A Sarah Palin look-alike stripper: Is this the next great DC scandal? |
The names have become part of our history. Watergate. Teapot Dome. Abscam. Iran-Contra. Then there are the nicknames of the colorful characters - The Argentine Firecracker, Hot Military Stud.Com, Tricky Dick. There are break-ins, money laundering, money passing to FBI agents dressed like Arab sheiks, deadly duels, crack smoking, blackmail, phone taping, illegal wiretapping, naked Playboy posing, provocative picture passing, a House of Representatives gay prostitution ring, hot, steamy sex behind the columns of the Capitol, illicit sex in the White House, and even a double castration. High-level hijinks here have placed 2 words in our everyday vocabulary - lobbyist and hooker. And, long before there were internet memes, came one of the great slogans of all-time for when your wrongdoings get captured on videotape - "The bitch set me up".
From Founding Father Alexander Hamilton (sexual blackmail, fatal duel) to modern-day former Congressman Anthony Weiner (self-shot photos of "personal junk" emailed to admiring young females), there's no shortage of scandal to digest. If the subject interests you, you can read about it. But, if you want more active exposure, you can take the Great American Scandal walking tour, one of several free walking tours offered by DC Walkabout.
The two-hour tour begins at Lafayette Park, just across the Street from the White House, where guide and company owner Sean Williams tells you "we can spend a long, long time here but we have to move on." So you receive the Presidential high points (or maybe low points would be more apt). Andrew Jackson (duel). Grover Cleveland (father of an illegitimate child, recipient of the "Ma, Ma, where's my Pa?" campaign chant, legal guardian of an 11-year-old girl whom he married 10 years later in the only White House presidential wedding ceremony in history). Warren Harding (Teapot Dome where part of an illegal payoff was given in cattle). John Kennedy (Fiddle, Faddle, and Marilyn Monroe?). Richard Nixon (Watergate). Bill Clinton (Monica Lewinsky, thongs, cigars, a blue dress, and a different way of serving your country by servicing your president).
As you wind your way toward the Capitol, you will make several stops and receive point-outs to other places. The Willard Hotel (President Ulysses Grant would come there to escape the pressures of the White House with a cigar and a glass of brandy. He would be besieged in the lobby by people seeking favors - thus the term lobbyists). The Jefferson Hotel (where political operative Dick Morris used to make late -night phone calls to President Clinton while enjoying sucking on the toes of his favorite prostitutes). And speaking of prostitutes, you will see the area of D.C. where Union troops preparing for the Civil War once frequented brothel tents. So many of the men were under the direction of General Hooker that his name was given to the breed of girls we now refer to as hookers.
Congressman Mills and Ms. Foxe |
Mr. Barry |
Ms. Jenrette |
"So what does it all means? What's the moral?" Williams asked with the wry smile and engaging humor he had shown throughout the past 2 hours. "I don't know. I just give out the information. The rest is up to you."
Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
OK. So let's tackle Williams' question - what does all this scandal in Washington mean? I suppose you could look long and hard to some quotations for answers. For example, to err is human, to forgive divine. Or power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely. Or maybe, politicians are just like you and me, only their egos and their sins are bigger (you won't find that one anywhere; I just made it up). In the end, I have to agree with Williams. I am not sure what it all means. But I do know that if you take the Great American Scandal Tour you will find it informative, interesting, and highly engaging. You will also find yourself wanting a shower. But I'm not sure if that is because of all the heat and humidity that hangs here in DC or because of all the disgusting political dirt you've just encountered.
The moral? Power corrupts.
ReplyDeleteNM
Delete