Neo-Tanked

WASHINGTON, D.C - Inside the Party Room at Crystal Towers II were nearly 100 of America's brightest young political minds. In their simple black dresses and $50 silk ties, they seemed ready to march the five miles across the Potomac and storm Capital Hill, or at least make sure they drank the price of their tickets from the open bar.

I'd scored an invitation to this thanks to a friend who deferred his acceptance from one of the best political science schools in the country for two years to wallow in one of Washington's think tanks. He's basically a liberal (although his Facebook profile now lists his political views as "other") but is working for the American Enterprise Institute. Wikipedia describes the organization as, "a conservative think tank founded in 1943 whose stated mission is to support the foundations of freedom - limited government, private enterprise, vital cultural and political institutions, and a strong foreign policy and national defense... it has emerged as one of the leading architects of the Bush administration's public policy. More than two dozen AEI alumni have served either in a Bush administration policy post or on one of the government's many panels and commissions." Not exactly my usual party mates.

I wanted to go, if only to experience the way these young conservative people behave in leisure. It was like being invited to a rare tribal ritual or a Tibetan sky burial, fascinating because you've never seen anything like it before. But I was only going to be in Washington two days, and devoting one night to an event I only wanted to ironically attend didn't seem wise. I took a pass on buying an advance ticket.

Nine o'clock on party night, several friends and I were downstairs at the Towers, drinking wine and preparing for a fancy birthday dinner. Just before leaving, we decided to head up to the Party Room, unannounced, and check out the party. We took the elevator tot he top floor, walked down a long twisty hallway. In front of us were a bunch of smartly dressed people in front of a wonderful view of downtown Washington. This looked like any other Washington party I've seen on C-SPAN, only without the prevalence of bald spots.

The party guests resembled the crashers, although they had better haircuts and worse dance moves, but not enough to make me forget their love of free trade, FOX News and The New Republic. I walked inside, shook the hand of my friend, stole a mini-cheesecake and went back to my liberal life.

XXII

ALBANY, N.Y. - Today's my birthday. I thought I'd mark the occasion here by looking back at what happened 22 years ago today, as I was emerging into this great Earth.

According to Wikipedia, the day is notable because:

"The Tamil Tigers begin the purge of the Sinhalese from North and East Sri Lanka; 127 are killed."

The Nevada Board of Regents "Approved authorization to seek the changes in NRS 396.325 as reflected in Ref. K, filed with the permanent minutes, and approved the interim policy, also defined in the reference material."

The New Kingdom Metaphors were officially deactivated from the Cosmic Baseball Association.

The Dukes of Hazzard episode "Danger on the Hazzard Express" primeres. One reviewers on Amazon describes the episode as, "Boss Hogg's crooks steal the General Lee and rig it with explosives to crash the car into a train filled with gold."

And I was just 22 years away from my 22nd birthday.

Tube

WICHITA, Kan. – I'm glad I don't work for TV.

I'm glad I don't work for TV because I didn't have to spend 17 hours outside a home in Southwest Wichita yesterday and today. I only had to spend five, including a break for a drink.

I'm glad I don't work for TV because I don't have to do live updates all the time. I also don't have to send video back to the office, or learn how to operate a large truck. Or sometimes shoot my own video and begin editing it.

I'm glad I don't work for TV because I don't have to look good every day. When you start early, you tend to dress right before you head out the door. But in TV land, that means you could be on the air in 30 minutes. Or you might need to go live 12 hours after arriving at the office. You need to get the story, and also look good doing it. Judging back the quick shot of me on camera this afternoon, I'm ready for neither.

I'm glad I don't work for TV because I don't have to look for visuals to accompany my story. A quick photograph is enough. I don't have to worry about getting enough still shots, background images, on-camera interviews and action to fill a three minute segment.

I'm glad I don't work for TV because I can do my job anywhere. All I need is a notebook (which fits nicely in my back pocket) and a pen (two pens actually, in case the first runs dry). I don't have a "crew" or need to plug in here or there.

Television is so complicated. I'm glad I don't work there.

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