This past weekend, I traveled to Washington, DC to visit two of my adult children. As time has passed, and especially during the past three years, the federal (and state and local) governments have become even more misfocused, intrusive and destructive. Mark Leibovich’s
Very truthful analysis of DC as I know it too. I live in Rhode Island but hail from Maryland and on my many trips can attest how much DC has changed. It’s a city of rich bureaucrats and lobbyist hangers on. The only time it had any air of the past is when I attended the Defeat the Mandates rally. All of this is sad and feels late stage empire.
You nailed it. I've lived near your AirBnB for most of my life, but I did spend some years away in the middle, which was the best thing I've ever done to gain perspective over the craziness that is the dDC Metro area. On your next trip here, we should have coffee.
You are referring to the "Member of Obama's Kitchen Cabinet" sticker, right? My parents have that on their Bethesda fridge.
My dad worked for the government for his entire life, so most of the family friends who came to the house were also federal government employees. This was the sea I swam in. Many of my neighbors and friends have had long careers with the federal government: NIH, HHS, DHS, DOD, FDA, EPA, CIA, US Patent Office, DOJ, NASA, Commerce, Congress, the White House, the Smithsonian. Did I leave any out? What this has done for me has been to get some inside peeks when I'm at parties and whatnot -- they openly talk shop and I play along and overhear and ask questions and piece it all together. I've also worked for several government contractors over the years in different industries.
It is as insular, fake and batshit as you say.
These careers pay well and none of my federally employed friends is feeling "the pinch" of inflation -- they keep on, in their merry way, vacationing, spending, remodelling their houses as they have been doing all along. And that out of touch life affords them the privilege of disdain of the hoi polloi. They know they are in a privileged bubble, and they intend to keep it that way. I overheard one of them say once, "if these people can't afford to live here, then why don't they just move away?"
Well, lots of reasons. Maybe this is their home, they have family/ties to the area. It costs money to move. They have a right to live here, too. Other personal reasons.
This is the landscape here. You can't avoid it. And yes, they are my friends, family and neighbors. It never felt like much of a problem until COVID divided us. They are still quite clueless about what their allegiance is actually towards.
Well done and sage observations and all true. Late stage societal collapse before us all. Democracies last less than 200 years, historically, republics, a little longer. Ours is at about 250 years. But we've been bankrupt for some years now because of exactly what you've written about D.C., but like a virus, most all state capitals a only slightly less corrupt, simply as they have access to less money to steal or waste. Hemingway pointed out that one goes bankrupt slowly at first, then immediately. I do not portend to have a crystal ball but as the great economist Stein pointed out, when there is something that cannot last, it won't. What will be the straw that breaks our backs will be, I have no idea. But a reckoning is coming.
Apr 27, 2023·edited Apr 27, 2023Liked by Mark Oshinskie
Hopefully, years from now, people will see that DC culture has become the modern equivalent of the "Mad Men" culture. They are entire society of over-paid liars that have no ethics and will do anything to make a buck using big time propaganda.
I was raised in the Maryland DC suburbs. One of my first "adult" jobs in the '70s was with one of the Beltway Bandits that sprung up at that time. These were the consulting firms that existed only to write grant proposals for federal contracts. My federal "boss" was with the DOE. One day he took me to lunch at an exclusive private club for the DC literary illuminati. The other guest was his contact at one of the major DC universities. They discussed a potential grant from the DOE to the university and I wondered what I was doing there, until the DOE guy told university guy that he would get the grant if I were admitted to the graduate program of my choice at his university. I didn't take him up on his offer, but got quite the education, nonetheless.
We could fire 3/4 of them and save so much $$$- no one would even know they were gone. Kinda like Twitter/Google "employees" sitting around drinking lattes and eating SNAX all day...
Apr 27, 2023·edited Apr 27, 2023Liked by Mark Oshinskie
During my one visit to Washington DC around 1994, I found the scale of the place to be just too big. It was the opposite of anything you would call accessible, the opposite of a town or village. Huge flat long expanses with very little to relate to, for me. A generic banalness that I couldn't get away from fast enough. Washington is not a place for humans.
I believe there is no greater concentration of corruption and evil in the world than Wash DC. Because the love of money is the root of it! You hit the nail on the head- no public official is ever gonna advise the consumer to do anything to save money or improve their quality of life. That advice would make nobody any money( except the consumer).
In 1978 I signed a pro contract with a baseball league that played games in Birmingham, AL and Washington D.C. Three teams in DC and one in B'ham. Our team drove to DC and practiced for several days in RFK Stadium. We ended up not playing any games in DC because the fledging league went under. I remember going to see the different monuments and thinking how great this "America" was and how fortunate I was. It took me awhile to see how naive I was and to realize how little I understood about this country and who runs it.
Thanks for another dose of truth and reality- you are the man!
I used to be truly amazed and offended by the "hate government" Reagan GOPers, especially as it seemed to be an avenue for big corp to pollute with impunity and other malfeasance. I thought government was necessary to protect the We The People from big money poisoning/abusing us. In the past few short years, well omg, WTF. And where the F are the hate big gov GOPers now with all of this clear lawlessness in the Fed Gov completely infecting it seems ALL agencies and departments in clear violation of our constitutional rights?
And this goes for every country. The people in the UK admiring the crowning of Charles. Dutch, Belgian, and several other countrymen, paying big for their royal house. For their corrupt politicians. Millions of people and only a handful of profiteus, their must be something that can be done, but what?
It is hard to imagine how we can unthrone these awful people, and it always was. Revolutions have been executed everywhere, only to come to the same disaster again. Beheading a king to have a president who is just as bad. Over and over again, the common man is fooled into believing, that the next king, the next president, the next government, will solve the problem. All in vain.
"Sorry" is not the hardest word. "I was wrong" is the hardest thing for most people to say.
Very truthful analysis of DC as I know it too. I live in Rhode Island but hail from Maryland and on my many trips can attest how much DC has changed. It’s a city of rich bureaucrats and lobbyist hangers on. The only time it had any air of the past is when I attended the Defeat the Mandates rally. All of this is sad and feels late stage empire.
You nailed it. I've lived near your AirBnB for most of my life, but I did spend some years away in the middle, which was the best thing I've ever done to gain perspective over the craziness that is the dDC Metro area. On your next trip here, we should have coffee.
You are referring to the "Member of Obama's Kitchen Cabinet" sticker, right? My parents have that on their Bethesda fridge.
My dad worked for the government for his entire life, so most of the family friends who came to the house were also federal government employees. This was the sea I swam in. Many of my neighbors and friends have had long careers with the federal government: NIH, HHS, DHS, DOD, FDA, EPA, CIA, US Patent Office, DOJ, NASA, Commerce, Congress, the White House, the Smithsonian. Did I leave any out? What this has done for me has been to get some inside peeks when I'm at parties and whatnot -- they openly talk shop and I play along and overhear and ask questions and piece it all together. I've also worked for several government contractors over the years in different industries.
It is as insular, fake and batshit as you say.
These careers pay well and none of my federally employed friends is feeling "the pinch" of inflation -- they keep on, in their merry way, vacationing, spending, remodelling their houses as they have been doing all along. And that out of touch life affords them the privilege of disdain of the hoi polloi. They know they are in a privileged bubble, and they intend to keep it that way. I overheard one of them say once, "if these people can't afford to live here, then why don't they just move away?"
Well, lots of reasons. Maybe this is their home, they have family/ties to the area. It costs money to move. They have a right to live here, too. Other personal reasons.
This is the landscape here. You can't avoid it. And yes, they are my friends, family and neighbors. It never felt like much of a problem until COVID divided us. They are still quite clueless about what their allegiance is actually towards.
While in the military, I was stationed in the DC area for 8 years.
It is a true cesspool of lazy and overpaid and over inflated government workers.
Well done and sage observations and all true. Late stage societal collapse before us all. Democracies last less than 200 years, historically, republics, a little longer. Ours is at about 250 years. But we've been bankrupt for some years now because of exactly what you've written about D.C., but like a virus, most all state capitals a only slightly less corrupt, simply as they have access to less money to steal or waste. Hemingway pointed out that one goes bankrupt slowly at first, then immediately. I do not portend to have a crystal ball but as the great economist Stein pointed out, when there is something that cannot last, it won't. What will be the straw that breaks our backs will be, I have no idea. But a reckoning is coming.
Danny Huckabee
Hopefully, years from now, people will see that DC culture has become the modern equivalent of the "Mad Men" culture. They are entire society of over-paid liars that have no ethics and will do anything to make a buck using big time propaganda.
I was raised in the Maryland DC suburbs. One of my first "adult" jobs in the '70s was with one of the Beltway Bandits that sprung up at that time. These were the consulting firms that existed only to write grant proposals for federal contracts. My federal "boss" was with the DOE. One day he took me to lunch at an exclusive private club for the DC literary illuminati. The other guest was his contact at one of the major DC universities. They discussed a potential grant from the DOE to the university and I wondered what I was doing there, until the DOE guy told university guy that he would get the grant if I were admitted to the graduate program of my choice at his university. I didn't take him up on his offer, but got quite the education, nonetheless.
“ Dey chumps”. Bravo!
We could fire 3/4 of them and save so much $$$- no one would even know they were gone. Kinda like Twitter/Google "employees" sitting around drinking lattes and eating SNAX all day...
During my one visit to Washington DC around 1994, I found the scale of the place to be just too big. It was the opposite of anything you would call accessible, the opposite of a town or village. Huge flat long expanses with very little to relate to, for me. A generic banalness that I couldn't get away from fast enough. Washington is not a place for humans.
I believe there is no greater concentration of corruption and evil in the world than Wash DC. Because the love of money is the root of it! You hit the nail on the head- no public official is ever gonna advise the consumer to do anything to save money or improve their quality of life. That advice would make nobody any money( except the consumer).
In 1978 I signed a pro contract with a baseball league that played games in Birmingham, AL and Washington D.C. Three teams in DC and one in B'ham. Our team drove to DC and practiced for several days in RFK Stadium. We ended up not playing any games in DC because the fledging league went under. I remember going to see the different monuments and thinking how great this "America" was and how fortunate I was. It took me awhile to see how naive I was and to realize how little I understood about this country and who runs it.
Thanks for another dose of truth and reality- you are the man!
I smell the stench all the way in CT!!
Fauci’s $400K is nothing compared to the $millions in royalties for “products” and various speaking fees and gifts.
I used to be truly amazed and offended by the "hate government" Reagan GOPers, especially as it seemed to be an avenue for big corp to pollute with impunity and other malfeasance. I thought government was necessary to protect the We The People from big money poisoning/abusing us. In the past few short years, well omg, WTF. And where the F are the hate big gov GOPers now with all of this clear lawlessness in the Fed Gov completely infecting it seems ALL agencies and departments in clear violation of our constitutional rights?
“trust is irretrievably broken for anyone who has paid attention.”
The sad part of living in modern-day America.
And this goes for every country. The people in the UK admiring the crowning of Charles. Dutch, Belgian, and several other countrymen, paying big for their royal house. For their corrupt politicians. Millions of people and only a handful of profiteus, their must be something that can be done, but what?
It is hard to imagine how we can unthrone these awful people, and it always was. Revolutions have been executed everywhere, only to come to the same disaster again. Beheading a king to have a president who is just as bad. Over and over again, the common man is fooled into believing, that the next king, the next president, the next government, will solve the problem. All in vain.