Three White Houses (personal note)

On the evening of September 10, 2001 an old friend from who worked in the White House gave me a personal tour of the West Wing and around the grounds. As a liberal to moderate Republican (we did exist), I was still holding out hope for Bush's brand of compassionate conservatism. And, in town for a TechNet meeting with politicos, I was hopeful for forward movement on many of the tech policy issues advanced by Bush in his campaign that had essentially created a tie in SV smart money and support between him and Gore.

Of course, the next morning, Everything Changed.

The day after I stuck my head into the Oval Office, this is as close as I (and most anyone) could get to the White House...

And, as I wandered the streets, this was the mood in the city...

As people (of all stripes) gathered and watched news reports of the terrorist attacks...

Plenty of ink has been spilled on what happened in between September 11, 2001 and this most recent election. As I heard more than a few times on the campaign trail: "Now is not the time to point fingers."

Instead, I just wanted to reflect on what a liberating and healing bookend November 4, 2008 was. Lucky to be in DC for the big night, I joined others in front of televisions again.

But, by far, the most remarkable moments that night came as I got swept up and taken down those same streets where I walked virtually alone on September 11. The destination, of course, was The White House. My camera was dead at that point, but, we fortunately now have Flickr and YouTube to record our collective memories.

(photo by goldmember)

With the two videos below, I challenge you to find such similarity between a Fox News report and an Al Jazeera story on the same subject (!!!). Talk about change we need.

On that Fox piece above, I love that Brit Hume was not only gracious, but dryly noted that "it really is fun watching those people jumping up and down.... you know, there is something about jumping up and down that is good for the soul. It's a universal sign of joy."

(BTW, here is a great man-on-the-street account of the craziness that was DC on Tuesday night. Fast forward to the first minute or so.)

On a professional note, I'm watching all the stories flood in about the high (read unreasonable) expectations for the Obama administration around tech policy. I'll get to that in a bit. But for another day or two, let me rest my sore ankles. Too much jumping.

Comments

[John Earnhardt]

Nice trip down memory lane...it is nice that you and the one other moderate republican keep in touch...

[Maria]

Sweet!