People outside DC have been suffering for years and have asked for real solutions only to find the solutions are always to take money away from some while enslaving others by giving them that money. We live with the foreclosures, business closings, layoffs etc. while those in DC live in one of the few prospering areas of the country these past few years, on the back of taxpayer monies. So too bad if it takes them extra time to get lunch or home tonight. It is a minor problem compared to those of the rest of the country.
One more time, I’m going to raise the question: where do they who have created the dysfunctional government come from? They are sent TO DC/Congress FROM across the fruited plain. As in computer jargon, it’s “garbage in/garbage out.”
There is never a permit problem for Rolling Thunder. One has been issued every year for a couple of decades now, so that belies a political agenda behind the denial of a permit for today’s ride. There hasn’t been a problem because Rolling Thunder is held over a holiday weekend and is restricted pretty much (the ride itself) to roads from the Pentagon to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall on the Mall. Approximately 3 miles.
The route for today’s ride is from the Harley dealer in MD to the Mall, about 13-14 miles through residential and commercial neighborhoods, the last mile or two of which only is government. You can google map both routes. Enter 9704 Livingston Rd, Ft Washington, MD and 300 Constitution Ave, NW, Washington DC to see what the requested permit would have included.
Within that path live and work more people than in an entire medium-sized city. There are all manner of small businesses that would be negatively impacted. There are also slums, the residents of which would not notice the difference, except perhaps noise that would awaken them mid-day. God only knows how many cross streets the police would have to block off/cover. What was being asked was a huge, costly undertaking and disruptive to a large city, not just a number of elected officials and government employees.
This ride was well-intentioned, but not fully thought out. Maybe they will do better planning in the future.