great review!!
actually i just picked it up at my 'not so local' Lego store at the mall... just finished building it yesterday!! it's kinda cool, although i do agree a printed flag woulda been nice, and a removable roof... i'm already thinking of how to do that...
making the 16 'windows' was definitely the monotonous part of it... it didn't take very long to do that, but it felt long... and yeah, the holed one stud brick seemed odd, at first, but then again, it's the only brick LEGO has created so far like it, that has a hollow stud top...
i remember thinking the base seemed kinda flimsy for such a building, but as the model came together more, it seemed to get sturdier... a bit...
and yeah, not much in the line of 'play value' unless you stage a 'terrorist attack', but ya gotta be careful what you do with the government the way it is these days...
definitely a cool shelf model though!!
now i'm thinking it'd be cool to have a Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial, to go with it to make a 'Presidental Architectural Series' wouldn't that be cool?