Upcoming Column Sneak Peak

This will be run in the CT Post in the upcoming week, probably next weekend. Take a look and enjoy:

Buzz. Buzz.

I keep my phone on vibrate, but I can almost tell when a particular pulsation is coming from a friend or family or work. This one was definitely a friend buzz, and as I looked down to confirm my guess, I tried to inspire myself into acting surprised I was right.

Normally, a call at around 9:00 PM from this particular college friend would be in relation to scheduling for the fast-approaching evening. Perhaps it was for a final run to the local grocery store or fast-food place. Or maybe, as I go to college in California, a late night beach cookout was in the works.

But the circumstances of this particular phone call were different. You see, instead of returning for a second consecutive year onto the unyieldingly sunny, palm-tree lined confines of Pepperdine University, I did what 60% of students do at my school: go abroad. OK, I may be stretching it, as “abroad” in this sense is spending my fall semester in Washington, D.C., but next semester I’ll be going to London where I really will be abroad.

So when I saw that the phone call was from my former roommate, I had to adjust accordingly to more of a “How’re things going?” tone that was reserved for times like summer break. In fact, on the other end was not only my roommate, but the whole collection of all my dorm-mates just settling down for dinner in the cafeteria with the three hour time difference from Washington, D.C. to California.

The conversation itself was uncomfortable as we talked about what the other was missing. They filled me in on how everyone changed over the summer in Malibu and I updated them on my fantastic internship on Capitol Hill working for Congressman Christopher Shays (R-4). I would never take back my plans for this year, but I would hardly complain if I was sitting at that cafeteria table with them instead of connected through a phone.

As happy as I am fulfilling a dream working for Congressman Shays and then going to London, the stinging reality I kept being reminded of throughout the conversation was how it would be a full year before I see my best college friends again.

While I’ll always appreciate hearing from my friends out in California, I’d just ask that they mind the time difference. I’ve already be awaken half-a-dozen times at 3:00 AM.

Are You Kidding Me?

This has gotten out of hand. I was just told I would need to be moving for the third time since I've been here in the District. The apartment complex screwed up the rooming assignments again and mismanaged a ton of the kids in the program. I had known about this for a while, but after having been displaced to the Holiday Inn for the first week or so of the program, I thought I would be immune from any further moving. I was wrong.
I woke up this morning to the news that I need to clear out my stuff... all of it... by tonight. I'm pretty sure after I unloaded myself from the week of torture before at the Holiday Inn, I burned all my boxes. Now I'll have to take everything out again and move to the 6 man suite I've been downgraded to from my perfect 4 man. Oy vay.

Never stay here:

After Some Reflection...

I can't decide who won the debate. Rudy stayed on message the best, but never said anything outside of "I ran New York City, and it was good." McCain showed he wasn't dead and had a few lines, so having a pulse was a win for him. Romney had by far the hardest set of questions trained at him and looked the most uncomfortable of the front-runners because of it, but he also made solid points substance wise and didn't do anything to jeopardize his status as leader in Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan, and Nevada... coincidently all the early states.
But ignoring the "front-runners" I thought Huckabee was the most impressive. His exchange with Ron Paul was almost too easy. The other candidates need to use Paul more as a punching bag, it helped Rudy in the first debate, it helped Huckabee here. Props.
The major wildcard will be Fred Thompson, who didn't get nearly the hard questions someone like Romney got as Leno was perhaps a tad more receptive than random diner patron taking pot shots at candidates. We'll see how well he fares now that other candidates wont feel compelled to be polite since he's officially a candidate.
I'm looking forward to a shake up and a sprint until the primaries at the turn of the new year.

Disappointed....

Can I say this New Hampshire debate leaves me walking away with a sour taste in my mouth? I just don't think this night helped the Republican Party at all. No candidate really distanced themselves from another, they all had extremely weak and possibly embarrassing moments, and none focused on the real problem: the chaos that this country would go through with a President Clinton/Obama/Edwards. I mean raise your hand, who wants forced visits to the doctors who will be managed by the same guys who managed Hurricane Katrina recovery or an imminent recession brought about by drastic increases in taxes for the middle class? Not me.
Still, not enough focus was on the threat of a domestic mess of a Democratic regime. It was more of a bitter, attack approach from the candidates against each other, which is fine to highlight their differences to some extent. But let's not forget President Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment: "Thou shalt not attack another Republican." Let's stick to that next time guys.

More analysis to follow...

Tune in Tonight...

Fox News is airing the GOP Debate tonight live from New Hampshire at 7. Make sure to pay attention if you haven't already as these forums tend to draw contrasts between the candidates and at least give the viewer some idea of where the candidates stand with a filter other than their own press shop.
Some questions to ponder:
-Will Rudy's socially liberal stances be an issue amongst the candidates?
-Would adding Fred Thompson to this field (who will be airing a special commercial during the break of the debate and will be announcing on Leno tonight) make the selection anymore appealing?
-Will Romney be able to maintain a tough defense against other conservatives vying for his poll numbers?
-Is Huckabee really a break-through candidate?
-When will all the other guys drop out?
-Who amongst these candidates is the most like the Gipper?

No-No

In case you missed it, Red Sox phenom pitcher Clay Buchholz threw a no-hitter last night. A fantastic performance, and the thing is, this isn't an outlier of the kid's performance. His stuff is really that good, and this was only his SECOND big league start. Perhaps this is the spark the Sox need going into the stretch run.

Week in Review

So I've handled to butterflies, been put through the grind of work, experienced the classes, and surveyed the city for the first week. And I may say, the discouraging start has given way to an auspicious end of August. I'll be joined by the rest of the interns after Labor Day and I really look forward to the start of the session. After all, thats what I'm here for: to witness government. My confidence in the institution has waned along with about everyone else's in America, but I figure it's only fair to harbor such sentiments after experiencing it firsthand. It's one thing to watch CSPAN, but for those of us uninterested in such an endeavor, it makes sense to come down here and be a part of it however small for a period of time. Still, I'm an intern... hardly a bureaucrat or anything... but at least I have some perspective on what the flaws of our government are and hopefully some experience it for later on in life should I be called on to fix it in whatever way I can.
I suppose I'll always be considered an outsider or common person without a blue-blooded lineage or trust fund, but I think there's something to be said for that. Who knows, maybe if more people interested in just making this country better as opposed to themselves better were in politics, we wouldn't have the rampant corruption that we do.

Moving on to baseball, what is going on with the Red Sox. They demolished everyone they played, really giving me confidence going into the Yankees series, but it seems like they left their bats in Chicago. They just couldn't score, and thus got swept. Luckily they had built a comfortable enough cushion where they are still safely ahead of the Yankees, but man did they squander an opportunity to put the final nail in the Yankee coffin. On a side note, one of my friends got the boot from Fenway Park last night. Should be an interesting story, I can't wait to hear it.

Ok well the roommates have left for the weekend to go home so this weekend will hopefully surprise me and end up not as dull as it seems to be shaping up to be. I'll keep ya posted.