“It’s all happening at the Zoo.” — Simon and Garfunkel
Washington went to the National Zoo en masse in late October to catch sight of its three most beloved residents: the family of giant pandas.
They are Papa Tian Tian, Mama Mei Xiang and “little miracle” Xiao Qi Ji, a pandemic male baby born in 2020. Arguably, an American citizen.
Worn from witnessing three weeks of House speaker blood sport, I was in search of spiritual balm. And I was not alone.
Our city, under Donald Trump’s thumb for four years, recently faced a government shutdown. The threat was finally dodged by the deeply divided House. Still, stress stays a while.
Spotting each of the giant pandas emerge from their large enclosures, I haven’t seen so many happy people shine and smile, ooh and ah, from babies to octogenarians, in a long time.
The Smithsonian Zoo is a free treat for all, and the sightings were priceless on this Sunday.
Our collective cares seemed to vanish in a puff of pure joy as we watched the giant pandas play in autumn leaves.
The three are all adorable and seem to know it on some animal level. If scores, hundreds and thousands of people came to admire and take your picture every day, it might go to your head.
The sight of the young one sitting and sucking on a thick stick of bamboo was transporting.
The mama (246 pounds) likes pears and the papa (271 pounds) is fond of sugar cane, sources said, to supplement their daily diet. The parents are 25 and 26, old friends since 2000 — and now consoling company.
Our Zoo visit came days after the mass slayings in Maine and weeks after the Hamas atrocities in Israel, leading to the war in Gaza.
These events left us truly shaken. Most thought Mainers were saner.
But no, the scourge of gun violence broke out, claiming 18 victims. This proved so brutal that Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden actually changed his mind. Golden, 41, asked voters to forgive him for opposing an assault weapons ban.
That is rare and praiseworthy for a man who served as a Marine.
Israel lives close to America’s heart, even if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not.
We grieved and felt the anguish of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on an Israeli kibbutz, murdering civilians and soldiers: about 1400 slain all together.
Unbelievable. Israel was invincible, so we thought. Like the Maine tragedy, it did not seem like it could happen there. But the world is turning too fast, spinning beyond our old saws.
In Congress, fear is rising that military aid to Israel will cost Ukraine’s war against Russia. President Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress are crafting a package that joins aid for both nations and a humanitarian aid package for Gaza.
But Ukraine may be left in the cold to face Russia, if some Republicans get their way. They are deaf to the call that two democracies are on the line.
Our own democracy came under fire on Jan. 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol. That memory lives for those who were there. Yes, it happened here, something else that seemed impossible.
American democracy still has wounds to shore up.
Emerging from the House speaker civil war, the winner, Rep. Mike Johnson, had led 147 House Republicans who challenged and denied President Joe Biden’s election.
Mixing his extremist views with a pleasant Southern veneer, Johnson, 51, won the floor vote of every House Republican. They dress well for a gang.
Make no mistake: Johnson is a religious zealot opposed to human rights for women and gay people.
Addressing the House, he defied the separation of church and state, a sacred principle to Thomas Jefferson and the founders.
An evangelical Christian, Johnson somehow found common ground with Moses as a chosen lawgiver.
Johnson may deliver a government shutdown in time for Thanksgiving. So help us God.
So you see why the simple pleasure of giant pandas cast a spell. But I saved the bad news for last: China wants them back.
By December, the dear family of three will be gone. China is mad at us. Only Atlanta will have a few.
So even our giant pandas are in the geopolitical arena.
Jamie Stiehm is a former assignment editor at CBS News in London, reporter at The Hill, metro reporter at the Baltimore Sun and public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. She is author of a new play, “Across the River,” on Aaron Burr. See JamieStiehm.com.
From The Progressive Populist, December 1, 2023
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