SOME THOUGHTS ON LAST WEEK'S TRIP TO DC

Last Thursday morning I walked around both sides of the White House in DC and was very disappointed to see (perhaps) 95% of the tourists were from outside America. The barricades, trees and barriers that obstruct the view are a real tragedy. At this point a person must walk nearly to the Washington Monument just to get a nice picture (with a telephoto lens) of the White House.

I was prepared to carry a sign around the area but it soon became apparent that no Americans would see it.

In total contrast to that was the wonderful experience of being on Pennsylvania Ave. Saturday, meeting first at Freedom Plaza and then walking down the street with thousands of other Americans who are upset with the policies and politics in Washington. To a person, all were friendly, respectful and responsible. I saw many people walk a distance to find an overflowing trash bin to properly dispose of rubbish. I even saw some people crushing cigarettes and putting the butt in their pocket instead of just throwing it on the ground.

It's hard to get over the disappointment in the news media's choice to ignore the event. With the exception of one helicopter that flew over (to cover a local marathon--not the march), there was no ariel coverage at all.

My smiling muscles did get a big workout from many of the signs, the presence of the "ship" once again from First Coast and the guy who was dressed in a coat he made from Astro Turf (Nancy would have liked that!)

Without the media there Americans missed out on a very important point. This massive turnout was not because a Union Boss demanded it of his members. It was not because ACORN, the SEIU or some other group paid people to be there. The million plus turnout was because people care about what is happening to the country.

With the President scheduled to take up the air waves in a mass assault this weekend, I think it's time for the nation to turn off their TV's and go outside and spend time with their families. Then we could all join Charlie Gibson from ABC and just be "uninformed"...