Missile Display

So this was at the Air and Space museum in Washington. You'll notice that the angle is very similar to yesterday's photo, which is due to the same reason. No tripod. While I brought it, something about setting up the camera on a tripod in the middle of crowded tourist areas and walking away never appealed to me. So I did the ole 3 step tinpot self portrait:

1) Look around for people watching and wait till the coast is clear.
2) Hold camera out with hand and point vaguely at face, hope auto focus on your face not the background.
3) Snap and repeat step 1.

It's shamful, I know.

But other than that I got a lot of decent shots which I hope to put up on Os Donatus... We went from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, which we went up on Tuesday. Then did the Korean, Vietnam and Lincoln Memorials. By about 10-11 PM we finished the FDR and Jefferson Memorials. All the while I gave the American history talk to my English cousin. I explained who these people were, why they're revered, what they said and did. I tried to tie it all together as well and make it more relative to current events. George W. Bush finds his doctrine of spreading democracy perfectly acceptable because, historically, that's what American history has been building up to. I explained Washington, the precedents he set and how he viewed the U.S. as a shining example for the world. On the interior of the Jefferson Memorial is a quotation of his, how he would resist tyranny and fight for the freedom of mankind. I showed him Lincoln's Gettysburg address and how it regarded the American mission, the conflict within the noble cause. And then between all these presidential monuments are the War monuments. WWII is clearly a victorious war monument, as its remembered by those born in its aftermath. The U.S. defeated tyranny, just like Jefferson, Lincoln, Washington said it should, albeit the methods each endorsed varied. There's a continuity from Monroe's Doctrine through to Truman's and onto Bush's. This is why American's feel that they have the duty to go about doing what we do.

So that's what I told him, hopefully he's got a better idea of the American character and spirit. I'm sure it seemed quite strange to him, having come from a much more pacific Europe. But strangeness is part of going abroad, isn't it?