Sept. 24, 2008

I just got back from a trip to Capitol Hill to attend the book launch party for a friend who has written a very interesting book on US-Europe relations in the wake of 9/11. (Sarwar Kashmeri, "America and Europe after 9/11 and Iraq: the Great Divide.") It's a place I haven't visited for several years. In fact, I haven't been in the deep bowels of official DC for a long time and this was a heck of a day to pick, given that Treasury Secretary Paulsen and Fed Chairman Bernanke were about 50 yards down the hall trying to convince all of us to pay for the gluttony of the pigs on Wall Street.  That would be NOW and don't read the fine print. So there was a huge crowd of people trying to get into the hearing room where they were performing while Kash was having his book event just down the hall.

Having been away, I was struck by certain things that the inmates and frequent visitors don't even see anymore. First among these: the world can be divided into two kinds of people - the ones who wear badges and can skip around the lines for photo id and metal detector, and the rest of us.  These are the Badge People. Badge people are always going somewhere, they know exactly where they are going, and they are late. Badge People on Capitol Hill tend to be wearing suits -this is not necessarily true of badge people in the further outposts of government - but not Italian-tailored suits. Italian tailoring is for lobbyists. Badge People wear Ann Taylor and Hickey Freeman. Badge People don't make eye contact with the rest of us because we might be an angry constituent or a tourist asking for directions to Room 2345. Hint: it's not on the second floor. Badge People are resolute and focussed and in a hurry. Makes the rest of us tired.