In many respects, it's business as usual in Washington, D.C.
Following Martin Luther King Day, the
museums re-opened. Congressional staffers went back to work. The
business of government lurched back into its machine-like motion.
But as I walk along the National Mall,
the sea change of Donald Trump's impending White House administration
is evident. Flanking the Washington Monument Reflecting Pool,
ePosters advertise the “Make America Great Again Welcome
Celebration” in a blue and gold motif, an American flag undulating
in the background. Workers in neon safety vests set up scaffolding
and sound equipment in anticipation of the Friday events.
The Lincoln Memorial's clean lines and
Greek temple-inspired architecture are obscured by a temporary stage
and several electronic displays jutting out from the top of the staircase. To
catch a sight of the famous statue and engravings of the Gettysburg
and Second Inaugural addresses, I have to navigate a make-shift
tunnel underneath the steel skeleton.
Although the inauguration is only three
days away and the Women's March four days away, a sense of quiet
prevails along the Mall and its many museums, monuments and
memorials. There is minimal wait time to access the National
Archives, for instance, and a mere half-dozen people linger in
the rotunda that houses the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of
Independence and Bill of Rights. The only time the National Mall
feels like a setting for an imminent historic event is in the
afternoon, when it is flooded by crowds of high schoolers
participating in the Close Up program.
Careful attention, however, shows two
polarized moods within the city. It's subtle, and it reveals itself
only in snatches of overheard conversation. As I pass by some
clusters of tourists, I hear them comment approvingly on Trump and
the changes he'll bring as they drift through a National Archives exhibit on the passage of Constitutional amendments. And when I take photos of the U.S. Capitol, now
inaccessible and surrounded by chairs for Friday's inauguration, I
overhear one couple speculating on how long the iconic building will
survive a Trump presidency.
There is a calm in Washington, D.C. But
it feels like an uneasy calm. We can only speculate whether that calm
will survive Friday and Saturday, when two shouts of conflicting
ideology sound within hours of each other.
