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Along
the Boomer Trail ...
If Washington, D.C. Is so Smart, Why Does it Act so Dumb?
By
Dick Methia
The
Brookings Institution
has declared Greater Washington, D.C. the smartest region in
the country. Brookings is a Washington, D.C. “think
tank.” That’s what smart people call a place where
Ph.D.s get fed instead
of fish.
The Brookings is a retail outlet for ideas, a Nordstrom for notions. So they
have a vested interest in calling themselves smart. The Brookings’ findings
came from their study of 2008 census data. If they’re so smart, why did
it take them two years to find it out?
For starters, in the interest of full disclosure, I have an advanced degree,
and I live in the Washington, D.C. metro region. I also need to clarify. The
Brookings Institution didn’t say we were smarter — just better educated.
The difference between being educated and being smart is the difference between
Paris Hilton and Paris, France.
People trained in the life of the mind (rather than, say, plumbing) spend their
day in mental activities: dithering, pondering, cogitating, speculating, and
that favorite hobby of the educated — pontificating. A prime example is
that bunch of over-educated folks in their dazzling marble palace on Washington’s
Capitol Hill, the stately building that the U.S. Congress rents from us taxpayers.
Most of our fellow citizens, even those poor souls lacking college degrees, would
be quick to list which problems Congress should be working on every hour of every
day. The Congressional Record, however, offers tantalizing insights into what
our smart reps are actually up to.
These are actual excerpts from the Congressional Record of July 1 and July 13
of this year:
CONGRATULATING DAVIE COUNTY’S WHIT MERRIFIELD ON GAME-WINNING RBI IN COLLEGE
WORLD SERIES
Ms. FOXX. “Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Whit Merrifield of
Advance, North Carolina, who brought in the winning run in the 11th inning for
the University
of South Carolina to win the NCAA’s College World Series over UCLA …”
RESULTS OF CONGRESSIONAL WOMEN’S SOFTBALL GAME
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. “Mr. Speaker, I rise to share some news with the
Members of the House … This year we got smart and decided to play women
that were maybe a little less athletic and a little older than the team we played
last year …”
SUPPORTING NATIONAL POLLINATOR WEEK
The SPEAKER pro tempore. “The unfinished business is … agreeing to
the resolution (H. Res. 1460) recognizing the important role pollinators play
in supporting the ecosystem and supporting the goals and ideals of National Pollinator
Week.”
ANNUAL VIBORG DANISH VIKING DAYS
Mr. JOHNSON. “Mr. President, today I pay tribute to the Viborg annual Danish
Viking Days celebration …”
CONGRATULATING MISS ARKANSAS PAGEANT CONTESTANTS
Mrs. LINCOLN. “Mr. President, this week a time-honored tradition takes
place in my home state of Arkansas.”
I guess I’m not smart enough to figure out why the U.S. House of Representatives
and their patrician colleagues in the Senate spend time in their already truncated
schedules honoring pollinators, pageant princesses and Danish Vikings among dozens
of other worthies.
In a follow up study, maybe the smart folks at the Brookings Institution can
tell us why the educated people on Washington’s Capitol Hill don’t
have the brains to go along with their Ivy League degrees.
You can read more of Dick Methia’s work at www.
AlongtheBoomerTrail.com.
He can also be e-mailed at Dick@AlongtheBoomerTrail.com.
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