Would He Weep At What He Sees?

Abraham Lincoln sits at the western end of the National Mall, contemplating the city of Washington spread out before him.   He sees the seat of a government so dysfunctional that it feels like a chess game in a perpetual state of check. Yet the state of affairs in his day was so much worse. We Americans were trying to kill one another over what were, at the root, economic issues; over money. Now we use more sophisticated means.

Below, views of the White House from the south and north. Last, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, one of the most emotionally intense places I have ever seen. It seemed trivialized yesterday by swarms of unappreciative high school groups, snapping pix of one another on their phones in a famous place.

I'm on the conference program this morning but it's likely I'll slip out with my camera later in the day.        

STL DPB On The Road: At The Lincoln Memorial In Washington DC

.

After my plane got in Monday afternoon, I went to the Lincoln Memorial. I don't think I've been there in 20 years. Even cynical old me found it quite moving. It is, without doubt, a temple, devoted to one enormous god, the man who was instrumental in keeping our nation from cracking in half. Abraham sits in his great stone chair year after year, gazing down the Mall at the Washington Monument and the Capitol. How do you read his expression - quiet, intense observation? Or is there just a touch of anger in those eyes?

TOMORROW: Thursday Arch Series or a real live United States Senator? Tell me your preference.