Inside the Beltway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Inside the Beltway" is a phrase used to characterize parts of the real or imagined American political system. It refers to the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495), a beltway that encircles Washington, D.C., and is meant to invoke matters that are important primarily within the offices of the Federal government, its contractors, lobbyists, and the media which cover them.
The phrase is often pejorative, a dismissive or insulting way to say "it's merely politics, not important," carrying the implication that the only people who care are paid by or otherwise dependent upon the federal government. Alternatively, it implies ignorance or indifference with regard to the way things work in what the user of the term regards as the real world, i.e. the world outside the beltway. This phrase is often used to mean the rough equivalent of possessing inside knowledge about American governance and the workings of American representative democracy, or having access to corridors of political power. Ironically, since many Americans might not be aware that Washington, D.C. is surrounded by an actual beltway, even the use of the term connotes Washington insider status.
An early use of the phrase can be seen in "The Warren Commission Didn't Know Everything" by Nicholas M. Horrock, New York Times, October 12, 1975, page 230, which begins:
"In the White House of Richard M. Nixon, it was said that Watergate would become serious only if it "got outside the Washington Beltway," if the depths of the disgrace were understood by the American people. In 1974, the truth of Watergate flooded the country, and the Nixon presidency ended.
It can be said that the myriad doubts about the Warren Commission's findings in the death of President Kennedy represent a reverse situation. The doubts would never be taken seriously until they were inside the Beltway, in the halls of Congress, the courts and the White House."
The phrase is a form of metonymy. It is sufficiently well known in the U.S. that the mere word "beltway" is used in various combinations for many discussions about national politics, including newspaper columns, television shows, web sites and blogs.
"Westminster Bubble" or "Westminster village" is a term for a similar concept in the United Kingdom.
