Capitol Punishment

OR

So what’s your view of a post-apocalyptic America? Does the decaying building on the left shock you more or the image from the Fallout 3 videogame on the right? Of course the one on the left is real. And of course it’s one of many such photographs that the Architect of the Capitol – yes, the one in Washington, D.C. – has taken of a decaying old building, which, except for an absolutely essential repair of the sandstone foundation of the dome, hasn’t seen a structural facelift in half a century. But then again, neither have I.

The cracks and failures all over the Capitol are a metaphor for a decaying America, cash impaired, terrified and looking for solutions where perhaps no clear path exists. And clearly, failing to fix damage when it is manageable only means that either the damage will accelerate and become vastly more expensive to fix later or a disaster will occur that will inflict even greater and more costly damage. There is a whole lot of “that’s a problem for future generations to deal with, but not me, not here, and not now” going on these days as we unravel the very educational system that made us the competitive giant we were… that once allowed upward mobility to be a part of the American dream… and lets our crumbling and inadequate infrastructure slow down how America works.

If this symbol of America looks and seems shabby, if its structures are failing, its roof leaking, its innards rusting, what does that say about America as it sees itself? What does it say about the Congress men and women who think that letting the nation go to rot is okay if it saves money? There a notion of balance in the world, and while the $61 million needed for Capitol repairs seems steep in these troubled times, exactly how would you like the rest of the world to see this symbol of our great nation? The Senate wants the repairs, but the House, which may have to have their “no” voting buttons repaired from overuse, has blocked every attempt to fix the place.

“The dome has 1,300 known cracks and breaks. Water that has seeped in over the years has caused rusting on the ornamentation and staining on the interior of the Rotunda, just feet below the fresco ‘The Apotheosis of Washington,’ which is painted on the Rotunda’s canopy… The dome was completely restored in 1960 during the construction of the Capitol’s East Front extension. Weather remains its biggest enemy: precipitation pelts the exterior, and the statue endures the occasional strike of lightning. At least 100 pieces of the dome have fallen off or been removed, including a 40-pound cast-iron decorative acorn… Viewed from a (sort of scary) balcony between the fresco above and a frieze depicting American history that lines the Rotunda’s interior, tourists with iPhones and fanny packs can be seen lingering in awe hundreds of feet below, unaware of the water damage and chipping paint above.” New York Times, August 24^th. The November elections probably won’t create enough of a majority from either party to overcome filibusters and to break the Congressional logjam that infuriates most Americans… no matter who is elected president.

I’m Peter Dekom, and one can hardly look in envy at the failure of Europe’s austerity efforts, which has them already officially sinking back into a recession.