This post comes a bit late, but it is relevant nonetheless. Last Tuesday, as you know, Barack Obama was elected President of the United States. So far, so good. Democracy in action, the people have spoken, etc.
Here in DC, celebrations went on well into the night. Being happy and celebrating is all well and good, but the revelry went completely overboard. In Adams Morgan, people congregated on the streets, yelling and chanting Obama’s name incessantly. The worst part, however, was the honking. It was like the first few minutes after a sports victory – but it went on for hours on end.
First, who are these people? Did they think they could just quit their jobs now since Obama is going take care of all of their problems? Why else are so many people out on the street at 2:00 am on a Tuesday night? I don’t understand.
More importantly, the police did not do anything. It’s one thing to hear party-goers on a Saturday night. It’s another when it’s Tuesday, and the noise is far worse than any weekend. In Adams Morgan, no less. And so, despite numerous calls to the police, nothing was done. At one point, dispatch informed me that the crowds would be dispersed at 2:15 am. What does that mean? Public disturbances are fine until 2:15 am? Again, I don’t understand.
In any case, there was a police car on the corner of 18th and Columbia, blocking the road (unnecessary, since no cars could get through the mob of people on the street anyway), just like on weekend nights. So, I went down and spoke to one of the police officers who was just standing there, and I explained the situation to him. At first, he had no idea this was a problem. This was 2:00 am and there was more noise than at a football game, what sort of idiot does not see any problem? He also told me that dispatch had not informed him of any complaints. This sort of inefficiency (or is it just carelessness?) on the part of the Metroplolitan Police Department is just mind-boggling.
The police officer seemed pretty nice, though, despite being more than a little stupid, and he told me that he would begin to take care of the honking, at least. I waited half a block away to see what would happen. I assumed taking care of the noise disturbances meant issuing tickets, or at the very least saying something to the offenders. No, nothing of the sort. Instead, I saw the officers hug two guys who were celebrating in the street.
Whom exactly was protected and served??
