My eldest daughter has been losing stuff. She may be able to discuss Socratic political theory she just learned halfway through her senior year of college; but she cannot seem to hang on to her credit cards or driver’s license.
So one of my chores Monday morning was to deliver her to the downtown Department of Motor Vehicles so she could replace her license. As we drove toward the intersection of Sixth and Indiana Avenue NW, I could see cop cars with lights flashing.
“Maybe a suspect bolted from the courthouse,” I said. “Or an inmate escaped the central lockup.”
I pulled closer to the light, in time to see a cop car hook a U-turn in the intersection to block Indiana Avenue. A cop in SWAT gear jumped out. I continued to coast. He stuck his arm toward my windshield, palm at my face, reached for his Glock. I stopped.
This was not your typical street closing. We watched the first of many D.C. scout cars speed south toward Pennsylvania Avenue, followed by a few black sport utility vehicles with tinted windows and men in black suits peering out, then a black limo approached, then bystanders on the street started waving at the cars and snapping pictures.
At which point I realized I was in my first Obamajam. As President-elect Barack Obama often says, there’s only one president at a time; but with him cruising town, we now can have presidential motorcades in stereo.
Whoopee!
The good news is Obama promises to be a president who settles into the District and gets around his new hometown; the bad news — for those of us who need to get from home to work to school and back — is every time he leaves 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, downtown will shut down.
“We are a city of motorcades,” says John Lisle, spokesman for D.C.’s transportation department. “Security is the most important thing. I don’t think anyone would question that.”
I might question why President Bush declined to let the Obamas stay in Blair House, a secure structure near the White House. The future first family has been forced to bunk at the Hay Adams Hotel, and the Secret Service has had to close off main streets in the heart of downtown.
It will get worse toward the inauguration. The Secret Service is putting out its latest security map today. My sources tell me the feds will close most of downtown to cars: from the U.S. Capitol west to 23rd Street; and from K Street south to Independence Avenue. Barriers will go up Monday the 19th and come down Wednesday.
“After that,” Lisle says, “things will return to normal.”
We all preferred the old normal, where presidents, as recently as Richard Nixon, could walk our streets. The new normal, post 9-11, requires our chief executives to live an armored life.
The best spin on future Obamajams is this: If Barack Obama retains his rock star popularity, they could become D.C.’s new tourist attraction.
