Vagabond Goes to Washington

Vagabond Goes to Washington

I am told that policy decisions made by the government of the United States of America are highly influenced by issue-based lobbyists and snot-nosed legislative aids. It has been suggested that the politicians that Americans vote for are often times nothing other than smiling faced, figure heads of the political machine, who essentially know very little about what they speak of. I am surprised to find myself suspecting that there may be a rhyme or a reason behind this government, so I went to Washington DC to figure out how decisions are really made.

Is this whole lobbyists folly-dolly really worth its salt? Or is it just the self-perpetuating lip-service that a bunch of goons made up just to grant themselves a biweekly paycheck that is constituted from the pockets of otherwise well-meaning donors?

For the sake of this story – which will be published in four travelogue entries – I sometimes found myself having to clutch with both hands at my throat in an all out effort to prevent my gag-reflex from shooting projectile vomit all over myself. For the sake of this story, I played nice and kept my mouth shut and my ears open. I know that I am perhaps a cynical fellow who sometimes may not be able to hold his tongue when he has something to say.

But I was surprised at what I found in DC. I expected to go into the city, meet some political super-goons, and write about these goons and all the goony things that they do. Rather, I did not come across many goons; I did meet a few pseudo-humans, but no goons. Perhaps I was just not looking in the right places. I am sure that there are a ton of goons piled up the DC mole-hill, but my reporter’s instincts did not lead me into their lyres.

Rather, I met an entire host of people who energetically engaged themselves upon their projects, people who were excited about what they were doing, driven, and a whole bunch of silly folk who really believed in some backhanded notion of democracy. Though the slight aroma of naivety was ever-present, my grouchy cynicism also rose to the surface to be seen for what it was. This trip to DC found a meeting point between my staunchly a-political tendencies and my extremely vehement revulsion to anything associated with politics of any kind. This trip to DC served to remind me that political people could possibly be considered human, however, the bounds of the definition may need to be stretched a little.

While tallying up my impressions I found that I can not write badly about the people that I met on this run to Washington DC. I met people who love what they do – even though it seems to be a miserable and miserly head-butting way of life – and it made me pleased to be in the company of people who think they have a purpose.

Links to previous travelogue entries:
Jocelyn Lieu Interview
Travel to DC and Richmond VA
Multicultural Multi Ethnic New York City