Here's how they worked. In the Rayburn room in the Capitol building, and a floor or two above "blogger alley" each of the new members of the House and his/her family would pose for a photo op with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. There were two "stations" in the room, by the way. I am guessing that this was done so that while one group was collecting itself the four gajillion photographers would be snapping twenty gajillion photos of the OTHER family that by that point had already been posed.
Once one family was done, they'd leave the room and the photographers would then train their cameras on the other family. And so on till they finished.
When I got to the room, it was sweaty packed with newspeople. They were all waiting for one thing - the photo-op for new Housemember Keith Ellison.
For those who've been living under a rock for the past few weeks, here's the wikipedia's take on the whole "controversy." It's very silly and Virgil Goode should read the Constitution sometime. Especially this part:
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.But I digress.
The first photo op was for Congressman Ellison - and I was there. He stood for a while with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and some members of his family. Everyone smiling. His left hand on two matching books, his right raised as if he was taking an oath. But no one spoke. Everyone remained smiling. The cameras clicked at lightning speed. Then a larger family was brought in for the next round of photos with Congressman Ellison. Cameras clicked. People smiled.
Needless to say, our Republic has somehow endured.
Goode thing, too.
UPDATE: And sorry, I should have updated this way way sooner. It was actually Thomas Jefferson's Quran. Sez so here. Something about that's gotta make you smile.
Thanks, David, for all the great posts!
ReplyDelete:-)
wonderful work!
ReplyDeleteI'm happy for you, David, really. But still, I think something along the lines of a cold shower might be in order. The reason why many of us read blogs in the first place is that the more conventional media outlets simply can't ever hope (or even be expected to) present all the various sides of any story. Bloggers provide editorial content without any need to please advertisers, sources, or those in public office. That's what blogs do best.
ReplyDeleteWhen I see you practically creaming in your jeans over being given a press pass, it gives me pause. Surely, you must see that they are essentially cultivating you and your content, in the same way as they have muscled editorial boards at newspapers for years on end. You wouldn't be there if they didn't feel they could count on you to post a steady stream of rah-rah-team, isn't-this-so-damn-great blog entries.
My politial leanings are probably pretty close to yours, my friend. I agree with at least 90% (maybe even more) of what you write. But I'm not about to nut myself over this new congress. I've been around long enough now to see the Democrats make a gawd-awful mess of things when they held the majority for an excessive number of years, only to be replaced by Republicans who eventually did exactly the same thing.
I would rather see you skeptical and discerning, rather than the way you are right now.