DC Spinster

There is a lot to see in the District on a run at this time of year even beyond Holiday Lights.  For instance, a Giant Panda in the subway system, Washington is nuts about its Panda Bears, all gifts on loan from China, except for maybe the offsprings but I think even those might belong to China by the rules of exchange.  I was in a museum on my run and I listened to a loud exchange between the security guard and a man wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey about the relative suckiness of each other's NFL team and when it seemed to be escalating into acrimony, I offered my opinion that I hated the Washington Redskins myself (it goes way back to the Nixon years); the security guard looked at me and said, "Then why are you wearing their colors?"  I was inadvertently, having donned the long-sleeved technical running shirt de-juere (gold) and the best sports vest I had with pockets that sealed with velcro closures (crimson).  I'll try not ion the future to look like a running prop for the failed team of allegedly despicable owner (he allegedly is very litigious and allegedly sues anybody for anything as allegedly a big bad bully in court burying persons who badmouth him with legal fees) Danny Snider.  (It turned out the two men who seemed to be arguing heatedly were actually friends.)

Hanging art versus suspended construction along the Mall.

A beautiful carousel on the Mall, seemingly uplifting even while looking backwards to the dark days of the Depression when a Merry-Go-Round could bring a brief glimmer of joy and hope.

The Capitol framed by the majestic raised sweep of the uplifted curving Hirschhorn Museum.  There's a lot of rancor and anti-democratic action going on down there; it's sickening Republic-wrecking activity, purely money and power driven, thank heavens for the 2018 elections.

I have friends who are unabashed liberals (as am I) who suffer from paralysis of analysis, in my estimation.

It is said that a liberal is someone who tries to see so many sides of an issue that he can’t even agree with himself.

Some of my friends feel that no one should be denied the right to engage in any "legal" course of action, even brandishing guns at presidential rallies. This overly-tolerant attitude is a definite disadvantage in a dogfight. Savage infighting, in my opinion, is what is going on in the current health care "debate."

Nut-jobs are showing up openly carrying guns a block away from where our president is speaking on the issue. Common sense is giving way to a mania for niceties when these nut cases are allowed to congregate in public with small arsenals within a block of the president.

Bullying prevails until it is called out for what it is–an attempt at intimidation--and stood up to.

They carry signs saying the tree of liberty should be watered. Anyone who reads books instead of endlessly blathering text messages on their I-phones would know that this is a "clever" reference to Thomas Jefferson’s famous saying that the tree of liberty should be watered periodically with the blood of tyrants and patriots. (If you’re unfamiliar with it, look up the quote on the Internet and gain some more shallow knowledge.) (Right: The scene in NH.)

Is that a threat to kill the president? Maybe. Is this intimidation? Absolutely. It is also menacing, and disturbing the peace in my opinion.

It is ridiculous to countenance such jackbooted behavior as a paean to the First Amendment. I don’t care what those crazy "open carry" laws allow. You don’t bring guns to a political debate.

I was a cop once. I know about rousting people. Cops maintain the public order for the benefit of the good and genteel people of the middle class by moving along the crazy, the agitated, the homeless. These idiots carrying weapons on street corners near the president should be rousted by the Secret Service.

We don’t need insecure little men walking around with civilian versions of assault rifles slung over their shoulders near where our president is . I wish I had been there to personally congratulate these armed losers for finally having something long and hard attached to their bodies. (Left: The scene in AZ.)

I commend the democratic congressman who coolly stared at a fruitcake holding up a placard depicting our president wearing a little Hitler mustache and asked, "On what planet do you spend most of your time?"

This Massachusetts representative properly described such behavior as "vile, contemptible nonsense."

Leave the guns, and the scurrilous untrue hate-mongering bombast about proposed health care mandates, at home.