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