Mr. Dungan Goes to Washington

Inauguration day and more

Monday:
Apparently, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is huge in D.C. The day's crowds were also exacerbated by the throngs of people in town for the ceremonies on Tuesday and the thousands of people who were wanting to do service projects that day per Obama's urging. At RFK stadium they actually had to turn people away or limit their time because there was such an influx of volunteers. To me that was simply amazing.

That morning all of the interns had to head down to the capitol to get our tickets for the inauguration, so we all woke up and went down around noon. Little did we realize that this was the day that everyone else had to pick up their tickets as well. Each of the House Office Buildings had lines that stretched out to the street and in many cases around the corner. It was ridiculous. Lucky for us, one of our interns worked for Dennis Moore and that was the office that we were getting our tickets through, so we all just gave David our tickets and he marched through the line with his credentials and grabbed everyone's ticket. 'Twas pretty sweet.

A few of the intern folk and I then just went to Macaroni Grill and grabbed some lunch. At first I was thinking to myself, "why would you go to a chain when there are so many unique places here to eat?" but once I got my food I remembered it was because their food is...you know...great.

I spent that night hanging out with my friend Chris Terry who was in town for everything on tuesday. It was really nice to see him. We just grabbed food at another italian restaurant (too much pasta for one day I tell you) and walked around downtown trying to find the apartment they were staying at. It was the first time I had walked through Adam's Morgan at night (the bar/food district) and I now I understand what all of the hubub is about. The place is hoppin.

Tuesday:
So, after not sleeping more than an hour, I willingly got up and met up with other interns in my living room so that we could leave around 6 am. The Metro had started running as early as 4 am, so we figured we were being pretty smart by leaving that early. We didn't expect, however, that leaving at 6 meant not getting to the stop we were trying to get to until 9 am. It was insane. Every other stop we tried to get on a train at was either too busy for us to get on, or the metro we needed to hop on didn't even stop to open its doors due to the crowds on the platform.

Finally, after arriving at the mall we proceeded to wait in line for around an hour. Now understand that when I say "line", I'm being generous. There was little to no form to this mass of bodies huddled together in the cold, save the fact that we were all slowly shuffling towards the security points. After this hour in "line" all of us saw an opening in the people and made a mad dash for the security check point. Once through, we just staked our claim on a spot and stood until the ceremonies started.

The actual inauguration was...breathtaking. Just seeing the enourmos crowd who was gathered, and hearing the speech live as it echoed across the mall. Hearing the words of our first black President echo off of the lincoln memorial and back into a mass of 1 million people there, screaming his name...it was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. For about 20 minutes while he was speaking you forgot you were cold. You forgot you woke up at 6 am. You forgot that the people next to you were complaining or that you had to walk all the way back home and you just listened to this man who 2 years ago started his journey toward the impossible and inexplicably accomplished what no one thought he could. It was just breathtaking.

Afterwards, they apparently had a very poor exit planned for all of the masses and it ended with groups tearing down fences or climbing walls. Through all of the cops yelling and people running, we finally made our way out of it and into the streets, only to be met with more crowds and waiting in "lines". It took us nearly 2 hours to walk through all of downtown D.C. and back across the mall to a metro station that was actually empty enough we could get on.

By this point, my already tired and sick body (I've had a sinus infection) was exhuasted. I felt sick to my stomach and literally fell asleep standing up on the metro ride home. Once I got back to my bed I passed out around 5:30 pm.

Wednesday:
This morning was terrible. After falling asleep at 5:30 you would think I'd wake up to my alarms, but due to my sinus thing sapping all of my strength out of me I overslept and groggily woke up about an hour late. I felt terrible for being late so I called in and explained what had happened while rushing into work. I sounded pretty terrible too just given that I was all stuffy and coughing for most of the day. At work they were really nice about it and understood that I was sick, but that doesn't make me feel any better. These are people who I respect, like a lot, and want to respect me. Everytime I do something wrong, or get in late I feel like I let them all down.

Luckily the rest of the day went pretty well and I thought that the work I did get done was good. Hopefully tomorrow is a bit better.

So that is what I have for daily updates. The internet is being installed this weekend ( along with cable) and I believe I'm getting my xbox today, so that is exciting. The xbox was being fixed, so I was without dvd player or gaming system for about a month...it was terrible.

Politically speaking, I've been fairly happy lately. I was outraged by the displeasure of the conservative right over the benediction at the inauguration. Dr. Joseph Lowery, long time friend of MLK jr. and Rosa Parks delievered a gorgeous prayer in which, while discussing racism, he called for white to embrace whats right. Of course, conservative pundits began to jump all over this, comparing Dr. Lowery to Jeremiah Wright in their disdain for America.

This made me so mad I could barely contain myself. The prayer was simply asking for an end to racism, but apparently if you point out the truth of a matter, you're being insensitve. I guess racism is just one of those things that conservatives would rather we not talk about in public because it makes them too uncomfortable. We'll go ahead and stack that on top of sex, homosexuality, and drugs.

If these are issues that we really want to face we liberals need to talk about them with the same ferver that we talk health care or social security. We can't abide by the rules of what is safe and what is publicly acceptable if we really want to bring about change. I'm sick of the Democratic Party playing defense on issues like this.

Today, January 22, is the 36 anniversary of the Supreme Court handing down the decision of Roe v. Wade. This is an issue that is so personal to so many people that many times there is no such thing as winning an argument when it is discussed. The fundamental mind set that a person has about life, religion, or the law tend to make this an issue that is so set in peoples mind's it often seems as though it is not worth debating.

I do believe, however, that the debate should continue. Without this debate and without this conversation going on, new ideas would never form. Some people out there who haven't made up their mind would just go on believeing whatever they are told without having the opportunity to hear both sides of the story. In fact, it is issues like this that I believe deserve the most discussion. Politics have become so over run with, well, politics that often times people forget why they believe what they do or what their fundamental policy beliefs even are.

I know I'm rambling, but please, take today to really think about how you feel on some issues. Start up a conversation with a friend or family member about a controversial topic. Keep your debate civil but don't be afraid for it to get lively. This is how ideas are shared, and this is how great minds are exercised. Don't be scared to talk about it, don't be scared that you might upset someone. Just say what you think is right. After all, no matter how many things you can lose, your opinion will always be yours. It is your right, and I would say your obligation, to make it heard.

Labels: inauguration, Opinion

posted by gdungan @ 5:55 AM