Last Wednesday’s column — Obamajam Capital — about getting jammed up by the incoming president’s motorcade in downtown D.C., provoked a few interesting responses.
Ellen Gold, a certified master guide from Bethesda, writes: “You should have seen the mess around GW Hospital the last time Cheney had to visit the cardiac unit there!”
Now, it seems, the entire region is going into cardiac arrest over the U.S. Secret Service’s plans to encase parts of the nation’s capital under a glass case to make it safe for Barack Obama’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Ellen Gold joins the chorus who wonder why all the security mania.
“My biggest question has been for years,” she writes, “(ever since I saw Bill Marriott driving himself to work in an unobtrusive Chevy) … Why don’t the VIPs just travel in plain, normal-appearance vehicles? No one takes notice of a gray Avalon or Camry or Buick. Then the riders inside would be unrecognized, and the traffic would continue to flow. Similar security could accompany them, but inconspicuously.”
Gold has a point, but reason and simplicity rarely trump muscle and metal when it comes to plans to keep our leaders safe and secure. However, I do think many Washingtonians are getting a bit overwrought when it comes to the upcoming inauguration.
Before we get our knickers all twisted up, let’s keep in mind that we are talking about only a four-day celebration. And given all the lousy news about lost jobs in factories and lost lives in Iraq, why not allow the country to come to the capital and recognize the historic moment of Obama and his family taking over the White House?
And another thing: Why all the whining about cordoning off what is essentially the federal enclave around the monuments, the U.S. Capitol and the White House? We residents of D.C. have to ask ourselves how often we cruise through Pennsylvania Avenue; Virginians can take public transportation into the city on Jan. 20.
Or they can ride a bike over the bridge and into the city, clearly the most sensible and efficient way to get around the Tuesday in question.
“It will be a great way to get around,” says Eric Gilliland, executive director of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. “We’re trying to get you as close as we can to the perimeter. You can dump your bike at our secure valet lot, walk in and enjoy yourself.”
WABA will have two bike parking lots open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.: one in the middle of 16th Street, between K Street and Lafayette Park; one just over 14th Street bridge in the Jefferson Memorial south parking lot. WABA’s Web site (waba.org) has a link to information about the valet service and maps with recommended routes for the inauguration.
The Secret Service is not allowing bikes inside the “security perimeter.” Nor, according to WABA, can you walk in with an umbrella, a stroller, backpacks or food that can’t fit in your pocket.
Best to bike through the Obamajam — with just the clothes on your back.
