Impressive
http://msnbc.com/news/969061.asp

That is indeed impressive, p2....and the comments made by the men guarding the tomb at Arlington National say it all.

These guys have more guts than our representatives in Congress, who ran for the hills at the first sign of clouds.

Sure, Isabel was a tragedy that killed many people and cost over a billion in damage, but come on? Was Washington D.C. really hit as hard as North Carolina? Was it necessary to practically evacuate the nation's capital, when they don't experience the most devastating part of a hurricane, the storm surge?

I'm sure our Congressman and Senators got paid for leaving, too.

This appears to be written by someone who doesn't have all the information regarding the hurricane before him. Here are a few things you may not have considered: Public transportation around metro DC was shut down Thursday morning. Many who work on the Hill depend on Metro rail to get to work. There was no use having thousands show up for work and have no way to get them home later in the day. Federal, state, and local emergency officials were all urging non-essential workers to stay home Thursday and Friday. Having thousands of people show up for work on the Hill during the storm would have only created more unnecessary hazards for emergency officials. There are still hundreds of thousands in the area without power or potable water today. It was a smart and prudent decision to shut the government down for this storm. Storm prediction is not an exact science, and no one knew the day before the storm hit exactly when and where it would pass. DC was still in the possible projected paths.

Oh, come on! My old college roommate who lives in D.C. called me that evening and told me he couldn't believe the city shut down the way it did. He also mentioned that a lot of nongovernmental businesses went about their normal day. Another two days off with pay for federal employees.

No, why don't you address the facts of what went on before and after the hurricane hit. It's a lot easier to criticize what happened after the fact (as this old college roommate of yours did) than it is to predict the exact damage and consequences of, what turned out to be, the worst storm to hit this area in decades. Of course metro DC didn't sustain the same damage as some other areas of the region, but millions of dollars in damage was done--the city is a federal disaster area--and there was a very serious risk in trying to get hundred of thousands of people in to the District, during a hurricane no less, without having public transportation operational. All the emergency experts adivised people to stay at home Thursday afternoon and much of Friday. It seems silly to have to even make this point. Even today there are still hundreds of thousands of people without power. There are over 100 traffic lights out in the District, and many streets are still closed. But then again addressing the facts in this situation would not be as fun as taking the opportunity to bash federal employees.

Shawn,

Ignore this guy. This kind of knee-jerk post is simply par for his course. Soooo easy to play armchair Weather Channel from halfway across the country armed only with flimsy anecdotal evidence.

We were lucky in this storm. We didn't lose power or suffer any major damage. But we only got potable water back this morning and I have friends who are still without running water or electricity.

Don't let this guy's potshots take away from the symbolism of the sentinels' brave gesture or the region's recovery.

gj

I had no idea they did this, very impressive.