Washington Adventures!: News Junkie

Happy anniversary of health care! On this day in history, the 44th president of the United States of America signed into law a bill to assure healthcare for all Americans and free them from the constraints of pre-existing conditions.

We have yet to see how well the law is enacted and whether or not it is financially sustainable for long term use.

BUT what we do know is that I have gotten considerably behind in regaling you with tales of my own political and journalistic endeavors. The event that remains most potent in my mind is the radicalization of muslims hearing held by Rep Peter King (R-N.Y.). I covered a couple of events leading up to the hearing that gave me a considerable amount of background knowledge, so when the day of the actual hearing arrived, I was immeasurably excited to see the reaction of the viewers, witnesses, and media.

It certainly did not disappoint. The streets of DC were crawling with words of the witnesses and the hearing-room itself was so packed, reporters were pushed into two overflow rooms. Since Talk Radio News was assigned only one seat inside the hearing room, I watched the hearing via webcast from the office. It had an eery McCarthy/Salem/Holy Inquisition vibe about it. And although there is no official 'outcome' of these events, I think the hearings backfired on Rep. King in a way he did not foresee.

By causing such a uproar and chaos around the investigating the radicalization of a single demographic based on religion, he unknowingly rallied support for that same demographic through the simple action of bullying. People do not like bullies, and that could be seen by the outcry of Americans protesting the hearings.

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On a happier note - St. Patrick's day of last week I was working on the Senate (North) side of the Capitol and was sent to take pictures of the visiting Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny. As I set off to the House (South) side of the Capitol, I began running into barricades and police everywhere. Thinking "This is strange" I exited the Capitol and started trekking down Independence Ave., hoping to find a press entrance. After being shuffled along from police officer to police officer, I was finally admitted to the grounds of the House side. I joined a herd of other cameramen and photographers and we were rounded up and paraded through three security checkpoints. My naive self was still thinking "Wow this Prime Minister has almost as high security standards as Obama."

And hour of sunshine (and sunburn) later, a group of bagpipers come out of the Capitol and start tuning on the lawn. I, being one of only three females present, quietly stood and appreciated the tuning noise (and toned calves!) of the Air Force Reserve Pipe Band while the men around me made hilariously rude jokes about kilts.

FINALLY we got the heads up from the press secretaries, meaning action was about to happen. The band got into place, and the doors of the capitol opened. There stood President Obama and the Irish Prime Minister. How did I miss the memo that Obama would be present?! Well that explains all the security...