Internship Journal #17

Hello to all…the previous Jefferson quote was also quoted by George McGovern, during a question and answer briefing by a group of about 20 members of Congress. Senator McGovern was not alone at the table on one side of him was sitting Michael Isakoff and on the other sat Bob Woodward, next to Woodward sat Ron Suskind. Each of these men has written books about how the United States got into the democracy business and into the Iraq war. I appreciate what each had to say to the members of Congress. Suskind said, the Iraq war is a, “global experiment in behavior modification.” I found this statement quite intriguing…why would we as a country try to modify the behavior of an entire religion? Have we as a country become so engrossed in how “extraordinary” we are that we no longer believe in the rights of other countries to live in the manner in which they choose? Have we become King to the rest of the world? I certainly hope not…it remains to be seen. Chairman of the Judicial Committee, John Conyers asked several questions... (this was the week following Rep. Kucinich read a resolution to impeach the vice-president) the resolution was sent to the Judicial Committee for further study. Conyers asked the men if they would impeach the vice-president. Three of the men refused to answer the questions. But George McGovern was happy to say this Congress has more evidence against this administration than they did during the impeachment of Richard Nixon. Bob Woodward explained the lack of answering this question by saying that he is the person that investigates and reports; and the Congress are the ones that impeach. Certainly Woodward would know best, when it comes to investigating and reporting on impeachable offenses. This event was not required and I enjoyed every minute in this room. I listened to investigative journalists explain the background of Colin Powell telling the U.N. about Weapons of Mass Destruction and an Admiral that had written about the five countries we should be most concerned about in the world and Iraq was not even on this list, along with a myriad of other investigative insights. The beginning of the week we met with the Honorable Lee Hamilton. He was an exceptional speaker. I enjoyed listening to his insights as well. He said, “The greatest indoor sport these days is taking pot shots at the Congress.” Funny, huh? I certainly believe this statement is fact most of the time, I hear many people complain every day about how the Congress is doing nothing, and this, once again, comes down to the closeness of the margin in the Congress. I hope people get out and vote next November, it certainly would even be better if they got up and voted in the primaries -- that would be amazing. I enjoy answering constituent phone calls and many appreciate the fact I know where they live. The guy from Elk was very surprised that I had eaten in his town. The guy that lives on Patrick’s Point Drive said that the walk down the cliff to the beach isn’t so bad…well…the beach is spectacular, but coming back up to the campground is hell. Whew!!! The calls are all over the board most of the time, but some days the phone rings off the hook and every call is the same. These days we create a list and at the end of the day compile them into a stack and then we count the number of calls about that particular topic. This has occurred several times and the cynicism I was feeling has faded because of one of these days. I know that the congressman did not vote the way he wanted, he voted the way his constituents told him to vote. I don’t know how often this occurs, but I now know that it does and the people still have a vote. I am really tired from my week, so I will close for now. Until next time, Eliza

Internship Journal #16

Hello, to all…I would like to tell you all about my surroundings in my room. I am staying at the Hawthorn Suites and am in an efficiency apartment. I have a desk, and a lounge chair, as well as a kitchen (no oven), but it has a dishwasher…I have a king size bed and a flat screen television. The room also includes a DVD player and two closets. My room is on the fifth floor, front side…located within close proximity of the hotel is some sort of fire station. Fire trucks and such are traveling this road on a regular basis and the sirens blare as they go down the road. I did not however hear the sirens as much this past week…Charlie was here and I had my best friend to chat with, the sirens faded into the background. Charlie arrived on Saturday morning and we were very happy to see one another. Having someone that loves me, is wonderful. I was thankful this week for having the one I love next to me, as we experienced some marvelous things together. Charlie’s favorite thing was going to the Capitol. The Staff Assistant in our office is a spectacular tour guide and I asked him if Charlie and I could go on his tour on Monday afternoon. Since the House was on Thanksgiving break, the office was very slow and I hoped we would have plenty of time to get the upgraded tour. We did…our guide told us all the interesting stories. One of the tales was about Andrew Jackson beating with his cane the man who attempted to assassinate him in the Rotunda of the Capitol. Our guide led us into the Speaker’s Lobby…this is where the word lobbyist came from, people advocating for a bill would stand outside the floor of the House of Representatives (in the lobby) and speak with the members on behalf of their bill. We were then taken onto the floor of the chamber. I could not believe that Charlie and I were sitting together on the floor of the chamber of the House of Representatives, our guide let us know that the seats we were sitting in were reserved for the Justices of the Supreme Court, during the State of the Union Address. The tour was spectacular…seeing Charlie’s reaction when he saw the painting on the top of the Rotunda, I placed my hand on his back, because I knew he would lean back too far…he did. He so admired the artisanship of the carpenters and painters and the masons who built this wondrous Capitol. We went to the Lincoln Memorial in the evening and it was a perfect night. The leaves on the trees were burnt red and orange, the grass was green and the reflection pool was beginning to reflect the Washington Monument and the Capitol Building. The men in the Korean War Memorial had just been lit and the soldiers looked as if they were returning from a difficult fight. Seeing Lincoln in the twilight was extremely inspiring. Seeing Charlie being moved by this memorial was a wonderful sight as well. We spent so much time walking and talking…it was over in just a moment and he was on a plane home. I now have less than two weeks until I return to my home. I am thankful for this experience, but I am looking forward to returning home to my husband and friends and mentors and dogs and fish and Jaymi…

Thomas Jefferson,

“I tremble for our Country, when I reflect that God is just.”

Until next time, Eliza

E. Graham - Internship Journal #15

Hello to all…I hope you all had a wonderful Veteran's Day. I certainly did, I did go to Arlington and it was a beautiful day. Vice President Dick Cheney spoke at the event; I will not say, at this point, my thoughts on that topic. After the ceremonies, I watched several wreaths being laid and it was beautiful, the way the marine guards stamped to attention and moved ever so slowly to lay the wreath's by the, "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier." The sunny skies shone bright blue and a bit of a breeze blew through the yellow, red, and rust colored leaves, as the headstones of the soldiers lay still on the landscape. I saw three markers in particular in which were touching to me. The first was for the astronauts of the space shuttle, Challenger. The second was there for the men that lost their lives during the Iranian Hostage Crisis. The third of these markers was for the lives lost in the last Shuttle Disaster. They were side by side near the mast of the U.S.S. Maine which was the ship that exploded to begin the Spanish-American War. I walked around for a bit and then I ran into four Veterans' two were in wheelchairs and two were pushing. They were very friendly and we talked as we walked to the burial place of the John F. Kennedy family and the Eternal Flame. One of the men was 82 two years old and a World War II Veteran. He told me that he never forgot anything and I can certainly believe it…he was sharp as a tack (as my mother would say). The other men were Vietnam Veteran's and they were from Ohio. One had lots of cats and one had a dog that did not like any cat, but the one that lived at his house. The all live close to each other in Ohio and were very good friends. I helped one of them get to the grave of JFK and we stood there …quietly …for several minutes. Above the gravesite of JFK, on a rolling green hill, behind a miniature pink magnolia tree sits Arlington House, the home of Robert E. Lee. On the grounds, in front of the house is a giant flag pole, and atop an American flag blew in the breeze. I thank these Veteran's for an exceptionally memorable day.

I have added a blog page for political cartoons. The cartoonist is Walt Handelsman and I really appreciate his work. He just began a blog on Newsday, so go and check it out. He has live action cartoons as well…and they are very funny. I laugh out loud sometimes…it is the first Link on the left side of this page.

Today, Representative Dennis Hastert gave his last speech on the floor of the House. He is leaving office in the middle of his term. He is a Republican and held the office of the Speaker of the House, until this past January when Nancy Pelosi became the first woman in United States history to hold this position. The Republicans had held the majority in the House of Representatives, since Newt Gingrich led his Contract with America charge. It took the Democrats twelve years to once again become the majority in the House, but at this point the number of Republican s and the number of Democrats is so close it is very difficult for the group to coalesce and come to any decisions. The Senate must do the same and the vote is even closer in that chamber...51/49, if no one is sick. That is a huge problem in the Senate, because they need 60 votes to bring a bill to the floor and any one person can begin to talk and not stop talking until he can't talk anymore…this is called a filibuster and many Senators utilize this power to threaten others into not allowing a measure to come to the floor. Only on rare occasion do Senators actually gain the floor and refuse to stop talking. In the Senate anyone can change the game at any time and this makes legislating much more difficult. Both houses must decide on a bill and then the conference committee (leaders of the house and the senate) must agree on one bill. The bill is then sent to the President for him to sign. Oops, I can feel a veto coming on…remember that Democratic majority in the Congress…and this process has been repeated and repeated and repeated and will be repeated, until the Congress has a greater margin between the parties, so have a better chance of overriding a veto…they were able to come together on a Water Resources Development bill, last week, and override the President's veto, but everyone needs water! Coalesce is much more difficult on other issues…such as, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations (money). Eventually, the Congress will need to come together on many of these issues, but the members will leave for Thanksgiving break tomorrow.

I should close for now, we are getting up early for a seminar with Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr. at the National Ocean and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) and the topic will be "The State of our Oceans and Atmosphere." I look forward to discussing this with Scot!!

Everyone have a spectacular day…

Until next time,

Eliza

Internship Journal #14

Hello to all who are sharing this journey with me. I am going into Arlington National Cemetery for the very first time on Sunday, Veteran's Day. I am looking forward to seeing the laying of the wreath. I am thankful to be in Washington, D.C. for this occasion. My brother is a veteran of the first Gulf war, Desert Storm, and although it began and ended quickly and decisively, my mother could not leave her place by the television and Wolf Blitzer reporting on CNN. This was the first, "television war" and it was playing out live, in front of our eyes…it was remarkable and my mother could not leave her place in front of the television and maybe one small glimpse of my brother, to know he was coming home. Not many lives were lost in that war, but in the Vietnam war, we lost many and too many have been lost in this war as well…and now I sit by the television every Sunday morning watching, "This Week, with George Stephanopoulos" and wait until "In Memoriam" to see how many soldiers we have lost this week. And the tears swell up in my eyes and I sniffle and then I go off and make my husband breakfast…oh wait…that is when I am at home. I am in Washington D.C. and this week I will not be at home for Mr. Stephanopoulos to come onto the television, I will be in Arlington National Cemetery and I will be honoring those soldiers that have come home…my mother never glimpsed my brother, however he came home to his mother and his children and his sisters. He now has an extremely interesting and I would say remarkable job in the field of computers. I am not certain about the specifics of his work however the words, "computer guru" come to mind. It is because of his military training that my brother, the Veteran, is in an ever growing field of employment and working for one of the most powerful men in New York City. Never-the -less, I would like to add that my mother was thankful that the war ended so quickly, I would be very happy if the one that we are in at this point would come to fruition quickly…it is way out of control. Spending for this incident is unprecedented, in our history. I have no idea how we would ever pay it back. But not because I do not appreciate that our young men and women in the military are sacrificing their lives, limbs, and sanity for a cause that will not be easy to fix. Who are we to tell other countries what to do??? Who were we to invade another country, Iraq, without full and complete knowledge and maybe the truth once in a while…I am sad about the families of the service men and women that must endure each day sitting in front of the television, watching to see... if they might see...just a glimpse of their boy or girl.

I hope to see Veteran's all weekend and thank them for their service to our country. And wish them a wonderful Veteran's Day!!! I made sure to tell my Congress member…is your Congress member a Veteran? A great way to get this information is to go to: www.house.gov and type in your zip code. You can then go and look at your member's website. This is a wonderful way to get to know more about the person that is representing you in Washington, D.C. If more of us would actively participate in government, we would have a much greater opportunity to effect legislation. At this point, we all need to ban together and DO something. How much is gas in California, now? I go outside in the evening and the traffic never stops…it seems as if people are so busy that they just don't have the time to stop and appreciate what they have. I miss the dirt road that we live on…I miss my Charlie…I miss my dogs…I miss my kids…I miss my family…I miss my friends...and miss my fish!!!

When I was five years old, my life changed forever…my dad died testing bombs to be sent to Vietnam, for the war…he had been in the military for many years, he gained his commission in the summer of 1957. He began his career in the Air Force as a pilot and went on to attend Penn State University to further his engineering degree he obtained at Alabama Polytechnic Institute, which is now, Auburn University. He went on to be a training pilot and was stationed at Aviano Air Field from 1965-1968, this during the Vietnam War. After returning home…my father was diagnosed with Diabetes and as a result, he was grounded from flying. He left the military, shortly before becoming a Major, and he went into the Civil Service, as an engineer at the proving grounds on Eglin Air Force Base. He was testing bombs in March of 1970 and was severely burned…my father died the following month. He died as a direct result of the Vietnam War as he was working to make certain the military personnel in Vietnam had the best arsenal available. And my mother would not leave her place, in the darkness with the loss of her Charles. Happy Veteran's Day to all of you who have served our country and to all of you whom have lost a loved one due to war, say thank you to those that have lived to come back to their mothers, daughters, wives, and sisters…fathers, sons, husbands, and brothers…

Until next time,

Eliza

Internship Journal #13 White House – Office of the Chief of Staff to the President of the United States

Kneeling – Josh Bolton and Leon Panetta, present and former – Chiefs of Staff

Hello to all...I want to begin by telling you all that my body seems to be falling apart. Whew...I am tired and my body is tired...but I am still plugging away. I think that many of you know that I have a disability. For those of you that do not know much about me, personally, I have arthritis in my lower spine and as such, I am beginning to wear myself out. I am expected to do a lot of walking in my job as an intern and during my commute to any of the locations that we go for seminars. Walking has become very painful and I hope that I can make it through these next five weeks. I certainly do not want to complain, because it is not in my nature to be a whiner, but this is a personal journal and I feel the need to talk about my disability and how it is affecting my everyday life as an intern. Some days are better than others, but I spent this weekend lying around my room and trying to rest for the week ahead. This past week has been an exciting one for me, as we not only visited the White House and had a conversation with, Josh Bolton, the White House Chief of Staff, but we also had a conversation with Norm Mineta, the Secretary of Commerce in the Clinton Administration and the Secretary of Transportation in the Bush Administration. I also attended a rally for the Democrats and what they have accomplished during their first year back as the majority in the Congress.

I would like to begin with Norm Mineta; when we had our seminar with him, he was very straightforward in explaining why he, as a democrat would become the Secretary of Transportation in a republican administration. He told us that he asked many of his friends that are democrats if he should accept the post and they overwhelmingly said that he should. The reasoning behind this was that they did not want to be seen as not wanting to work with the people on the other side of the aisle. Secretary Mineta chose to accept the post and as such, he was the Secretary during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He spoke to us about that day and the decision he ultimately made to get ALL of the planes in American airspace out of the sky. Some in the administration wanted to have the pilots make their own decision to land. He said, "no," they should all be forced to land, because then they could get an understanding regarding the number of planes that had been taken over by terrorists. At that point, two planes were still in the air and one was headed into D.C. airspace. The only other planes in the air were military fighter aircraft that had been scrambled as a result of the attacks in New York City. All of this took place in a very short amount of time and the planes that were coming into the country were diverted to other countries, mainly Canada. Mr. Mineta discussed the passengers on the plane that crashed in the field in Pennsylvania and said, "the people on this plane were true Patriots." They were speaking to people on the ground and knew that other planes we intentionally being flown into buildings of importance, so they decided as a group to take the plane over themselves. All these passengers understood that this would be suicide, but they cared enough about their country to give their lives to save many other Americans from harm. They had no idea that the plane was expected to fly into the Capitol of the United States, but because of these, "patriots" the capitol and the people inside were spared the fate of the people in the World Trade Center and Pentagon! Norm Mineta is an exceptional human being and I am thankful to have had the opportunity to sit with him and hear this first hand account of that day.

On Halloween, we went to the White House. When we arrived, we went through security and into the west wing, where we waited for Mr. Bolton in an ante room of the Roosevelt room, where the President had just been signing a the internet tax bill that saves us all from paying taxes on our internet connections. Mr. Panetta arrived while we were in the ante room and asked us what we had all been doing in our offices. We then all went into the office of the Chief of Staff to have a conversation with Mr. Bolton. The office has a large conference table, a desk, and a sofa and some chairs and seems a comfortable space to hold meetings and the such. Mr. Bolton has a countdown clock on his desk, that has the amount of time the President has left in office. I found this to be very interesting. Essentially, Mr. Bolton is counting down the days, until he is out of a job. He answered a couple of our questions, but deferred to Mr. Panetta to answer several times, saying that he could never be as skilled a COS as Mr. Panetta. I found this frustrating, because we had already heard these answers from Mr. Panetta and I wanted to hear this from the current COS. A specific question was asked about, what the most important issue on the agenda of this administration is for the time they have left in office. Mr. Bolton skillfully answered this question, saying that it was, "protecting the United States." He never said the words, Iraq or war or terrorism. He towed to party line and that was expected. He also explained the schedule for the day and told us that the President asked that the schedule be changed, so he could talk with his speech writers about a speech he was to give the next day. He said that the speech, "was not on topic, enough." The speech was given the following day and I found it to be very derogatory towards the democratic party. The President said that the democrats were behaving like Nazi sympathizers! Mr. Bolton concluded by telling us that he had White House M&M's for us all, because it was Halloween. The box of M&M's has the presidential seal and George Bush's signature. This is a box of M&M's that will never be eaten by me! I will bring them home and use them for show and tell for the classes that I will visit upon my return.

Now on to other fun stuff...I attended something called, "The Zombie Lurch" on the Saturday before Halloween and had a great time. The lurch consisted of people dressed as Zombies walking from the Washington Monument through the streets of D.C. and then to the metro and to different clubs around town. Diana went as skull face, Brandon went as a pimp, Kari went as a cat, and I went as a pregnant nun with a peace sign necklace instead of a rosary! We weren't zombies, but the deal was you could dress anyway you wanted, so we did. People around D.C. were laughing and scared and it was just some good clean fun.

On Sunday of last week, my friend Amanda, from Chico State, (now Rutgers) came to visit and we had a wonderful time together. We visited the Smithsonian Native American Museum where we saw actual hand made native American dresses and other clothing. These items were absolutely beautiful and you could see the difference in the types of clothing depending on the lifestyle of the specific tribe. We then went into the Air and Space museum where we saw actual items from the space program. From Sputnik to the present missions on the space shuttle to the space station. The American History museum is closed for renovations at this time, but the cool stuff is in a room of the air and space museum. In this room was, George Washington's military uniform, he was much taller than I thought. It also held the little writing lap desk that Thomas Jefferson wrote the, Declaration of Independence. This part of the museum also held Mr. Rogers sweater, Archie Bunkers chair, an original Barbie, and C3PO and R2D2 from the original Return of the Jedi movie. Also included was Dorothy's ruby red slippers and a script from the Wizard of Oz. I was in heaven looking at these items that are so important to the history of America. Another thing that was interesting was a collection of different types of hats (I had a hat collection as a child) and the compass that was used by Lewis and Clark on their trip to the Pacific Ocean. By this time, Amanda and I were both limping around, she hurt herself while moving to New Jersey and is still not fully recovered...so we sat for a little while, ate and then we headed over to the National Archives. We saw the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and were elated to see these two remarkable documents together. Just a bit of useless information for you all, but in the gift shop of the National Archives, they sell the movie, "National Treasure" with Nicholas Cage. I bought a pair of Democratic Donkey earrings and have worn them every day since, including to my trip to the White House!!

The Democratic rally was on C-Span and if you would like to see it, I am certain that you can watch it online, if you go to C-Span.com. I found it to be fun and interesting. Steny Hoyer, the majority leader spoke first and introduced Nancy Pelosi the Speaker of the House. She spoke next and mentioned the areas in which the Democrats have worked to help Americans. Several members asked a constituent to come and speak to the group and tell how the democrats have helped them in their everyday lives. The most inspiring came from a grandmother that was ashamed the administration has left such a large debt for her grandson, Max, to pay. At this point, the national debt is so high that every living American, today has more than $29,000.00 worth of debt. She said, "adults should live within their means and she is proud that this Congress has brought back the Pay-Go rules." Pay-Go is actually, pay as you go and was established during the Clinton Administration, it means that if Congress wants to fund a project, they have to find the money, in the budget, to fund the program. This rule can be somewhat attributed to Leon Panetta, who is the only person in recent history to have actually balanced the budget. Another reason I am very proud to be associated with him and his ideals!

I will close for now, as this is a very long post, but I wanted you all to know how exciting and exhausting this week has been for me!!

Until next time,

Eliza