‘You Could Literally Smell the Tourists Coming Into the Capitol’

Travel Blog  •  Michael Yessis  •  12.03.08 | 11:52 AM ET

Senator Harry Reid’s staff told him not to say that, but, yeah, he said that. During the opening of the new Capitol Visitors Center, he said, “In the summer because of the heat and high humidity, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol. It may be descriptive but it’s true.” His not-so-populist statement and the opening of the $621 million facility has proved good fodder for writers. My favorite take: Dana Milbank’s column in the Washington Post. He nails Reid, as well as House Minority Leader John Boehner.

He writes:

But where Reid saw toilets and trinkets, Boehner saw history. Recalling the British burning of the unfinished Capitol in 1814, he concluded: “It took 38 years and two wars to truly gain our independence, and it took several generations and a bloody Civil War to end slavery and win freedom for millions of African Americans. And today, we mark the opening of the Capitol Visitors Center.”

So, children, those are the great moments in American history: the Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War and the opening of the Capitol Visitor Center.

Tags: Humor, Politics, North America, United States, Washington, D.C., News and Briefs


2 Comments for ‘You Could Literally Smell the Tourists Coming Into the Capitol’

Eva 12.03.08 | 1:09 PM ET

The War of 1812 was a great moment in American history?

Sigh. I wish just one American politician had any sense of how the bombast about the Revolution looks to descendants of the Loyalist refugees who were forced to flee from their newfound “freedom” just because they didn’t agree…

Zach 12.04.08 | 3:27 AM ET

No need for a “but” Harry—your statement was descriptive and true.

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