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