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Hawaii Reporter

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Herded Like Cattle Into the Nation's Capitol

By Malia Zimmerman, 6/13/2006 1:56:54 PM

 

 

Malia Zimmerman

 

One of the most outrageous and frustrating parts of

visiting our country’s historic monuments since the

terrorist attack on 9-11 is how the citizens of this

country are treated as potential terrorists rather

than respected as legal citizens.

 

While anyone can visit the monuments along The Mall

such as the Lincoln memorial and the Vietnam Wall

without being frisked, forget seeing the inside -- or

even the outside -- of The White House ever again.

Access is blocked off for several blocks. That might

be understandable, considering how the terrorists

destroyed the World Trade Towers in New York City and

the Pentagon in Washington D.C., killing more than

3,000 people in the process and injuring hundreds

more.

 

But if the leaders of this country want citizen

participation in government, they have to balance the

need for security with the pursuit of knowledge of

America's history by its people visiting the nation's

Capitol.

 

To watch Congress debate a bill that will dramatically

affect the country, for example, it has become much

easier to watch C-Span than to travel to Washington

D.C. as so many high school students traditionally do

in their senior year, to witness such debate

firsthand.

 

In the U.S. Senate last week, visitors from Hawaii

there to witness the Akaka Bill debate, and visitors

from all across America there to learn about our

nation's government, had to abide by a host of rules

that the Sergeant of Arms of the U.S Senate cannot

even explain, including why there will be “no note

taking†in the Senate gallery.

 

The rules are so strictly enforced that my blank

yellow note pad was confiscated before I entered along

with my computer, camera, cell phones, PDA, tape

recorder, and water bottle.

 

When I asked why I couldn’t even take notes -- how

much harm could a note pad and pen cause? The answer I

received from several assistants to the Sergeant at

Arms (the enforcers) was they had no idea why writing

was banned. The Sergeant at Arms on duty that day

volunteered that he did not know why either, but it

was just a rule that Senators thought up and voted on,

and so it had to be adhered to. With no answer that

made any sense, I assumed Senators might be afraid we

might remember what they say in their floor speeches

and debates.

 

Just to get into the Capitol is an exhausting

challenge for even the country’s most fit. After

passing several armed guards dressed in full military

gear and holding very big rifles, visitors must

surrender all food, beverages, and liquids (perfumes,

hair sprays, etc.) and throw them in the trash. Then

they have to stand the test of time by entering into a

line that is longer than those in the summer at Disney

Land. They also have to be in shape physically, hiking

up three flights of stairs, where they are again

greeted by another long line.

 

Along the way they have their possessions picked

through by strangers and seized:

All packages, bundles, cameras, suitcases,

calculators, aerosol/non-aerosol sprays, pointed

objects, electronic instruments, food, beverages or

briefcases are not allowed.

Men cannot wear hats unless they are put on for

“religious purposes,†but women can in fact wear hats.

No one had an explanation for this either -- could it

be the influence of the women’s lib movement?

“Firearms and dangerous weapons are prohibited within

the Capitol buildings and grounds,†according to a

statement on the back of the ticket. Now how silly is

that to list when the armed military guards look as if

they are ready to shoot anyone who looks at all

threatening, much less carries firearm into the

Capitol?

 

Not only must visitors surrender nearly all of their

personal belongings, they must also act a certain way,

according to the fine print on the back of the ticket.

 

Standing or sitting in the doorways and aisles,

smoking, applauding, reading, taking notes, taking

photographs … are prohibited. No hats, coats or other

objects may be placed on the railings; visitors are

prohibited from leaning forward over the railings or

placing their hands thereon.â€

“Children under 6 are not permitted in the galleriesâ€

(maybe they don’t count because most cannot pay taxes

yet).

 

And forget going to the bathroom until visitors leave

the Capitol -- there is no bathroom on the third floor

where the Senate gallery is so to go to the bathroom,

visitors must leave the gallery, walk down three

flights of steps to the first floor, and then get back

in line and wait for an hour all over again to get

back in the gallery by which time, any debate over a

bill is likely over.

 

Sergeant at arms assistants also seemed to make up

rules as the hours went by, even telling one woman she

was not allowed to “rifle through her purse†--

something not listed on the ticket. They also told

visitors where they had to sit -- no such thing as

open seating despite a vast seating area all around

the Senate gallery.

 

The rules have become so ridiculous and random that

the people who are paid to enforce them cannot even

explain why some of them exist or who made them up.

 

Meanwhile Senators who are supposedly elected to serve

the country are sending a message to the public that

they are not welcome in the nation’s Capitol, and if

they do visit, they can only stay as long as they

don’t make noise, take pictures, write anything down,

have to use the bathroom, want to get anything in

their purse, or need a drink of water or something to

eat.

 

So who is serving whom?

 

The founding fathers of America, whose pictures are

everywhere throughout the Capitol and Washington DC,

are probably shaking their heads in shame.

 

After all, imagine if they were told they couldn’t

write anything down during their government sessions

-- America would have no Declaration of Independence

or U.S. Constitution.

 

It is quite evident that to the Senators -- including

Hawaii’s own Senator Akaka and Inouye, the public is

nothing more than pesky cattle to be herded through --

cattle that had better act like sheep when they are

there -- or risk being thrown to the wolves.

 

Reach Malia Zimmerman, editor and president of Hawaii

Reporter, via email at Malia

 

 

© 2006 Hawaii Reporter, Inc.