Today I rode on a bus with 40 college students to Washington DC, tagging along with my wife and her choir for a short two-day tour. On the way down, we watched "Legally Blonde 2", which is kind of a "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" for a new generation. Even though it was pretty cliche throughout, I'll admit to a weakness for anything having to do with how the US Congress makes a law.

The driver dropped us off under the Washington Monument and my wife and I walked to the Smithsonian castle. It was very cold, with snow flurries, so the Mall was nearly empty. Around us stood the many museums, the various department headquarters, and a few homeless people, keeping warm on steam grates. Up ahead was the Capitol building, which always seems smaller than it looks on television. No one was jogging, as you often see in movies.

We walked from museum to museum. It's very cool that they're all free, unless of course you want to watch an IMAX movie, which we did, a humdinger called "Space Station 3D", complete with funny glasses. Afterwards we explored the Air & Space Museum, with the new Wright Brothers gallery. The contrast between the 1903 flyer and the International Space Station was poetic and inspiring. As I left, I bought a little Sputnik clip-thingy for my desk.

Millions walk the same route we did. Millions feel the same nostalgia, the same inspiration, whether it's about the space race, the Senate chamber, or the words surrounding the Jefferson memorial. So why is it this country's got so many sleepwalking bubblebrains?

Why don't more of us act?