Over the past several days, we have all felt shock, anger and frustration as we struggle to come to terms with what has happened in this country. Quite rightly, T.J. Monkey’s has not posted the usual humorous thoughts, but it seems that now is a time where we should post some of our thoughts about this tragedy.
As most of you know, many of us live in New York while I am in Washington. To be so close to these events only brings them closer to home. I thought I would have nothing to say that has not been said, but as I watch the news every day, I felt like I should give you a chance to see something that is not being focused on as much….
My job in Washington (for only a short time now) is working for a U.S. Senator. Our office is across the street from the grounds of the Capitol. As the FBI continues to piece together what has happened, it seems clear that one of the planes headed for DC may very well have been headed for the Capitol. Today, the Senator told us that had either plane been successful, there would not have been time to evacuate the Captiol building. Even as it was, to leave a federal building in Washington and see smoke coming from the direction of the White House and the Pentagon, impacts you in a way you cannot really describe.
But I don’t want to dwell on this. What I think you ought to know is what happened after. On Wednesday morning, the government issued notices that workers could stay home from work if they chose to–there was no obligation to come in. But that morning, every single person in our office was there and working. We answered phones from constituents, we kept up on the news, we watched events on the Senate floor–we did the work of the United States government.
We were briefed by the Senator. There are 13 bills on the floor right now that must be voted on. Bills which will determine how much money is spent in the course of business over the next year. These appropriations bills contained numerous contentious issues as well as concerns about the budget and the surplus. On Monday, we thought we would be debating these until well into October. On Wednesday, we were told it was possible they would be completed by the end of next week. The issues of contention would not be resolved, but they would be set aside until the work before us is done.
Most encouraging, though, is this. Today, we met as an office with the Senator and he asked for our opinions on what should be done. Many were angry and the suggested repsonses often reflected that. In the end, we were told that there would be a response, it would not simply be cruise missiles on isolated targets and that it would send a message to the world. But here is what is important, here is what makes us different from those in the world that would unthinkingly destroy innocent lives in cowardly acts of violence, from those barbarians who would celebrate in ignorance on the streets at our loss:
We will investigate. We will deliberate. And we will retaliate. We will be cautious, we will be thorough and we will be just. The response will take time, but it will come. This is not because we are weak, but because we are strong.
It is easy to be cynical about how our government works. All I can say, is that I have been here for 4 weeks, and any doubts I may have had have been set aside. For all we criticize it, it does work. In our office, we receive close to 8,000 letters a week. And just as in every office in Washington, someone reads and responds to every one.
I guess I just felt like it would help for you to hear from someone who sees how it works up close. The words you hear on TV from our leaders are not talk–they mean it. And they are doing what it takes to stay true to those words.
I can only hope that it helps someone to hear that.