On Inauguration Day, The Party Won’t Stop ‘Til the Break of Dawn « The Washington Independent
Jul 31, 202096.5K Shares1.6M Views
Are you planning a pilgrimage to the nation’s capital to witness President-elect Barack Obama’s historic inauguration? Are you worried that the festivities might end when, as usual, the D.C. bars close at 2 a.m. on weeknights?
Good news! The Washington Postreports that the D.C. City Council passed emergency legislation yesterday allowing the city’s bars to serve alcohol until 5 a.m. for four days during Inauguration week, concluding the morning after the Jan. 20 ceremony.
And it gets better — after last call, you don’t even have to go home or back to your hotel! The bars can serve food 24 hours these days, so once the booze stops flowing, you can simply order up some grub and wait until it starts back up in a few hours.
According to The Post, however, not everyone is thrilled by the prospect of 24-hour revelry. These party poopers tend to live in bar-filled neighborhoods like Adams Morgan.
“„The legislation quickly drew the ire of civic leaders, who complained that the council did not seek public input.
“„“I see the potential for why you’d want to do it, in terms of this being a historic election, but to just throw this down on neighborhoods?” said Bryan Weaver, head of the Adams Morgan advisory neighborhood commission. “To have 3 1/2 days of 24-hour service without any input from the community — there’s going to be hell to pay from a lot of neighborhood associations.”
Whatever. If an American is patriotic enough to travel thousands of miles to witness the inauguration of the new president, it should be their God-given right to order a good, stiff drink at 5 a.m on a Wednesday morning. After all, isn’t this precisely the kind of freedom that our forefathers fought and died to protect?
Rhyley Carney
Reviewer
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