Blogging on the Powwow

Anyone who reads my blog or who knows me in person know that I am serving as a Congressional fellow this year, living and working in Washington, D.C. In my "real life," I am an academic - a profession that, when it is not killing me, I dearly love. I am also a community-level oboist who still practices giving a tuning pitch, just to make sure I've got it right before I head to rehearsal. And, of course I am many other things, too...spouse, step-mother, aunt, daughter, and so on. But, today? Today I was a social activist. It started with an email that I received last night that was sent to all of the current AAAS policy fellows . It contained a Facebook link to a protest today at the White House, in response to our new president's actions banning Muslims from seven different countries, from entering the United States . I opted not to attend the Women's March last weekend and I could see that I missed out. I didn't want to miss out again. So, even though I

Over the past few weeks, I have been live-streaming many of the Senate confirmation hearings for the nominations for cabinet positions. In fact, most Senate committee staffers are running around saying, " 'Noms' all the time..."  They look exhausted! It's fun to live-stream the hearings at my desk, because everyone else is doing that, too. When a Senator or a nominee says something outrageous, there's a ripple of "Oh my gosh!"  that runs through the office, followed by almost as much processing as one could find at a social work faculty meeting. Almost. (If you want to see such a recent exchange, click here , but I will not comment.) Today, I attended a hearing in person. Now, I have never been described as a timid person. Let's face it, I'm a front-row-hand-in-the-air-let-me-speak-now kind of person. But, in the Senate, I have a tendency to hesitate. I've heard stories about fellows and staffers over-stepping their bounds and hav

Today, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I decided to run to the MLK, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall. It's a seven-mile round-trip run, which is a nice distance. I forgot that the mall is in a state of transition as the city prepares for the inauguration of our incoming president, Donald Trump. (I had to pause before I typed his name.) The transformations are beyond what I ever imagined. Here are pictures of what the mall looked liked this afternoon.  Here you have the Capitol. The inaugural stage is all set. The flags are hung. Yesterday they had a rehearsal for the inauguration. It sounds like it's a done deal. It's really going to happen. There was a tremendous police presence at the Capitol today. No one was smiling, either. Very serious business to guard the Capitol right now. (I did see a police officer get a hug, but otherwise , everyone was much more serious than I normally see in Washington.) There are tents everywhere, equipment and supplies.

Tomorrow is the big day! It is vote-a-rama . (In truth, I have seen this described as vote-o-rama , too. Not sure which spelling is accurate.) As you might have heard, the Senate is debating a budget resolution right now , where the goal is to "repeal" the Affordable Care Act. I use quotation marks around the word repeal,  because in fact, the Affordable Care Act cannot be taken off the books, but the funding to it can be shut down. In other words, it can be de-funded. The budget resolution that is being debated does not become law. Instead, it is a guide for what the will happen when the budget reconciliation is put forward in the spring time. That does  become law and the goal is for the budget resolution to send a strong message about what will happen with the springtime bill. The budget that is being examined right now is only about the Affordable Care Act and other health-related measures. The budget reconciliation will be the budget for the whole country. What does t

I returned to Washington today, rested, reflective, and ready for what comes next in my fellowship. But, logistics dominated my schedule and I was adjusting to being back in my apartment, unpacking, and the like. Just as I love to get to know neighborhoods by running through them, I love to get to know Washington by walking as many places as possible. So, I was off to the grocery store, which is less than a mile from my apartment. As I approached the corner of 5th Street NE and H Street NE, I heard a cacophony of sirens coming from the east. I looked in that direction and witnessed a helmetless man, driving a four-wheeled ATV, at 40-50 mph, who was being chased by four or five police cars, sirens blaring. I blinked. I stared. I laughed. I witnessed the crazed driver where the red star is located.  Of course, driving a four-wheeler in downtown Washington is really no laughing matter. It's a safety concern and apparently the reckless use of ATVs and dirt bikes inside the city a