2Political Episode 69

2PP069 - 15 March 2012








2Political Podcast Episode 69 is now available. You can listen to it or download it from the podcast site, 2political.com. You can leave comments there as well as download or listen to any episode (you can access the five most recent episodes from the list on the right side of my blog).

We begin with Arthur acknowledging the gap in podcast episodes is entirely his fault. With the heavy time commitments of his househunting, he just couldn’t find time to edit the episode we recorded a month ago.

After Special Days, we talk about cutting the Republican presidential nomination pie. We talk about Romney’s elitism and Santorum’s batshit craziness. But we also talk more generally about the sorry state of the Republican Party, and Arthur mentions research that demonstrates that while the Republicans have shifted to the right, Democrats have not, contrary to what the punditocracy claims. The Republican Party’s war on women also gets a mention.

Please leave a comment (anyone's welcome—agree or disagree!), or you can ring the 2Political Comment line on 206-350-3982.

Links for this episode:
Pi Day
Naw-Rúz
Wurstfest – Herman, Missouri
Charts: GOP Shifts Right – the charts documenting the righward shift of the Republican Party, and relative stability of Democrats, that Arthur’s mentioned. This link is to The Maddow Blog (part of MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show), and that, in turn, links to the original sources.
Jason’s Blog
Arthur’s blog, podcasts and videos can be accessed here.


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Trying to Walk a Marathon

I did my best to complete this but in the end my feet and legs tired out. I did some walking around my neighborhood. I started walking a little after 5 in the morning. I came back to my house had breakfast and headed out. I started out at 7:30 on step 10,237.

From Union Station to My Office

By the time I reached Union Station it was 8:12 and step 13,562. By the time I got to my office it was 8:47 and step 16,679.

Some pictures of the development around Union Station.









































Here's a picture of the Postal Museum and a great statue outside of, I think, the Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.




































A view of the Canadian Embassy, the work being done on the East Wing of the National Gallery and a banner touting the Cherry Blossom festival.

Between Key Bridge and Memorial Bridge

In the middle of Key Bridge at 9:41 and step 20,986. Here are some of the views I saw on my walk.

In and Around the Torpedo Factory

The Torpedo Factory is a wonderful place to go in Alexandria. It has a wonderful variety of artists showing off their works. Also it is right on the water. I got there ate 12:23 and step 36,702.

Outside the Torpedo Factory

Outside of the Torpedo Factory was this guy playing these glasses filled with water. It was really cool to see and more important cool to hear.

Lunch

I found the McDonald's a little out of the way. I got my two filet of fish. Lunch was around 1:20 and step 40,432. On the way back to the bike path I happened upon this very cute area in north Alexandria.

At the 14th Street Bridge

Here's a great view from the 14th Street Bridge looking into the District. It's 3:48 here and step 49,272. I will also add that it takes a long time to walk across the bridge.

By the Jefferson Memorial

At the front of the Jefferson Memorial at 4:07 and step 50,383. There was a bridal party there having their pictures taken. Also the buds on the cherry trees are starting to come out. In fact, the blossoms should be out in another week to ten days.








































While not exactly near the Jefferson Memorial, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing had this really cool banner for an exhibit that they have on the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

The Final Total

I have to say the walk from the Metro to my house was hard. My feet were really hurting. Along with my legs. I'd find out later just how bad my left big toe was from when I hit it against a wall in Old Town Alexandria.

Walking Around Alexandria

Almost a Marathon

I was about 1,500 steps short. I also hit my left big toe and really hurt it (it is a very pretty blue color). Photos will be coming shortly.

It's taken me several days to recover. Thus the reason for no posts. My feet besides my big toe hurt and my legs too. Still trying to recover.

Walking a Marathon

Yes, that is what my goal is today. To walk a marathon or to put it another way to walk 55,334 steps in one day.

I've already started. I was up at 5 today well actually I was up earlier than that because Charlies woke me up.

I've put in a total of 10,150 steps so far. I will be heading out shortly to see how far I can get.

Romney Just Squeaks By in Ohio

Is this how he’s going to win the nomination?

Romney will collect just enough delegates to win. He’ll continue to get battered in very conservatives states like Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia, North Dakota. He wins in Ohio by around 12,000. Hardly a mandate.

One of the things the Romney campaign is saying is they’ll have the most number of delegates by the time convention rolls around. No one else will be able to win. As someone from the Santorum campaign said, which I agree with, that’s not a compelling reason to vote for someone.

Romney in all likelihood will be the nominee for the Republicans. He does have more money. He does have a better organization (Santorum couldn’t field a full slate of delegates in all of the Ohio Congressional districts for the primary). And in the end he will have more delegates.

But this is going to take a while longer than I think most people thought. Especially since the race turns to the south where Romney is weakest.

Steps Program Starts Again

The steps health program has started up again at work.

It’s about a week and a half longer this time. I did 754,000 steps last time. I’m going to try and see if I can do 1 million this time.

So on Saturday I started on one of my marathon walks around DC.

I started at my gym. I went there for my TRX class which started at 8:30. I’d wanted to get out and do some walking before going to the class but didn’t get up in time to do it. It was also a little rainy then too. Starting at Results right around 9:30 I had 2871 steps.

I stopped off at the CVS at DuPont Circle to pick up provisions. At that point I was at 3889 steps.

I then proceeded up Conn. Avenue, Along the way passed the Melody Record shop which is going out of business. It’s been at DuPont Circle for years. It will be sad to see it go. But it is a sign of the times.

At the Taft Bridge

At 10:09 and step 5795 I crossed the Taft Bridge. Here’s a little information on the lions on the bridge:

The bridge is “guarded” by four large male lions, two on each end of the bridge (each approx. 7 ft. x 6 ft. 6 in. x 13 ft.). Two of the lions rest on all fours with their heads tilted upwards and mouths slightly open while the other pair lie with their eyes closed, apparently sleeping. They were originally designed and sculpted by Roland Hinton Perry in 1906 out of cast concrete (the bridge as a whole is one of the first cast concrete bridges in the country) and were installed in 1907.

A Great Visit at the Zoo

At 10:24 at step 7388 I reached the National Zoo. I saw lots of lions, a couple of tigers and some orangutans. Sorry no bears. I didn’t get to see them. I did get to see the pandas and other animals as well.

A Great Visit at the Zoo, Part II

The Uptown Theater and over to Wisconsin Ave.

Next stop the Uptown Theater at 11:20 and step 12014. Here's a little information on the theater:

Opened by Warner Brothers on October 29, 1936, the Uptown Theater is the last movie palace in Washington, DC still showing first-run films. The Uptown is located near the Cleveland Park subway stop on the Red Line of the Metro. Many restaurants are on both sides of the street.

The theater opened with a seating capacity of 1,364 (914 seats in the orchestra and 450 in the stadium seated balcony). The Uptown Theater was designed by theater architect John Zink, a top designer of Art Deco and Art Moderne style movie houses. In 1939, Zink designed Baltimore’s historic Senator Theatre.

I then used Siri to help me get to Wisconsin Avenue. I took Newark Street. It had some very impressive houses along the way.