Capital Bikeshare Inaugural Ride

One thing I love about DC - and New York as well - is the ability to take reliable, convenient, affordable public transportation. Whether by subway or bus (ok, mostly subway), I truly savor moving about my metropolis-of-the-moment without the hassle of parking, tickets, gas guzzling and insurance. Having said that, as someone who grew up in the auto-centric middle states, I do miss the convenience and independence of getting in my vehicle and just going where I want to go - bus routes and subway schedules be damned!

This week, the kindly folks at the Washington, D.C. Department of Transportation moved me one small step closer to the best of both worlds with the inauguration of the nation's largest self-operated commuter bicycle renting system, Capital Bikeshare. I heard rumblings of this project - which has been in high gear development since August 2009, and is a major project of outgoing mayor Adrian Fenty - when I moved to DC back in June, and excitement in certain circles was building all summer. Unsure of what exactly I was signing up for - and with no history of bike enthusiasm myself in the past decade - I decided to invest $50 for an annual license and became one of the program's first 2,000 'founding' members.

For my commitment, I received a special-edition t-shirt, a digital Bikeshare key, and an invitation to participate in the program's public inauguration/ "stock-the-stations" event. Since the entire reason I signed up in the first place was to push myself into trying new things - a personality trait best encapsulated visually whenever a newborn horse tries to stand up - there was simply no way I could resist going further down this rabbit hole. Rather than timidly checking out one of the brand-new shiny red cruisers and taking it for a secluded test ride around my own quiet neighborhood streets, I was going to a major media event with 200 other (much more experienced) urban cyclists. After the politician speeches and ribbon-cutting ceremonies were concluded, we were to strap on our helmets, mount the army of red bikes, and ride off in teams of 5-10 to distant parts of the District, distributing the first wave of bikes to their awaiting digital docking stations.

But back up a bit. I didn't own a helmet, which is easily resolved in itself, but the reason I didn't own a helmet is because I hadn't ridden a bike regularly in 10+ years, and in fact had not set foot-to-pedal at all - not even once - in at least 6 years. While many of my friends in San Antonio and New York had picked up the urban biking bug, I remained, until now, entirely immune to its siren call. My 'go-where-life-takes-me' attitude led me to test, in the least intelligent manner, the oldest adage in bike riding: Once you learn, you never forget how to (ride/fall off) a bike. Before proceeding with the events of the day, some quick background on the Capital Bikeshare system, who's behind it, and how it works.

The Background

This is the District of Columbia, which for those of you not already familiar with its odd machinations means that any governance issues which would usually be handled by a city government are instead jointly handled by national as well as local figures. This is most obvious in terms of funding, but shows up in weird combinations elsewhere as well. For example, did you know that President Obama's Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, provided direct support to what is otherwise a small (by comparison) regional biking initiative?

Pretty weird. Ultimately, the program was created by the District (of Columbia) Department of Transportation (D-Dot, or just "d." as they like to be called), so it is fully incorporated into DDOT's public transport system, including Metro, MetroBus and the Circulator (a special, low-fare "express" bus that runs through downtown). However, Bikeshare isn't run by the District. It is a system built and maintained by for-profit companies Public Bike, and operated by Alta Bicycle Share - both of which are involved in Montreal's successful BIXI program, which has been copied recently by London and Minneapolis.

The whole Capital Bikeshare phenomenon owes a lot to its immediate, and spectacularly flawed, predecessor, the Clear Channel-backed SmartBike. While Bikeshare is now the largest bicycle sharing program in the US, SmartBike had the distinction of being the first such program in North America. Of course, it wasn't very large - only 100 bikes at 10 stations - and was soon out matched by virtually all of its national competitors. SmartBike was not popular - at all - nor was it user-friendly, cost-effective, convenient, or stable. Though some have made apologies for it - there is only so much you can ask of a first-generation pilot program - the truth is, SmartBike failed, and could have easily been used as an argument for why bike sharing programs cannot work in the US.

But Mayor Fenty took a different lesson. SmartBike was small, technologically simple, and poorly integrated. Rather than look for another weak "test" of the bike sharing concept, DDOT was called upon to dream up, build, and implement a full-scale program of advanced, durable, and extra-convenient bikes and bike checkout stations to be deployed throughout the District and Arlington. And they were to do it all within 14 months.

In what I find to be an inspiring twist, urban planners were asked not to build on the success of SmartBike, but rather on its failure. Everything that SmartBike did wrong - the stations, the bikes, membership rules, everything - was scrapped, and the DDOT team went international, stealing the best ideas, planning, and equipment from existing systems in Montreal, Brussels, and elsewhere. The end product, which debuted on Sept 20, with full-system activation by late October, encompases 114 stations scattered across all 4 quadrants of DC and deep into Arlington, VA (see proposed station map). The 1,100 bicycles of the initial install are a huge roll-out, with Bikeshare staff already petitioning city & national government for an additional 2,000 bikes.

The idea is simple. As an annual member, you are given a digitally-coded key. When you want a bike, you just go to one of the automated stations, plug in your key, and check out a bike. That bike can then be checked back into any other station when you're done with it. If your trip takes less than 30 minutes (as most trips across DC will), then it's free (with your membership). If you need more time, there's a graduated pay scale that is charged to your account ($1.50 for an hour total, $3 for 90 minutes, and up fast from there). For those unwilling to commit to a full year, monthly ($25) or even daily memberships ($5) are available, and can be purchased at the stations with the swipe of a credit card. With the current (introductory) annual membership set at $50, and given that rush-hour metro rides can cost up to $3, that means the entire membership pays for itself after 15-20 rides, or about 2 weeks of workday commuting. You have the other 50 weeks of the year to just soak up the savings.

Now sure, not everyone wants to bike to work, and even for those who do, perhaps it's not an every-day, every-season, every-weather commitment. I certainly have no plans to cheerfully bike my way uphill in Snowpacolypse 2010. But the point is that it's affordable - super affordable - and the prevalence of stations in so many high-traffic areas suggests its convenience will be considerable.

There is still some concern - indeed, I've not yet figured out how they will address it - about how the stations will stay stocked. If you get to a station that's out of bikes, you're out of luck. And if you arrive at a station on bike, and it has no open docking stations, what then? In either case, you just find the next nearest station, which is generally only a few blocks away, but that's far from perfect. Also, 30 minutes isn't enough time to cover some commutes, at least, not casually. I'm not such a Marxist that I think everything should be free all the time, but I'm not looking forward to getting nickle-and-dimed if I take 35 minutes to get home every day.

There's a lot still to work out - or more accurately, to see how it works out. DDOT has done an exceptional (and fast) job getting this set up, and I assume they already have plans for how to address these issues. How well they address them will likely determine the ultimate success not only of this program, but of the growth of Bikeshare programs in the US generally. Moving from New York, it's hard for me to fall into the trap of feeling cutting edge about the goings-on in the nation's capital, but in the (small) world of public bicycle programs, DC is now looking razor sharp.

The Big Event

On Monday, several hundred Bikeshare members, and DDOT staff gathered on the Dept. of Transportation's parade grounds in Southwest DC for the public debut and inaugural ride of the Capital Bikeshare program. It was combination press event, member appreciation, and practical solution - how do you cheaply deliver several hundred bicycles around urban DC? A: volunteer riders.

Accordingly, the setup (above) was designed to impress. Just 400 of the 1,100 total Bikes were on display, but the sea of shiny kick-stand red 2-wheelers made a strong statement about DC's commitment. After signing in and being hit with a barrage of swag - from practical items like key chains and water bottles to the more bizarre d. breathmints - I took a survey of the assembled crowd. It was a diverse gathering in terms of age, ethnicity, and (observable) professional dress. I saw professional bike couriers, suit-and-tie businessmen, and a large swath of the eternally casual. The average age probably hovered in the early 30s, but the 40 and even 50+ age groups were well represented.

One striking commonality was that everyone present, not surprisingly, was very passionate about biking. Most came in small groups, often from the same office, and many of the supporters were 'bike professionals' of some level, employees at one of the many District bike retail/repair shops. Luckily, I was not alone in my awkwardness. While I was one of the very few people present without a cadre of associates, many of said 'tag-alongs' had clearly not ridden in some time. My tour group, which included 7 employees from the Department of Education as well as a division Director, was especially anxious and unsteady once we got on the road.

After 45 minutes of milling about, the press event got underway, with almost a dozen video cameras and a full bank of print and audio reporters covering this (in my mind, not) groundbreaking event. A special treat for me personally was the presence of District of Columbia non-voting member of the House of Representatives Eleanor Holmes Norton, who displayed the same conviction and feistiness that has made her a favorite guest on the Colbert Report. Norton, who was involved in getting federal funding to support the $6 million Bikeshare start up, spoke about the importance of alternative transport and the unique role DC plays as an incubator for public transport initiatives destined for wider national expansion. It's the same argument as Obama's Green Jobs initiative - that if we become experts in a currently non-existant industry, when that industry becomes critical elsewhere, we will be well positioned to capitalize on our experience. Just seems like a lot of ifs to me.

The next speaker was Mayor Fenty, who arrived in style by deftly parallel parking his SmartCar between two large construction vehicles. After declining a Bikeshare t-shirt, he accepted a hat, which he wore only briefly, but carried with him throughout the remainder of the event. Fenty was a feiry speaker, and as an avid athlete (how many US mayors run triathalons while in office) and strong supporter of the program, gave it glowing marks. He was confident, animated, and perhaps most aware of what importance the program did - and did not - herald. It was an important start, and he was sure of its future success. But one could tell from his demeanor, he didn't expect it to cure cancer (a later representative from the Arlington city council got almost that carried about with his prognostications). Fenty's levity may also have been due to his recent defeat in the Democratic mayoral primary, with this a de facto Lame Duck appearance. Having seen what was accomplished under his rather direct leadership, and now watching him operate direclty, I for one will be sad to see Fenty go. Perhaps my favorite moment of the entire day was when the press corps(e) all gather together for a photo op of Fenty (wearing a helmet) sitting atop a new Capital bike. After a few quick snaps, Fenty just rode off - with a herd of photogs breathlessly trying to keep up.

Once Fenty was down the road, it was time for the rest of us to make our contribution to the movement. We all strapped on helmets - inexplicably not required by DC law, but mandated for participation in today's ride - and mounted up to leave by group for our designated destination. I was in group 19, so we had a small wait. It was fun to adjust the bike's seat and check out the gizmos - a rolling handlebar gear shift, handlebar basket, catch-proof chain, and even an adjustable thumb-operated bell ringer.

As we got on the road, my rustiness was only half as apparent as I had feared. For starters, virtually everyone in my group (myself included) adjusted our seats for the optimum height for standing in one place on our bikes. When actually called to pedal, we found our knees universally high with each upstroke, and had a complete group pit stop within the first block. Luckily, seat height is super-easy to adjust, and we were quickly back on our merry way.

The bike itself is a lesson in stylish utility, with a strong bias toward functionality and durability over finesse. These are not performance machines, they are performative machines. They look good and don't break. Their 3 gears are useful on some of DCs naughtier hills, but disallow any true speed-demonism. More cruiser than road bike, their all-metal chassis, with additional coverage of the gears and back tire to avoid pant or laces mishaps, makes it a hefty beast. The additional weight of the cargo basket - and its cargo - makes for an imbalanced front end if one were to push beyond casual usage. In short, by the very bike's design, it is built to discourage any shenanigans and persevere in its basic task of getting you (comfortably, but not flashily) from point A to B. Our route (at left) was 3.2 miles, and took us about 20 minutes at a very relaxed clip.

Our final destination - a newly installed docking station in the rather shady NE Capital area - was soon upon us, and we uncertainly clipped in our bikes and parted ways. One of the more remarkable aspects about the entire day was that no one - at least in our group - really had any idea how the bikes or the stations worked. To the credit of Capital Bikeshare, it was all apparently self-evident (enough), but when our group leader turned to us in the DDOT lot and asked, "OK, who knows how to get to our station," it was pretty clear that this organization is not yet omni-prepared.

On the odd chance that you want to learn more about Capital Bikeshare, here are some relevant press clippings from area journalists and bloggers.

Washington Post Article

Capital Bikeshare Press Release

d. ("D-DOT") District Department of Transportation) Press Release

Greater Greater Washington Blog

Transport Politic Article

Inhabit Blog (great photos)

Weber

::(lame)Texpatriot

Rosslyn Jazz Festival

Saturday, September 11, 2010 was a day of remembrance, solemnity, and irrational patriotism across the United States as competing ideologues and rationalists commemorated the 9th anniversary of the terrorists attacks on New York's World Trade Center. Some events focused on the tragedy of bloodshed sparked in 2001, both in lower Manhattan, and in the resulting wars, war crimes, and continued terror attacks of the aftermath. The less balanced dedicated "Patriot's Day" to the exercise of bigotry and ignorance against anyone practicing the Islamic faith, anyone who did not speak fluent English, or just anyone deemed "not like us" enough. Whether in the proposed 1st amendment nullification of New York's Park51 center, the press coverage of wing-nut Florida Rev. Jones, or elsewhere, in the post-9/11 world, nothing brings out the crazies like the September 11th anniversary.

Washington DC was no different, except that the crazies gathering in Rosslyn, VA, just across the Potomac from Georgetown University, were neither book-burning Amerinazis nor whale-hugging Euro-socialists. They were Jazz musicians of the highest calibre, and those of us nutty enough to think progressive modern instrumental improvisation was a fine way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Crazy, indeed.

The marquee annual Jazz event in the District is the DC Jazz Festival, which takes over several weeks in early June at various venues, and was (more famously) known as the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival until recently. But one weekend in September 2010 radically challenged this staple assumption.

The Rosslyn Jazz Festival began in 1990, and grew strongly out of a close partnership between the city of Rosslyn - essentially a suburb of Arlington and clearly within the DC metro - and jazz guitarist Charlie Byrd. I have no idea why Charlie Byrd was so closely associated with this particular organization, but he remained a headlining act for several years, and is still prominently displayed on the events promotional materials, despite passing away in 1999. He lived in nearby Annapolis, and played regularly in the DC Metro area - though not specifically in Rosslyn as far as I can tell.

Regardless, with Byrd's star power as its foundation, the Rosslyn Jazz festival limp along year-by-year, progressively gaining sponsors regardless of its erratic line ups. Some years were clearly better than others, but one truth is objectively clear from scanning the event's full history: 2010 was the best line up ever. Period. By a mile. Or three.

Perhaps they decided to go all-out for the big 20th anniversary, or perhaps they still had funds left over after the 2008 festival was cancelled due to inclement weather. More likely, they just had an especially successful year of grant writing. Whatever the reason, the results are indisputable. With four potential headliners taking the stage, and beautiful weather to boot, the 2010 Rosslyn Jazz Festival was not an event to miss.

So I managed to attend 1/2 of it. :-(

The show opened with the 2008 Latin Grammy-winning Afro Bop Alliance, a DC-local septet of musicians mostly from the US Widwest, who nonetheless have achieved considerable success, including recordings with the similar-but-slightly-more-famous band, the Caribbean Jazz Project. I was not there. (but you can read about it in the review by JazzTimes's Editor-in-Chief Lee Mergner)

The day concluded (at 7 pm) with vocalist/diva Tierney Sutton and her longtime band of California Misfits (not the official name, but I think they should consider the change). While there's something to be said for enlarging the standard piano trio into a piano quartet (with 2 bassists and a drummer), its no revolution in itself. After the two powerhouse performances that preceded it - and in need of some food not on a stick - I left before Ms. Sutton got started.

So rather than wax on about the music I didn't hear, let's focus on the craziness I did witness, in person and for free, this September 11th. While Afro Bop is very strong for locals, and Tierney Sutton is rather in-demand within the Jazz scale, the meat of the 2010 Rosslyn Jazz fest sandwhich was clearly in the middle.

Modern pianist/composer Jason Moran and his trio, The Bandwagon (bassist Tarus Mateer and drummer Nasheed Waits) have accumulated more awards than I can count. Moran has been hailed as everything from a "Young Lion" to "the Future of Jazz." Critics accuse him of being too cerebral, and many of his more artistic conceptualizations - including commissioned works for dance art, etc - fall a bit flat when issued on CD as stand-along works outside their original medium. His long string of albums on the Blue Note label are a constant reminder that respect for the past doesn't mire one in repetition, and that even breaking (some would say 'shattering) expectations can be done with style, finesse, and class. He has previously recorded tribute projects to Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, and his most recent release TEN, celebrates the 10th anniversary of his trio with characteristic reflection and grit.

Having said all of that, Moran is an odd choice for a mid-day outdoor festival. The range of his playing - not just his abilities, but his strengths - covers intimate ballads, soulful homages to Jazz masters, and what he calls hip-hop "gangsterisms" of wide appeal. Yet none of his best work seems fully appropriate under a blue sky on a warm September day. Whether he was noodling around with a complex solo weaving between Monk's unplayed original notes, or comping on a 1920s acetate recording of black-face comedian Bert Williams, in truth the band failed to connect with the audience. Then again, I witnessed a similar effect when Moran played in San Antonio 4 years earlier. He was, in both instances, incredibly receptive - even devoted - to his band and the music they were addressing, with the audience being a nonissue. I believe Jason Moran would have played the exact same concert - or at least in the exact same way - to an empty Gateway Park any other Saturday of the year.

This feels like harsh criticism for a musician for whom I have the absolute greatest respect, and whose career and albums I have been following intently for most of the past decade. My point is that Jason Moran, for better or worse (and for the record, I believe the better), is a musician on a mission. If you want toe-tapping favorites, clap-a-longs, or other crowd-pleasers, Jason Moran is not your man. While I think this aspect of his performance has improved as a member of Charles Lloyd's ensemble over the past few years, as a band leader his priorities are Music First, Band Second, Audience last. It's a bit refreshing, honestly, to have the 4th wall so soundly in place. As if the audience is in fact a fly on the wall of a high-stakes Jazz rehearsal studio. It bends cautiously around the art-or-entertainment boundary, and insists on adding educational value, however that is to be taken. Ultimately, Moran's performance, as Moran himself, was Jazz at its finest, if not its most popular. If Moran is indeed the future of Jazz, it is up for heated debate as to whether or not this is a good thing.

The next group in the afternoon's lineup provided both a co- and counter-point to the argument.

If Jason Moran represents one possible monolithic progressive Jazz Future, then The Bad Plus present another. The reality, of course, is that both trends exist - and will continue to exist - in Jazz so long as that term has meaning.

Self-described "Indie-Rock/Jazz Fusion acoustic trio," Minnesota-based The Bad Plus - comprised of pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson, and drummer David King - rose to fame and infamy exactly ten years ago as well. Their brand of irreverent, unorthodox, and generally unrecognizable "Jazz" music has stoked the ire and consternation of many traditionalists, while their Jazz-for-the-masses approach and strong rock tinges have also turned off many critics of the progressive/modernist persuasion. Yet they remain remarkably popular and stress the importance of pop, rock, and classical influences as much (or even more) than the structural components (head, solo, improvisation, etc) that they take from Jazz.

The good news for you, the reader, is that I was better situated to record segments of The Bad Plus concert, and as such can provide some audio to backup this rather dry analysis. With apologies for the crowd noise and occasional airline fly-bys (the concert was held under Reagan National's main approach path), these recordings present a few of the sounds from that September 11th concert for a general idea...

I think the best place to start is actually with their closer. Six minutes into their closing number, the band played this:

Audio: the Bad Plus closing sample (.mp3)

What you are listening to is 1:45 of tightly-controlled high-octane unison staccato breaks. For the first 45 seconds, you can tell that the audience, myself included, doesn't really appreciate what is happening. The band did a lot of false breaks throughout their set, and most songs ended on precariously "wrong" notes. We therefore assumed, at least initially, that they were just 'milking' it for the grand finale. Having all three musicians play-stop-play-stop-play together is not a new conceit, but it's usually only done for 1 or 2 measures, and then to an easy, previously agreed upon 4-beat pattern.

After 45 seconds, you can audibly hear the audience realize just how much of a spectacle they are witnessing. Drummer King is bashing his skins and symbols then immediately silencing them. Iverson is crashing his hands on the ivory, then stomping on the pedals to squelch the reverberations. Anderson is - somehow - hugging his massive bass into submission after tub-thumping its gut. And less than half a second - a quarter of a second - later, they play again. then stop. Short pause. Play. Long Pause. Play. Pause. Play. Play. Pause. The pattern, as revealed over 45 seconds, is many measures long, highly complex, and occasionally syncopated. More than that, it's not just a rhythm - they are carving out a melodic line. It's as if every second, or third word was removed from a paragraph with a barely discernible pattern. You could still follow the gist of it, and so we did.

At a slower speed, its possible they could be using visual clues, like a nod from the pianist, to keep in step. But this is just too fast. In fact, the task is so demanding, that each musician is staring - intently - at his own instrument, struggling to emit the most sound one moment, and none at all the next. The crowd gets more and more into it, and after almost 2 minutes, the band explodes into the full chorus, to roaring applause. It was not simply a muscular "this is what we do" show of force, but a ballsy demonstration of Jazz chops and genre destruction that characterizes the Bad Plus. Place it akin to Coltrane's "Sheets of Sound" or Carney's famous Creshendo & Dimuendo in Blue solo. At one and the same time Jazz and anti-Jazz. Brace for impact.

Because I have the audio, and really enjoy discussing it, here are a few other recordings from the Bad Plus concert, and my thoughts to accompany your listening:

Audio: The Bad Plus - Super America (.mp3)

An easy, rollicking tune by bassist Reid Anderson, who is responsible for most of the band's more accessible numbers. This one is especially boisterous, but broke down around the 2 minute mark after a low fly-over and trailed off into some (frankly) uninteresting experimentation. My audio fades out, for your enjoyment.

Audio: The Bad Plus - Beryl Loves to Dance (.mp3)

At the very cusp of the recording you'll here a handsome voice (me) blurt out, "Oh, this is good stuff" in eager anticipation of the song just beginning. Taken at a brisk clip, Beryl Loves to Dance pairs aggressive - bordering on apocalyptic - drumming with piano lines that warp and twist the melody around the tempo. As the solos get underway, the audience gets left a bit behind, but off-balance returns to the theme are just often enough to keep most enthralled. Anderson's super-fast and uber-delicate high register bass solo right before the closing head is especially nice.

Audio: The Bad Plus - Never Stop (.mp3)

the roar of jet engines introduce - Appropriately! - the title track to the band's newest album (released just 3 days after this recording). The repetitiveness of this tune seems to owe more to pop or even techno, but Iverson wields it to impressively emotional effect. Whether playing Bjork, Nirvana or original compositions, The Bad Plus survive on the Tatum-esque swagger so prominently on display in this, their latest marquee number. The second airplane coincides so perfectly with the 2:00 break that they'll probably find a way to incorporate it into their next album.

And that's all for now. If you are desperately in need of more low-fidelity bootleg audio, you can find a few more select cuts from The Bad Plus and Jason Moran (including the Bert Williams reference) on episode 71 of my webradioblog - the Weber Surrogate Radio Project.

Weber

::(lame)Texpatriot

Job Hunt Pop Quiz

Job hunting is an interesting experience, especially for the self-absorbed. Total strangers want you to talk about yourself, preferrably in glowing terms. The downside is that, once you have your standard 2:00/ elevator speech prepared, the narrative starts to feel a bit mechanical. Hopefully not to the recruiter, but let's face it, they can only hear the phrases "detail-oriented," "self-starter" "problem-solver" and "Team member" in so many different combinations before it must all be taken as wrote.

Phone interviews - or worse, screenings - are the ultimate disembodied experience of this mutual robotic personality test. As I go through my narrative, with all the vocal expression and earnest audio character that a career in radio has given me, I picture the otherwise dynamic, intelligence living soul on the other end of the line checking off boxes one by one.

Speaks English

Team Member

Problem-Solver

Communication Skills

Management Experience

Criminal Record

Hard Worker

The whole process is exactly as formal as my projection suggests. Phone screeners are generally not involved elsewhere in the hiring process, and once their transcribed notes are submitted to the actual decision makers, they will have no further input on the search. Sometimes, phone screeners are HR specialists, and other times they're program employees fulfilling a quota of HR duties. Regardless, to reduce "favoratism" all phone screeners within a company are required to ask the exact same questions to each candidate, and these are often very similiar across different organizations as well. In addition to such open-ended queries as, "Tell me more about your background" there are always one or two surprises, often in the zone of 'touchy-feely' principles.

A recent phone screening asked me to define in my own words, and in only one sentence each, the three core principles of the organization. Since 'my own words' tend to be rather, well verbose seems an appropriate choice, this presented something of a challenge. On the fly, here's what I came up with:

Leadership is the ability not only to behave in a manner that sets a good example, but to inspire others to follow that example in their own lives and professional accomplishments. Being a 'good person' is noble; convincing others to aspire to such nobility themselves is leadership.

Versatility is the capacity to address new situations or challenges with innovative solutions that actually produce practical results. Creativity, while an important aspect of versatility, is fundamentally inadequate by itself. Practical resourcefulness, adaptability, and 'gumption' are needed to move creative ideas into actual solutions.

Integrity is knowing that an impartial observer, unaware of any "special circumstances" which may have excused the action in your own mind, would not find one's actions or motivations suspicious or objectionable. This vicarious perception test involves a bevy of assumptions, but removes the simple subjectivity of moral rectitude which every individual universally and automatically ascribes to their own actions.

It's not that I'm entirely satisfied with my impromptu responses, but at least it added an element of spontaneity and creative thinking to what has otherwise become a rather tedious (and thus far unproductive) step in the job hunt safari.

Also, as a point of reference, consider these alternate/ official definitions

Leadership

Dictionary.com - "the ability to lead."

Wikipedia - "The process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task."

Versatility

Dictionary.com - "Capable of adapting or adapted for turning easily from one to another of various tasks, fields, endeavors, etc."

Wikipedia - "The property of having many different abilities."

Integrity

Dictionary.com - "Adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character."

Wikipedia - "Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code."

Self-Obsessed

Feeling the need to share one's every thoughts and experiences with any audience willing to listen; narcissism; blogging.

Weber

::(lame)Texpatriot

Tea Party Kool-Aid

In 2008, on the strength of Obama's national election and Bush's (in my opinion quite high relative to the devastation he wrought) public opinion, the Republican party took a bashing in its congressional elections. In net total, the they lost 21 seats in the House and 10 in the Senate, giving the Democrats full control of both houses for the first time since 1996. As fits the pattern, the Republicans are expected to repay the favor to their Democratic Congressional Overlords this November, but a rising schism - or what some call "reinvigoration" - of the party's far-right base threatens to either boost, or foil, the coming spoils.

The Tea Party Movement is a misnomer in almost every way. It is not a registered political party. It has nothing to do with Tea except an imagined likeness to Revolutionary protests against taxation without representation - a parallel that is highly flawed given that the US pays relatively low taxes on a contemporary international scale, and every American - including TP supporters - do have exactly the type of representation that the British Colonialists lacked. It's even hard to think of it as a Movement because it lacks certain basic qualities - a clear leadership, defined membership, a stated platform (where, for example, does the Tea Party stand on Abortion? Veterans Welfare? Retirement Assistance? Israel?).

It's no surprise that a recent NY Times/CBS poll found self-described Tea Party supporters come almost exclusively from within the ranks of the Republican party. According to the poll, 48% of Republicans "support" the Tea Party movement, while only 20% of independents - including Libertarians - and a (surprising) 5% of Democrats. Still, if only half of Republicans are Tea Partiers, and most - but not all - Tea Partiers are Republican, how does that make it a "Republican" Movement?

Instead, I like to think of it as a Tea Party Phenomenon - an observable occurrence of ill-defined and intentionally nebulous events involving loosely-associated individuals sharing some, but not many, goals and tactics. This is not to suggest that those goal, tactics, and participants have been ineffective. Despite what I believe to be marginal opinions, the Tea Party has managed several prominent upsets within the Republican primary system. Bob Bennett of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and recently, Mike Castle of Delaware and Rick Lazio of New York were all ousted from their respective races by Tea Party enthusiasm, despite their strong support from the Republican establishment.

Yet all-told, the great "Tea Party Surge" of 2010 has been more hype than substance. They have achieved surprising success - no doubt - but all the hype that has followed, and especially the few case stories in which it revolves, has gotten me thinking about what this Tea Party Phenomenon is, and just how much of an impact it will actually have on the upcoming Midterm elections.

To render my analysis, I created tables of all upcoming Senate, House, and gubernatorial contests that will be on the ballot in November 2010. I specifically wanted to see in which races Tea Party candidates ran, how they fared, and what their chances of victory were in the upcoming general election. You can find my document in .xls form here.

I found a total of 4 Tea Party candidates (Paul Rand, Sharron Angle, Christine O'Connell, and Joe Miller) successfully beat out their Republican competitors in the 34 Republican primaries of 2010. 2 additional high-profile Tea Party candidates, JD Haynesworth of Arizona and Ovide Lamontagne of New Hampshire, were defeated by party favorites John McCain and Kelly Ayotte, respectively. Jim DeMint, who is a Republican incumbent, but hasn't let that stop him from becoming a major figurehead in the anti-establishment Tea Party, makes the 5th TP contender.

Of these 5, only DeMint and Joe Miller are candidates in a state in which the Republicans are expected to win - at least, according to 5 different polling groups from across the political spectrum. Rand Paul is in the category of "Leaning Republican" as he faces Jack Conway, and Sharron Angle is in a dead heat with incumbent Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Christine O'Connell, who made a lot of noise in the news following her September 14 victory, was already in a "Leaning Democrat" race when the moderate Mike Castle was the expected winner. Now with O'Connell's extremism to run against, many pollsters have shifted the race into the "Safe Democrat" category for Dem. Christopher Coons.

Consider, for example, this perspective on O'Connell's Delaware victory from today's NY Times:

In Delaware, just over 55,000 people cast ballots in the party’s primary, and Ms. O’Donnell’s margin of victory over Mr. Castle was just over 3,000 votes. The state has about 621,000 registered voters, and of those, about 182,000 are Republicans. (site)

In other words, Republicans make up less than 1/3 of Delaware's registered voters, and of those only 1/3 bothered to vote in the primary (11% of total voters), in which O'Connell won by less than 5%. Put another way, O'Connell received the support of just 1/6 of the registered Republicans in the state of Delaware; a state in which they are the overwhelming minority. The low turnout was likely due to Republican apathy in the face of what most (even conservative) pollsters feel will be a likely Democrat win in November.

In other words, for all the bluster, the Tea Party is only likely to have 2-3 seats in the senate come January 2011, a pick-up of only 1-2 in addition to the sitting DeMint. This seems not only statistically inconsequential, but politically insignificant since neither candidate switched a seat from Dem to Rep, but only retained an existing Rep seat against minuscule competition. I just don't see how finally getting as many seats in the Senate as the Independents is a 'game changer.' The Independents caucus Democrat. The TP caucus Republican - except they're already Republican. If anything, having a TP senate member is a liability to the Republican party, as they may be willing to vote against legislation put forward by the more moderate arms of their own clique.

I therefore assume, given the media storm over this Tea Party Tsunami, that they must be making huge gains in the House or Governor races.

But not so!

In my review of 52 open house seats, I found only one instance of a possible Tea Party victory - Jesse Kelly, an Iraq war vet who defeated the establishment-preferred Jonathan Patton, but for whom I could find little affiliation with the Tea Party itself. There was a Tea Partier defeated for Indiana's 8th district. But that's all. Another big headline recently was the defeat of Rick Lazio by raving crumudgeon Carl Paladino - an avowed Tea Partier, as well as a big fan of racial jokes and pornographic chain e-mails - for the chance to run against Andrew Cuomo for the Governorship of New York. It was assumed that party-favorite Lazio would have a slim chance if he put up a tough fight, appealed to moderates, and managed to get out the upstate vote. Instead, Paladino, a wealthy 64 year old from Buffalo, has appealed to the raving lunatic demographic and a throw-the-bums-out attitude that doesn't shy from threats of violence or analogies with Hitler or the Antichrist. Cuomo has been accused of being over-confident in the run-up to the primaries, but if anything, Paladino serves only to rest him more at ease - and keep his campaign ad video editors busy to the point of exhaustion. A fuller view from a closer source: here.

Closer to (my) home was the DC Mayoral election, in which veteran City Council member Vincent Gray defeated the 1-term incumbent Adrian Fenty by a sizeable (6%) margin. Fenty did good things since taking over as Mayor, and it is universally acknowledged that DC is in better shape after 4 years of his leadership - despite half that time being under a nation-wide recession. Still, he alienated the wrong groups and played hard-ball to push through the education reforms he promised to make in his earlier campaign. The resulting backlash sweeps Gray into office as the generic 'everyman' - but with no faint whisper of 'grassroots' or 'Tea Party' attached to it. Imagine that - a group of people, upset with an incumbent, and looking for a strong 'values-based' candidate managed to win an upset over a sitting Democrat without the help of Sarah Palin or the Tea Party Express. I'm just saying there may be a degree of coincidence in the "Tea Party Phenomenon."

In the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement and the Anti-War Movement were just that - social movements organized at a grassroots level to pursue clear goals in unorthodox, or unofficial methods. The Tea Party exhibits none of these traits - at least, not yet. For many unknown politicians, it provides a spring board to immense out-of-state fund raising and the opportunity for a national spotlight. For others, notably the tragically unemployed Sarah Palin and the tragically over-employed Glenn Beck, it offers the opportunity to cash in on their media connections for the benefit of their personal fame and bank accounts. The Tea Party is not a grassroots organization, it is a confederacy of conservative PR firms manipulating the fringe masses of our country through clever marketing, unrealistic promises, and blantantly disengunous claims.

However, this phenomenon is not without its benefits. As much as it frustrates Democrats, the exercise of democracy has never been purely for the benefit of one political party. Just like the 18th amendment - which guaranteed the right of all US-born citizens, including slaves, to vote - and which ironically the Tea Party has advocated to repeal - any growth in voter participation, free speech and non-violent citizen-to-government communication is a fundamentally good thing. It is crucial that the leaders in Washington, Wisconsin and Wasilla know that the incumbency bias isn't guaranteed, and that if they act like the proverbial "bums," they will get what's coming to them. As for those of us, like myself, who are horrified at the long-term prospect of a Tea Party dominated legislature, 2010 serves as a clear reminder that when we choose not to exercise our voice - when we neglect to vote ourselves - we are allowing others to have undue influence on our shared country. There are a lot of conservatives spread throughout our great land, and also a few liberals. Both are captive to the overwhelming majority of moderates who recognize the importance of compromise, the need for basic social services, and the expectation that a world without government is a world of chaos. Like any other insecure or frightened animal, the Tea Party makes a lot of noise as a means to compensate for its lack of actual power. The 2010 Republican Primary has shown that, indeed, the ideas of the Tea Party Phenomenon do carry some weight among the populace, but as any rational survey will show, that weight is actually quite small. Probably measured in grams, or to satisfy the reactionary Tea Partiers, in a pennyweight or apothecary's dram.

And that's the grain to take away from all of this. Even if the extremist fundamentalism and cloaked xenophobia espoused by some Tea Party activists is Arsenic to our national health, the one drop in our caldron of diverse political ideologies isn't enough to spoil the brew. It will certainly be enough to turn the Republicans' smaller goblet bitter, and much of the fate of our national pendulum rests on whether or not the Modern Right is content to play lackey to revisionist reactionaries.

Weber

::(lame)Texpatriot

Vamos United

Since my last DC United post, things have not been looking up for the woeful squad or its (heart throw) star player-turned-manager, Ben Olsen. While my last trip to RFK stadium saw the team pull off a victory over the almost-as-bad Philly Union, they since took a beating from CA-based Chivas USA, leaving their record at 4-16-3. Also in the interim, the Red-and-Black faced off against Eastern Conference leaders Columbus Crew in the semi-finals of the US Open cup, a multi-league tournament in which DC has traditionally fared well (won 2008, runner-up 2009), and - given their MLS record - basically its only hope of saving face from the 2010 campaign.

Crew ended DC United's Cup hopes - barely, in over-time, and against a depleted 10-man squad after a questionable DC red card - and will go on to face the Seattle Sounders on Oct 5 to close the tournament. But before that, and in fact a mere 3 days after getting knocked out of the Cup, DC had to face Columbus again - this time in a regular MLS season match. Ironically, the "season" contest effectively "mattered" less than out-of-league play due to DC's abysmal standings. And this was the game - the rematch - that Shelley and I went to watch on a beautiful almost-fall day in sunny DC.

Our motives were not entirely spirit-driven. While the prior match was awesome to behold (I watched on TV) - if ultimately disappointing - it drew only 3,411 fans to the 45,000 capacity RFK stadium. Wednesday or not, that's embarrassing for any professional sport save... bowling? To boost attendance, both matches were declared "College Week" and anyone with an active .edu e-mail address was allowed to purchase premium tickets at 1/2 of the cheap-seat price. So we bought two for Saturday.

Prior to the match, and I'm sure in yet a further effort to drum up supporters, the team hosted one of its free pre-game concerts, this time with the respectable local indie/alt band, US Royalty. The band was appreciably good, and managed to stick to original tunes - rather than crowd-pleasing covers - for most of their set. Finishing off with the 80s rock anthem "We're not Gonna Take it," while popular, didn't prove prophetic. Mostly, the combination of sanctioned "College night" and the usual tailgate festivities did little more than serve license for thick-necked 20-year olds to pound down cans of Natty Light, discard the crumpled aluminum remains in piles on the ground, and complain - loudly - about how much the port-o-pots "reeked." To be honest, one walk through the brew-swilling meat-market of late-teen testosterone and come-get-me self-esteem issues and I thanked my stars, my gods, and my skechers that this world was far and permanently behind me.

The official fan clubs were present as well, in more comfortable, relaxed (adult) fashion. The everyman Barra-Brava ate tacos and fajitas off the back of pick up trucks, with the clever use of a PODS storage container to keep the various games, chairs, and cooking equipment for the season. The more upscale Screamin' Eagles fan club had a full-duty mobile home parked permanently on the side of the parking lot to serve as home base for its sprawling tents, buffet lines, boom boxes, private toilets and sponsored sport chairs. The renaissance-dressed ticket distributor made an illogical addition, but her short red-and-black corset drew few complaints.

One thing I did not realize before moving to DC is just how popular the game "corn-hole" is. Still not sure if it's an East Coast thing or a soccer fan thing, but the game is utterly widespread and much beloved for its frustrating simplicity (see complete rules). Two 3' x 5' platforms are propped up at a slight angle facing each other 20ish feet apart. Each platform has a hole in the top middle, and may otherwise be painted with various, team-specific designs. Playing alone or in teams of two, individuals toss bean bags from behind one platform at the other. Any bag that remains on the platform at the end of the round is good for 1 point. Any bags that go down the hole count double. It is - importantly - easy enough to play that it can be done while drunk, even quite drunk. This is, I assume, the better part of its allure. Also, bean bags don't pose much of a threat as either misguided, or malacious, projectiles. The main reason I assume Horse Shoes faded out of style in the Frat party circuit.

As game time approached, Shelley and I made our way into the faded glory of RFK's once-magnificence. Rather than take directly to our seats, we opted to wander a bit, and soon found ourselves in the large ground-level section behind the away goal which is set aside as the "VW Garage." As the major sponsor of DC United, VW gets a lot of odd perks, and also provides various benefits to the audience. For example, the first 50 VWs to attend any DC United home game get free parking. There is a giant VW logo which is rolled out covering the entire mid-field circle for all of pre-game and half-time. I can only imagine what the negotiations for all these trinket ad-spaces and quid-pro-quoi must have entailed. The Garage is a huge section in which not only the seats, but the entire bleachers, have been removed. In its place, VW puts up an area that is 60% kids fun zone, 30% new car showroom, and 10% unreserved field-level viewing. Moon walks, doodle-on white Beetle, and the latest souped-up VW models are joined by a large hut containing under-16s playing MLS 2010 video games. There's also a fair amount of VW promotional materials to be given away, and we indulged ourselves just a bit.

Waiting for our free screen-print-on-the-spot t-shirts to dry, we caught the first 20 minutes of the game from about 15 feet shy of the corner kick. It was Awesome! Every time DC made a strong charge down the field, the action came to us. DC's newest star, the locally-grown youngster Andy Najar (pron: "nuh-har"), as playing on our side, and if I had any hesitancy in my fervor for the guy's skills, it was totally eradicated by watching his footwork and poise up close. That kid is the real deal, and though he was brought up in the DC U-18 academy, I can only hope he stays with the team a few more years. He has also become a crowd favorite, and I found myself blurting out after one especially nice move to blow past 2 defenders and place a nice cross, "Well done, Andy!"

The extremely large man in a beer-stained t-shirt who constantly screamed at the goal keeper about how much he "sucked" was a small downer. Apparently a regular, the security guard on duty nearby was not accustomed to ignoring such behavior, and only the intervention of his pepper-haired superior saved the do-right guard from mistakenly telling a season ticket holder what he thought of him, which was sort of too bad.

We eventually moved into our actual ticketed seats - event staff is not especially picky about seat assignments given the number of vacant chairs in every section - only to discover that our College Week tickets had put us amidst a crowd of College students. Drunk, macho, and/or wantonly flirtatious, it was quickly company we preferred not to keep. Halftime gave us an excuse to go in search of papusas, and we opted to find alternative seating for the second half.

The game itself was hard-fought by both teams, and about as close as their Wednesday match. On that night, DC lead all evening 1-0 after an early goal, only to be tied in the 89th minute by a desperate Crew. In the first period of sudden-death overtime, Columbus flexed their 1-man advantage again, essentially out-lasting and over-powering their opponent. In our match, both teams displayed flashes of brilliance, but clever crosses failed to connect, and distance cracks went wide. In fact, the only goal scored in the entire game came off an inexcusible error on the part of DC's netminder, Bill Hamid. On a routine pass-back, the Columbus forward suddenly charged Hamid, who misjudged how much time he had to dawdle. Flustered, he tried to quickly kick the ball out, only to trip up on his own ankle. The ball squirted a bare 5 yards - directly to the defender - who made short work of dribbling once around Hamid, and then a soft pass into the back of the net.

I didn't actually see it happen. I was off using the loo when I heard the crowd erupt in moans. Something bad had come to pass, and I soon realized it was a Columbus goal, but it wasn't until the next day, catching the game in replay on Fox Sports Net, that I understood the appropriate depth of the DC despair. The 2010 season has aptly been described

The game continued, but DC could never muster the equalizer they needed, and Columbus was content to rest of their 1 point lead. It did not make for the most beautiful football ever played in RFK stadium, but luckily with the resident Redskins tradition (1961-96), it probably wasn't the ugliest either. After more than her fair share of sports time, Shelley nestled down with a tome. She didn't miss much.

It's been a hard year for DC United, and perhaps also for DC United fans. The glory days of years past seem ever more distant, and the constant changes in coaching and talent positions don't make perceivable impacts. While the rise of Najar and Hamid - both DC products - is encouraging, the demise/departure of DC legends like Ben Olsen and Jaime Moreno leave painful potholes in the road to recovery. A recent surprising last-second victory over 3rd-ranked Toronto FC, while welcome, does nothing to change the arc of the season.

With 6 games remaining in 2010, and one of those against LA Galaxy, more than anything DC just wishes it could start preparing for 2011. For the faithful, we're left with plenty of passion, but no clear vessel in which to invest it. Of the three remaining home games, I'll try to catch one. I'm always on the lookout for Najar and veteran Allsopp on local media. I wear my rally cap to games. And I'll wear my free VW screen-print shirt with pride. Even after its iconic Jaime Moreno no longer wears the black-and-red.

Weber

::(lame)Texpatriot

Beck Rally in the Rear-view Mirror

2 weeks have now past, and just like the Park51 issue, and the wing-nut Qur'an burner, the story of Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor 8-23-10" rally, which was supposed to "change the course of American History" has come, gone, and in retrospect been totally meaningless. I blame the upcoming November elections for encouraging this type of bulimic media hype. Items of no value or content are elevated to a national media frenzy, and as more sound minds and rational journalists approach the supposed hot-button topic, it is revealed that, in fact, there is no story there at all. Case 1: There was an Islamic prayer room located on the 17th floor of the World Trade Center's South tower for 17 years before the tragic events of 2001. Therefore, the idea of installing a prayer room a full 2 blocks away its original location cannot possibly be considered controversial, even by the most insane (informed) individual. Case 2: Mr. Jones is a wacko with only 30 people who bother to listen to him - until recently. Revealed as such, the media pretends like it was "forced" to cover the story, and now maybe 31 people care what Mr. Jones says or does.

In the case of the Beck Rally, which time and further (non-beck) media coverage have revealed to be essentially a non-issue itself, I want to offer one final post based on my physical presence at the event just to offset any media slant that may have trickled out into the world. What follows are undoctored photographs and a few observations to go along with them.

1. Crowd Size

Let me say that I am not good at estimating large numbers of people. Let me also say that on August 23, there were, by any standard, a lot of people at the Beck Rally. The most accurate total count, done using aerial photography by a professional photo census company, was 87,000. To be honest, on the day itself, I guessed somewhere between 10 and 30,000 - but I am bad with numbers, so I'll go with the professional count. Mr. Beck personally proclaimed the crowd to be 500,000 strong - roughly 6 times the official count - while Palin said anyone claiming it was less than a million was lying (sorry, Glenn) and another conservative pundit proclaiming "at least" 3 million in attendance.

Here's my on-the-ground assessment: There was a crowd of people stretching from the foot of the Lincoln Memorial down both sides of the reflecting pool, throughout the WWII memorial, and just barely onto the lawn of the Washington Monument. That is a lot of ground to cover, and respect should be paid to any event that can accomplish such a feat. Having said that, the density of the event over that area was not very high - more Montana than Massachusetts. People were spread out. When possible, they clustered in the shade, leaving huge empty spots throughout the "rally zone." Also, they were mostly sitting. Pic-nic blankets and lawn chairs dominated the crowd, especially the elderly and the disabled, often with families or groups of friends who came to town on the same charter bus claiming their own large territory to put the cooler, umbrella, and other "necessities." This all goes a long way to explaining the nature of the event. It was not a packed house, stretching almost a mile, of fervent supporters standing toe-to-toe in a mass of angry protest. It was more like an ultra-conservative tail-gate party, or is that redundant?

2. Imagery

Placing an event at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial carries with it certain historical connotations. In the case of Mr. King's famous speech from almost the exact same location, it was Lincoln's heritage as the man who ended slavery, with the Civil Rights Movement seen as the final culmination of the mission and vision which Lincoln began. In the case of Mr. Beck, intentionality is harder to guess at. On the one hand, Lincoln is revered by Mr. Beck for being one of the first influential Republicans - which is odd, given that the platform of the pre-depression Republicans was so radically different from their modern decedents. Still, the Grand Old Party can traces its lineage, if not its ideology, to Honest Abe, so I guess this makes sense. Except that many of the participants in the rally, and much of the Tea Party movement in general, are not especially pro-Republican. They may be reactionary enough to believe in the same things that Abe did in the 1800s - like no voting rights for women - but I doubt it. Instead, they lump Abe in with the "Founding Fathers" myth that stands at the core of their invented identity. I find the idea that Washington, Madison (but not the "radicals" Adams and Jefferson) and whoever else envisioned a country of small government, no social welfare, limited foreign policy, freedom of religion only for (some) Christian sects, and tax breaks for the wealthy to be utterly nonsensical. Retrospectively adding Abraham Lincoln to a group of "Founders" 100 years his senior only emphasizes the preposterousness of the claim. By the argument put fourth - that he shaped our modern country - I think Woodrow Wilson, FDR, and many others - such as Adams and Jefferson - would also have to be included.

What was most odd about the actual visuals used at the rally were the three large posters put up behind the main stage. Done in the Shepard Fairy-style of Obama's iconic blue/white/red campaign poster, Mr. Beck chose 3 images to identify the core principles of his rally: George Washington, a Native American in war paint, and the 1969 Moon Landing.

The first, I understand. The second seems disingenuous - claiming a parallel victimization of North America's indigenous peoples while simultaneously celebrating those who ruthlessly subjugated them. The this is just bizarre. I think it commemorates a time of American self-esteem, specifically our space race "victory" over the Soviets, after, of course, they already beat us in a race into space. It brazenly ignore that fact that the Soviet's win had practical implications - balistic missile capacity - while the US win was purely symbolic. It also, of course, happened under the guidance of a Democrat.

3. American Apparrel

The above image is not extraordinary or uncommon at the Beck Rally. It seems wearing a t-shirt with either 1) an American flag, 2) a Glenn Beck slogan, 3) Tea Party motto, or 4) anything that linked Jesus to America - was a prerequisite for attending. I was genuinely struck by two things: First, that the resulting mixture of cargo shorts, size 45+ jeans, sandals with socks and (let's be honest) mostly X and XXL t-shirts presented a rally of people mostly connected by a shared poor fashion sense. Second, after passing various back-pack t-shirt vendors, that someone was making a fair chunk of cash by convincing these ultra-conservatives that they weren't really "committed to the movement" unless they had one of the 4 above categories proudly displayed on their chest.

To be quite blunt, at first it was rather scary. This was a lot of people who, if their t-shirts were to be believed, genuinely thought Woodrow Wilson was the worst president in history, and that "don't tread on me" was an appropriate parallel between British colonial tax policies from which the colonists would not benefit, and for which they were not represented, and Obama's health care bill, in which they were fully represented and will reap the benefits. That this many people were capable of blindly ignoring the basic precepts of logic, fact, and meaningful scale, was frightening. If I were being bombastic, I would liken it the earliest days of the Social Democratic party in Weimar Germany. But of course that would be an exaggeration, and I, at least, can tell the difference.

4. The Coming Revolution

Another common theme - in addition to the Jesus-America linkage that was omnipresent - was the idea of radical (perhaps the wrong word - reactionary?) change that was coming to America - - and soon! Revolution! A revolution of.... God?

As much as the Rally - and its participants - expected dramatic reversals in the course of American politics, it was pretty clear they weren't really going to do anything about it. They would attend rallies, so long as they were on the weekend, weren't too inconvenient, and there was plenty of sun in which to stretch out their folding lounger. They would vote - and as conservative as possible - but probably only in national-level elections. And they would gripe - a lot - about how those East/West Coast; Intellectual/Urbanite; Liberal/Radical/Moderate/Left-Wing/ Establishment/ Beltway/ Incumbent politicians - were ruining this great nation of theirs. They would "rededicate themselves to Christ" - at the urging of Mr. Beck - and otherwise they were free to sit on their couch, watch football, and rely on Mr. Beck's program to keep them angry while assuring them that they, the good/real Americans, were doing enough. Just wait. God has a plan for America. Stay tuned.

5. Demographics

In case it hasn't been clear from earlier posts or other reporting, I cannot possibly end my observations without noting the overwhelming lack of "diversity" in this crowd. I use quotations because I'm not comfortable with the word "diversity" having a coded, especially racial/ethnic, meaning. In this context, I mean to say that yes, there was virtually no one at the entire Glenn Beck rally who was not white - my friend and I walked actively for 2 hours through the crowd and counted a combined total of 10 hispanic or African-American attendees. But I mean more than this as well. The age range was quite broad, but manipulated. There were people present from the age of 7 to 70+, but everyone under the age of 20 was there with their parents, and seemed - to my eye, and despite their equally inflamatory t-shirts - to be rather bored. What 20- somethings were present (and very few of them) had come in groups, usually affiliated with a religious group like FCA or other on-campus faith-based group. Whether or not they held to the hyper-conservative rhetoric or not, I couldn't tell. They were often too busy texting with friends to pay attention to the speakers. Numbers began to tick up, slightly at the 30-something mark, as young (presumably very Christian) couples showed they weren't afraid to stand against the overwhelming liberalism of their peers. In all, the median age sat, not in the 50s, but likely in the low 60s, so strong was the retiree portion of this crowd - and that a long walk from the nearest public transport, and on a fairly hot afternoon. The irony that well over half of those present were active beneficiaries of social security and medicare/medicade was not lost on this young observer.

One issue that both Mr. Beck and the Tea Party movement (which are not the same thing) have to contend with is the issue of race. Fox News has a 1% African-American audience in a country with an 18% population. The rally, though scientific numbers are lacking, would have needed at least 8,700 African-American participants even to reach Fox's regular percentage. While my count of 10 is unquestionably low, it's virtually impossible for the total to have been even as high as 870, or 0.1% . And what about religious diversity? The freesdom "of and from" religion which our Constitution promises us? Glenn Beck was a preacher on a pulpit, giving out an exclusively Christian appeal for an (exclusively) Christian, or at least Christian-dominated America. One can only imagine how awkward it would have been to be a Muslim, Jew, Hindu or atheist in that crowd. I can imagine the last quite well, and my accomplice was raised in the Jewish faith. The regular appeals - from the pulpit - for Amens, and the constant calls of "Thank you Jesus" everything Beck tear-fully described the greatness of our Founding Father's vision. Truthfully, it was more of a religious, than political rally. This was made all the more odd by the presence of several groups of pentecostals, and a mormon, Beck, leading a crown of generic protestants in a call for "Christian resurgence" in the US of Jesus-America. But what about the rest of us? Aren't we part of America too? Aren't we, the non-christians and lapsed-faith, in fact the majority? Should we perhaps have a say, have a role in the future of this country? Not according to Mr. Beck. He has his chorus of monotone sycophants, which resonates louder and louder through cloaked bigotry and exclusionary xenophobia.

I did not get the sense of racially-motivated hatred at the Glenn Beck rally as I have personally witnessed at other Tea Party events. In fairness, everyone I spoke with and walked past, carrying my camera and audio recorder, was very polite. I mean, extremely, middle-America polite. I'm sure if people of diverse racial or religious background did come to the rally, they would have been welcomed and treated respectfully. I'm also sure the rally didn't have much to offer them. The White Jesus America of which Mr. Beck preaches hearkens to the Utah of the 19th century - a promised land in which, if anyone different may currently dwell, they will be expected to leave, or face institutional "correction."

6. Conclusion

As the crowd petered out, to spend the rest of their weekend enjoying the socialist-inspired free Smithsonian museums on the Mall, we passed this road sign. In anticipation of the large crowd - Beck told DC city officials to prepare for a crowd of 300,000 - the city shut down a road that runs through the Mall. Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor rally forced the closure of Independence Avenue. I can think of no better example of how political bombast preying on the fears and faith of our most fragile citizens can endanger the actual founding principals of our country.

Weber

::(lame)Texpatriot