The Pros of Visiting a D.C. Bookstore

     Politics and Prose will always hold a special place in my memory.  When I was 11, I was extremely obsessed with the Harry Potter series (I still, less obviously, am) and the third book had just come out.  One rainy Saturday afternoon my mom told me we were going to Politics and Prose to see J.K. Rowling, and I could not contain my excitement.  We waited outside in the rain for two hours, and then we finally reached the book signing table.  My sisters and I proudly presented our copies of the first three books as they handed us lightning bolt tattoos.  My mom decided this was the perfect opportunity to try to be funny, and told Ms. Rowling, “My daughter Katie is 11 and we’re still waiting on her letter from Hogwarts.”  Ms. Rowling looked a little worried, and then asked my mom, “You know it’s not real, right?”  Years later and I’m still embarrassed.  I had met the author of the global phenomenon of Harry Potter and she thought I actually believed I had magical powers.

     Carla Cohen, the founder of the bookstore where this great childhood memory took place, passed away last Monday.  As I read her front page obituary I was surprised to see how famous Politics and Prose was throughout the country.  It was described as one of the political hubs of D.C. and had been acclaimed on multiple occasions in the New York Times. 

   To me, Politics and Prose means books, and more importantly, field trips.  Once a year in elementary school, my entire grade went down to Politics and Prose to listen to a different picture book author speak and show us his or her book.  Afterwards, we would have 20 minutes to explore the store and look at books.  These field trips were significantly more entertaining than the art museum trips, and I looked forward to roaming the store with my friends every year.

     Cohen’s partner, Barbara Meade, is in the process of selling the store.  As one of the most successful independent bookstores in the D.C. area, the next owner has some very big shoes to fill.  I hope, along with many other Politics and Prose fans, that the store will continue to be successful in future years and still be a place for great political minds to go as well as a site for elementary school field trips.  And of course, I will always need the physical reminder of that rainy Saturday with J.K. Rowling.

"Classic" D.C.

     As a fan of the Bravo “Real Housewives” series, I was ecstatic when I found out about Bravo film crews were coming to D.C. to shoot the first season of “The Real Housewives of D.C.”  After watching the glamorous lives of the women of Orange County and New York and the somewhat dramatic ones of New Jersey and Atlanta, I was curious as to how the women of D.C. would measure up.  Unfortunately, along with the Washington Post’s Reliable Source, I was disappointed.

     Of course I understood no one with real connections to the White House would be on the show for publicity reasons, but honestly, did they really have to choose the Salahi’s?  The season was filled with drama surrounding the couple and their escapades at White House events, with some sprinklings of the other housewives stating the not very well known “rules” and “etiquette” of “Waaaashington”.

     Watching the show made me realize how reality TV can transform anything.  The D.C. I know and love is so completely different from that of the Housewives’.  Hearing one housewife call one fall day with the leaves falling, “classic D.C.”, made me stop and think about what I considered “classic D.C.”:

·         Going downtown to the mall on a spring afternoon and walking around the monuments and the annual Cherry Blossom Festival

·         Runs along the C&O Canal

·         Going to the Verizon Center for Wizards and Georgetown basketball games

·         The average of two snow days a year from the usual three inches of snow

·         Walks in Rock Creek Park

·         Taking the occasional trip down to the National Zoo

·         Cupcakes

·         Two Amy’s Pizza

     The “Real Housewives” never got to these parts of D.C. and never got past the Salahi drama. I don’t know if it will make it to a second season, but the “Real Housewives of D.C.” definitely made me appreciate the D.C. I know and love. 

The WBC and the First Amendment

     The right to freedom of speech is one of the many liberties that make our country great.  Being able to speak one’s thoughts without fear of punishment, to report and publish the activities of the government and to freely communicate with whomever we choose.  But with this right comes much responsibility.  There’s the commonly known rule against not shouting, “FIRE!” in a crowded building when there is no fire, but there are other common human dignities that must be preserved when practicing this right.

     The right to privacy and the right to free speech collided in 2006 when the Westboro Baptist Church protested the funeral of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder in Topeka Kansas.  The small, family church group was protesting the war in Iraq, claiming that the death of Snyder was brought on by God.  The case against the WBC brought by the Snyder family will be heard in the Supreme Court in the coming months.

     The Westboro Baptist Church visited my school last November.  Attempting to get the attention of President Obama, they held pro-life signs on Wisconsin Ave. across the street from Sidwell.  They promoted the picket on their website, www.godhatesfags.com in the weeks leading up to it.  Sidwell students responded with a silent counter-protest, organized by the Gay Lesbian Straight Bisexual Transgender Club, wearing rainbow and holding the famous Quaker message, “There is that of God in everyone”.  I could not have been prouder to attend Sidwell that day.

     I think the members of WBC have the right to believe in whatever they feel is the truth.  They can preach it as much as they like in the appropriate arenas and those who choose to listen can.  However, there is a line when their beliefs and actions disturb and disrupt a funeral where a family is burying their son who died in combat.  Technically, the members of WBC have protection under the First Amendment, but they violated a more fundamental right than one that is granted by the government.  Every person has the right to bury a loved one in any manner they see fit; it is a basic human right.  The WBC can come and picket my school or any other school as much as they like, under the proper permits and regulations, and put any material that encompasses what they believe on their own website, but intruding on another person’s basic right to burial is not acceptable and should not be excused under the freedom of speech.