January 15, 2004

I Once Thought

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- I once thought that Washington, D.C., existed solely to house the United States government; that it contained nothing but the buildings which house it, and represent it. I once thought that no one inhabited our nation’s capital, that it was devoid of the people who worked there, after business hours, and that the only business conducted there was the business of the federal government.

No one lived in D.C., no one worked there who wasn’t an employee of the government, elected, hired or appointed. No one. Not even the press, what I like to refer to with help from the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States as an unofficial fourth branch of government.

Oddly enough, I also once thought that Disney World never closed.

Through the years I’ve compiled a mental list of my favorite cities, which include the smaller list of cities I could live in. It was only recently that D.C. made both lists, because, only recently, did I visit it for the first time.

I dig Miami not only because it’s my hometown, but also because the place is rich with diversity. One can get some of the best bagels in town coupled with amazing café Cubano at the same restaurant, served by a descendant of New York and Cuban Jews. Chicago isn’t bad either, and that’s not because it’s the city in which I was born, but because while referred to as the Second City, it stands as a class act.

And while The City stands out as well, New York also has a resemblance to Bangkok in a grungy way only large cities that barely sleep do. The place is clean, but not too clean. It’s moving, constantly, but it does stop to allow you to catch up to it every once in a while.

Berlin and Frankfurt are amazing. They’re obviously older than the cities I’ve named above, but they’re modern marvels which have ancient relics adjacent to their Bauhaus-like edifices. London, Amsterdam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo; all wonders. Baghdad even, in its time, was a place in which cosmopolitan happenings happened. Still do.

San Francisco. The whole place reeks of seafood from the ocean breeze inviting your taste buds, but reminding the past inhabitants of Alcatraz that the waters of The Bay were un-crossable. It shares a relaxed attitude with Honolulu, but enjoys all the diversity of Miami, and then some.

But I keep coming back to Washington, D.C., because if you stand on the National Mall next to – or as close to – the Washington Monument as Park Police will let anyone get nowadays, and look in all four directions, you’ll notice the reasons that made this country, my country, great.

The idea that the four buildings that surround The Monument speak to the freedoms they represent is terribly important. That someone decided these buildings had to be of gargantuan size -- even though someone did -- is passable. But that they represent ideals, freedom and law isn’t. That regardless who was elected to hold office and occupy these buildings, they stand as a constant reminder of the rule of law, and that principles matter in the grand scheme of things. Abstract idea prevails through the bull run of a modern terrorist era, and it will continue to.

But D.C. is obviously more than just the place that houses our federal government. It’s the guardian of it and our way of life.

I don’t say these things lightly with the obvious misdirection the United States has taken over the last three years. The thing is, even though the wrong guy might be in the presidency, and even though he didn’t get there by popular vote, and even though I might not fully support his policies, he’s still there because of a design the framers of the constitution made to ensure that we didn’t elect a president by lynch mob.

But that, in its infinite flaw, is what makes this kind of government wonderful. Its flaws, its room for improvement, allow the country to be malleable, pliable, and grant us ability to change with time and allow time for change.

- Rich