The Group of Five
It may be surprising to learn that living presidents don't get together as often as you might think. This January 7 photograph of the incoming and outgoing chief executives, and their predecessors, is the first gathering of ex-presidents since the funeral of Gerald Ford (2007). But it is also the first time that all the living exes have been photographed together in the Oval Office since 1981, when Ford, Richard Nixon, and Jimmy Carter visited Ronald Reagan before leaving to attend the funeral of Anwar Sadat. That was almost 30 years ago.
Maybe the discomfort of the occasion is too much, even for these seasoned politicians. You get the sense, from this picture, that the smiles are forced, the postures are awkward, the mumblings are banal, the faces reveal all manner of unspoken thoughts. As he stands slightly apart from the others, what is Nobel laureate Jimmy Carter saying to himself? As Bill Clinton looks off into the middle distance, what does he see? Is the pin-striped George H.W. Bush actually saying something to Barack Obama, or just gesturing? Obama looks like someone just told him a mildly funny joke, and Bush II looks like he's waiting for a tailor to pin his sleeves.
THE SCRAPBOOK suspects that Bush II and Obama are practicing their nation-unifying cordiality, and that Bush I is being his usual self, trying to put the new guy at ease. Carter has an expression on his face that betrays his well-known contempt for the other four. Bill Clinton was quoted as saying "I love this rug," but from his resolute gaze towards the little anteroom where he consulted with a famous intern, THE SCRAPBOOK knows what he was thinking.
Raising the Drawbridge
THE SCRAPBOOK has seldom looked kindly on the pronouncements of Representative James Moran, the ethically challenged Democratic congressman from Northern Virginia. But even a broken clock is right twice a day, and when presented with the Inauguration Day plan to close all major highways and bridges into Washington, D.C., from Virginia, Moran did something he frequently does: He exploded.
"The Secret Service, they're insane," he sputtered to the Washington Post. "This is security on steroids. They are imposing major obstacles on people who have a right to be there for the inauguration." We're with you on two out of three, Congressman.
In fact, insanity is not the problem that afflicts the Secret Service; arrogance is. Yes, the Secret Service is charged with protecting the lives and safety of senior federal officials; and yes, this is a dangerous world. But if their mission is taken to its logical conclusion--and we seem to be headed in that direction--then the Secret Service would permanently insulate presidents from public exposure, preferably tucking them away in a bunker somewhere, and every U.S. citizen would be considered a potential assassin, and treated as such.
The Obama presidency-to-be is a case in point. Two weeks ago the Obama family decided to deposit themselves in a swank Washington hotel across Lafayette Square from the White House. (Most incoming presidents have waited until just before inauguration to descend on the nation's capital.) This has not only put the departing Bush administration in an awkward position, it has also afforded the Secret Service yet another opportunity to expand its power. Several blocks around the hotel have been closed to vehicular traffic--"security on steroids," as Congressman Moran would say--causing a permanent state of gridlock in downtown Washington. Of course, this affects more than pointy-headed bureaucrats and Democratic fundraisers: It is a major inconvenience to the merchants, office workers, deliverymen, nurses and physicians, florists, clerks, waitresses, and janitors who earn a living in the vicinity.
Now, according to the Post, a consortium of the Secret Service and "area transportation officials" have decreed, for the first time in history, that American citizens will be barred by police from entering the capital city from south of the Potomac River on Inauguration Day, January 20. All major Virginia highways inside the Capital Beltway will be barred to vehicular traffic; all bridges across the Potomac will be closed. Adding lunacy to injury, no restrictions whatsoever will apply to people crossing into the District of Columbia from Maryland--which, from a security standpoint, makes no sense: At least Virginians have to cross a river to get into Washington.
The blogosphere has been having a lot of fun with this, claiming (among other things) that it's all a Yankee plot to keep Rebels from joining in the festivities. THE SCRAPBOOK is confident that this isn't a replay of the Civil War, but the truth of the matter is no less serious. The Secret Service and "area transportation officials" have been in a state of near-hysteria since November 4, warning that untold millions of people will descend on Washington for Barack Obama's swearing-in, straining local resources and creating havoc. The effect of these apocalyptic visions will probably be far fewer pilgrims and far smaller crowds on January 20. But it has encouraged the Secret Service--which, during the past decade, has permanently closed historic avenues around the Capitol building, White House, and public monuments--to spread its ever-growing authority, transforming the nation's capital into one big airport security zone.
Presidents have been reluctant to argue with the Secret Service, but perhaps Barack Obama's idea of change will include taking a second look at security on steroids. Lest we forget: The Secret Service has a difficult job to perform; but the United States is a democracy, public officials are public servants, and "security" is not a device to empower one federal agency at the expense of citizens' rights.
Sentences We Didn't Finish
"All day yesterday inside the Hay-Adams, locals tried their best to jump-start that relationship. Just off the lobby, where a lavish $65-a-plate Sunday brunch was underway, almost none of the well-dressed diners mentioned Obama or his family already ensconced in a suite upstairs. Don't let the cool demeanors fool you, though, said one diner. 'That's what everyone's thinking about even if they don't say it. . . . Just to be in the same building, to be breathing the same air . . . ' " ("Obama Arrives in Style: Crowds Greet President-Elect at Hotel," Washington Post, January 5, 2009).<
A Steiner Show
A note especially for our readers in the Washington, D.C., area. Peter Steiner, whose cartoons once graced this page, will have a collection of paintings--"Portraits and Self-Portraits (2005-2009)"--on exhibit at the Embassy of Austria through April 17, 2009. The opening reception will be this coming Thursday, January 15, at 7:30 P.M. (with vin d'honneur to follow). There is no charge for admission, but you must RSVP at 202-895-6776 or www.austrianculturalforum.com/events-registration.