A Look Into the Mirror

Whether we like it or not, the nation’s capital is the mirror image of the rest of the country
By Manuel Valenzuela
08/09/05 "ICH" -- --

Through the veneer that is Washington, with its grand monuments to great men, its hallowed halls of history, its monolithic structures of governance, its corridors of power, its seats of wealth and effervescent illumination as the reincarnation of ancient Rome, can we, if we dare look upon the vision emanating from its shallow pools, see the manifestation of what America, and by consequence Americans, has become. To see inside the capital of modern day Democracy, Freedom, Liberty, Manifest Destiny and 21st century Empire is to reflect on dreams shattered and promises broken, on visions abandoned and principles ignored, on utopian possibilities forgotten and human reality expounded.

It is to come face to face with a reality hundreds of millions wish to never confront, preferring instead to seemingly and conveniently whitewash all semblance of the uncomfortable truths that dare not become manifest. For amongst its cherry blossom trees and green lawns, its shallow mirror pools and gentle crisp waterways lies a truth of what the Republic born a mere 230 years ago has mutated into. Washington, like ancient Rome before it, has become, through the course of years breathing the airs of moral degeneration, corruption and greed, the monument for all that is wrong with the nation it represents, a new symbol of debauchery and immorality, a decadent city on a hill whose once noble foundations are now cracking under the weight of unscrupulous entities and malfeasant activities

Link Here