Jason report: Attending the State of the Union-an "insiders view"

I interviewed Jason when he woke up this morning (about 10 AM) about his adventure last afternoon and evening attending the State of the Union. His experiences:

The shuttle picked Jason up about 3 PM from Walter Reed. There were also other soldiers from WR on the shuttle. The driver could not speak English and got lost on the way(I speak English and get lost in DC.) They arrived in the Capital area about 5 PM because the area around the Capital was to be closed down for security reasons, but very early for Jason with his sitting problems. Jason asked to be dropped off the shuttle, not knowing if the driver would be able to find the way, and found himself in front of the Longworth Federal Building which houses IL Rep. Jan Shakowsky's office (he called the office on his cell and low and behold...). Jason said that Jan's office is very crowded holding the desks, etc for about 10 staffers who were all present for the evening and her own office. Jason declared that Jan's office chairs where the most comfortable he has sat on since being wounded. The office was "decorated" with "stuffed pandas and everything panda", as Jan and her staff had gotten to see the new baby at the National Zoo when it was born. Jason made a quip about "support of trade with Red China" and says the staff took a few moments to catch on.

So... Jason arrived at the office about 5 PM(four hours before speech time) and spent a couple of hours eating and discussing "all things political and the State of the Union speech." He sounded as if he thoroughly enjoyed the evening's discussions, remember Jason has a political science undergrad and is a news hound, so I am assuming he was right at home in the center of any topic that was presented. Jason commented, "the sandwiches Jan provided for dinner were the best I ever had." (I'll try to find out the name so you can visit if you come to DC .)

Congressmen and women wear a red identity badge that gets them through security "way fast." Jason as a guest had to have a ticket and be with someone and pass through 3 security checkpoints. Jason thinks the medals on his uniform set one alarm off but the guard did not even wand him as he was walking with Rep Shakowsky. Jan escorted Jason to his seat in the gallery. Jan asked the Capital Police to find Jason a place on the aisle because of his right leg as Jason's assigned seat was in a middle of the row. The police asked a person to switch seats with Jason and they did willingly. If you watched the speech Jason was seated in the "best seat in the house directly opposite the president's podium." He was seated immediately behind an open section assigned to photographers. If we had known where Jason was, we probably could have spotted him as often the TV view was from over the President's shoulder looking out.

Sitting next to Jason was an aide to one of the Senators from Idaho...(the state where his dad's roots are) and who was a specialist in Energy policy. Sen. Klein sits on the Committee for Veterans Affairs, so the aide assured Jason of his help if anything was needed by him. She also said that the Senator would help with finding Jason a job in Idaho "if Jason would like to return to the state of his Scott family ties." They had a good time together supporting each other in identifying the "Idaho disease." They concluded that if one is born in Idaho: for the rest of one's life, one tells "Idaho stories" at great length and in great detail and often, often. Jason said, "We agreed that if the Senator and dad ever got together; Jason and she would go out for a beer and would leave the two men together to tell Idaho stories." Jason reported that they also enjoyed making remarks to each other about what the attendees were wearing.

The speech was over about 10:15 but the guests in the gallery could not leave until the President so it was not until about 10:45 that Jason got to leave the hall. Jason met Rep. Joe Wilson from SC whose three sons are now on active duty and spent some time in conversation with him. Jason was thinking he just might catch a cab back to WR and said this morning, "I wish I had..." As he was walking out, he met the soldiers from WR who had left items in Sen. Durbin's office. They assured Jason they would be right back and left him with the Capital Police. Jason said that he had a good time with them (they gave him a officer patch). Jason heard about the earlier arrest of Cindy Sheehan for wearing a tee-shirt protest into the gallery as one of the officers had participated in her arrest. He shared stories about his time in Iraq and they spent 30 minutes chatting. So...it was about 11:15 when the soldiers returned and they all "got on the bus." Jason et al got back to WR about 12:30 AM this morning.

I asked Jason "Did you enjoy your evening?"
Jason replied that "the seats in the gallery were the WORST ever" making up for Jan's very comfortable ones. "It is good to actually witness history as very few Americans will be able to attend the State of the Union message" and he did enjoy the evening out from WR and around the Capital.

I would like to especially thank Rep. Jan Shakowsky and all of her staff for making Jason's evening a memorable one. Blessings to you all.

lf you take the Washington Post Jason is in the colored picture of the chambers in the lead article. He is immediately behind the photographer in the white shirt, but is indistinguishable to my eye, Jason pointed himself out to me.