Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Our Nation's Capital blogging
I've been in Washington since yesterday afternoon, until this morning confined to a nice hotel next to a very loud construction site in Georgetown. Well into the wee hours the workers toiled, carving hunks of asphalt from the street with one of those circular saw doohickeys. Of course, those hunks had to be reduced to portable rubble, and what better device to use at 1 a.m. than a jackhammer?
If you have a chance to stay at the The Latham Hotel before the completion of this construction project, definitely pass.
I am in town because this morning we (meaning my company) appeared as a respondent before the Supreme Court in a very widely-publicized patent case. Oh how I wish I could blog on that topic, but my duty is to our stockholders first and my readers second, so I will refrain (we corporate tools can't blog about our best stuff!). I may, however, write something on the thrill of seeing the Supreme Court in action up front and personal, so stay tuned and we'll see if something cogent and interesting spews out of the keyboard.
I did have one low grade brush with greatness. About 7:30 I repaired to the
Starbucks on M Street after a brisk walk of perhaps 200 yards, hoping to nurse my mocha and see what outrages The New York Times might be guilty of this morning. No sooner had I settled into the window table than a limo and a black SUV pulled up, and this guy hopped out, trailed by a really strong looking Secret Service guy complete with earpiece and constantly roaming eyes. Secretary Gutierrez personally ordered up his own latte, and then swept back into his car, more Secret Service guys having suddenly materialized from the SUV to open the door while the original strong guy swept the street.
I now know that Secretary Gutierrez was on his way to deliver this speech. The latte must still have been warm in his stomach when this photo was taken:
What struck me most about this chance Georgetown encounter was the massive security attendant to the Secretary of Commerce. I spent the summer of 1985 in Washington (sometimes I think that virtually all political bloggers have lived in Washington at one time or another), and we used to see Caspar Weinberger shopping all by his lonesome for groceries in Georgetown. No security detail, no limo, just Cap in his suit picking up some stuff to make for dinner on the way home from winning the Cold War. Now apparently the Secretary of Commerce (is that even a real cabinet position?) rates four Secret Service agents to get to work in the morning. When did this happen? Does it date from the war (as if taking out the Secretary of Commerce wouldn't prove al Qaeda's weakness, rather than strength) or does it ante-date the Bush Administration? Anybody know?
If you have a chance to stay at the The Latham Hotel before the completion of this construction project, definitely pass.
I am in town because this morning we (meaning my company) appeared as a respondent before the Supreme Court in a very widely-publicized patent case. Oh how I wish I could blog on that topic, but my duty is to our stockholders first and my readers second, so I will refrain (we corporate tools can't blog about our best stuff!). I may, however, write something on the thrill of seeing the Supreme Court in action up front and personal, so stay tuned and we'll see if something cogent and interesting spews out of the keyboard.
I did have one low grade brush with greatness. About 7:30 I repaired to the
Starbucks on M Street after a brisk walk of perhaps 200 yards, hoping to nurse my mocha and see what outrages The New York Times might be guilty of this morning. No sooner had I settled into the window table than a limo and a black SUV pulled up, and this guy hopped out, trailed by a really strong looking Secret Service guy complete with earpiece and constantly roaming eyes. Secretary Gutierrez personally ordered up his own latte, and then swept back into his car, more Secret Service guys having suddenly materialized from the SUV to open the door while the original strong guy swept the street.
I now know that Secretary Gutierrez was on his way to deliver this speech. The latte must still have been warm in his stomach when this photo was taken:
What struck me most about this chance Georgetown encounter was the massive security attendant to the Secretary of Commerce. I spent the summer of 1985 in Washington (sometimes I think that virtually all political bloggers have lived in Washington at one time or another), and we used to see Caspar Weinberger shopping all by his lonesome for groceries in Georgetown. No security detail, no limo, just Cap in his suit picking up some stuff to make for dinner on the way home from winning the Cold War. Now apparently the Secretary of Commerce (is that even a real cabinet position?) rates four Secret Service agents to get to work in the morning. When did this happen? Does it date from the war (as if taking out the Secretary of Commerce wouldn't prove al Qaeda's weakness, rather than strength) or does it ante-date the Bush Administration? Anybody know?
2 Comments:
By 
TigerHawk, at
Thu Apr 21, 01:30:00 PM:
Thank you, Chris in India. That was very helpful elaboration. I had never heard of Federal Protective Service.
The question remains, though: when did we start providing scads of personal protection for cabinet officers. As I said in the post, twenty years ago Cap Weinberger used to walk around Washington unescorted. Do you know when that changed?
By 
, at
Fri Apr 22, 01:26:00 AM:
YA, It changed....HHHHMMMM I THINK IT HAPPEN AFTER 9/11/2001.
OVER & OUT TIGER!
