May 16, 2005
WASHINGTON -
In essence, the filibuster fight on the Senate floor continues
to loom ever closer. Most Americans are just now tuning
in to this quarrel over judicial nominees, probably just after
the "Justice Sunday" snafu. Well, we in Washington
have been talking about this since the day President Bush
re-submitted 7 of the 10 filibustered nominees. It's
enough to make someone scream "enough already!"
Every angle of this has been approached, from the right and
the left. All we can do now is wait for the actual fight to
break out on the floor. And as they say, a watched pot never
boils.
I've been covering a lot of random committee hearings on
reforms for all sorts of topics: FOIA, Social Security, all
sorts. Particularly in the Social Security hearing,
I must say I need to brush up on economic terminology, because
I can't tell a "limited expense rate of return"
from a "tax-deductible whatsitcalled."
Aside from the work, I've been actively pursuing notable
figures in the city and have made with great success (see
photos on right).
Our "celebrity speaker" for the semester was Mr.
Pat Buchanan, which most of you know for his failed runs for
president. I know him because of an oblique reference
on an episode of Mystery Science Theatre 3000, where theatre
hecklers paint footage of a nuclear blast as "Pat Buchanan's
first day as president."
Mr. Buchanan was quite friendly, actually. It's not
everyday you see one of the icons of punditry be civil in
conversation. He spoke at length on his book Where the Right
Went Wrong, his take on how Republicans have embraced neo-imperial
foreign policy, trade irresponsibility, and Big Government.
Last week, I managed to run into Thomas Friedman, who spoke
at USC not too long ago. He was giving a very apocalyptic
talk at a neighborhood Barnes & Noble about his new book
The World is Flat, which documents how the Internet and other
technologies have exploded globalization and the U.S. is behind
on the times with it. I highly suggest giving it a browse,
since the government and the media are too concerned with
issues that probably would pale in comparison to this.
As Mr. Friedman put it, "Once as children we were told
'Finish your dinner- there are people in China starving.'
Well now I tell my daughters 'Finish your homework- there
are people in China starving for your job.'" It's worse
than we think, according to Friedman.
I also got to sit in on a master class of sorts at the National
Press Club, headed by none other than Mr. Bob Woodward, of
Watergate and Plan of Attack fame. It felt like "Inside
the Actor's Studio" for journalists, as he talked about
his experiences interviewing people and answered questions
from the audience about how to establish trust in an interview.
It was very informative and I took lots of notes.
Finally, I managed to see my representatives in Congress,
as every red-blooded American constituent should do when they
visit their nation's capital. While I only got to grab a photo
w/ Sen. Lindsey Graham (and unexpectedly run into fellow USC
classmate Mark McLawhorn), I actually was able to sit down
with the Honorable John Spratt. He listened intensely
as I rattled off about my experiences in Washington and about
living in Sumter, as well as the BRAC listings. His staff
was very helpful, rescheduling my meeting with him three times
because of assignments I was put on at the last minute that
day.
Finally, Prof. Bierbauer is visiting this week with his
Media & Government Maymester class, so I am taking the
opportunity to visit with them in the coming week. On
Thursday they are scheduled to see Andy Card, USC alum and
Chief of Staff for President Bush. Jealous.
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