Mr. Veldkamp Goes To Washington

The End Approaches

2008-06-26T22:27:00.006-04:00

Tomorrow is the last day of my internship. Hard to believe, but true. My family is coming out tomorrow, and we're going to have our vacation out in DC. I'll miss the office and the friends I made here, but I'm ready to get on with the summer, too.

As I write this, I have been awake for eighteen hours, since 4 AM. Even so, I'm not tired. In fact, I'm a little giddy. And the reason is, I woke up at 4 AM this morning to go running with Senator Grassley.

No lie. The senator runs three miles every morning at 5:15. (He's 74). Abhay asked him if he could come along, and eventually Adam (from Cherokee) and Tom (from England) got in on the deal. After Grassley wrapped up his live call-in cable show last night, one of his staffers asked me I wanted to go too. Heck yes!

So we got up super-early, took a taxi to his house in Arlington, and went running. It was a beautiful morning (but a really, really hot and humid day), and he led the way. Tom tried to get some action shots of us running, but I'm not sure how they turned out. I'll post them here when he gets them done. Afterwards, Mrs. Grassley made us oatmeal, and the six of us ate breakfast together. If we didn't know who he was, you never would have guessed he was a U.S. Senator. He is just a, friendly, regular guy. Whom I hero-worship just a little.

So where did I leave off last time? Oh yeah, the McClellan hearing.

We went fifty minutes early to try to get into the hearing, but that wasn't early enough, and we got put in an overflow room to watch the hearing on a big TV screen. And if you didn't follow the news reports about the hearing, it didn't amount to much.

The highlight? Rep. Conyers, the Democratic chairman of the committee, gave an opening statement about why he thought the topic was important. Rep. Smith, the ranking Republican, gave an opening statement about why he thought the topic was unimportant. He started off by saying, "Welcome, everyone, to the Judiciary Committee's first Book of the Month Club meeting.
Today, it's Scott McClellan's "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception." I propose that next time we consider Ann Coulter's book, How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)." Smith proceeded to rip into McClellan's credibility and question his motives.

After he finished his statement, McClellan's lawyer stood up - to object! Like it was a courtroom! It took about thirty seconds for the committee members to figure out what the moron was doing. At last, Conyers said, "Counsel cannot object to the committee proceedings." Duh.

Following that, the hearing basically consisted of question-and-answer exchanges like these:

CONYERS: You spoke very frequently with the president and the vice president. Do you think either or both of them knew about the leak and had any role in causing the leak to happen, or knew that Mr. Libby was involved in the leak when they helped get you to falsely vouch for him?

MCCLELLAN: I do not think the president in any way had knowledge about it, based on my conversations with him back at that time, when he said that Karl Rove had not been involved in it and told him something to that effect. In terms of the vice president, I do not know.

SMITH: You write that you witnessed Mr. Rove and Mr. Libby meet in Mr. Rove's office behind closed doors, and you infer that they were conspiring to mislead the grand jury looking to the Valerie Plame investigation at the time. Did you hear any portion of their conversation?
MCCLELLAN: No, sir, I did not.

NADLER: Do you have any knowledge of whether prior to or after the leak of Ms. Wilson's covert identity either the vice president or the president declassified her covert status in order to have it leaked to reporters?
MCCLELLAN: No, I do not.

NADLER: And do you have any information on the role, if any, played by the vice president in the leaking of Ms. Wilson's identity?
MCCLELLAN: No. I have no direct knowledge of that.

NADLER: And do you have any idea why Vice President Cheney may have knowingly, indirectly or directly, instructed you to publicly exonerate Mr. Libby?
MCCLELLAN: No, sir, I do not. I was not a party to that conversation with the president.

NADLER: Do you have any idea whether when he gave that instruction that he knew at that time that Mr. Libby had, in fact, been involved in the leak?
MCCLELLAN: No, I do not know that.

He doesn't know much. I think it slowly dawned on everyone on the committee that this guy was the press secretary, the mouthpiece. Eventually, they had to go vote on something, and we weren't about to wait two hours for them to reconvene, so we went back to work.

On Saturday, Tom and I went to the Holocaust Museum. It was stunning, and really, really depressing. At the beginning, they shove us all into this really gloomy elevator and take us to the third story, and you hear the recorded voice of an American soldier talking about how they had never seen anything like this. Then the elevator doors opened, and they had a bunch of TV screens showing the original footage of the camps the Allies took when they were liberated. It was really horrifying.

The rest of the museum takes you on a journey through Hitler's rise to power, the gradual crackdown on the Jews, the start of the war, and finally, the camps. They have replicas of the barracks and trains, and a huge room full of the actual shoes of the victims. I felt kind of numb to it all, but it was worth it.

The museum has a memorial room that you can look into, but not go into. It had some candles burning, and it was decorated with verses from the Old Testament, the ones about teaching your children to remember.

I would have taken pictures in the museum, but it wasn't allowed. Here's the outside, though:

This is a street nearby the musem. Raoul Wallenberg was a diplomat in Hungary who helped save thousands of Jews. He disappeared after the Soviets took over.

On Monday, we helped some of Grassley's staff put on a relief fundraiser for the Iowa floods. It was held on the roof of a really nice ten-story office building on Constitution Ave. From the top, we had a great view of the Capitol and some other places. (Katie and Abhay took those pictures, still waiting for them.)

Here's the really rich part: we got rained out.

So everyone crowded into the ground floor lobby, and the building staff were all freaking out about all the people, and it was really chaotic for a while. But eventually, we got to go back onto the roof. All of the congressmen from Iowa except Boswell came. So did the Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Schafer, whose hand I shook before knowing who it was. So it was a pretty good time.

Tonight after work, Abhay and I went to the Middle East Institute to hear Richard Clarke speak. (Richard Clarke was the counterterrorism czar under Clinton and Bush until 2004ish, when he resigned and became one of Bush's biggest critics.) The speech was held in the sweltering heat in a garden at the institute. Hot, but not very many people; we were really close to him. Both Abhay and I asked questions, and I got the whole thing on my flip video camera. (Though I haven't watched it yet and can't guarantee the quality.) We thought that was pretty cool.

When I asked my question, I told him my name and said that I was an intern with Senator Grassley. He said, "Give my regards to Senator Grassley. I have a lot of respect for him."

Darn straight you do.

Anyway, when he answered the first question, he mentioned that the next president needs to, quote, "get us the hell out of Iraq." My question was, what's the best way to do that? He said, remove one brigade every month until you're completely out. I'm more than a little skeptical that that would be in the best interests of either us or the Iraqis, but it was still cool that I got to talk to him.

Also: NBC's Washington studios are on the street our shuttle bus takes to the Metro every day. The sign for the studios had been turned into an impromptu memorial for Tim Russert. I took these while walking there last weekend.

Thanks for reading everybody. I really appreciate you all keeping in touch. Can't wait to see you all again!

The Newseum, the sculpture garden, and a chance encounter

2008-06-17T22:04:00.012-04:00

Today, one of the press staffers and I took a German exchange student to meet Grassley right outside the Senate floor. It was a pretty standard meet-and-greet. They talked, I took pictures of varying quality. After that, the Senator left for a meeting, and we took the student back to the office to set up a tour. The front area of the office has a bunch of chairs for people to sit in while waiting to meet with Grassley. I walked past the chairs, and briefly glanced at the people sitting in them before heading through the door towards the press office.

Once the door closed behind me, my mind caught up with my glance, and I thought,

Did I just walk past Professor Jansen?

I turned around, went back out the door, and sure enough: Abby Jansen, a social work prof from Dordt was sitting there - as was Laura MacMillan.

She was just as shocked to see me, I think. I guess we never talked about our summer plans at school. She didn't know I was interning with Grassley, and I didn't know she was lobbying with Bread for the World - which is why she and Professor Jansen were visiting Grassley. I couldn't talk very long, but it was super-cool to see them, and I hope their lobbying went well.

On Sunday, I went to the Newseum with Abhay and his girlfriend (who was in town for the weekend.) It was the same day as a gay pride festival, which was conveniently held on the road in front of the Newseum. And Abhay and his lady-friend were conveniently late.

Long story short: I got hit on. Short story long: I don't want to talk about it, OK?

But the Newseum was really cool. (See pictures below.) The coolest thing there was a section of the actual Berlin Wall. It gave me goosebumps, thinking about the people who built it, the people who climbed over it, and the people who knocked it down. If someone had told Reagan when he gave his "Tear down this wall!" speech that within twenty years, the wall would be on display in an American museum, would he have believed them? The liberation of Eastern Europe has got to be one of history's most amazing events.

View from the Newseum balcony, overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue:

National Gallery of Art (West Wing):

National Gallery of Art:

Capitol Building, plus gay pride:

Smithsonian Castle:

Inside:

The west side of the Berlin Wall:

The east side of the Berlin Wall (painted white by the communists to make it easier to spot escapees):

A Berlin Wall guard tower:

A barricade:

A sign from the post-WWII occupation:

A statue of V. I. Lenin, decapitated after the Cold War:

Part of the World Trade Center:

Rubble from the Pentagon:

Actual September 12 headline of the San Francisco Examiner:

A VERY old license plate:

Another picture from the same exhibit. We should do this at Dordt sometime:

Post-Apartheid South African voting box:

Daniel Pearl's laptop (Pearl was beheaded by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002):

Now that's what I'm talking about:

Voting ballot from the 2000 Florida election:

And, at the sculpture garden. You artsy Dordt people (you know who you are) should like this.

My favorite:

Really?

"The Thinker":

Playing chess:

Coming up: Scott McClellan's House Intelligence Committee testimony on Friday. Abhay and I are going. Should be interesting, to say the least.

Friday the 13th and other adventures

2008-06-14T16:17:00.011-04:00

Hey everybody. I figured it was time for an update, so here's what's been going on.

The time is going by really fast. I only have two weeks, and one weekend left. I'm excited to see my family again (they're coming up here to get me, and then we'll have our vacation here), but I think I'll miss the friends I've made here.

On Thursday, I got sorta-kinda interrogated by Capitol Police for the first time. Grassley was speaking to the Greater Des Moines Partnership at the Hyatt hotel near the Capitol. We walked there from Hart Office Building, Grassley spoke, and then he took off. He was going to meet some constituents at a lunch for one of the Senate committees he's on, so we were going to meet him there and take pictures. The staffer I was with had to run back to the office to check on something, so I went there by myself with the camera, knowing only the room number. I found the room, walked past two huge security guards, nodded, and walked in. There were a couple of caterers, eleven senators having lunch at a table (including the Republican party whip), and me holding a camera. Right. Ok, then. I decided to stand against the wall and look inconspicuous until the constituents showed up. One of the security guards poked his head around the door, looked at me, then went back out. A second later, both guards poked their heads around, and one of them motioned for me to follow them. Great.

"Who are you with?"
"Senator Grassley."
"Why are you here?"
"I'm just an intern, I'm waiting for one of his staffers." Please don't hurt me.
"Did we just see you at the Hyatt?"
"Yes." I'm not stalking Senator Kyl, I swear.
"Do you have your ID?"
"Yes." So glad this didn't happen on the day I forgot it.
"OK, just wanted to be sure. Thanks."
"N-n-no problem."

So that was exciting.

Senator Grassley flew back to Iowa that afternoon to see the flood damage with Harkin, and I got to go out to eat with Tim Moerman (from my church), and the rest of the Ankeny and Polk City councils, who were there for the Partnership conference. They were a great group, and we had a lot of fun.

Yesterday, Friday the 13th, definitely lived up to its reputation. We (the interns) had two events to go to. One was a breakfast for the Greater Des Moines Partnership at the Hyatt again. The other was a World Food Prize ceremony at the State Department. We got up early to take the Metro to the breakfast, but there was a fire in one of the main stations, so we had to get off and take a cab there. After the breakfast, we got on the Metro again to go to the State Department, and the fire reignited. So we had to get out and walk to a separate Metro line to get there. Once we got back to the office, we learned that Tim Russert had died - which was weird, shocking and very sad. It's awfully strange to think that we'll never see him on TV ever again. And then, to cap it all off, I went with a friend to see The Happening at a local theater, but they wouldn't let me in - because it was an R-rated movie, and I wasn't 21, and they serve beer in their R-rated movies. BEER! At a movie theater! Can you think of anything more absurd? Because I can't. I was rather disgusted.

That said, the breakfast and the ceremony were both very cool. It was nice to get out of the office for the day. The speaker at the breakfast was the CBS reporter who broke the Hillary Clinton Bosnia sniper story, but her normal beat is exposing wasteful congressional earmarks. Since she was speaking to a room that contained quite a few Democrats and earmark seekers, it was more than a little awkward, which I naturally enjoyed.

But the World Food Prize was fantastic. I followed the advice of one of Mr. Moermon's friends and brought a camera, so here's another round of photos.

Outside the State Department:

In the foyer:
The courtyard:
This room is full of paintings, artwork and furniture from the Revolutionary War-era:

This is the desk that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence on:

The original Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War, along with the original desk it was signed on:

The original Spirit of '76 painting.

The Lincoln Memorial, seen from the State Dep. balcony. (The thing they're building in front of it is the Institute of Peace):

The interns! From left to right: Adam, Abhay (my roommate), me, Tom (the British guy), Katie, Ted and Liz:
Ted and Tom have a great Dubya and Tony Blair routine:

People wait to find out who will win this year's World Food Prize (Bob Dole and George McGovern - but they weren't there. They'll actually RECEIVE the prize in Des Moines in October).

Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte speaks about the world food crisis:

I got to meet Justin Cremer, one of my former fellow Des Moines Register bloggers who works for the World Food Prize.

We did a little bit of role-playing on the way back to the office.

Abhay and I confer on critical policy issues:

President Nadipuram and Prime Minister Davenport greet their citizens:

Dubya and Tony debating where to invade next:

Stay dry everyone! See you in a few weeks.

2008-06-06T19:17:00.003-04:00

I had some free time today, so I took some pictures of the building where I work, the Hart Senate Office Building.

A few days ago there was a tornado warning for DC, and the Capitol Police got on the PA system warning us to "stay away from windows and glass." Right…

It’s called "Mountain and Clouds." Inspiring, no?

Happy Friday everybody!

"Wanna go see Justice Scalia tonight?" "Sure, I've got nothing else to do."

2008-06-03T22:25:00.003-04:00

(After I took this last picture, I was admonished by a security guard for doing so. So enjoy it - it's contraband.)

My intern friend Ted got us both registered to see Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia speak at the Marriott tonight. It was free for us because we're students, so it was a pretty sweet deal. Beforehand, there was a big reception with an open bar and waiters carrying hor d’evours around. I felt out-of-place and super-important at the same time.

Then we all herded into the hall and listened to Scalia talk about his new book: "Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges." He's a hilarious speaker, and very plainspoken. Very enjoyable to listen to, and I thought he had some great insights.

Anyway, that's the adventure for the day. Love and miss you all. Good night.

Regina!!!

2008-06-01T18:31:00.004-04:00

Oh man...just got back from the concert, and it was awesome!

When my college buds all saw her last fall, Piper said, "She's so cute!" Piper is right. She's a great performer too - her voice is so strong, and she doesn't need anything but a piano. Great time.

It's been a hard day's night - I should be sleeping like a log

2008-05-31T15:09:00.007-04:00

Question of the day: REM and Modest Mouse are playing nearby in a couple weeks. Is it worth $48?

Hello everyone. It’s a pretty lazy Saturday here. It’s pouring outside, so Abhay and I are watching the Democratic National Committee decide whether to seat the Michigan and Florida delegates. It’s actually pretty engrossing. Even though I’m for McCain and he’s for Obama, we both keep yelling at the Clinton supporters for being stupid/opportunistic. It’s great fun.

Last night, I got The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night and The Who’s Endless Wire at a small bargain shop in Georgetown, so I’m pretty excited about that. Also, tomorrow, Regina Spektor will be giving a free concert at – get this – the Jewish Federation’s celebration of Israel’s 60th anniversary at the National Mall. So I’m definitely going to that. Pretty sweet, huh?

The internship is going great, but it’s kind of hard to find time to write. I get up at 7, leave at 8 to get to the Hart Senate building by 9, get off at 6, get back at 7 (or 8 or later, depending on if we go out to eat or to Target or something). So by the time I get back to American University, I’m really exhausted, and have only a few hours to do whatever it is I need/want to do. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but blogging might take the backseat occasionally (especially since I can’t seem to keep these posts very short.) Sorry.

This week the Senate was in recess, so Grassley is in Iowa, and we are a little less busy in the press office. (Grassley lives in New Hartford, and he saw the tornado going past from his bedroom window.) I’m still really enjoying being in the press office. The people are great, and I stay really in the know.

The conspiracy theorist I talked about earlier is standing out there by the Capitol every single morning. Abhay talked to him the other day and found out that his name is Andy. So now, every morning, we can walk past him and say, “Good morning, Andy!” If I ever have a day when I’m running early, I might try to get a video interview with him.

More pictures – I got these last weekend when we went around the National Mall.

World War II National Memorial:

Korean War Memorial:

Vietnam War Memorial:
Jefforson Memorial:
FDR Memorial:
Jefferson statue through the pillars:

Directly across from the entrance to the Jefferson Memorial:

Up close:
The shadow:

Memorial Day in DC

2008-05-26T22:50:00.016-04:00

At the Memorial Day Concert on the Capitol grounds Sunday night (we were sitting on the Capitol steps)

The Army band, getting ready:

View from the steps:

Colin Powell (you might just have to trust me on this one - he was a long ways away.)

Playing taps:

Beautiful.

At the ampitheater behind the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington Cemetery:

Remember this guy? (Darn that Ross Perot!)

Laura Bush, far right (someday, I will blow up all these pictures really nice and big):

Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates:

The way the people were cheering, you'd never guess his approval rating was hovering around 35% (max):

Sidenote: He waved at me. And I waved back. And felt just a little stupid.

He wasn't alone, of course:

Our "legend'ry" British intern friend, Tom: "What do you suppose are in those packs? [Devilish belly laugh.]"

I'm not the type to get emotional over Memorial Day. But there's a big difference between seeing graves and memorials to long-dead presidents and soldiers, and walking past plot after plot of freshly-turned dirt at Arlington's Lot 60, where they're burying casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan. We saw people there mourning children who would still be alive today if they hadn't died in the war on terror.

I'm grateful to everyone who decides to join the military, especially in times like this, but the flowery language I heard today about "remembering" their sacrifice didn't quite cut it for me. It doesn't take away the death. The strongest emotion I felt was not gratitude or patriotism, but petulant impatience. I don't want to "remember." I want it to stop.

I had this song stuck in my head today:

and after the bombs subside

and this long, low campaign calls it good for the night

we meet in the streets

will we meet in a bar's cold light?

we grip at our hands

we hold just a little tight

after the bombs

after the bombs subside

and after the rockets calm

and the glimmer of fire

pretends an early dawn

we pinch at our skin

while we wonder how we escaped harm

we forget all our trials

while there in our baby's arms

after the rockets

after the rockets calm

then we'll go dancing

won't we go dancing

yes we'll go dancing

'till it all starts over again

then we'll go dancing

yes we'll go dancing

won't we go dancing

'till it all starts over again

- "After the Bombs," by the Decemberists

"He will proclaim peace to the nations.

His rule will extend from sea to sea

and from the River to the ends of the earth."

- Zechariah 9:10

"Amen. Come, Lord Jesus."

- Revelation 22:20

Two days in

2008-05-21T22:54:00.004-04:00

Quotes of the day:

"I still think 'the seizure' [Kennedy's] may have been orchestrated... Rehnquist was hit in 2004~05, Giuliani may have been hit in 2000, and Specter 'got cancer' in 2006."

"The CIA is altering human physiology through the use of chemicals and bio-engineered grain - apparently since 1992."

- PERSPECTIVE ON THE NEW WORLD ORDER, a pamphlet handed to me by a guy in park by the Capitol Building. He was wearing a sign that said, "Flag cap the CIA: Stop the KGB Infiltration!"

The KGB? Should have known. Still kicking 17 years after the fall of the USSR. Will they stop at nothing?

All right, I'm two days into this intern thing. I'm absolutely loving it, but I'm exhausted, so this blog might start to get shorter and less frequent. Sorry. There are probably a bunch of typos in this - sorry.

There are nine of us interns now. I met my roommate at the office yesterday morning (he is also a Grassley intern), and he moved in that night. He is an awesome guy, and under 21, so I feel a little less lonely now. :) He goes to Wartburg College, is the president of Wartburg Democrats, and is a Hindu. We haven't had any discussions about politics or religion yet, but we're getting along great so far.

I am the lone press intern in Grassley's office, and I am loving it. Basically, my job is to collect all the newspaper articles talking about Grassley and his issues every day, put them together and distribute them around the office. I also go to some of his radio shows, TV shows, teleconferences and constituent meetings, take notes, and then work with the other guys in the office to contact media. I don't have a whole lot of real responsibility, but it's breathtaking to be along for the ride, so to speak. It is surreal to see him just walking into the office every couple hours or so. There are about eight TVs in the press office, always tuned to news channels. I'll see him speaking on the Senate floor, and then, fifteen minutes later, he'll be walking past my desk. (I use the term "desk" very loosely.) Then I remind myself that the Senate floor is, after all, only two blocks away - a short trip by the private underground train that goes from the Senate building to the Capitol Building that I GET TO RIDE ON ONCE IN A WHILE!

Tonight, I stayed late to watch Grassley do a cable call-in show for Iowa TV. I'm not sure what TV channels it was on, but if any of you saw Grassley on cable tonight, I was sitting twenty feet away from him. It's awesome to watch the way he talks to people - he has an instant command of the facts, but never in an arrogant way.

Until tonight, I had never actually walked into or out of the Capitol building. I had taken the underground train to a studio in the Capitol building for the cable show, and afterwards I walked out with the senator and two guys from the press office that I've been working with. We walked through a long maze of hallways, through two big double doors, and then we were surrounded by huge marble columns. One of the guys said to me, "Have you looked back yet?" "No," I said, and then I did - and then looked up, and saw the Capitol dome jutting into the sky.

After I struck out on my own towards to the Metro, I took this picture.

So basically, I walked out of the Capitol building alongside a U.S. senator tonight. That was cool.

I am going to bed. Miss all of you. Good night.

Two days of sightseeing = Joel's biggest, nerdiest fantasies realized

2008-05-19T21:32:00.027-04:00

Quote of the day:

Random attention-needy eight-year-old on the Metro, to me: "I saw Ben Stiller today!"

Me: "Really? Where'd you see him?"

8-year-old: "At the big tall pointy thing."

By this, I deduced eventually, he meant the Washington Monument. I weep for the future.

My internship doesn't officially start until tomorrow, so I've met up with some of my fellow interns (really, really cool people) and we've been trekking all over DC sightseeing. Yesterday we saw the National Archives, with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and what have you. Today was absolutely incredible - we went to Arlington National Cemetery, saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, then walked across the Potomac, saw the Lincoln Memorial (including the spot where MLK stood during his "I have a dream" speech), and the White House. Eventually, we made our way to the office building where we're going to work tomorrow, then met up with some friends of ours who actually started work today and went out to eat. A great time, but my legs will feel like jelly tomorrow.

One thing I didn't realize - whenever you see pictures of the White House and the Supreme Court and the Capitol Building, they're basically by themselves, framed by blue skies and green lawns. It's weird to see them up close, because they're surrounded by buildings. You couldn't see the White House from two blocks away - there are too many townhouses. don't know what I expected - to see them up on pedestals above the city? But it's still weird.

I am feeling pretty nervous, but pretty excited about starting tomorrow. I guess we'll see how it goes. I have the feeling that I am about to find out just how little I know.

This was embarassing: All the interns I've met so far are 21 or older. Last night, we went to Georgetown to try to find a bar where we could chill. They specifically said they wanted to find a place where I could go, and we headed to one that looked promising. They all ordered their beers, and then I asked the bartender if he had any soda. He said he did, and asked for my ID. No, you don't understand - nonalcoholic soda, I repeated. Sure, he said, but you have to be 21 to be in here. Oh. I'll leave then, I said.

So we all went outside to a bunch of tables they had in an area railed off from the sidewalk and sat down, them with their drinks, and me without. A few minutes later, a guy comes out: "Hey, I hear you guys aren't 21." "Well, I'm not," I say. "You can't be here," he said. (Here being outside the bar, at the tables.) "Is there any way he can just sit with us while we finish our drinks?" says my fellow intern named Ted. "Drink fast?" says the guy.

Our table was by the railing. So I ended up leaving the seating area, and standing outside the railing so I could talk to them while they drank. Yeah - felt just a little stupid. And they felt bad too. Just a bad deal, all-around.

Stupid USA, with its draconian drinking age.

OK - pictures.

At the National Archives. (The lighting in here was purposefully low to protect the documents, and no flash photography was allowed.)

The Magna Carta. For realz:

The Constitution:

The Declaration of Independence:

(Is that Nicholas Cage? Stop him!)

John Marshall's first draft of Marbury v. Madison, in which the Supreme Court decided it had the authority to overrule anything any branch of the US government anywhere might do. I gave it my best death glance, but I couldn't get it to disintegrate. Oh well.

The first draft of the 13th amendment:

Had to get this: the Canadian embassy.

The eternal flame at JFK's tomb in Arlington Cemetery. (It's there, trust me. Gas-powered?)

Robert E. Lee's house - before the Union Army confiscated it to start burying Union soldiers. Thus was Arlington Cemetery born.

The view from the Arlington House:

The Penatgon, viewed from Arlington Natl' Cemetery. My new friend Ted: "Imagine visiting here on 9/11 and seeing the plane hit." (Shudder).

"Here lies in eternal glory an American soldier, known but to God." The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. There are unidentified remains from three soldiers killed in WWI, WWII and Korea here.

The "big pointy thing" viewed from the Lincoln Memorial.

Our nation's greatest president. (This picture does not give the memorial justice. Dude...)

The Albert Einstien memorial:

The White House. Sweet!

No sudden moves! (Snipers on the roof).

A round-the-clock antiwar vigil right across the road from the White House. (No, I didn't argue with them.)

The room directly across the courtyard from my dorm window:

Oh - it's ON!

National Presbyterian Church. Dad and I went here on Sunday - apparently, so does Condoleeza Rice. It's even more beautiful on the inside:

The First Amendment, writ large at the “Newseum”:

That's all for now. Good night!

Estoy Aqui

2008-05-17T22:30:00.004-04:00

My dorm room.

Dad: "You're paying $250 a week for this?"

So it's not that nice. I'm kind of excited to live in a North Hall-style dorm again. Last time in forever, probably.

Haven't really had a chance to check out the campus yet; we got into Washington at 7:00. It took us another hour and a half or so to walk to the metro, ride the metro across town (there are construction delays), and then take a shuttle to American University. So I basically unpacked, and now I am going to bed, since I only got an hour of sleep last night.

The metro is really fun. I'm looking forward to riding it every day:

No landmarks yet, except for the close-up of the National Mall we got when we flew in. No roommate either, yet. He comes late Monday night.

That's all. Good night.

Heading out...

2008-05-17T04:56:00.005-04:00

Do you know what the most infuriating thing in the world is?

Cramming the bare essentials of your life into two suitcases, knowing that your checked baggage can only weigh 50 pounds each, weighing the first one at 60 lbs., hoping the second one will clock in at 45 or something so you can even it out, and then having the second one clock in at 60 lbs., also. And then having to find 20 lbs. of bare essentials to take out of your intricately packed suitcases. At 3:00 AM.

So maybe the last part is my fault. But enough complaining! My dad and I are leaving in two hours. I might not sleep at all. We'll see.

For now, I have three big thank yous.

The first is to a friend of my mom's, who I didn't even meet until Thursday, who has apparently been praying for me throughout the application and interview process for this internship. That was humbling. I tried to thank her, but she just said, "It wasn't me. God is working." If that's the case, then He's using that person in a very special and powerful way. Thank you so much. It means a lot.

The second is to my awesome high school buddies who had an impromptu going-away get-together tonight. I feel very loved. You guys rock.

And the third is to Gary Geels from my church, who got me to apply for this thing in the first place, and was a huge help and encouragement all along the way. Thank you!

Still to come: pictures, videos, and dirty political secrets.

Talk to you all soon!