By Harold
The Daily Triangle’s editorial board decided to spend the summer in Washington D.C. This blog demands that we be in the most powerful city in the world. Also, there was a great summer internship.
In any case, I’ve used the opportunity to take as many tours, visit as many museums and listen to as many free concerts as I could.
We have to start with the granddaddy of them all, the U.S. Capitol tour. It’s awe-inspiring and majestic to see statues of the great leaders, see the grand architecture, recall the great legislation that has been passed on that hallowed ground. You get amped up as you surrender all of your possessions and walk up to the House of Representatives public gallery.
And then you walk in, and… there are exactly three Representatives actually in the chamber. They are extolling the virtues of H. Res. 1460, “Recognizing the important role pollinators play in supporting the ecosystem and supporting the goals and ideals of National Pollinator Week.” Then this happens, according to the official record: “At the conclusion of debate, the chair put the question on the motion to suspend the rules. Mr. Cardoza objected to the vote on the grounds that a quorum was not present. Further proceedings on the motion were postponed. The point of no quorum was withdrawn.”
You sort of recognize Roberts Rules of Order, but you realize you have no idea what just happened. You think about other things you could be doing. You quickly leave.
Since this is the Daily Triangle, here’s a local highlight. Each state gets two statues to put in the National Statuary Hall Collection, which are arranged throughout the Capitol complex. North Carolina chose Charles Aycock and Zebulon Vance. Aycock was a leading spokesman in the white supremacy movement, while Vance was elected to the Senate but couldn’t serve because he hadn’t been pardoned for an earlier arrest (he was then elected governor instead).
Wow, North Carolina. Surely there is someone else from the state who fits of criteria of being “illustrious for their historic renown or for distinguished civic or military services”? Maybe Michael Jordan?
Stay tuned tomorrow for my tour of the Memorials — Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR, Korean and Vietnam. Later this week I recap the Supreme Court and Library of Congress tours and the Newseum, so stay tuned.
Laura
Harold
