Let's Go To the Mall

I was going to talk about gay marriage next, but an unexpected experience in Washington has edged gay marriage out for the next posting. That and Larry Johnson.

No, plastic consumer-oriented reader, I don't mean we should go to the mall down the street. I know how you all like to get your corn dog on, and eat all the samples at the food court, and get your free mall makeovers, and see what's on sale at Banana Republic, and check out the cougars hitting the shoe sales. Theoretically.

I mean America's Mall. The Mall in Washington. You know, by the Washington Monument and the Smithsonian and the Lincoln Memorial. With the reflecting pool. Where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech, where World War I vets camped to protest Depression-era policies, and where Vietnam War protestors staged their 1969 Moratorium protests. You know, L'Enfant's Grand Avenue. This has been described as the third most-visited place in America, behind the Las Vegas strip and Times Square.

Last Sunday, I had to go to Washington on business. My attitude about Washington is pretty dismal. L'Enfant planned it as a sparkling world capital. Now successive Marion Barrys and decades of Congressional neglect have turned it into Murderville. I could make a case that on balance, since the enactment of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Washington has produced more harm than good. So other than the Smithsonian, Washington's really never held any special appeal for me.

I arrived Sunday afternoon so I could meet my friends Carrie and Jeremy for dinner, and had enough time to go for a run before we were to meet. I had just enough daylight to go for a run on the Mall. It was so inspirational I had to post about it for all of you to consider.

Most notably, so many of the trees on the mall are bursting into radiant shades of gold, orange and red. These include American elms, maples, aspens, and cherries. The park is awash in brilliant colors now, magnified by the streaming sunset. I first headed west towards the sun and Arlington, passing first the Washington Monument then the Lincoln Memorial on the left, and a parade of Greek revival agency offices on my right. Constitution Avenue was somewhat bland, although the trees again added some color. When making the turn behind the Lincoln Memorial though, I saw the sun setting behind Arlington National Cemetery. It was gleaming over the Lee House, and across the Potomac the bright red trees bathed the entire area with a soft fall color.

Before heading back east along the Mall towards the Capitol, I stopped first at the Lincoln Memorial and then at the nearby Korean War Memorial. Hordes of tourists were streaming in and around the Lincoln Memorial. I saw people of all nationalities, wearing turbans, saris, and other non-American garb. All seemed transfixed at the Lincoln statue, while many stood on the steps and gazed out over the reflecting pool towards the Washington Monument. I thought of the words they could have read at the site and taken home. From Lincoln's Second Inaugural, "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." Or from the Gettysburg Address: "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." Quite a far cry from the fourth-grade level bickering that now passes for public discourse in this town.

To the memorial's left lies the new Korean War Memorial. This new memorial packs an emotional punch. It consists of a platoon of cloaked GI's in statue, walking a patrol against a granite wall. At the wall's end to which the soldiers are marching is inscribed the phrase "Freedom is Not Free." This eternal patrol by the gray soldiers leaves a haunting impression.

Further along the Mall heading east, I came first to the new World War II Memorial located at the opposite end of the reflecting pool, then the Washington Monument. On the way, the reflecting pool was on my left, while in the distance I could see the Jefferson Memorial on my right against the Tidal Basin. The World War II Memorial is an oval shaped granite row of linked columns or pillars surrounding a huge fountain. Though impressive, I think both the Korean and Vietnam War memorials eclipse it. I moved on past it to the Washington Monument, which by this hour was splashed with sunlight. Surrounded by American flags, it made for a uniquely patriotic sight.

Moving further east past the Washington Monument, I passed the Smithsonian Castle, birthplace of the Smithsonian Museum. Then I moved on and passed the Hirschorn Museum and Air and Space Museum (where they keep the Wright Brothers plane and Apollo 11). Though the sun was sinking and cold air was setting in, crowds still walked along the Mall, playing frisbee and soccer, or just going for a Sunday evening walk.

As I continued east I faced the Capitol building, also bathed in the setting sun. I recalled how while in Buenos Aires, I saw the Presidential Palace (La Casa Rosada or Pink Palace) at the same hour of day, also lit up by the setting sun, and thought how much more magnificent our own Capitol shines in the sun. I also thought of all the statesmen who have shaped the course of world affairs for more than 200 years. We may be living through the end of Pax Americana and our government institutions may be turning into little more than a wealth transfer mechanism designed to buy votes, but the roll call of accomplished Americans who have served in that building dwarfs the losers currently occupying those seats. Clay, Webster, Houston, Bryan, Taft, LaFollette, and Johnson in the Senate. Rayburn, Jordan, Cannon and countless others in the House. The great moments occurring in and outside the Capitol also inspire. FDR's "date which will live in infamy" speech. MacArthur's "old soldiers just fade away" speech. Churchill's address during World War II. Kennedy's, Roosevelt's, and Lincoln's inaugurals. Mandela speaking to a joint session after his release from prison. These are men and women who made the modern world, and this occurred in that building. Hard to think about those moments and those people without then immediately thinking about the partisan wrangling over largesse that now dominates Congressional discourse, all while national literacy and health declines, the middle class shrinks, and manufacturing leaves the country.

That the Mall could have such an impact is even more astonishing because local news stories have complained about the Mall's disrepair and neglect Congress has shown in maintaining it. The place is so stunning that even in a shambles it can inspire.

Next-gay marriage. Really.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Or Didn't You Know?

Has it been almost a month? Sorry about that. Strange how even though I don't have much of a life, two weeks away from headquarters causes turmoil and overload for about a month after. Still, it hasn't all been work-caused insanity. The Daily Affirmations Summer Tour 2009 has taken me to Atlanta for a wedding (no need to panic ladies, it wasn't my own), to Houston twice, and soon to Washington, D.C. But while I'm still living on the edge, its slowed down just a bit, enough to get back to the blogstone.

So while its still Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I thought I'd ease back in by discussing that. Did you know that its National Breast Cancer Awareness Month? Probably you didn't because its such a subtle message. What with professional football teams wearing pink shoes, baseball teams using pink bats, half the products on the grocery store shelves promising to donate part of your purchase price (an extremely small part mind you) to a suitable breast cancer charity, the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure ads, opportunities to contribute at your grocery store check-out counter, and so on, its really no surprise that very few people know anything about breast cancer.

Or not. Jerry's Kids think breast cancer gets a lot of publicity.

On the surface, this would ordinarily be something I'd rail about. But when looking past the surface, its one of those rare instances in which the do-gooders actually have a very valid motive.

Simply put, breast cancer is a scourge. Its the second-most common form of cancer in America, after skin cancer. Its the seventh highest cause of death in women. The National Cancer Institute projects that 12 % of all women born today will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some time in their lives. By the way, men can get breast cancer too. Today, most of those diagnosed with breast cancer are betwen the ages of 45 and 64. However, both the incidence and mortality rate from breast cancer has been declining in the last 10 years.

Aside from the statistics, it seems like everyone knows someone or has a friend or family member that's had breast cancer. In my own family, I've had two aunts with breast cancer, and one more who had pre-cancerous cells. My own mother had some pre-cancerous cells and needed radiation treatment. Breast cancer has greatly affected my family.

With such widespread incidence, its no wonder that a breast cancer awareness and fund-raising industry has sprung up, as well as the inevitable backlash. Newsweek recently published an article that, while not exactly criticizing such activity, came close. The article basically gave a platform to those criticizing the attention given to funding a cure, rather than programs to support those with the disease or to basic research about breast cancer. It also quoted criticism of accepting money from companies that market products that may cause or increase the risk of breast cancer (such as cosmetics or auto companies).

Killjoys. Scum. Slime. Menace to the golfing industry. So what? So what if the cancer-causers are funding research? Should they not fund it at all? Just like politicians, beggars can't be choosers. If every charity adopted some sort of moral high ground to evaluate the worthiness of their contributers, they'd soon find themselves penniless. And as for paying for the cure and not supporting victims, lets focus on job one. Curing this disease is vital, and money spent on that will ultimately help far more women in the long run. Plus, no one is preventing anybody from funding victim's programs. Finally, its about time that a dreadful disease gets some major run. AIDS is about the only disease that has, back in the late 1980s, mainly because the right celebrities were afflicted and the right celebrities climbed on the bandwagon. Let's face it, if it had been A.C. Green that had AIDS instead of Magic, it may have played out a lot differently. Of course, if that virgin had gotten AIDS, it really would have been a story. Or if Edye Gorme had been the lead fundraiser instead of Elizabeth Taylor. Breast cancer is a bit different. There's no lead celebrity associated with the disease, although plenty have had it. Christina Applegate comes to mind. As do Sheryl Crow and Elizabeth Edwards. But the surge in breast cancer awareness and fundraising clearly isn't driven from the top down. Its a grass roots, from the bottom operation, that's taken hold because its so widespread, and has afflicted women whom we all care about. And its had a real impact. One cannot pretend the drop in breast cancer rates has nothing to do with this activism and increased awareness about early detection.

So, I'll see you at the Race For the Cure. Maybe. Its 7:30 in the morning after Halloween night and its north of US 183 and therefore outside my allowed operating area. I also have to go to Ashley's Halloween party and wear my Bad Company t-shirt and ratty jeans and boots (I'll be going as "white trash"). She's going to dress up as me for Halloween so I figure I should go as someone from Stratford High School. Oh, snap! By the way, any man over the age of 10 wearing a Halloween costume needs to take a good long look at himself in the mirror and ask, "where did it all go wrong?" You're a man. Drop the costume and help pass out candy to the kids.

Next-I will explain the completely unprovocative and non-controversial subject of gay marriage.