That’s the best I can do for a photo from the back set of our Uber. How unfortunate! We are in Washington, DC for one day, and it happens to be at the same time as a two-day visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping. That’s not something we care about, but it means that they have blockaded side streets in the area of Reagan Airport down to where we are staying. Our poor Uber driver was patient, but totally frustrated at almost standstill traffic. It took 90 minutes to get to our hotel, a trip that should have lasted 30. Each intersection was blockaded to prevent side street traffic, and had high barrier fences across to allow only one car at a time. What nonsense! Such a frightened way of life.
I have no doubt there are plenty of people who detest Jinping, just like Trump, but the only violence possible would be a fake shooting complete with a fake clipped ear, as real assassins don’t wander in off the streets. They have to be specially trained, and don’t miss.
Which reminds me, I used to watch a TV series called Bosch, and the lead, played by Titus Welliver, was a reasonably convincing actor until an episode where he had to wear a Green Beret getup, as his character was supposedly an ex-member. He looked ridiculous with the hat and baggy getup, so that the whole tough-guy mystique was destroyed. He looked a bit more like Woody Allen in fatigues.
Anyway, they did a big airport red carpet ceremony for Jinping, and I watched it on a reel, and thought man, how cheesy! They laid down a red carpet on the tarmac, and lined up American’s finest on either side as the Great Man stepped down off the plane to meet our Great Man, but the honor guard just doesn’t work for me. They have to include everyone, all service branches, women, blacks and Asians, probably gay and transgender too. So what was at one time a long gray line of evenly-sized men is now tall and short, most not even looking very tough, firearms not becoming on the shoulders of the soldiers at all. I know, don’t judge. It’s more like real life than movies.
So today we planned on seeing the American Gallery of Art and the Museum of Natural History, and then Hop-On Hop-Off for the rest of the day. Traffic will be a nightmare. Tomorrow I go to Wilmington to visit cousins, while my wife and daughter go to NYC to take in a ballet and a show. The show is about Mary Todd Lincoln. The ballet, I just can’t do. I am not Titus in the beret, just a regular guy with limited culturing.
