A Historical Day

January 9, 2011: A day that will live in . . . no special place. . . actually. . . just an average day, on which I made my first visit to the National Museum of American History.  Our group only managed to get through about 1/6 of the museum in our hour and a half there, so we will definitely make a return there.  We mainly just got through the war exhibit.  It was a sobering reminder of how far our country has come, but also the price at which our progress has come.  At the same time, we learn that we must question our past actions as well as our actions which are making history today.  I'll post facebook pictures for this visit soon, and being the phenomenal nerd that I am, I can guarantee that many more pictures from that museum will be to come.

The rest of my first Sunday in Washington was quite pleasant.  I've been watching football and doing some pleasure reading over the past couple of days.  For those who are interested, my pleasure reading book is still David McCullough's Truman.  It has been a fascinating read thus far, providing insight into a man who is one of America's most underrated presidents.  Scholars have recently begun to give him more credit, and I consider Harry Truman one of the politicians I would most like to model myself after if ever fortunate enough to serve in public office.  The book was a gift from my grandma for Christmas, and I starting reading it on my bowl trip to Memphis.  And that's all that I'll mention about that game. . .  Insofar as the football is concerned, I'm hoping we can get a viewing party together for the Falcons game next Saturday at 8:00.

Also of note today was my first time . . . eating Thai food, that is.  A group of us went to a place called Thai Roma on the corner of Pennsylvania and 3rd.  I tried a white fish fillet with a sweet and sour sauce and was quite impressed.  Thai food generally has a reputation for being spicy, and the restaurant clearly notated the amount of spice per dish, so that mild tastes such as mine could be satisfied.  I look forward to returning there at some point, as it was also cheap and had fast service.

Other than this, I had a quiet weekend.  Except for the Australian interns a few floors below us.  They like throwing parties.  And something tells me I'm going to be a little tired of them by the end of the semester.  Hopefully, they'll settle down a bit.  Work starts tomorrow, so I may try to go to sleep a little early tonight.  We'll see how that goes.

*****

I'll close tonight with some thoughts on Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the tragedy in Tucson, Arizona.  If you haven't heard the story, here's a link.  The task of serving one's country is a great one. . . one that involves sacrifice, and that should never be entered into lightly.  We all know this to be true of those serving in the Armed Forces, and indeed we pray daily for their safe and speedy return from the battlefield.  The same is true of those who serve their country through government.  For so many of these great individuals, the private sector would provide a more routine life, more suitable to family time, better paying, less stressful, with more job security, and with less public scrutiny.  Yet the men and women of the 112th Congress, and all those in government, at all levels, decided for various reasons that the call to serve their county could not be ignored.  This call to serve is infinitely safer than service in the military, but in the mind of each person, is the fear that the next hand you shake might be the one that kills you.  If you doubt this assertion, then ask yourself why the Secret Service is in existence.  It is an uncomfortable fact that many unstable people exist in our society, and surely we cannot blame any one person for the actions of one madman.  But at the same time, we must realize that the words we use have consequences.  We can, in the firestorm that is politics, increase the heat of political discourse to the point that it ceases to remain civil.  And it is in these moments that we can unnecessarily provoke those who have been simply waiting for the right moment.  It is our moral responsibility to ensure that we respect our fellow men and women, and that we recognize that even though we may have disagreements, those disagreements are part of what it means to be an American.  Our differences do not make us any less devoted to the country which we all profess to love.  This tragedy serves as a harsh reminder that rhetoric is a powerful tool of the already powerful.  Violent rhetoric begets political violence, which in turn begets terrorism.  I do not intend to reach a premature verdict on the reasons behind this violence, merely to help teach an important lesson, which we were bound to confront sooner or later.

Tonight, I pray that we may never see such acts of violence again in our lifetimes.  I pray for the souls of those who were assassinated, and I pray for the speedy recovery of those injured, including the distinguished congresswoman from Arizona.

Good Night.