you know what’s odd?
i live in new york city, which has a reputation for being a tough and slightly dangerous city, and i can walk anywhere there and feel perfectly safe.
but i’m in washington d.c, our nations capital, the supposed seat of power in the free world (‘supposed’ being in little quotes), and i feel nervous walking around. has anyone had similar experiences here? the streets here, especially after dark, don’t feel safe.
i was going to go for a long walk (it being a day/night off and all) but i had to come back cos i didn’t feel safe. how odd. and i usually walk everywhere.
one of my favourite things is to go for a long walk at one or two in the morning, especially in a foreign city. and i have to say that this is the first time in a long while that i haven’t felt safe walking around the streets at night. what a shame. maybe i’m just a big woosie and i’m getting old. or maybe the streets here aren’t safe.
i’ve always marvelled at the dichotomy in d.c between the squeaky clean governmental part of town and the desperate crack ravaged part of town. how odd that the capital of the worlds most prosperous big country would have some of the worst slums in the northern hemisphere.
i had a friend who lived here for a while and his home was broken into a few times and his car was stolen a few times and he and his girlfriend were each mugged a few times. wouldn’t you think that a government as rich and powerful as america’s would be able to find a way to reduce deprivation in the inner city?
i certainly haven’t seen anything from the current administration that indicates that they have any interest in doing anything legislative other than catering to the whims of the people who contributed money to their campaign. george w. bush’s supposed ‘compassionate conservatism’ just doesn’t exist, does it. i haven’t said anything about george w. in a while, but that doesn’t mean that my opinion of him has changed at all.
he’s still a half-wit and he still lost the election and he was still installed in office by his fathers friends and he’s still out of touch with anything but a very marginal group of americans and he’s still pursuing policies that, if realized, will be to the detriment of america and the world.
o.k, i’ve said enough for now. maybe ‘thats my bush’ is on comedy central. that would cheer me up, especially as i can’t go for a nice long walk on the mean streets of d.c.
moby