The title is derived from the German language, which we tried to avoid having to learn a couple times in a previous century. It once had an association with something else, used in the singular, but since we are talking about ‘big days’ here today and tomorrow that share some of the same themes of change or endings, it seems appropriate to use it in the plural. This first Tuesday of 202! is a historic day all by itself. It is the one that will determine the balance of power in one of our three-legged Federal system. We will see if there is trouble tomorrow, as our Congress decides how to make the play on our next President. Thousands are supposed to show up in town to express interest. There is so much up in the air that I won’t hazard a guess on how it turns out. This is political theater at its finest.

I am impressed with the amount of planning that has gone on all around all of these events. That assessment regards the huge media campaign, the mobilization and coordination of partisans and all the bits and pieces that go along with a major event. A major event.

I get confused sometimes, having been a walk-on player in a couple of Washington productions. I like watching the theater of the scene here in The Swamp. I am not a registered party member of anything. Professionally, I have worked for Democrat party professionals with alacrity, but keep my views to myself. In my time on the Hill there were still arc-types of the old system in place, some still moving. Once, when touring my folks through the marble halls on a private visit I saw Senator Strom Thurmond marching toward us across the corridor. He was then in his nineties, but still quite active. I said: “Mr. Chairman!” to get his attention. He had no idea who I was, common as some of the other pests that live in the Capitol, and I made a purely symbolic introduction of the Grand Old Man from South Carolina to Bill and Betty from Michigan.

He would be interested in how he is portrayed today, this day, and is part of how big the change has been, at least in personal terms. There has always been a cyclone of activity surrounding our capital city, since the dribs and drabs of the mighty machine is still a lot of money. But now- goodness! The pork machine of Senator Thurmond’s day was killed in a spasm of pious introspection in the Clinton Administration, but now it has returned in spades. It can generate a trillion-dollars worth of good ideas at the drop of a hat. Some of them shovel ready. Unfortunately, that can be anyone’s hat. But I must say these two days will certainly clarify things a bit. That is worth the price of admission alone!

So, amazement at the political pirouettes will captivate us momentarily in Der Tage, but I am making a note on my calendar to remember them as they were. And how they will be.

This particular swirl in The Swamp weather is one for the books. Days and books. Remember those things?

– Vic

Copyright 202! Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com