Washington, DC, Boomtown
My posting has been light for the past few days for an invincible reason: my kids. The missus is back East with our middle child, touring him around colleges. That means I'm here in California, trying to keep an eye on the four remaining children, who range in age from 21 (working for the summer, and therefore no trouble) to 10 (I seem to lose track of this one altogether for several hours a day as she gallivants happily around the neighborhood).
My better half will return, finally, in just over 24 hours, and thank goodness. In the meantime, she texted me this evening from Washington, D.C., or rather from Georgetown. She had taken our 17-year old to Clyde's, a restaurant she and I used to frequent when we were dating lo these many years ago--and which, in those days, represented an informal hangout for kids like us. No longer, my wife texted.
Clyde's is so different. Very high-end.
My goodness the govt business is doing well.
The government business, doing well. That about sums up what ails us, doesn't it?
More when the missus touches down.
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Comments:
Jul '11
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
D.C. is the welded castle in The Masque of Red Death and Obama is the indifferent Prince Prospero partying it up while the country burns. An odd guest is coming to the ball though. May your family arrive safely Peter.
Jun '10
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
From: Forbes List of America's Richest Counties (4/24/2012)
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Loudoun County, Virginia
Median annual household income: $115,574.
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Falls Church City, Virginia
Median annual household income: $114,409.
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Fairfax County, Virginia
Median annual household income: $105,416.
Apr '11
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
How high end was it? Maybe it was just during dinner time?
Back in my days waiting tables in Georgetown I'd sometimes blow my tip money over at Clyde's (although, J-Paul's was our regular post-shift hang out). Even back then (circa 10 years ago) I recall both places putting out the candles and white cloths for the dinner crowd before reverting back to casual watering holes by the late evening.
One thing I always loved about DC was the classy bar scene. In DC your regular corner tavern would be a classy joint - bartender with a pressed shirt; chatty characters around the bar. I actually used to find myself in intelligent political conversations with barflies all the time (well, conversations that seemed intelligent at the time)
And only in DC would someone be shouted down by patrons for demanding that a bartender turn off the State of the Union and put on the basketball game.
Man, I still miss being able to go to a bar to watch election returns.
Oct '10
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
Yep. DC needs to go back to being a part-time capital, full-time swamp.
May '10
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
I might suggest that in the dating days that the discretionary disposable income was a bit different for two single working adults than it is for a married couple with 5 children which appear to be all Ivy bound, two of which have already landed in Hanover as I recall. I'm just saying...point of reference as it were.
I myself enjoy Carl's Jr, and of course Chick-Fil-A.
May '10
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
"I seem to lose track of this one altogether for several hours a day as she gallivants happily around the neighborhood."
Is this legal?? I know in our youth, it was the standard, but in today's hypersensitive nanny state, I thought this was cause to call in Child Services? Peter, be careful, your wife will not be happy if she returns home to find that one of the children is now a ward of the state because you let her run around and enjoy freedom!
Don't you know it is a dangerous world out there?!? You really need to watch the Today Show more....
Edited on August 8, 2012 at 12:36pmJun '12
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
Indeed. It seems about all we are missing is a Politburo.
May '12
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
Peter, it sounds like you are saying we should reduce the size of the federal government and not just have a debate at the margins about changing how fast the federal government expands.
Novel concept, I support it, unfortunately you won't find much (any?) support for even raising the topic. Increasing the size of the federal government by only 35% in a decade is considered 'radical'. Nobody will enterain the idea of reducing the size of leviathan.
Enjoy the rest of your 'break', looking forward to your full time return.
Mar '11
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
Peter Robinson
...the four remaining children, who range in age from 21 (working for the summer, and therefore no trouble) to 10 (I seem to lose track of this one altogether for several hours a day as she gallivants happily around the neighborhood).
VDH from a recent article: "...a generation of youth that did not know the value of hard work... They didn’t...acquire even basic skills such as mowing the lawn or hammering a nail.
Apparently, these coastal Californians want to be near Stanford and big money in Silicon Valley. They also must like the fact that they are safe to jog or ride bikes..."
Compare and contrast.
Edited on August 8, 2012 at 2:34pmMar '11
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
genferei
Yep. DC needs to go back to being a part-time capital, full-time swamp. · 3 hours ago
It's still a full-time swamp.
Edited on August 8, 2012 at 2:30pmDec '10
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
I saw this during my brief sojourn in D.C. In the area just north of the WH where I was staying there was no empty or available space. None. The opposite is true for the rest of the nation.
Jul '12
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
I was stationed at Quantico for 3 years while in the Marines and loved spending all my free time running around Adam's Morgan and spending time in other classy D.C. hangouts like the 9:30 Club and Polly Esther's. There were few greater things than strolling into a bar full of well-kept Hill staffers and announcing the Marines had arrived. Always was a good icebreaker. :)
Sep '10
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
. . . to 10 (I seem to lose track of this one altogether for several hours a day as she gallivants happily around the neighborhood).
There's still hope, isn't there?
Aug '11
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
You pretty much need a government program for the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. That's the difference between consent and coercion. It doesn't surprise me that some of the most prosperous zips and highest home prices in the country are in DC. I've heard a ton of horror stories (from a well off friend and DC resident) about the dark side of DC.
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
Peter,
According to the New York Times bureau chief of Washington, we're doing so well because we're smarter. It has nothing to do with all y'all subsidizing our economy through your wasted tax dollars.
Gene Healy dissects his argument here.
Mar '11
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
Clyde's of Georgetown is part of the Clyde's Restaurant Group, a chain of 16 local eateries. As for being high-end, I seem to recall one of their restaurants was the venue for a recent DC Ricochet meetup.
May '10
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
I think this should be an issue for a Super Pac...it's a bi-partisan source of taxpayer disgust.
Edited on August 8, 2012 at 4:27pmJan '12
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
Peter - Isn't there a little liberal arts school in southern Michigan he should be visiting instead? :)
Jul '10
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
Delighted with your use of the word "gallivant" which appears too rarely in prose these days!
Aug '12
Re: Washington, DC, Boomtown
In the next few days I intend to give a personal account ( ala Mollie) of how DC seems to operate from the inside. Spoiler alert: heavy on the parasitic elements Healey discusses, light on the smarts=productive work thesis David Leonhart proposes. Still, as Jonah Goldberg has stated before, the best writing on this subject comes from Jonathan rauch's brilliant book Government's End. At the end of the day it is both the Democrats and the Republicans faults...but even Rauch as an avowed liberal admits, it is mostly Democrats.