Lights in the Cupola

[fabrisse]

I know I've been raving about the view from my apartment, but I do love it.

When I get off the Metro at L'Enfant Plaza and come up the escalator, I get an ever increasing view of the Capitol Dome against the night sky. Some nights there are bright lights in the cupola, most nights there aren't.

The lights were there quite late last night, and as of this moment are still on. I've finally figured it out, too. The lights are on if the House or Senate is still in session.

Yes, friends, your elected representatives are still debating something less than an hour before midnight.

Note I said "your" representatives. As a citizen of DC, I no longer have one. The DC representative has no voting rights.

I'll probably be harping on that a bit, too, just to warn you. I was living here when DC finally got Home Rule. Even at the age of ten, I thought it was stupid that DC had no say in the national legislature.

When my father entered the military, they had just gotten the right to vote. DC didn't get that right until 12 years later -- within my lifetime -- in 1964.

Comments

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

You totally weren't alive in '64. See the icon? You're twenty-five right this second! See! :-) Permanently! You'll get younger every year. Heh

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

Nice try. The caption on my icon is "Me - (minus) 25" *G* That photo was taken on my 21st birthday by a good friend of mine.

But I appreciate the thought.

[rhiannonhero.livejournal.com]

What an amazing view! Take photos and post them!

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

I don't have a camera or access to one at the moment.

Do you know if disposable cameras will give me an option to post photos? I'm really clueless about the visual side of things.

[rhiannonhero.livejournal.com]

I don't know about disposable digital cameras! I had no idea they even existed!

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

I don't think they do.

I meant that most places give you prints and a disc from regular film these days. I just didn't know if they did the same with disposables.

[moria923.livejournal.com]

The DC lack of representation is one of those situations that I get angry just thinking about.

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

Even our non-voting representative is wrong. Based on population, I think DC should get at least two. And when you see how different the perspectives are in the four quarters (Northeast is the poorest area. There's some gentrification, but not much. Northwest is the richest area -- thanks to Georgetown -- with Southeast following closely because it has the really rich old houses that back on Capitol Hill. However, parts of Southeast make Northeast look uptown. Then there's my area, Southwest, which is a mix of youngish yuppies with their first condo or small townhouse and solid lower-middle class who rent. The financial divide is usually, but not always, a racial divide as well. I'm one of the few white faces who rent, for instance.), the fact that we have only one representative makes even less sense.