This weekend, as I made my way sluggishly through the National Journal’s White House Correspondents Association dinner pre-party, I spotted a familiar flat-top resting above a familiar taciturn expression. It was Rep. Allen West, fraternizing with partygoers, but not going overboard with it. I said hello, asked if he’d seen his co-starring role in Robert Draper’s book about Congress (answer: no), and bid him good evening. An hour or so later, West was sitting in a ballroom being called a “jackass” by Jimmy Kimmel.
This morning, West took to Facebook and wrote about how he felt.
There was much glam, glamour, and humor flowing. However, as I walked from the Washington Hilton in the rain to catch the METRO back to the Batcave*, I pondered life outside that ballroom and the pomp. While the President laughs and dines, our Constitutional Republic is eroding and my countrymen are suffering. In this election year, it is sad to think that some of those who were sitting in that ballroom Saturday night laughing and living it up, are helping to perpetuate the manipulation and deception of our country.
My only nitpick: Everywhere West goes, he’ll find people who (in his opinion) are perpetuating the decline of America. Does it matter if they’re in a ballroom? Did he at least use his temporary proximity to let these people know how he felt?
*West’s nickname for the affordable basement place he stays when in D.C.
