Thoughts on SOTU

Thoughts on State of the Union (SOTU):

Really strange watching SOTU last night. Normally they cram as many people into the House chamber as they can. This year, only 200 people. I worked for the Senate Sergeant at Arms. One of their roles is chief protocol officer. They escort the Prez whenever they visit the Capitol. So, the whole entrance thing is a tradition where the House Sergeant at Arms announces the entry of the President and the two Sergeant at Arms play act like they are pushing the politico's away from glad handing the Prez. as he walks down the aisle. There is always a handheld camera to catch the theater. This was a much more subdued affair and more policy wonky than recent SOTU's. The SAA's just had to "escort" as he stopped to chat it up with Congressmen afterward. Yes, Joe is a gasbag. Always has been. He fit in with the Senate. Still, pretty neat to see the 2nd and 3rd in line for the Presidency to be women. Great visual (not that fat old white guys aren't telegenic as well). The next few in line are always in an "undisclosed location" for CoG reasons.

One year I was sitting in my office before SOTU and got a call from a Secret Service agent with the Protective Detail. SOTU is a National Special Security Event (NSSE) so SS is the lead agency. He said that they had detected some wireless access points in the Capitol and was inquiring about them. I answered that, yes, we did have a couple of AP's and was mostly used for the media in the Senate Press Gallery with a separate high speed Internet connection so that they could file their pictures and stories easily and quickly (Press Gallery is under the Sergeant at Arms office). I asked him why the concern. He told me (of course, I can't say what it was). I responded that this was a very old building and that what he was concerned about couldn't happen, but added "wow, I had never thought of that threat possibly happening. You guys at SS rock!"