The Steadfast Patriot

     A few weeks ago, when Steadfast Patriot Director Jay Young invited me to accompany him to join a rally at the Capitol, I was eager to take him up on his offer. I had already been to Washington, D.C. a dozen or so times to see the sights, everything from the National Zoo to the Library of Congress, but never before to a political protest. My first time, I would join others in protesting the continuation of the health care bill in Congress.

     Jay had helped spread the word about the rally to be held on Saturday, November 7, inviting people via the Internet and contacting representatives to speak to the crowd. Jay estimated that a thousand or so people would show up, significantly less than the approximately 30,000 that had congregated the previous Thursday. Taking into account his tendency to exaggerate, I wondered if Jay and I might be joining only a few dozen other people for the rally.

     When we arrived in D.C., we headed over to the offices of the members of the House of Representatives to get tickets to see the House in session later that day. As we walked down the halls, we passed by Joe Wilson’s office, and decided to go in. Joe’s fame had in all probability reached its height not long before when he shouted to President Obama “You lie!” during Obama’s speech to a Joint Session of Congress. Unlike the offices of other congressmen that I had seen, the walls of his were covered from the floor to the ceiling with pictures. In addition to the conventional papers, books (including Glenn Beck’s Arguing with Idiots and Mark Levin’s Liberty and Tyranny), etc., his desk also sported all sorts of trinkets, from miniature flags to a Michelin Man bobblehead. Joe, unfortunately, was not there when we came in. His secretary was very friendly and allowed us to look around; she even offered to take a picture of me and Jay standing behind his desk. We took her up on the offer.

     After that, we headed over to the appointed meeting place of the protestors. A podium had been set up, “patriotic” music was blaring over loudspeakers, and news agencies and reporters were busy setting up their cameras, but only fifty or so people were already there. That number steadily grew, however, as people kept trickling into the Capitol’s East Lawn. While we waited for things to develop, Jay and I met a couple of fellow protestors. As we talked, it was neat to realize that it just wasn’t my personal circle of friends that agreed with me on politics – here were complete strangers, who like me, were frustrated with an bloated, incompetent government, already interfering too much into the private affairs of the citizenry, and ready to further increase its power.

     Meanwhile, the crowd was steadily increasing. Soon, congressmen began to come down the steps of the Capitol to the podium to begin a series of pep talks to the crowd. The “Master of Ceremonies,” Iowa Rep. Steve King, introduced some of the rally’s organizers and fellow representatives. Among the most prominent of the latter were Michele Bachmann, an outspoken critic of the health care bill, and Joe Wilson himself. As the latter stepped up to the podium to speak, the crowd immediately erupted into cheers of “Thank you Joe!”

     The gathering was ebullient and very responsive to the speakers, bubbling over with enthusiasm. At intervals, they chanted “Kill the bill!” The speakers as well were very passionate in their speeches. One congressman, a former doctor, diagnosed the bill as “a dead, rotting, stinking fish that we will not eat!” Another hoisted a copy of the 2,000-page bill and with a great effort was able to heave it to the ground.

After the speeches ended, most of the speakers dispersed – except Michele Bachmann. She was all too willing to mix with the crowd, signing their autographs and taking pictures with them (including me and Jay). She told the crowd of a couple from Hawaii that had come all the way from their home to D.C. to join the protest Thursday. Michele wore the leis the couple had given her.

     The rally ended, Jay and I left to eat lunch; afterwards, we headed back to the Capitol to watch the House in session, debating the health care bill. After several long waits, we finally were inside, watching the debates. (Take it from someone who has seen it before; the House looks a lot bigger on TV during State of the Union Addresses than it does when you’re there in person.)

     After an hour or so, Jay and I would have liked to stay longer, but it was time to call it a day. As we walked down the hall outside to leave the Capitol, we passed by a man hurriedly leaving a meeting room with papers in hand. Jay stopped him to ask a question; having been supplied with an answer, we turned to leave. But then he stopped us, handing us his business card, and introducing himself as…Joe Wilson.

Joe, who by all appearances was a very nice man, talked with us for a couple of minutes, showing us pictures of his sons, deployed in Iraq, and giving us some of his papers, which argued that the health care bill would indeed cover illegal immigrants. (When he shouted “You lie!” to Obama, it was in response to Obama’s claim that the health care bill did not cover illegals.) He signed autographs, and then we departed.

     As we headed back to the car, Jay and I realized that Washington, D.C. is a totally different sight at night. The Capitol was an awe-inspiring spectacle, shining bright in the dark with its many lights. We stopped periodically to take pictures of the Capitol and the Washington Monument, which was clearly visible over a mile away.

     It had been an eventful day, one that I had been happy to take a part of. Out of the many trips that I have taken to the nation’s capital, this last one ranks high.

Until Next Time,

Michael Davis