Charlie and America's War by: Orlando

Having just watched Charlie Wilson War’s I have a new found appreciation for “Dubya” and the Republican Party’s strategy for GWOT (Global War on Terror.) And with growing fervor I believe that we need to win the wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq. There has been multiple times where I have lost my faith in this war. Many times I have said, “Goodness, these people are completely ungrateful. We waste billions rebuilding schools, rebuilding their economy, and establishing there military. Let’s do the world a favor, ourselves the justice and leave these suicidal guys alone.” But wait, let us look at history. We have been in Afghanistan before and we have been in Iraq before, our strategy of not going all in has cost us more money and more war.
We all know the history of Afghanistan, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and they asked us for help. When it was all over we were spending a billion dollars a year, in weapons and other supplies. The moment they won their freedom we cut all spending. It went from 1 billion dollars to 0 dollars, in a day. We ran out there, leaving them to be swallowed by Islamic-fundamentalism and anti-American zeal. When we stopped funding them half of the population was under the age of 14. What would have happened if we had continued fund them? What would have happened if we spent a billion dollars on building a liberal and secular school system? What would have happened if we established a purposeful infrastructure? What would have happened if we put money into a functioning government? Instead we left them alone, and now that 14 year old boy we liberated, we killed because there were no schools. Instead for education he went to a Madrossa, there he learned that America is the “great devil.” After that, he found a place in the mujahideen, he helped design the attack on the USS Cole, taught 14 other young men how to make IEDs, and he then messed with the wrong marine. Our failure to go all the way is now costing us a BILLION dollars a day, when could have spent a billion dollars a year. Make no mistake, if we give up on them now we will be in there again, and only God know how much money we will be spending then. Iraq is the same thing. The first Bushy went in and refused to go all the way. Where are we now? At this point liberals, democrats, and everyone else needs to get over why we went there. It does not matter anymore, we are now in there and it is time to win. The GWOT is the most pressing issue, and is why I am voting for McCain. I believe everything is tied to our winning the war on terror. If we win and both those countries are democratic, what then? Our nation’s prestige goes up, the Middle East is that much closer to peace, and as a result our economy, which is tied up in it, begins to pull out of this ebb. America Akbar!

(P.S. We are winning the war. Investment shows that we are. China is the number 1 investor in Iraq, and everything they touch lately becomes gold. Or at least the price of it, a.k.a. oil)

THE Dome Tour by: Danielle

About a week ago, I was able to go on a very rare dome tour. It was absolutely amazing. About two weeks prior I went to a lecture given by the Capitol Hill Architect. It was very informative and I liked it a lot. Afterward one of the interns I work with went up to the man and asked him if he could give us a dome tour. The intern gave the excuse that our member could not take us due to a hip replacement. The architect said that would be fine. The six other interns and I were ecstatic! We couldn’t believe we somehow nabbed a tour of the dome. When the office staff found out about our good fortune, they were so envious. Almost all the staffers have never been on a dome tour. So, as you can tell it didn’t help when all the interns came back with the opportunity to go on one.
Finally the big day came for the truly grand tour of the dome. As we sat waiting in the rotunda for our tour guide to show up, we had to sign waivers incase we were to die or be seriously injured during the tour. Once the guide came he quickly made a remark about my shoes. I was wearing three inch heels and supposedly someone was supposed to tell me that I wasn’t allowed to wear them. I quickly reassured him I would be fine and it wasn’t worth missing the tour. We started working our way up the 300 steps. The first stop was above the frieze on a balcony with windows. On one side we could look into the rotunda. On the other side we could look outside and see the Supreme Court. At this point I was debating to go further or not. It really never occurred to me that we would be so high up and still have to go even higher. I have a terrible fear of heights and my knees were already shaking. But I thought to myself that I didn’t want to be the loser who quit. I continued on upwards. The stairs became almost vertical. They were very difficult to climb, especially with high heels on. Then we got to the next stopping point, the top of the rotunda. I was just feet away from the Apotheosis of George Washington. It was absolutely breathtaking. Literally, I had to stand up against the wall as I took in the art and the fact of being so high up. I finally got the nerve to stick my camera over the side to take a picture and determine how high I was. When I saw it the people looked like little ants walking around. The acoustics up there were also spectacular. Our tour guide walked over to the other side and continued the tour by just using his normal voice. We were able to hear him as if he was speaking directly in our ears.
Once we left the inside of the rotunda, we continued up the stairs to go to the outside of the top of the dome. We finally arrived outside at the very top of the Capitol building. The view was breathtaking! We were able to walk around on a small balcony and spot every major building with in the DC area. I even saw my apartment building all the way over in Alexandria, VA. While we were up there I watched a storm across the National Mall. This was absolutely the best tour/place I have been since arriving here. I don't think anything can top it. Here are the pics from the tour...

Mini-sode

(I change all names for sake of privacy)

This last week has been filled with a lot of mini stories, and being that I do not want to write more than one long blog, I am writing mini-sodes for each. The first mini-sode is the bloodiest.

An intern and I had a conference with Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Ohioan senator. This conference was being held in the Hart Building, and we had to get to Capitol Hill.

(Side Story: Our work complex has a bus that shuttles people from Towngate (where I work) to Crystal City (a metro stop.) The shuttle driver, John, is quite a character. He is an overall nice guy, but very rough around the edges and one that is anal about his job. I remember that the first day I came to work he came in and had a spiel about the shuttle schedule. “The bus leaves at 45, if you are outside at 46 you are going to be left. I don’t care what your story is.” I was actually afraid of this bus driver, more so than the ones that drove the buses in elementary, middle, and…yes…HIGH school. (I was one of those lame high school junior/seniors.) The first day I ever rode was a telling example of his disregard for “stories.” I was heading to Crystal City, and arrived promptly at John’s stop at 4:40. When we got on, a girl suddenly remembered forgot something on her desk. It was 4:43, the shuttle leaves at 45. She ran off and when it hit 4:45, he took off. The following conversation ensued:

Me: Hey…um…that girl isn’t on, and she left her stuff.

Anal Bus Driver: Well, she’ll know to find it.

From that moment on, he went from intensely anal to intensely scary. )

However, that wasn’t even the mini-sode. Back to the Sherrod Brown conference, the intern and I got to his stop 5 minutes early; he rolled up 2 minutes later, and 3 minutes after that, we were off. He was joking and good spirits. Suddenly, while we were driving on Washington Parkway, I saw a flash in front of the bus, and then a thump. We had hit something, but it wasn’t a person, rather a bird. Now, most people would instantly feel bad. I did and I wasn’t even driving. What did John say? Did he say “Darn, I can’t believe I killed that animal!”

No.

His words were, “Darnit, now I have to wash the van.” He continued to mumble about something and he then expounded as to why the van is colored maroon. “To hide the blood of these stupid animals.” At that moment what happened? We hit another one, and in the same spot! I had, at that moment, passed any sense of remorse, and was openly laughing at the situation. After having killed two birds, we arrived, the intern and I jumped out to inspect the damage. Right under the headlight, on the maroon painted bumper, was a softball sized patch of feathers, and barely visible blood. He was right, maroon paint does hide the blood.

First of all I am sorry I haven't posted any new info or pictures. I know some of you knew I went on a very rare Dome Tour (by the way it was AMAZING and completely blew my mind). I have the pictures and will post them soon. My internet hasn't been working, so hopefully I can get that fixed soon.
Mom and Michael, I absolutely can not wait for you two to come! Be ready for fun because I have big plans for the two of you. Have a safe trip up here! I will see you soon!!!
xoxo,
Danielle

Always Something New...

Today I made a fascinating discovery. I was leisurely looking out our office window as I was entering constituent mail into the system. The building outside looked slightly familiar but I could only see the side of it. Turns out the office’s window view is of the U.S. Supreme Court. How cool is that! I was very excited to find this out.
I also was able to go to a Judiciary committee hearing today. Members of the FBI were giving their testimonies of coercive interrogation used by the bureau. It was very interesting. The Chairwoman, Senator Feinstein (CA), accidentally introduced Senator Spektor (PA) in an improper way. Spektor called her out on the floor and told her how inappropriate she was to do that. It was great. The room full of people didn't know if they should laugh or be afraid of him. There were a few giggles and chuckles. I loved getting to see how two senators interact from opposing parties. I get to see a little bit of it during Senate votes, but I never hear what they are saying as they mingle amongst each other on the floor. Although today I was able to see and hear the tension between the two. The squabble was quite intriguing.

My first week...

WOW! The first week is officially done. I absolutely love my job. I would try to describe my least favorite part but I can’t because my internship is phenomenal!
My first day, I got there about 30 minutes early along with another intern who was starting the same day. We were both slightly nervous as we anticipated what was to come. There were already 5 other interns working. They started three weeks prior and only have three weeks left before they leave. I’m really excited because my internship will be 10 weeks! During the first day, I went through orientation and met the staff (the press secretary, schedulers, legislative assistants, and legislative correspondents). My intern coordinator took us on a tour of the office building. It has 2 cafeterias, a post office, a gift shop and a really fun underground railway system. According to the staffers it is also know for having the best frozen yogurt (aka fro-yo) in town. The underground trains take you into the capital building. The capital is absolutely amazing. There is so much history and art that it never gets old to look at. It’s fun to think that our founding fathers and every great American leader walked through the same hallways.

Now let me fast forward to Wednesday. I believe this was the craziest day I’ve had either ever or in a really long time. I woke up at 6 am and began my normal routine. Everything was on schedule for me to leave at eight. At about 7:15 I was in the kitchen grabbing a cup of water. Directly behind me my roommate was making breakfast on the stove. All of a sudden I heard an explosion, and then orange and yellow colors were illuminating off the kitchen walls. My first reaction was extremely embarrassing and it unfortunately showed me where my priorities were. I ran out of the kitchen, not even looking back to see if my roommate was even alive, I screamed and said “Oh my gosh, I have hairspray in my hair!” For some reason I thought that since the kitchen was exploding I would too if the fire got into my hair. Once I selfishly finished checking myself for any signs of fire on me, I looked over at my roommate. She stood there watching a solid 3 foot flame rise out of the pan, all the while black smoke came fuming out of it. I yelled for her to open the kitchen window. I did not want the fire alarm to go off. Can you imagine how made the apt. building would be if they had to be evacuated before work? I believe we would have received death threats. As I was running around the apt. trying to open every window we had, my other roommates came out and yelled at the cook to throw flour on it. The cook just stared at the flames. By now our smoke alarm was sounding off (at least we know it works). Finally my one roommate Jeannine took matters into her own hands. She stormed into the kitchen grabbed the flour threw it on the pan and stormed back out. We unfortunately can’t ban the cook from the kitchen. So now she cooks at her own risk. Well, actually cooks at the risk of everyone in the apt and the building. Here is the remains of the pan…

The second crazy thing to occur that day happened while I was at work. The office interns and I were giving a tour to a group of fifth graders and their chaperones, equaling a total of 70 people. Each intern had a group of 15 people. I was shadowing one of the interns because I still haven’t learned all the ropes yet on how to give a tour. Everything was going fine. The kids seemed to be somewhat intrigued and the parents were excited to be there. When we finished the tour we walked out the west steps (the “front”) to see a huge storm rolling in over the Mall. I wish I had a camera because it set the monuments in amazing lighting that was breathtaking. Anyways, half of the group was waiting below for the bus to pull up. We met the group at the bottom of the stairs. The parents were starting to get a little anxious. Then another group started spreading word that there was a tornado by the airport. Keep in mind the airport is only across the Potomac, which isn’t to far from the Mall. Now the parents began to freak out, while the kids were excited to get wet. They just didn’t realize this isn’t the kind of rain you want to play in. We had one big problem. Since security for the Capital is so strict we could not take the group back into the building to be with the rest of the group. We had to think fast. The moms were getting upset and wanted to take cover somewhere quick. So we sent them with two interns into the closest House of Rep. Office buildings. One intern remained outside incase the rest of the group came out. It was my job to run back inside and find the rest of the group and tell them to cut it short. I was excited about the adventure, except I was wearing high heels and didn’t know my way around the building. I ran to a security guard, flashed him my badge and he let me in past security. Once I searched all of the building, I could of only one other place they could be…the Brumidi Corridors. I ran down the hall and found them there. As soon as I pulled the interns aside to tell them about the storm, the Capital intercom system came on. The only audible words in a series of sentences was “Tornado Warning!” This quickly sent the children into a panic. Their eyes started welling up with tears. A couple of them asked me if they were going to die. That is not a question I expected to answer that day. Well, be the bright interns that we are we did not know the phone number of our office. Needless to say after walking two and a half hours through the capital and through the underground system, we got the group back together and on their way home.

I was so excited to get home that day and rest. I was sitting on the sofa talking with my roomie and Orlando. All of sudden, Orlando got up and ran into the sunroom. I thought he saw somebody jump off the roof from the expression on his face. He finally pointed to what he was looking at. A huge hole was right in the corner of our window. I believe the tornados caused the damage. A person came to fix it, but now we avoid being in our sunroom. Here are the pics…

Howdy

Now that I have been in Washington for a little less than 2 weeks, have a general mastery of the metro system, aware of the social code Washingtonians adhere to, and an understanding of the national mall, I now feel like a resident and no longer like a tourist. In these 2 weeks I am numbed to fact that politicians are sharing metro cars with me, that I walk by embassies on my way to class, and at any moment I am within 200 feet of a homeless person. I am now unimpressed when I see a Pentagon badge or when I see a motorcade. Also, what happens is that you slowly began to despise tourist. I look down at tourist because they annoy me. They do not understand that they must stand on the left of escalators, and walk on the right. They do not know when to cross the street, and then stop without warning right in front of you, to take a picture or because they have no idea where they are going. What results is that I have slowly become that rude city slicker, the one that taps his foot, or says “Excuse me” and begins pushing. I feel like they are now the hyenas or vultures, who muddle with my Serengeti. Although that is the case with tourist, I am the hyena or vulture that muddles up Chwat and Company. This was my first week at work, and I have never been so overwhelmed. Last summer I went to New York City with my dad, and I noticed professionals would were still in their offices, or just getting out of work, at 7-8pm. I was initially shocked by that, but my dad and I talked about it and he said what it is takes to succeed. Because of that, I for the last year, promised that was how I would work in the corporate world. Now that I am here, I finally realize how easy it is to do that, because of the work load, and how hard it is to fight the urge to leave. At Chwat and Company I research, help promote, and work continuously on bills that people should put through Congress. I would have gone into greater detail, but I signed a confidentiality agreement. So I can finally say the following words, I am not at liberty to say. What I can talk about, however, is my TWC class; which is a no joke class. I am taking a class called, “Immigration and the Contemporary Debate” and it is going to be interesting. The only downside is that I will have to carry the mantle of Conservatism. In my class there is nothing but college liberals, which means completely green (green as in the environment and marijuana) students who believe the government can solve all problems. Now, I know some people will probably say, “Orlando, just let them say it and keep your head down.” But, I am in the most political city on the planet, and this city was made of arguments, for arguments, and by arguments (Thanks Lincoln.) So argue I will.

I wanted to write a note to my family. You all have been such a help. Sandra, thanks for your help, you are an amazing sister and my hero in so many ways. That Pryor is on fire! Veronica you have been just as amazing. Thanks for your constant support. Soon we will take a spill on the hill. I love you. Mom and Dad, I cannot express my love enough. You guys are my rock, and I love you so much. I will call you all very soon.

Darn Television and Movies

In every movie or television show there is always that one scene where the protagonist(s) must accomplish some immense task or project. That scene is always set to music with the protagonist(s) working late in the library, puzzling over paperwork, or constructing some monolithic building. This montage is always inspirational yet is totally deceitful. I am a fan of the show The West Wing, and in almost every episode there is a montage. In it, the characters are working late into the night, and then suddenly they were done. As if, in that 30 second to minute interval of work (with accompanying background music) summed up all the work they had to do. Strangely enough, that was the idea I had when I started this program. However, having now worked 3 days at my internship, I have been robbed of that idea and I have true appreciation for the hard work and immense creativity it takes to pass a bill before Congress. Do not get me wrong, I love my job. I am currently doing what I dreamt about for years. I am researching bills, looking for potential Congressmen to cosponsor certain bills, and thinking of ways to convince other Congressmen to vote for them. It is just that disillusionment has occurred and I am vaguely disappointed. Yet, my disillusionment has been replaced with a sense of joy that only comes with the acquirement of knowledge. I have been studying American Government since senior year of high school; however, I have learned in the last couple days more about the political process than in the last couple years. We are all taught that it is the Congressmen who are moving the American government forward, but that isn’t the case. Congressmen are the people soaking up the limelight, while the real pushers are despised by the American public. Lobbyists (or special interest) are the people doing the leg work, alerting the Congressmen, and writing the bills that Congressmen pass. There was an article in the Wall Street Journal called “In Defense of Lobbyist” by Tom C. Korologos which accurately represents what is means to be a lobbyist. I believe it is a must read, and after reading it you suddenly realize that, “Hey…Lobbyists aren’t the great demon everyone portrays them as.”

Well, those are my thoughts.

Pictures!!!

Orlando infront of the Capital Building during his scavenger hunt through D.C.

The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum!

Orlando and Darby-Darb infront of a space thingie.
The eagle has landed.
I don't know what is going on but it seems to be intense.
Practicing my cat like reflexes! Astronauts usually score 200, I scored 180!!!

Hey Michael, I bet you can't beat me!

Orlando is doing some serious piloting.
Uncle Orlando wants you!
Attempting to strike a JCPenny pose, but I couldn't stop laughing

Orlando successfully doing the JCPenny pose in the Smithsonian Sculpture Garden.
The Louvre
The Saturday sightseers!

Dan, Orlando, Jason, Amanda, Darby

This is my new favorite tree, a Dogwood. The first time I saw it I thought there was snow on the trees!
My date for a night out on the town. Unfortunately he was stuck with other priorites, so he couldn't come with me.

The Capital Building at night.

Come on Jason strike a pose! In front of the Library of Congress.
The eastside of the Capital.

I can't wait to take a spill on the hill w/ you Ron Jon!

I promise Jason was just as excited as I was to be there for the private tour.

The small Senate Rotunda
Gorgeous chandelier worth $4 million.

Practicing the tour. The guys were great sports!

Old Supreme Court Chambers
The only statue that shows the most likeness of George Washington and is his exact height.
In front of Nancy Pelosi's house. Could this be Orlando's future office?!?

The Rotunda and the Apotheosis of George Washington

Taking notes

This is Jason's excited face :)

Beautiful view of the Mall. You can see all the way to the Lincoln Memorial.

Orlando's favorite picture. Toot-Toot!

Waiting for our train. The wait is a lot longer during the weekend!

So we started to play games to pass the time!