Give Eleanor the Vote!

Ok, so I admit that $621 million for a visitor center is a BIT much, but I have to say, the new capitol visitor center is absolutely beautiful.  The Expat went on a field trip this past weekend to check it out and we were incredibly impressed.  In a city where 80 some percent of the parks are run by our absurdly underfunded National Parks Service, there are a lot of sad signs in the federal district of America's lack of support for its infrastructure and national pride.  The visitor center is one of the few new buildings related to a monument in DC that isn't absolutely garish.  I was expecting some giant plastic eagle to be hanging fromt he ceiling, American flags draped over everything, etc. etc.  But, it was surprisingly tasteful.  As a total American History and city buff, I didn't even get through the whole museum, so I will definitely be going back.  Why?  One word: DIORAMA!  Oh yes, there are at least 12 dioramas that guide you through the entire history of the building of the U.S. Capitol.  I could barely contain myself.  Not only do you get to see exactly how much of the capitol was done when (and what was going on in the country at the time), but hey have the population growth of the area around Capitol Hill too!  For anyone who loves to study the history of cities, it's orgasmic.

That aside, Mike and I were particularly entertained by an awesome little program they had specially developed for the museum.  Basically, it's a touch screen trivia program that asks you all sorts of cute little questions about the history of Congress.  One of the best programs, however, was the "look up your senator" program.  As a proud District resident, I couldn't help but type in, "Washington, D.C."  Low and behold, this is what popped up:

Now, I've been to law school, I understand the basics of how our federal/state system works in this country, but it still surprises me that in this day and age a country that raves about being the best thing to happen to government since sliced bread still has an entire capital city that doesn't have a vote in Congress, a city of just over 1/2 million people.  I realize we're not a state, and I actually kind of like that, but having just done my taxes...goddamit, I want this woman to be able to vote on my behalf:

Enter: Eleanor Holmes Norton.  For the Expat's West Coasters, she has served faithfully as the District's Congresswoman for TEN terms.  She's done everything she can to represent here 9-in-10 Democratic voting district in the past many years, but it's time she was able to weigh in with an actual vote on the floor of Congress.  Today could be the next step to that reality, as the Bill to give us a vote in the House is being debated on the floor of the Senate today for the first time since 1978.  Unfortunately, it looks like we're going to have to give Utah an additional seat in return, but it would be a glorious day for the District if this finally gets through. 

I know we're not going to get any senators out of this, so I'd be happy with a House seat, but is it really asking too much to just have ONE senator?  Now, if we do finally get the vote, the real question is...what do we do about our license plates.  We truly do have the most kick-ass protest license plate in the country.  Maybe some kind of likeness of Marion Barry?