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Post Magazine
This Week:
A Report From the Homefront
With Liza Mundy
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, Nov. 5, 2001; 1 p.m. EST
Since September 11, everything has changed. Not just for those struck directly by tragedy. For all of us. That includes members of Congress -- as Liza Mundy discovered when she spent time with Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia. Her resulting article, "The Politician: Finding the Right Words," appeared in yesterday's Washington Post Magazine.
Mundy was online Monday, Nov. 5 at 1 p.m. EST, to field questions and comments about the article and about how Washington has changed since the attacks.
Mundy is a columnist and staff writer for the Washington Post Magazine.
A transcript follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control
over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
Liza Mundy: Hello all and thanks for writing in. Though I'm the designated moderator today please feel free to discuss any of the five home front articles that appeared in the magazine on Sunday. Good news knows I'd be all too happy to discuss my colleagues' pieces as opposed to my own.
Arlington, Va.:
Do you think Rep. Davis' attitude towards the events is the right one?
Liza Mundy: Hi. By "Rep. Davis attitude toward the events," I assume you mean his general approach when dealing with constituents, which is to try to reassure people and let them know that things are going to be okay.
When writing a reported article (as opposed, say, to a column) I try to keep my opinion out of it. So in a way, I'd be more interested if you--or anybody else--would write in and say what you think is the appropriate leadership approach. Obviously, there are any number of public postures that an elected official, particularly one serving this area, could adopt. Reassurance is one of them. Another, I suppose, would be loud and public demanding of accountability toward the various government agencies involved. Another, I guess, would be to agree with residents that there is good reason to panic. I don't know. It's hard. As a reporter on a relatively short-term assignement, the situations I was able to observe were for the most part public ones; it could be that, in private, there is more accountability-demanding going on. One thing I can say is that, for members of Congress, the situation seems to have gotten more urgent and confusing in the past couple of weeks, a time period after that in which I was reporting. Because of the magazine's lead time, I missed most of the anthrax scare, as well as the increasingly ugly debates over House bills. It may by that things are getting less calm and polite and more, I don't know, chaotic.
Anyway, what do readers think? How should leaders react to our anxiety?
Annandale, Va.:
Hi Liza! If Rep. Davis were here I would ask why on earth he changed his mind and voted for the Republican Airport Security Act that essentially keeps the current system in place. I would feel much more secure if I knew baggage screeners were well paid and well trained. Instead we have a private sector baggage screening system where profit not security is the primary concern. We have heard numerous accounts were baggage screeners are pain minimum wage with no benefits and who sometimes had a criminal background. I am dissappointed that Mr. Davis allowed himself to be muscled by right wing ideologues like Tom Delay and Dick Armey into supporting an Airport Security Bill that protects profits not people. Am I misreading Mr. Davis? Also, I can assure you I am not setting foot on a commercial airliner until the baggage screening function is Federalized.
Liza Mundy: Hmmm. Maybe Rep. Davis will sign on and answer this. Again, this is an instance where Rep. Davis changed his position after the magazine piece was already printed, so I wasn't able to address it.
When I was reporting the situation, however, this was the sense I got: Rep. Davis said that he favored federalizing airport security. The issue was whether to have a federal government workforce of screeners, or federal regulation of a private workforce. When we talked about it, he said that he favored federalization in general, and seemed to be leaning toward a federal workforce. It would be the latter item on which his opinion shifted. And yes, it does seem to be a concession to leadership--a major concession, given the number of federal workers in his district.
Clifton, Va.:
Washington, D.C. hasn't changed since Sept. 11. It
behaved the same way during the initial
stages of the Civil War, WWI and WWII. Lots
of talk and BS to the right individuals were
put in place to run the war. Same will hold
true now the gnerals, admirals and other
advisors who bought chapstick in bulk will go
and those who know how to fight the war will
be brought in.
The questions is how many Americans will die
before we find a A Bull Halsey, Grant or Patton?
Liza Mundy: I can only post this question. I cannot answer it.
Charlottesville, Va.:
How can anyone be expected to take the Homeland Security Committee seriously with Gary Condit being a member?
Liza Mundy: Hmmm. I think the same answer applies here: I can Post, but I cannot answer.
I can say, however, that it was truly surreal to be sitting in the House gallery on the day that the House intelligence committee was debating the anti-terrorism bill, and to see, in the gallery below, Rep. Condit simply going about his business. You know: debating points, conferring with colleagues, approaching the podium, etc. It's hard to say why it was surreal. Just something to do with the Washington publicity machine. The spotlight had been abruptly turned off; the tide had receded; he'd been absorbed back into the crowd of House members, I don't know, I'm mixing my metaphors here. It was just weird, and striking.
Arlington, Va.:
How many Muslims does Davis have in his constituency and what has he done to allay their fears and keep them integrated into the community?
Liza Mundy: I don't know how many, exactly. But it's a large constituency, and one that he obviously endeavors to serve. Before Sept. 11, it was a lot easier--a bill he introduced a number of years ago, for example, called for a postage stamp to honor Ramadan. But there were complicated efforts too: another measure he has sponsored, which I hope I can summarize correctly, is one that would make it a little easier for people detained as a result of "secret evidence" collected against them to know what the evidence consists of. Before Sept. 11, it seems safe to say, it would have been a lot easier to win passage of a bill like this, which aims to amelioriate a situation in which people (mainly Arabs and Muslims) arrested on suspicion of spying or terrorism, can be detained for as much as a year without even learning the charges against them, because to reveal those charges would reveal intelligence sources or methods. Davis wanted to set up a situation in which a judge would be appointed to review the evidence and determine if there was ANY evidence that the accused might be able to know.
Now, it seems fair to say it will be harder to win passage of legislation like that.
As far as constituent services, I know that he's meeting frequently with mosque leaders to see what their needs are; he contacted the Mustafa Center, for example, an Afghan mosque, to see what their concerns were. There's a sort of constant pulse-taking by him; it's the staff who handle immigration matters that will be getting specific requests, say, for help with visas. I suspect there are a lot of constituents who can't get relatives into the country right now. Also, it may be that his constituency includes people detained, rightly or wrongly, as a result of the strikes. I would imagine there's little he can do in that case, except let the law enforcement process play out.
It's very interesting, because, as Davis himself points out, many Muslims tend to vote conservatively, so they are a constituency that Republican lawmakers (and not just Davis--President Bush, too) want to pay attention to. Which is a delicate thing, now.
Fairfax, Va.:
What amazes me about Rep. Davis is that his image in the district in one of a moderate. When, in fact, in his position as Republican Congressional Election committee chair, his main function is to keep extreme right wing people like Tom Delay in power. And to support the Republican party in general, which thrives on bashing the Federal government, in a district heavy with the very people (Federal workers) that they bash. Excellent PR machine. Someday the people in the district will wake up, but I am not holding my breath.
Liza Mundy: I'm just gonna post this one.
Boston, Mass.:
Perhaps Rep. Davis will tell us how much he has received in campaign donations from the companies that currently hold airport security screening contracts.
Maybe the answer lies in whose interests come first...
Liza Mundy: You may be right; I don't know the answer to the campaign contributions question, and it's something that should be looked at and, I'm sure, will. But that is a really challenging balancing act, isn't it, in a district that includes so many federal workers? Contributions, versus votes?
Washington, D.C.:
Do you think Davis' actions following Sept. 11 will affect his chances in the next election? And, when is he up for re-election?
Liza Mundy: Since he's not up this year, I assume he's up next year. As for how his vote on this one bill would affect him; I guess in part it depends on how airport security fares over the next year. As plenty of commentators have pointed out, if the Republican version prevails, and security is left in the hands of a private work force, and something happens, then it's going to be bad news for Republicans. (Of course, the same could be true if Democratic version prevails, no? Many of those who lost loved ones in the attacks are currently somewhat pessmistic about having the government in charge of security, since many of them feel the government let them down. If there were a new federal airpot security workforce, it's obviously no guarantee of safety.)
I am no political analyst, but I would say that barring another catastrophic event, Rep. Davis's re-election would not be severely affected by his vote, however. Don't you think voters will be focusing on other things in a year? I hope they will be, becuase it will mean that no other airline disaster has occured.
Washington, D.C.:
Good magazine. Is there any chance that there will be a follow-up article in the future about the folks covered yesterday?
Liza Mundy: That's a good question. In the magazine, we have a small item called "backstory" in which, from time to time, we attempt to update our stories. So it could well be that we will revisit some of the characters. For my part, I would be particularly interested to know how the recruit fares. He's the person who seems most likely to undergo a radical life transformation in the next year or so. I wish him well.
Arlington VA:
Liza, do you have any idea how the folks in rural Virginia view the Sept. 11 attack and response as compared to those who live in or near the city? If these views are different, how do you think it will affect the election for Governor tomorrow? I won't be able to hear your program today but it should be interesting.
Tom Kemper (neighbor)
Liza Mundy: I wish I knew the answer to that question. There has always been a big divide between northern Virginia and the rest of the state; it's hard to know whether the attacks exacerbated that division or created more solidarity, which I sort of doubt. I definitely think that people of northern Virginia are in a whole different state of mind--anthrax worries, fears of a second attack, just a general state of being stressed and distracted--than people elsewhere. A couple of weekends ago I was three hours away, down in Petersburg, Va., and it seemed easy to believe, there, that nothing bad had happened.
On the other hand, everybody is affected. My relatives down in Roanoke may not feel the same stress that I do, but the ripple effect is everywhere: my brother-in-law works for US Air in Knoxville, Tennessee, and after the strikes, one of the first things US Airways did was pull its jets out of Knoxville, meaning that he lost his job there and now has to move his entire family. So my mother-in-law, in Roanoke, is definitely feeling the stress of that. Meanwhile my brother lives in a small town in West Virginia, and the bank president there lost his daughter in the attack on the tower. Apparently she called home once to say that she was okay, and then again, to say that she wasn't.
So it would never be safe to say that rural Virginia is unaffected. It constantly amazes me, how everybody is affected. How that will impact the Virginia elections tomorrow may be clearer to political analysts than it is to me, but Rep. Davis, several weeks ago when I was doing the reporting, readily acknowledged that he himself did not know.
Washington DC:
Hi Liza,
Good issue of the Magazine!
One point of clarification -- Tom Davis is in the House of Representatives, they are elected every two years, so all members will be up for reelection next year if they choose to run.
Liza Mundy: Yep. Isn't that what I said? Next year? Anyway. Next year.
Roanoke, Va.:
Has Rep. Davis been at all personally affected by the events of Sept. 11?
Liza Mundy: Yes, I would say that he has. For one thing, his two younger children are in the public schools in Fairfax county, and the day of the attacks, his older daughter drove herself home and he went to pick the other one up. They sat transfixed in front of the television just like everybody else. (He was at home when the attacks happened, and immediately afterward, he said it was impossible to get thru to any office on the Hill, so he just sat home and watched events unfold, horrified and powerless as the rest of us.) When the president gave his address to Congress several days later, Rep. Davis told me that he was planning to bring one of his daughters to the speech, but his wife preferred that her daughter not go into the Capitol, not just yet. In short, their household reacted just like households all over the area: with a mixture of resolve, prudence, and alarm.
Washington, D.C.:
What happened to the investigation of the short-selling in airline and insurance stocks before Sept. 11? Somehow, the report that was suppossed to have come out has never made it into the media I read.
Liza Mundy: Someday, I promise myself, I will study hard and finally understand what short-selling is; in the meantime I will post this question, in case somebody else knows the answer. I thought I heard something about bin Laden or his organization actually short-selling reinsurance before the atacks, but I never read anything else, and hard as I tried, I couldn't quite grasp what this meant.
Arlington, Va.:
Your article on Tom Davis was interesting but I am curious about a man who represents an essentially moderate constituency and who is part of the House leadership which is generally considered to be less moderate. In fact, Sen. McCain attacked Davis for voting for privatization of airport security when his district includes loads of Federal workers. Representatives Wolff and Morella voted the opposite of Davis.
Liza Mundy: The number of questions on this topic leads me to suspect that his vote on the security bill is something that Rep. Davis will be repeatedly called upon to address. As for his position in the Republican leadership: again, it seems to me a really tricky issue of "balance," the task of being number 4 in a conservative House leadership, and representing a relatively liberal constituency. (I know, I know, nobody in Maryland or D.C. believes that Virginia can ever be called liberal, but compared to, oh, say, Richmond, I think it's fair terminology...) In a way, it strikes me, members of Congress who represents the D.C. suburbs are "suburban" legislators rather than Democrats or Republicans. Their ids should read Rep. Davis, S-Virginia. Rep. Morella, S-Maryland. Etc. The fact that Davis bolted from the pack, here, shows the pressure the House leadership must have put on him.
Vienna, Va.:
So the caller Fairfax wants the district to "wake up", eh? We did.. years ago when we threw out Leslie Byrne to elect Davis -- a sensible representative.
Liza Mundy: I'll just post this.
Atlanta, Ga.:
It seems that politicians have learned that our security is paramount. Do you think that the media will ever learn that they should report news rather than try to create news? Do you think the media will ever learn that progress requires effort over time?
Liza Mundy: And I'll post this, too, in case anybody out there can interpret it and tell me what the question is. "Vague media-directed hostility" is all I can make out, an all-too-familiar sentiment that I'm glad to respond to when I understand the question.
Tampa, Fla.:
I would like to say that I enjoyed your column on the spider. It seemed more like prose than journalism... how do think journalism has changed, if at all, since Sept. 11?
Liza Mundy: We're all very distracted. That sounds flippant, and I don't mean it to be. But I have to say, it's a very distracting time. It's hard not to be jumpy and worried and sad, just like everybody else. Beyond that, I'd say that immediately after the attacks, everything that you were working on seemed so irrelevant. Slowly, that's changing--the attacks, and the threat of future terrorism, and the progress of the hunt for bin Laden, and the state of the war in Afghanistan remain, of course, overwhelmingly the most important topics to write about. And journalists are spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to write aobut them well and effectively. But people at the same time are slowly starting to write about other impotant things, such as, oh, say, the important resolution of two major child abuse cases in D.C. and Virginia. There are other stories that are important, if not AS important, and people are realizing that.
Thanks, everybody, for tuning in.
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