Obama: Washington has its own Fires

Senator Barack Obama used quite a few firefighting metaphors in criticizing the nation’s capital this morning, telling the International Association of Fire Fighters that Washington is the sort of place where people “create other kinds of fires” – whether it’s messing with funding for first-responders or saying he is too green to run for president.

After referring to firefighting as a “noble calling,” Mr. Obama said, “This country knows that, but sometimes Washington forgets. They praise your work. They cheer you on when you race up the stairs. But when it’s time for you to get health care or buy the radios and equipment you need, those supporters disappear like a puff of smoke.

“Instead of making your job easier, they create other kinds of fires that you have to put out,” he added.

“Washington has become a place where politics has become a business instead of a mission,” he said, “a place where the cynics and the lobbyists have turned our government into a game only they can afford to play; a place where we spend a lot of time keeping score of who’s up and who’s down and not enough time rolling up our sleeves.”

As for his own presidential candidacy, Mr. Obama remarked, “I know what some of the pundits say, I haven’t been in Washington that long. It’s true that I haven’t been in Washington that long, but I’ve been in Washington long enough to know that Washington needs to change. That I know.”