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| | | Other people's Fourth of July ... | | July 02, 2009 | | | | We'll probably be on the roof of our Harbour Square co-op in Southwest Washington Saturday night for one of the region's best views of the July Fourth fireworks.
Before that, we'll probably take in the Palisades parade on MacArthur Boulevard in Northwest. It has a hometown goodness that never fails to inspire and entertain. It's corny, we know, but we love the pageantry of the American flag.
Thousands of other people will find their own spot and way to mark the Fourth.
If we were an activist and not a fair and balanced reporter (love that phrase), we'd rail about the hollowness of the Fourth of July celebrations in the nation's capital.
Maybe President Barack Obama will use his holiday remarks on Saturday to point out the absence of voting rights here in the seat of democracy. Yeah, right.
On Monday at the White House, reporters asked Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs whether the president would attach the "no taxation" slogan on his District license plate. The slogan was removed by then-President George W. Bush.
Gibbs' flippant reply, according to NBC reporter Brian Moorer: "You know, I have not talked to him about his license plate. [Gibbs laughs.] Nor have I talked to him about ... the oil in the car, either."
That dismissive response got growls from reporters. CBS reporter Chip Reid asked Gibbs whether he was equating the two. Gibbs said the president supports D.C. voting rights in Congress.
If he does, why doesn't he say so himself?
WTOP's Mark Plotkin, one of the loudest voices on the local voting rights issue, was having a great time at the recent Radio and Television Correspondents' Association Dinner -- until he ran into President Obama's political guru, David Axelrod.
To no one's surprise, Plotkin tried to engage Axelrod on why Obama has chosen to clam up about D.C. voting rights in Congress. Plotkin reports that Axelrod remarked, "That's your thing" and kept walking.
"Obama has made more statements about Iran and democracy than our lack of democracy," Plotkin told us. "Republicans are even ahead of him on this issue."
Plotkin recently prompted Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele to put the city's "no taxation" license tag on his official car. Steele said he would.
• Promises kept. You have never seen a happier face than the one Ward 6 Council member Tommy Wells was wearing last week at the reopening of the historic Eastern Market.
"Not only are we back to normal," he said on Saturday, "we're back to better."
The market was awash in customers and music Saturday, and crowds were soaking up all of it. NBC4 spoke to Capitol Hill resident Lillian Scott, who had a ready answer when we asked if she had been a customer before the fire.
"I came here. My mother came here, and my mother's mother came here. And my daughter comes here, too. That's her hiding over in the corner." NBC4 couldn't persuade the young woman to appear on camera.
But one family's four generations of customers pretty much sums up the Eastern Market appeal.
• PR casualty. Mayor Fenty continues to reshape his public relations corps.
Unfortunately for reporters, longtime spokesperson and walking political history book Bill Rice is out as press guy for the Office of Property Management.
Rice was told he wasn't being retained, as the mayor moves more and more of the public relations work inside his offices in the Wilson Building. Spokespeople for many agencies now simply refer reporters to the mayor's press office.
Rice, uncharacteristically, wasn't commenting to reporters, although he's privately telling friends he's not bitter or angry. "No hard feelings on my part," Rice told a friend.
• Good to remember. The Little Law School That Could — better known as the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law -- had a big crowd recently for the 17th annual Joseph L. Rauh Jr. Lecture.
U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., was the guest speaker, and he talked a lot about the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. More than 200 students, alumni and friends packed the event.
Wade Henderson, the Rauh professor at the University of the District of Columbia, introduced Leahy.
But who was Joseph L. Rauh Jr.? The longtime Northwest D.C. resident had a career that spanned six decades as a labor activist, Supreme Court clerk, federal bureaucrat and civil rights legend.
There's more, but you get the idea.
Rauh died in 1992 at age 81.
Put next year's lecture on your calendar. Photos of this year's lecture are at law.udc.edu.
• Can't pass this up. On Saturday, we were listening to WAMU radio, taking in the "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" program. Commentators were having a fine time with South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, the latest conservative politician to suffer embarrassment over his personal life.
"Gov. Sanford has joined the growing ranks of conservative politicians," one commentator said, "who are ruining their marriages before same-sex marriage does it for them." | | | | | Log in to comment on this article |
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