needs, which was signed into law. Senator Kennedy also introduced, with Senator Hatch, the Ryan White CARE Act, which provides emergency relief to the thirteen cities most affected by the AIDS epidemic, and substantial assistance to all states to develop effective and cost-efficient AIDS care programs, particularly for early diagnosis and home care. Kennedy was also the lead sponsor of the immigration reforms, which increased quotas for family immigration, established a diversity visa program and a temporary safe haven for persons fleeing oppressive governments.

1991

Senator Kennedy was the chief sponsor of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which strengthened existing protections and remedies available under federal civil rights laws, including the provision of remedies for intentional discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Senator Kennedy also supported a bill to repeal the ban on women serving as combat aviators, making it possible for women to have a full and complete role in our national defense.

1992

Senator Kennedy’s action on the Summer Jobs for Youth Program resulted in a $500 million supplemental appropriation for summer jobs for 300,000 additional youths. Amid serious concerns over the quality of mammography, Kennedy helped pass the Mammography Quality Standards Act to guarantee the safety and accuracy of mammograms and to encourage their use.

1993

Senator Kennedy helped establish the Direct Lending program which allowed the U.S. Department of Education to provide low-cost loans to college students to cover education expenses. In addition, the Senator sponsored the National and Community Service Trust Act, which created AmeriCorps and the Corporation for National and Community Service to expand opportunities for Americans to serve their communities, including education grants for students who agree to volunteer for service after college.

1994

Senator Kennedy’s leadership brought about the passage of the landmark Family and Medical Leave Act and the School-to-Work Opportunities Act, which provided seed money for local school-to-work programs designed and operated by local business, education, community and labor leaders. He also sponsored the Human Services Reauthorization Act, which expanded funding to communities, put Head Start on a path to reach all eligible children and expanded it to cover pregnant women and young children in the 0-3 age group, and reauthorized the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to help families pay their heating bills. Kennedy was also a leader in the passage of the Crime Act, which funded 100,000 new police officers, imposed new penalties for crimes involving gangs or firearms, and created the Police Corps, a program that provides college scholarships for talented young persons in return for their commitment to serve as police officers in their communities. The Senator’s biggest disappointment of his years in the Senate was the adjournment of Congress this year without passing President Clinton’s call health reform legislation.

1996

Senator Kennedy and Senator Nancy Kassebaum sponsored the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which guarantees the continuation of health insurance coverage for the millions of Americans who change jobs or lose their jobs.

1997

With Senator Hatch, Senator Kennedy led the successful effort to enact the major Children’s Health Insurance Program, which has brought quality health care to millions of children in low and moderate income families.

1999

Senator Kennedy and Senator Jeffords also increased job training opportunities for unemployed and at risk by passing the “Work Incentives Improvement Act.”

2000

Senator Kennedy is the lead sponsor of the Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education Act, which addresses the lead to pervasive health disparities between minorities and other Americans, and also included an authorization for significant resources to improve the delivery of health care to minorities. Kennedy also sponsored the Pediatric Graduate Medical Education Act, which provides essential support for training programs at children’s hospitals across the country. Senator Kennedy also led the successful effort to provide federal compensation and medical benefits to Department of Energy employees who become ill because of their dangerous conditions at work.

2001

Senator Kennedy works with President Bush to pass the landmark No Child Left Behind Act, which contains substantial reforms to help close the achievement gaps among students in public schools and improve the quality of education for all students. Following the attacks of September 11th, 2001, Senator Kennedy called together disaster relief and mental health organizations to plan a coordinated response to meet the mental health needs of families of victims of the tragedy.

2002

Senator Kennedy was one of the first in Congress to speak out against going to war with Iraq. He was one of 23 Senators who voted against the war and continued to be one of its leading critics. Senator Kennedy introduced the bipartisan Bioterrorism Preparedness Act to help the country prevent, prepare for, and respond to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies. Senator Kennedy was the lead Democratic sponsor of the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Reform Act to strengthen the security of our borders and improve our ability to screen foreign nationals and deter potential terrorists. To establish positive ties with the people of the Muslim world, Senator Kennedy and Senator Richard Lugar established a program to provide scholarships for secondary school students from countries with significant Muslim populations and enabling the students spend up to one year living in the United States with American host families. Since the program began, 2,700 students from more than 30 Muslim countries have participated in it.

2003

Senator Kennedy led the effort to strengthen law enforcement in case of exploitation or abduction of children. His legislation provided funds for AMBER Alert notification systems along U.S. highways, and grants to states to improve communication.

2004

Senator Kennedy was a lead sponsor of bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The legislation included bipartisan improvements in special education services for six and a half million students in the nation, including 30,000 additional special education teachers, better education training, and expanded technologies for disabled children. Senator Kennedy also sponsored the Project Bioshield Act, to enable medical and biotechnology researchers to create more effective defenses to biological threats.

2006

Senator Kennedy sponsors the Family Opportunity Act, which enables states to expand Medicaid coverage for children with special needs and enables low- and middle-income families with disabled children to purchase coverage under Medicaid. For many disabled children, Medicaid is the only health insurance program offering sufficient benefits to cover the required care, such as physical therapy and medical equipment. After the disasters at the Sago and Alma Mines, Senator Kennedy successfully championed major reforms of the nation’s mine safety laws including updated technology for mines, stricter safety standards, and stricter enforcement. Senator Kennedy was also was a lead sponsor of the Pension Protection Act, the largest reform of the pension system in three decades, which strengthened the financial condition of pension plans, improved their transparency, and added new worker and taxpayer protections.

2007

Senator Kennedy led the effort that renewed the Ryan White Care Act with greater focus on prevention, chronic care, quality of life, and new and emerging therapies. Congress also passed legislation proposed by Senator Kennedy to strengthen FDA’s regulatory authority over drugs after they are approved. The bill was termed by experts to be the most significant strengthening of drug safety in a century. Senator Kennedy’s College Cost Reduction and Access Act authorized the largest increase in student aid since the GI bill in 1944 and established a loan forgiveness program to allow more college graduates to go into public service.

2008

Senator Kennedy worked with Senator Enzi, with the help of Senator Mikulski, to pass the Higher Education Opportunity Act, which reauthorized the Higher Education Act for the first time in a decade. This legislation focused on four major areas: expanding grant aid for the neediest students; addressing the ethical scandals in the student loan marketplace; simplifying the application process for Federal financial aid; and holding colleges more accountable for their costs. After more than 10 years of effort, Senator Kennedy and Senator Domenici worked together to enact the Mental Health Parity Act, requiring insurance companies to provide benefits for mental illnesses equal to the benefits for physical illnesses and assuring equity for 113 million Americans. Senator Kennedy also led the enactment of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, prohibiting insurers and employers from discriminating against people due to their genes.

2009

Senator Kennedy championed the health and employment provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which included incentives for the adoption of health information technology, provisions to expand access to unemployment insurance and to help those who lose their jobs to keep their health insurance, and investments to improve the quality of health. Senator Kennedy was also a leader in passing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to restore workers’ ability to fight pay discrimination, the first major legislation signed by President Obama. In addition, Senator Kennedy and Senator Hatch, led the enactment of the Serve America Act, which expands service opportunities for Americans of every age. Senator Kennedy has long been a leader in seeking to strengthen federal hate crime law. Senator Kennedy’s Health Committee was also the first committee in Congress to pass comprehensive health reform legislation called for by President Obama — the Affordable Health Choices Act that will reduce health costs, protect individuals’ choice in doctors and plans, and assure quality and affordable health care for all Americans.

Last Full Day in DC - Tuesday

Last full day of tourist fun. Disappointment came when I learned that my White House tour wouldn't happen. It is all Justin's fault. I knew it needed planning ahead and he didn't remember to follow up on my early pestering. He says it is a new excuse to come back again. That's true, but boy is he better prepare for serious pestering for weeks before that trip.

Started today at Ford's Theatre. It has been fully restored and actual has about 5 plays a year. Went through the museum before getting the ranger's talk telling the story of the assassination. Visitors are rarely allowed in the actual box, but you can see it pretty well from the balcony and, as usual, the park rangers do a great job detailing the event. I skipped the trip across the street to see where Lincoln died. Instead, I talked to a ranger about when the box gets visited, for example, by political VIPs. He kind of hedged on who would for sure get to see it, but he did tell me that big donors could very probably get into the box. He explained that they do open it at times to the general public, but it is very tight and hard to get people in and out. He also told me how they have to close when there are stage productions in rehearsal and how that when the president comes for an annual event held at the theatre it results in closing the place for a full month. I love talking to park rangers. They know really neat stuff.

Next I headed off to Union Station to meet up with my grad school friend Neil who works for GAO these days. I'd not seen him in years. We were to meet at a place across the street from the station in the same building as the Postal Museum. (No Janet, I didn't go to the postal museum.) Before he got there I had time to see what the railroad station looked like in its conversion to a mall. They've done a very nice job. That station still serves the Metro and Amtrak and the mall is quite full and very busy. Kansas City could probably learn from it for its Union Station. The KC Union Station is nice, but has nothing on this lively place.

After lunch and a great visit with Neil, I walked with him back to the GAO and he told me the best way to get to my next stop...The International Spy Museum. This is a private museum and costs $18 to go through. It really wasn't worth the money. It did have some neat displays of actual spy stuff, but, in general, if you knew the basic history of spying this wasn't going to add much to you knowledge. No real exploration of the gray areas of spying at all. A bit on the excesses of the Soviet Union and the Red Scare in the US during the post-World War II days but little else. If this was a Smithsonian museum it would raise questions of the conflict between secrecy and democracy. Best thing I saw in the museum was something I saw while standing in line to buy a ticket. It was a statistic stating that over 2,000,000 Federal officials had the authority to mark something "secret." So if like to look at the spy toys go ahead. If a more questioning view of spying is desired, then skip this one. Just go to the museum store which has street access. Buy a spy movie or TV show DVD. Get a Spy v Spy t-shirt or, as I did, get your own folder stamped "Top Secret."

After the disappointment of a private museum it was back to public space. It has been a couple of decades since I've been to the National Archives and there is more to it now. There is still the Declaration, original Articles of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to see under 21st Century preservation displays that allows them to be out all the time. Plus, next to them is information on questions that went into the Constitution and events such as the Marbury v Madison rule and the addition of the Civil War Amendments changed the Constitution. However, there is also a wonderful display called "The Public Vaults" that gives you an idea of all the materials within the Archives. It includes items that range from letters from Washington and records of other Revolutionary War Army, detailed records that recorded who among the Cherokee were forced to move along the "Trail of Tears," and archived records of the relatively new but constantly changing whitehouse.gov. Great stuff.

Finally the Archives had a display called "BIG." This included a survey map of the Gettysburg battlefield that was in about 15 sections that took up most of the floor of a room. "The Long Telegram" was displayed in full as was the Articles of Confederation. Not surprisingly, those failed Articles are much longer than the current Constitution even with 27 amendments. But my favorite is pictured below.

At the end of the day I walked up the mall toward the Capitol on my way to Sen. Dorgan's office in the Hart Building where Justin works. As I did, I kept looking back toward the Washington Monument and remembering the millions of folks who crowded into the mall for Obama's inauguration. It was very cool on TV and in pictures, but to stand on that space and see how far it is from the Capitol to the Washington Monument and how it was full of people is simply amazing. I decided as I got to the reflecting pool that I needed to finally figure out who was on the statue facing the mall. It is easy to see it was a Civil War Monument, but I couldn't tell who was the general on the horse. Not surprisingly it is Grant. This makes perfect sense unlike other things around the Capitol. Directly to the north across the street from the Senate and just before you get to the Senate Office Buildings is a park with a clock tower. In front of that tower is a statue of a modern-dressed man. I had to go find out who got this prime piece of property.

It was Robert Taft.

Robert Taft. Really.

Known as "Mr. Republican" and once a real favorite among anti-New Deal, isolationist, conservative Republicans, he may have been the first Republican to begin the tradition of calling the President of the United States a socialist. He did serve in both the House and Senate, but he is not known for accomplishing much. He would have been one of the "Do Nothing" Republicans who helped re-elect Harry Truman. Okay, that was a good thing, but it didn't rate a place next to the Capitol. Did he get it because he died while serving as Senate Majority Leader just as President Garfield got his Capitol Hill statue because he got shot by a nut case? I suspect this may be it as a website on the memorial indicates that the effort to raise money for the memorial was passed only two years after he died.

Clearly then the goal of a politician who wants to get a statue is to die suddenly while you are still serving. You wonder how JFK only got his name on a Center for Performing Arts.

Enough of that... on to some photos:




Taft's Bathtub in a display of "BIG" things in the National Archives





One of Nixon's tape recorders. Hurray for good evidence.




Lincoln's Box at Ford's Theater. He sat on the right.







Booth's .44 caliber gun that he left in the box.





Actual poster from Lincoln's re-election campaign in 1864.

DC Roundup: Busy Monday

Lots and lots of walking today. Started at the Vietnam Memorial then the Lincoln Memorial then the FDR Memorial. These are my 3 favorite monuments in DC, so starting there was natural. After the FDR memorial, I walked around the Tidal Basin, on what I called my own Wilbur Mills Memorial Walk, to the Jefferson Memorial which I had not bothered to go see before. Jefferson is such a contradiction of his own words, that it was a bit odd to read them and a review of his life that details those contradiction.

It was then time to see a memorial new to the mall -- the World War II Memorial. It is very good. It fits into the mall very well and is a fairly simply manages to honor those who died and who served at home and abroad. I like the pillars marking each state with a simple wreath to honor those who served. A banch of gold stars in front of still water honor the over 400,000 Americans who died. Fountains and other moving water symbolizes life and its triumph over the horrors of war. There are some good quotes from Truman and familiar ones from FDR and Eisenhower. No weapons of war appear anywhere only lists of battles in the Pacific and Atlantic theaters. I imagine some miss the meanings of the wreaths on the state pillars, but no one can miss the meaning of the gold stars.

Next, it was time to visit the Holocaust Museum. It was almost overwhelming. Waiting for my turn to begin the trip through the 3 floors of exhibits, I viewed a temporary exhibit on Nazi propoganda and how it worked so well and how Hitler used very modern methods for the time to sell Nazism through appeals to German nationalism. Plus, there was a exhibit using a child's view of the Holocaust. With that start I headed up the elevator. The first floor is the rise of Nazism and most of that was familiar to me so that wasn't too bad. It got harder as the museum used photos of individuals and names of destroyed Jewish communities. Next was the ghettos followed by the "mobile death squads." After one floor and a half floors your heart is heavy. What follows is a walk through a freight car and step into the horrors of concentration camps. Personal items sorted precisely for no clear reason. Tattoos, details on slave labor, wooden beds from Auschwitz, and a detailed model of the death chambers with empty Zyclon B cannisters and a death chamber door across from it. No words can truly capture it. I think the wooden beds had the most impact on me. You see the pictures, but having a sample of them before you is just...horrifyingly sad. Luckily the last floor is on resistance, rescuers and the triumph of those who survived. It doesn't erase the sense of loss you feel at that point, but does keep you from leaving the place wondering if human beings are redeemable.

After all that it was time for a break. I headed for the Smithsonian castle and had a late lunch. It was good to sit and eat and rest from it all. Plus, it was my first time inside the castle and I was curious about it. The best part was the review of what used to be displayed over time in the building. The pictures of the old displays plus some of the items still there. Very cool. Behind the castle is a beautiful botanical garden. It even smelled good.

Next it was a walk down to the American Indian Museum. Didn't spend much time there, but it is a very cool building. It is sandstone and design to reflect the way natural forces shape the landscape. Outside of the building are all sorts of flora that almost separates this building from the rest of the mall. It was simply lovely.

After that quick stop, I called Justin to see if there was time for me to go to Air & Space. I had about an hour and 45 minutes before I need to meet up with him at the Hart Senate Office Building for the train ride back to Arlington. I did a quick tour of my favorite museum in the world. Took pictures of old favorites such as the Wright plane (now a part of its own room full of info on the Wright Brothers), the Spirit of St. Louis, the Apollo command capsule and replicas of the lunar module and Skylab. The contribution of the Russians to space flight is fully included now that the Cold War is over. Lots of great displays and explanations of what they did and did not do well. Below you will find a picture of Apollo-Soyuz, the first docking of American and Russian space vehicles. I must say that there 1960s space suits didn't really look lunar ready. I also got a photo of the first human vehicle traveling beyond the solar system. Voyager, like the Mars rovers, is an example of great human engineering. I do hope some alien brings it back to us some day.

That was tourism for Monday. Feet and legs were very tired, but some muscle relaxant has helped. It was also helpful that Justin took me out for my birthday dinner to a great steak placed called Ray's, here in Arlington. Good food always helps.

Tomorrow I hit some more spots and hope to get my White House or Capitol tour. I am also meeting my old grad school friend Neil for lunch at Washington's old Union Station. He works for the GAO now and loves it.

Finally, I wanted to add two things I've thought of while here. First, this trip marks 25 years to the month of my first trip to DC. My mom and dad drove me to grad school and we spent a few days with Linda and David in Baltimore. One of those days we went to DC. The 1984 Olympic team was in town. Tomorrow will mark the first time I've gotten to full days of tourism here. Second, there are way to many places here named for Ronald Reagan. My current count is 5 if you include National Airport in Virginia. It is simply ridiculous. It only demonstrates the power of Republican money for there to be so many. Now there is an official committee to create his monument. This leads to only one conclusion: Harry S Truman needs a monument in DC. If you want to talk about who contributed the most to winning the Cold War, Harry wins hands down --- NATO, the Marshall Plan, the policy of Containment top his list. No one did more.

Now a few photos:

Franklin and Falla

Eleanor Roosevelt

I think you know this one

Vest worn by NASA Flight Director during Apollo 13 (his wife always made him one for each mission)

Voyager replica

DC Vacation_Sunday Report

Got to Arlington Friday night. Easy traveling even with one hour delay getting out of Minneapolis. Bit of trouble coordinating 2 bags on wheels (using a backpack with wheels) and the escaltor. I tumbled at the top of one and received a lovely scrap/rug burn on my right knee and had a chunk of skin partially scrapped off the left knee. No major damage. Left knee looks gross as it heals under loose skin, but I'm not taking that skin off until it heals underneath. Luckily, Justin had gauze pads at his house and we got to the grocery store to pick up all needed supplies. It didn't deter us having a very good dinner at a Thai place right across the street from his apartment building. Foolish man had actually never eaten there.

Saturday I slept until 10 and then we took the train to DC. Had lunch at a Belgian restaurant. I had the Belgian version of French toast. It was more of waffle than the thick French toast I'm used to, but it was very good. Then went to wander around Eastern Market. Eastern Market is the oldest public market in DC. It is the market for the Capitol Hill neighborhood. The old building had a big fire that looked like the end of the market, but a great partnership between community activists and the local government rebuilt and restored the building. It was teeming with folks on a Saturday afternoon.

Justin and I did a quick visit to the American History Museum and toured the section on the presidency and a special section on Lincoln. Then he bought me dinner at a very nice Indian place called Rasika, where I had a Lamb dish that was excellent. After all the heat and walking I was quite hungry. Drank lots of water too. We finished DC for the evening seeing Ponyo. It is another great animated movie from the Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki. If you love animated movies, you need to see this man's films.

Sunday is a quieter day. Slept late. Had lunch at a Five Guy's Burgers and Fries which Obama loves. Not a place for those with peanut allergies. They use peanut oil for the fries and have a box of free shelled peanuts to munch on as you wait for your food. Good burger made to your specifications. Then a stop at a used CD and DVD shop which I saw and Justin hadn't yet discovered in his part of Arlington. Now I write this, plot tomorrow's tourist mania, and escape the heat for awhile. May go to another movie tonight. It will be the sci-fi film District 9.

I'll post pictures when I take them. I didn't take the camera yesterday. I'll have it tomorrow and Tuesday. I know where the train station is and where to get off. I'll look like all the other sweating tourists among the monuments and museums. It is going to be great fun.

Movies to See (0r Not)

This is for a fan of my reviews. In it I'll tell you what I think of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," "Public Enemies," and "The Proposal."

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I'll start with "The Proposal" since it is the simplest of the 3 films. If you are looking for a simple, pleasant, funny romantic comedy, this will do the trick. No great meaning is connected to this one. No original themes or techniques, just a cute premise of the obnoxious boss needing t0 stay legal and the assistant willing (for whatever reason) to be the ticket to the green card. I think what I liked best about the connection between the couple was that once the "arrangement" was made, the assistant (the male this time) was able to be more of an equal and stand up to the exceedingly domineering boss. The boss was, of course, a complete bitch to start. It is an old formula. First you hate, even when it is Sandra Bullock, and then you begin to like. The family in Alaska is also fun mainly because of Betty White. No matter how old she gets she stays funny. I would say this movie is a rental or a cheap theater showing unless you just feel the need for a gentle romantic comedy.

"Public Enemies" is not gentle. It is a rather blunt look at the end of the career of John Dillinger. Dillinger's criminal life is not romanticized. He does not live well. He uses women as shields after robbing banks and he doesn't much care about who dies as long as it is not him or one of his close friends in crime. The only potential romanticized part is Dillinger's relationship with Billie Frechette. Their relationship is portrayed as a true romance. Or, at least, as much as a romance as Dillinger was capable was having. She, in fact, faces police torture for him and ends up in prison. I have no idea if this is a true reflection of the feelings between them. Johnny Depp is brilliant, as usual, as Dillinger. There is no deep psychological exploration of the killer. There are a few lines that Depp delivers on his past, but mostly Depp plays him as a bank robber who does what he does because he is good at it. No other reason is provided and, I doubt, that any other reason is closer to the truth. I enjoyed watching Christian Bale's Melvin Purvis in part, because Bale finally put aside the growling voice he seemed addicted to since he began playing Batman. Again, no background on Purvis is offered except the idea that he was the type of FBI agent Hoover wanted to feature in the FBI even though he needed rougher, more experienced men to "get his man." Billy Crudup is excellent as J. Edgar Hoover. He plays both the determined bureaucrat seeking power and the sense of creepiness that goes with Hoover. If ever a man represented both the light and dark of those pursuing criminals, it was J. Edgar Hoover. The most intriguing small character was Giovanni Ribisi's Alvin Karpis. He only appears in 2 scenes, but Ribisi's talent still grabs your attention to what is clearly a gangster with much higher than average intelligence, but whose clothing and demeanor indicated that he hadn't made a great success of his criminal life. I was very interested in him and would like to see Ribisi reprising the role in another film.

This is a movie about men. The women featured in the film are only their for the comfort of the men. They play no other role. Given that it is about gangsters and cops, that didn't bother me. It was the 1930's after all. In fact, the only part of the movie that bothered me was a rather ridiculous scene toward the end where Dillinger casually walks into the FBI office where those hunting him work. It is a time a day when very few "G-Men" are in attendance and no one seems to mind his presence or recognize him at all. Those who are there are listening to a Cubs game. He asks for the score. It turns out the the screenwriters weren't baseball fans as the Cubs were playing the Yankees on this July day. It was just one more mistake in a bad scene.

Ultimately, I think this film biggest effect on how it lead me to get the book to read. The book covers the entire original "War on Crime" with many more gangsters besides Dillinger. The author had access to newly opened FBI files that offer interesting tidbits. I'm only on Chapter 3 because I'm mostly reading "Nixonland." That political criminal and his cohorts has more of my attention right now. (If you want to understand why Republicans are obsessed with trying to exploit all possible white resentment, read "Nixonland.") I am interested to see if the movie's implication that Frank Nitti and the Chicago mob was key to nailing Dillinger is true.

This isn't a fun movie, but Hollywood really doesn't do good gangster movies any more, but this is one. It is a movie worth the price of a matinee.

Finally there is "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" another "worth full price and I'll buy the DVD" addition to the series.

First I have to say that I love the books and I love the movies. There are some who only like one or the other. Me, I enjoy the different ways each manage to touch your imagination. J.K. Rowling's books after the first two are really much too involved to be fully captured in a film. Instead, the producers have chosen to focus on a particular part of each story. For example, in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" it was all about the Tri-Wizard Tournament and other subplots from the book are dropped. The same is done in this film. The film's main plot is aimed at leading up to Dumbledore's death. Horcruxes, Harry's building feelings for Ginny, the continuing missed romantic opportunities between Hermione and Ron, and the rising power of Voldemort in the wizard world are there, but not in the detail of the book. Even Harry's exploration of Voldemort's memories and the potion book owned by "the Half-Blood Prince" are truncated. These are choices that must be made in film. Even with all that is lost, the movie is 2 and 1/2 hours long and it isn't a slow 2 and 1/2 hours.

This film does what it must to set up what will be 2 films to cover "The Deathly Hallows" and in my second viewing of the film I noticed a few subtle hints of what is to come that those who know the last book are better able to pick up. I'll leave those to viewer/reader to find.

The two alterations that intrigued me involved Harry and Ginny and the greatest double agent in history-- Severus Snape. The scene when Harry and Ginny share a chaste kiss in the "Room of Requirement" (a great idea I'd like on my campus) alters what happens in the book and may alter what will happen in the final film. In the book, the potion book is hidden by Harry alone next to a tiara that is a horcrux. Finding it comes from Harry remembering where he hid the potions book. But here, Ginny hides the book and has Harry keep his eyes closed "so he won't be tempted." This means that she will be needed to find the tiara and could then become part what is a very exciting scene in "Deathly Hallows." I am hoping this means Ginny will be featured more in the final two films that she is in the book.

Then there is Snape. The film alters the death of Dumbledore in key ways. Gone is the paralyzing spell by Dumbledore on Harry under the Invisibility Cloak. Instead Harry is made to pledge to Dumbledore to stay hidden and just as he is about to break the pledge and act, he is stopped by Snape. Snape asks and receives Harry's silence before he enters the tower and performs the difficult act of killing Dumbledore. Listen carefully to Alan Rickman's voice as he casts the killing spell. The emotion in his voice reflecting what he is doing is there. Why the changes? I'm not sure. Either way it plays, it leaves Harry feeling exceedingly guilty over Dumbledore's death and his hatred for Snape will not be alleviated until he knows the full truth. I do think Harry's guilt makes more sense in the way the movie does it. Harry's guilt over being paralyzed under a spell is a bit too much. Feeling guilt from failing to act as the scene played out in the movie makes more sense. He hesitates. For some reason he stays still after Snape (his enemy) leaves and only watches as Dumbledore dies.

I have heard/read complaints that Dumbledore's death lacked the emotional depth it should have had. Some have argued it comes from the changes to the scene. Others say it is because the funeral is skipped. For me, I think it was because I knew it was coming and because a film cannot spend the pages dwelling on the death like a book can. I do think they missed out on using Fawkes to express the feelings of the death of Dumbledore. I would have had his cry of grief throughout the scene with Dumbledore's body. The emotional point for me was the lighting of the wands. I loved that. I teared up both times. I also like how the light obliterated the Death Mark. Well done.

Finally, I found it interesting how much humor returned to this Potter film. Humor has lessened in the films as the story has gotten darker. This is understandable, but it was also missed. Given the darkness that is to follow, I'm rather glad they returned to more humor. Ron's obsessive girlfriend, Lavender Brown, Jim Broadbent's marvelous Slughorn and Daniel Radcliffe drunk on "liquid luck" are great fun. Given the true terror of a hexed Katie Bell and the grasping inferi along with Dumbledore's death, the humor was greatly appreciated by this viewer.

I must conclude by saying that I know of no other 6 film series which has done as well. Nor has a series adapted books so well without losing their way. The 6th film heads us toward the final challenges and confrontations to come. For this fan, it led me to watch the first 5 films again. It is always wonderful to get caught up in that universe. It was also fun to watch the actors as young children again. By the time "Deathly Hallows, Part 1" is released in November 2010 the three lead actors will all be in their early 20s. When Part 2 is released in July 2011 we will have watched these actors for ten years. Their careers are unlikely to ever match this run, but they can be assured that they gave back in full measure for the chance offered to them as children. God bless who ever was the genius casting director who found them.