Another BullShit Day in Suck City

Yeah, DC still sucks. And will as long as there are dull, egocentric, ideologically driven people here with no imagination, no sense of purpose other than pushing a political agenda. Congress was convened over the weekend to grandstand about an issue that bears little relevance to anything right now--the president left instructions to be awakened so he could sign the "emergency legislation"--and yet there are so many issues that are genuinely worth his time and attention...it boggles the mind. (To cite one example, thousands took to the streets this weekend to protest the war in Iraq, and yet there was next to nothing in the major papers, who were too busy covering the above "story." Go figure.)

In my youth, DC, for all its flaws, was a fun town, a forward-thinking city filled with young, vibrant people who, it seemed, only wanted to do good things, who were inspired to serve. Of course the last vestiges of that hope got smashed in 1968, when it all came crashing down...

It's an odd city--a place that assumes the character of whomever currently resides at 1600 Pennsylvania. Today it is bland and boring and whitebread and lacks vision and hope and character. The people who handed the reins of power to these folks think they are doing good work here in the Nation's Capital, but they believe what they are being fed by the sycophantic media, they are not here grappling with the horrors of the wounded at Walter Reed, the hungry and homeless and jobless right here just blocks from the Capitol's white-lit dome. Contrary to popular belief, this is a dark, dark time, and there is more on the horizon. DC is a city on the decline, and for my own sanity I must get out. I may someday return. It is fairly likely that I will, in fact--there is a part of this place that will always be with me--but for now, it is on to different, if not better things.

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When I get down over all this--which is pretty much daily anymore--I seek solace in the great minds of the past. Not that bringing these people back will change anything, but returning their vision and ideas to the debate would be a good start. I read this again today and remembered what this country once stood for and someday will again:


"To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required--not because the communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich."
--John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961