Wash. DC monuments. March 2010

After doing the National Geographic Museum Shelagh and I spent the next day on the DC Mall. Like always I chose the wrong weekend to visit such a destination. Early Spring equals spring break. Lots of people, young people. On top of that this particular weekend was the last chance to protest the health bill. And protests were happening. More people all over the place. But I'm told that this amount of people we encountered was nothing, compared to summer weekends. I'll take their word.


The crowd protesting health care reform on the steps of the Capital. While we didn't hear the shouting, the posters and pictures were disturbing. There was an awful lot of hate in that crowd.

The Washington Monument. One of these days I will get to the top of it.


One of the protests that surrounded the Washington Monument was ingenious. And thought provoking.

On one side of the monument a Arlington cemetery was set up, called Arlington MidWest. Each marker carried the name of an American killed in Iraqi and Afghanistan. There were hundreds and hundreds of them.

On the other side of the monument were plaques containing the names of civilians killed in Iraqi and Afghanistan. Maybe not as many but very disturbing. Most of the names were of children and women. War doesn't play favorites.





Between the Washington Monument and the reflecting pool is a new WWII monument. It is very impressive, both in detail and size. Commissioned by President Bush in 2004, it contains a dedication to every country involved in the conflict.Fountains, bronze plaques, marble and granite monoliths. All and all it's an incredible work of art.