Why DC is no panacea

Several weeks back I posted a quick little bit of mental flotsam which concluded in expressing my preference for Washington DC over New York City. A few days ago, Peter Suderman over at Culture11 expressed similar preferences. Overall, I second his rationale.

But it’s not like everything is peachy-keen in Washington, land of the nerd and wonk. There are vapid socialites here too, people whose transparent attempts at climbing would make a New Yorker blush. Michelle Cottle at TNR reports:

…in the waning days of the presidential race, [former DNC finance chair Beth] Dozoretz found herself at a dinner party with Michelle Obama. Not one to miss an opportunity, Dozoretz slipped Mrs. Obama a note from Melanne, in which the precocious fourth grader urged the Obamas to enroll their two girls, Malia and Sasha, at D.C.’s prestigious Sidwell Friends School. Shortly after Election Day, she and her husband, health care mogul Ron Dozoretz, popped up in the press talking about the note-passing and elaborating on their pro-Sidwell lobbying.

…

It was remarkable how naked the status anxiety became at all the schools under consideration, recalls one dad from Georgetown Day School (a runner-up in the First filles sweepstakes). Parents would just chatter away, he recalls, about “‘Oh my God, wouldn’t it be just amazing if’–their daughter, fill in the blank, Zoe or Chloe or whatever–‘wouldn’t it be amazing if they had a sleepover at the White House!’ Then they’d envision themselves having to pick up their child and telling people, ‘Oh, I’ve got to go over to the White House!'” He harrumphs, “People would actually say this stuff out loud. It was just embarrassing.”

Indeed, it is. Read the whole thing and feel worse about Washington as a whole.