On Thursday, a House committee offered a novel solution to the continued controversy over Mississippi’s starred and barred banner: Replace the state flags (which are bad and everyone hates) with the state quarters (which are good and everyone loves).
Police placed the U.S. Capitol on lockdown "as a precautionary measure" after an apparent suicide shooting near the building's West Front on Saturday. In their initial statement, authorities said only that the suspected shooter had been "neutralized."
Up to a dozen shots were fired outside of the U.S. Capitol this afternoon, sending the Capitol, White House, and Supreme Court into lockdown. The incident reportedly began when a suspect attempted to ram a White House security gate before leading police on a car chase to the Capitol.
[A leaf blower clears off the plaza in front of the U.S. Capitol, where new members of Congress are in the middle of freshman orientation. Image via Getty]
[For the start of the 111th Congress, former "Real World" cast member and newly-elected U.S. Representative Sean Duffy makes a video for his Facebook page in the U.S. Capitol, leaving someone else to "clean up Washington." Image via Getty]
[A shot from the Capitol in Washington today as the casket of Senator Robert Byrd is removed from the building and placed into a hearse. He was the nation's longest-serving congressman before his death on Monday. Image via Getty]
