T-Minus Zero and Writing

T-Minus Zero and Writing

It's D-Day. Departure day, that is. Posting from the basement office of my brother-in-law's Garrett County, Maryland home, 280 miles and 11 dead deer into our trip to Europe, I'm preparing to enter the tsunami of people streaming to our nation's Capitol. We'll be streaming there because our British Air flight departs at 6:35 p.m., and we need ample time to find our car park and make our way on the DC metro to Dulles Airport.

We're traveling light, which is to say neither of our carry-on bags weighs more than 22 pounds -- the limit for Ryanair, touted as Ireland's largest airline that flys you at bargain prices to second-tier airports through out Great Britain and Europe. Our real baggage -- one each -- is also light compared to what we've lugged around before.

Stranger in Stranger's Gallery

Our first order of business once we land at Heathrow Airport (London), will be to make our way to Parliament and the House of Commons to hook up with Prime Minister Tony Blair for Prime Minister's Question Time. We're to be at the St. Stepehen's Gate entrance at approximately 11:15 for security before entering the chambers.

PMQT was started in 1961 by Harold MacMillan, the PM at that time, to afford Members of Parliament to ask questions and to hear the PM's responses, which can break news or provide a titillating response to a topical subject.

ASIDE: Having covered the Ohio Legislature for nearly three years, the good, bad and ugly of it all, I think having the governor of Ohio stand before the Ohio House each Wednesday when they are in session to serve as a target at which members could aim their questions at, would add spice and liven up our sometimes tired system of public discourse in the Buckeye State.

At PMQT, the official records of speeches given each time are seated directly above The Speaker of the House of Commons, so as to afford them proximity without interferring into the carefully arranaged procedure that is PMQT. This process, according to Parliament's own website is called "Hansard," and gains it's name from the first recorder of speeches in Parliament.

ASIDE: The statehouse press corps in Columbus has an opportunity to get up close and personal with the President of the Senate and The Speaker of the House in what is called the "Gang Bang." The GB, which often times includes hardened, seasoned lady reporters who are as much feared as they are respected for their journalistic prowess and ability to drop a bomb on anyone at any time, is a time following the end of legislative session when reporters, gathering like hungry eaglets, stand at the bottom of the dais, waiting for one either the POS or TSOH
to descend and feed them answers to their questions. Some reporters as T-ball-like questions that have to do with procedural matters and involve "when..." and "have you..." and "are you...," while others wind up with a mini course on the subject of their question.

Stranger's Gallery, where we have tickets to sit, is I believe at the opposing end of the chamber. To actually sit in Stranger's Gallery, which has limited seating, it is essential to first have secured tickets, which we did through the kindness of my friend Joe Hayes, an American from St. Louis who has served as the Mayor of Arundel, in West Sussexx slightly south of London, for the past several years. With Joe's help, his local MP, Nick Herbert, a conservative who would fit well into the Ohio House these days, delivered the goods, which are waiting for us at SSG.

I leanred my lesson on this one in 2003, when I naively thought I could stand in line for hours, and have a seat to watch the proceedings. I did stand in line for hours and actually sat on wooden benches in the grand corridor of the House of Commons, but all I saw were people walking past me once the event was over.

Time to go. Next post will be from London. Cheers, mate!