King of the Hill

摘要

Washington, D.C., has always been something of a paradox. For many of those living inside the Beltway, it is, of course, the place to be, where politics is more than an obsession, influence and status matter most, and a $25,000-a-year administrative job on Capitol Hill is a coup for every high-school class president. These Wash-ingtonians take themselves seriously and define others by what they do, how much money they make, and whom they know. They may not always love their town, but they love being where so much happens, and, for the most part, they would never live anywhere else. However, beyond Washington's broad boulevards and outside its leafy suburbs, others across the country and around the world don't always regard the District of Columbia with the same affection. For them, it is a place of scorching summers, constant squabbling, and ineffective and arrogant politicians and lobbyists who remain more concerned with egos than with the true pulse of the country or, for that matter, the planet. The city's traffic circles are apt symbols of how you can drive around for a long time, but you never really get anywhere.