Justice a Partisan Issue?

I arrived in Washington, DC yesterday afternoon. I am here to document the Congressional briefings on wage theft which will take place Monday and Tuesday. I flew here by myself, early, because I have never been to D.C. and I wanted to check things out. I arrived late yesterday afternoon and decided to try to find a good place to watch fireworks. After stopping by the White House, I continued on in the direction of the Washington Monument because I figured I would be able to see the show from there. On my way, I saw a bunch of important looking people waiting to be let into the south lawn of the White House to watch the fireworks from there. All the people waiting were Bush appointees and friends of Bush appointees - only specific people were invited (I'm sure Bush didn't want to get heckled again - especially not on his own lawn). As I was casually glancing at the crowd, I recognized a girl I knew from college who I haven't seen or spoken to in over 2 years. She was with her boyfriend who works at the Pentagon and her boyfriend's friend who works for the Dept. of Commerce. I explained that I was alone and just sort of wandering around. Without knowing my politics, they quickly offered me an extra ticket for a girl who couldn't make it. So I got in and watched the fireworks with the White House a few feet away and the Washington Monument in sight. The President and his buds even came out onto the White House balcony to say hello and enjoy the view. It was quite an amazing night and totally unexpected.

So I kept my politics quiet and had intended to for the duration of the evening as I was so grateful to be invited to such an awesome event. My plan was not to fake anything - just not to bring anything political up so I wouldn't have to lie about anything. When one of the guys asked me why I was in D.C. and what organization my internship was for, my cover was automatically blown. He just looked at me and sort of laughed as I completely disclosed my politics by simply saying "worker justice." How absolutely absurd is that? This guy was able to tell I have liberal and progressive politics because I believe in justice? Since when is justice a partisan issue? I brought this up to him - the absurdity. He laughed and said that they are "trained" to know a liberal organization when they see one. Trained. I did not realize I was working on partisan issues here for a partisan organization. I am sure they are also trained NOT to tell "liberal" organizers that they are trained, but the guy had two or three gin & tonics in him by that time. Unbelievable.