Rant: Calvinball and DC Security

I just got back from visiting Washington, DC. Overall, it was a great trip, and it was fascinating to see the city again. I enjoyed getting to see the inside of the Jefferson Memorial for the first time. We also had the privilege of visiting the White House, which has changed little since I was there back in 1995. Above all, it was a good experience.
<rant>However, there is one thing about DC that drove me crazy that I just had to rant about for a minute: the security.
Now, it's not the amount of security that bothers me. I realize that there are some very militant Muslims who will stop at nothing until our country of "infidels" is a smoldering ash heap. My concern goes with how the security personnel behaved. The best way to explain their behavior is to compare it to Calvinball.
Calvinball was a game made up by Bill Watterson in his comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. It was a game of ever-changing rules, made up on the spot. One minute something was okay, the next something wasn't, and there was no warning when something would or would not be okay.
The security in DC was that way. There were next to no notices about what was or was not allowed. Sometimes, we could do something, sometimes we couldn't. Sometimes things that weren't even crimes were made into huge deals. Above all, I felt like Alice on her trip through the looking glass. I never quite knew what the rules of the game, and I didn't appreciate the arbitrary nature of the rules.
For example, just after some of my group got out of the White House, they sat down as they were waiting for the rest of our group to finish the tour. They weren't doing anything wrong. They weren't bothering anybody. They were just sitting on the curb. However, the security wasted no time assailing them as if they had just threatened the President, yelling at them to stand up as if they had just committed a felony. I explained to the secret service agent that they were waiting for the rest of our group, but that did not produce the usual, understanding response. Instead, the guard was harsh and disprespectful to our group. Strange.
Anyway, I was amazed at the lack of good communication about what was and what was not allowed. I can only hope that clear rules will be set out and spelled out. When that happens, it will be a more enjoyable experience for visitors to DC, who are innocent tourists minding their own business.</rant>