Loose Cannon is not one to complain about the weather (although I grew up in California and have never gotten used to Washington’s climate) or traffic. But the goings-on this week in the nation’s capital have unnerved those who live here—me included.

To make a long story short,  the decision by the Obamas to move here two weeks early—necessitated by the school calendar of their daughters—and President Bush’s previous invitation to  the prime minister of Australia to stay in Blair House, have wreaked havoc on local traffic. With the Obamas ensconced at the Hay Adams Hotel, the Secret Service has closed two of the four main east-west arteries carrying auto traffic in downtown Washington. Commutes that took 20 minutes now take an hour. It’s trying, but it’s temporary, locals told themselves. Only until Inauguration Day. Then we got the Secret Service map of street closings for that historic occasion.

The government is, essentially, closing the downtown and monument areas of the city to private vehicle traffic—and all but barring entry to Washington from Virginia except on the subway (which will be jammed beyond capacity) and fleets of hundreds of buses that will park—well, I guess we’ll find out where about ten days from now.

If you are unfamiliar with the layout of the nation’s capital, there are three places for those who work here to live: Washington itself; suburban Maryland,  mostly in Montgomery and Prince Georges counties; and Northern Virginia, which features the cities of Arlington, Alexandria, and Falls Church and several counties, including Fairfax, Prince William, and Loudoun. Northern Virginia, increasingly Democratic, went heavily for Barack Obama in 2008, so much so that Democrats carried the Old Dominion for the first time since 1964. The thanks they get is that it will take heroic efforts for them to see Obama’s inaugural parade—if they have a ticket.

On Inauguration Day, it might be easier to get to the ceremony from New York (you take Amtrak to Union Station, which is on Capitol Hill) than from Fairfax, less than 20 miles away. Partly, this is a simple function of geography: Virginia is separated from the District of Columbia by the Potomac River. Over that river are five bridges into Washington. They will all be closed to regular traffic, along with both Interstate freeways inside the Beltway, and the George Washington Memorial Parkway. The real inauguration plan for Virginians, although no one had the courage to say so is: Watch it on television.

“The Secret Service, they’re insane!” local congressman Jim Moran told The Washington Post. Actually, not insane, but practical, and maybe a bit over-cautious. Also, they didn’t make the decision on their own, but rather in consultation with a host of local officials who feared that if cars were let into Washington that day, they’d back up with nowhere to go, and you’d have the kind of gridlock that would truly prevent anyone from doing anything but idling in their cars for hours. It makes sense, as far as it goes: The lingering discontent stems from the conviction that the politicians are taking care of themselves. Take Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille, who signed off on this extreme plan and encouraged his constituents to take mass transit—but who will be spending the night himself in the District with friends.

But rest easy, readers of this blog. The intrepid Loose Cannon will find a way in from Arlington and onto the press stand at the Capitol, even if I have to wear snowshoes to do it. I'll blog that day, too, so let me know what you're interested in hearing about that you might not be able to see on television.