From the past

Today I dug up a letter I wrote back in January 2007. It made me laugh. Re-posted now for your entertainment:

Hey folks,

Okay so interesting experience #17 at the US Capitol. I just got back from my lunch run to the senate cafeteria, where I got a small but tasteful little sandwich and an delectable piece of german chocolate cake. I had just returned to my desk when I began to hear a raucous sound coming from outside. So I, along with several of my office mates decided to saunter out into the hall to see what was transpiring. The Hart building where I work is 9 floors built around a central open atrium, and today, in the atrium were probably a hundred women dressed in pink, protesting the war. By the time I got there, they had linked hands and were running around in a human chain shouting things like "impeach bush!" and "bring them home". Pretty cool but nothing crazy as far as protests go. Then the women began herding up the stairs and on several balconiess could be seen holding big cloth banners that draped down several stories carrying slogans like "Peace Now" and "Give Bush the Pink Slip" and my personal favorite, and the reason I tried to call Miss Heather Harris during the rally was the sign that read "Women Say Pull Out!" Apparently the event was sponsored by Code Pink ( http://www.codepink4peace.org/) where I expect pictures to be up sometime soon.
After a few moments though, the capitol police began to arrive en masse to battle the jubilant women. The uniformed officers could be seen engaging in tugs of war with the women for the banners (which the officers mostly won, except for one particular struggle in which the feisty little woman (who appeared to be in her 50s) managed to free her sign and made a desperate bid for freedom, her big pink banner trailing behind her like a comet's tail... until one of the officers grabbed the sign from behind and halted her progress rather abruptly).
About this time, the people on the floor began to gather in a large group and were dancing and kicking like they were in a middle-aged mosh pit, all the while chanting "this is what democracy looks like!" Democracy is clearly doomed.
No arrests were made that I saw, and the pack began to break up about the time the capitol police got the megaphone going so I decided to wander back to my desk since it looked like most of the drama was over.

Reporting live from the US Capitol, this is Todd Olsen (who will be bringing his camera to work from now on).