The Triumph of Cynicism
Dear Cynics:
Today at his press conference Mayor Williams announced new rules
designed to make private financial donations to the District government
conform to some ethical considerations (http://www.dcwatch.com/mayor/020109.htm).
Mayor Williams's financial ethical lapses started small, with a mere
$40,000 in unreported income that he took for no-work jobs during his
1998 mayoral campaign. The Office of Campaign Finance fined him $1,000
for that. Then Mayor Williams blatantly used governmental employees and
resources to campaign for the Charter Amendment to reduce elected
representation on the Board of Education. Both OCF and the Board of
Elections and Ethics censured Mayor Williams for that. Then came the
current controversy over soliciting corporate and individual donations,
which were laundered through both legitimate and phony nonprofit
organizations, for the Mayor's political activities and parties. This
scandal has been hanging over the Mayor's head for the past year, and
the Mayor still refuses to reveal all the funds that were solicited and
to account for how they were spent.
Today, Mayor Williams issued an apology for the mistakes others made
in raising and spending this money. In doing so he threw overboard both
his former Deputy Chief of Staff, Mark Thompson, and his former Chief of
Staff, Abdusalam Omer, basically placing all responsibility for
misbehavior on their shoulders, and accepting personal responsibility
only for not managing them closely enough. What the headlines about this
so-called apology won't show is that Mayor Williams apologized only to
the people who are important to him — the people who donated to these
funds and whose future donations he intends to receive. He apologized to
the big-money donors for dragging them "through the mud." He
had not one word of apology to the citizens and voters of the District
of Columbia, whose hopes for ethical conduct by this government he has
betrayed.
If you read the Mayor's order looking for the loopholes, here's what
may be the most important one. The three independent offices in the city
administration that are charged with ferreting out and disclosing
unethical financial conduct are the Office of Campaign Finance, the
Office of the Inspector General, and the Office of the Chief Financial
Officer. The Mayor's order establishes an Advisory Committee to the
Office of Partnership and Grant Development, the new office tasked with
gathering the booty, and "invites" the director of the OCF,
the Inspector General, and the CFO all to join that advisory committee
-- thus compromising and undermining their independence and their
ability to conduct untainted investigations of any fundraising
misbehavior. Neatly, and cynically, played, Mr. Mayor.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
Woodley Park’s Diary of Darkness
Sally MacDonald, Sn3macd@aol.com
The streetlights in North Woodley Park went out six nights ago, and
we are locked in the usual decades-long struggle to find those
responsible and able to repair them. Instead of a Festival of Lights, or
the Twelve Nights of Christmas, we regularly have Festivals of Twelve
Nights of No Lights.
The City-DPW engineers, Mr. Jama Abdi (671-2710) and Mr. Mike Dorsey
(671-2829), only discover neighborhood outages after some days (nights)
of darkness. (Bad communications!) The City and Pepco play their game of
Ping-Pong, each claiming the other is responsible! Pepco engineers (most
vividly!) describe the City's bad history of not paying bills and do not
want to get involved. Finally, they negotiate. (Squabbling!) After the
outage, the residents' calls (over 20 yesterday), the lack of
contact/communications/site visits, the negotiations, the search for the
80-year-old unmapped circuit, a weekend of no work, the “quick fix”
of replacing a transformer (which never lasts), a dowser with metal rods
to find the underground pipes, and maybe a day of repair, it is again
the weekend and, again, the unsuccessful work stops! (The city arranges
for Pepco NOT to work on weekends, leaving city residents without help!)
Halfway through our latest Festival, Mr. Abdi (the DC DPW
Engineer/manager) said today that he has more important things to do
than come to Woodley Park to check on any repairs; Mr. Dorsey (the man
charged officially by DC with repairing streetlights) reminded me that
he does not have/need streetlights, as he lives in the country! Over the
years, I have tried to impress upon him how much city-dwellers
want/need/expect and pay for streetlights! Mr. Charles Dickerson
(872-5470) of Pepco Customer Operations, who grandly promised help, said
that streetlight outages are so rare in DC that a voice mail option is
not needed on their “help line.” Within one hour yesterday, I found
that it is a recurring problem in five DC neighborhoods! (Residents
might want to call and let him know.) We soldier on — on the edge of
dark Rock Creek Park! We are told that if someone were to fall, it would
be the City to be sued, not Pepco! We cannot expect lights until next
Monday at the earliest. Wish us well! PS: For a single streetlight
repair, call the DC nighttime number, 269-0855. That is Unity
Construction, subcontractors who do a superb job!
###############
Arresting Behavior at the Wilson Building
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
On Monday, January 7, at approximately 9:00 a.m., twelve homeless
advocates from the group Olive Branch went to the Wilson Building to
request a meeting with Mayor Williams about recent hypothermia deaths in
the city, the closure of the Reeves Buildings as a cold-weather shelter,
and the need for a detoxification center for homeless adult alcoholics
and drug addicts. Because they didn't know where the Mayor's Office was
located (and because the Wilson Building doesn't have any building
office directory), the group went to the old location of the Mayor's
office on the fifth floor, where they were greeted by Phyllis Jones, the
Secretary of the City Council, who directed them to the Mayor's office
in the penthouse. The twelve advocates waited in the public lounge area
and in the elevator corridor outside the Mayor's suite of offices, and
requested a meeting with the Mayor. They were told that they would not
be allowed to meet with the Mayor, and security guards told them that
they were not allowed to be in the reception area or corridor outside
the Mayor's offices because it was “the private space of the Mayor.”
Nine members of the group agreed to an offer to meet with Deputy
Mayor Carolyn Graham — they claim that she left the meeting after
about three minutes; she claimed in a conversation with me that she
stayed between twenty and thirty minutes, and then said forty-five
minutes. Three members of the group — Harold Moss, Jamie Loughner, and
Tom Gomez — remained in the public lounge area, demanding a meeting
with the Mayor, until members of the Mayor's security detail and DC
Protective Services (which provides building security in DC public
buildings) carried them out. DC Protective Services arrested these three
and took them to the Second Police District where, after several hours,
they were charged with “unlawful entry.” Their court appearance on
the charges will take place on February 15.
The entire arrest procedure was highly irregular. The three people in
the Mayor's public lounge were never disorderly or disruptive or even
demonstrative. They were not loud, and they did not prevent any business
from taking place. They were simply unwanted. Unwanted by the Mayor, but
not by the management of the Wilson Building. Under DC Law 10-65, the
Wilson Building is “under the exclusive authority of the Council,”
and the Secretary of the Council is responsible for building security
— and Secretary Phyllis Jones had directed the Mayor's security detail
and DC Protective Services, in her words, “to leave the advocates
alone,” since they weren't disorderly or disrupting any work going on
in the building. Since a charge of unlawful entry can only be brought if
the person is there “against the will of the lawful occupant or of the
person lawfully in charge thereof,” this seems on the face of it to be
an egregious case of false arrest. But it remains an important
cautionary tale for any citizen of the District who may want to get an
appointment with the Mayor. The right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances,
doesn't extend very far under this city's administration. Be very
careful — if you go to the Mayor's office to ask for an appointment,
and he doesn't want to see you, you may be subject to arrest.
###############
New Tenleytown Yahoo Group
Buddy Yingling, buddydc1@msn.com
I'd just like to let folks know that I have created a web-based
E-mail list for the Tenleytown area. To join go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tenleytown/.
###############
Can’t Get No Respect
Ken Katz, kskatz@toad.net
As one of those who takes words such as “democracy” seriously, I
find that suffering through this current era of patriotic bombast, in
which such words are more often abused than used, can nevertheless be
assuaged by the local dog trainer: on today's Washington Post web
site Metro section there was an article with the title “On the road to
excess exhaust” written by Tracy A. Woodward. The article had a link
in the form of a picture with the following caption: “Washingtonians
are living further out in the suburbs, and driving more SUVs. . . .”
While I agree with the latter observation that inner-city SUV's are a
large and sadly growing number, how exactly can “Washingtonians” be
“living further out in the suburbs”? Can “Virginians” live in
ever greater numbers in the District of Columbia? While simultaneously
dismayed and humored by such poor — no matter the measure used —
journalistic insight and ability, I was tipped off by the picture:
seemingly a Suburu Outback Wagon (could've been the Suburu Forrester SUV,
but really looked like the non-suv Outback) with Maryland or Virginia
plates — but probably not DC plates — driving down Wisconsin Avenue
in Georgetown.
Was Rodney Dangerfield from DC?
###############
Public School Spending
Bill Starrels, Georgetown, mortgagecorp@hotmail.com
The spending on the DC Public School students has to be put into
proper perspective. The numbers used for per pupil spending includes
funds for special education. If the special education funding was
separated, as it should be, one would find that the per pupil spending
on DC students is not extraordinary. The figures top out at $5,000 or
so. As the parent of a DC public school student and former PTA
President, I find it patently unfair to lump the numbers together. If
the special education money were separated, it would cause everyone to
focus on fixing the problems with the Special Ed money and it would
showcase in a proper light the modest amounts of money spent on the
mainstream students.
###############
[Gary Imhoff wrote: “[I]n DC, neither WETA nor WHUR does much at
all to produce or air programming specifically aimed to serve this city,
and WETA seems particularly uninterested in doing so. Am I wrong?”]
No, Gary, you're not wrong! I don't watch much TV — other than the
usual news and weather channels in typical DC news junkie fashion —
but when I do, it's more toward the so-called “educational”
channels, especially WETA and MPT. For those who don't recognize the MPT
call letters, that's Channel 22, Maryland Public Television, which comes
in loud and clear in DC. I can say without hesitation that it has a far
more interesting and creative local programming lineup than does WETA by
far. There are many programs on MPT that focus on the history and
culture of Maryland, from cooking to travel and arts. Unlike WETA, which
seems to have an abundance of over-impressed-with-themselves talkers
hogging the screen, MPT seems to go out of its way to find program hosts
who seem to be real people who are actually part of Maryland and want to
share their love and excitement of its history and culture with all of
us out in TV Land. Even their little 3-5 minute filler pieces, instead
of being paeans of praise for their station, tend toward being short
reports about fun things for people to do happening around the state.
###############
You ask for differences in the roles of public TV and commercial
networks offering the same substance. You put your finger on much of the
difference already, but don't overlook the fact that the substance
offered by commercial networks is still quite different from that
offered, usually, by public TV, and that difference reveals a deeper
difference. While there are commercial networks offering “all history,
all the time,” or offering “all nature, all the time,” the content
of these programs is as much shallow entertainment as anything. In fact,
you can waste an hour watching something on the history channel and get
no more actual factual information than you might get from a People
Magazine article read while taking a dump. On the other hand, public TV
programming offers much more dense subject matter, and frames it in
questions challenging the viewer to engage with the information. And
this surface difference in what they offer reveals the deeper difference
which matters. Public TV still takes itself seriously and offers
demanding programming which challenges the viewer to think, while
commercial TV, even if addressing the same ostensible subject matter,
offers entertainment, to keep your mind from wandering for an hour or
so, without asking you to use your mind. So, despite their similar
content, public and commercial TV still differ fairly widely on why that
information should be provided to the consumer. Public TV offers it to
educate and challenge the viewer to think, which commercial TV offers it
to entertain and relax the viewer.
###############
Missing Mail and Reagan National
Alexander M. Padro, padroanc2c@aol.com
[In reply to Vivian Henderson's inquiry about missing mail:] I have
gotten numerous complaints about delayed mail. Interestingly enough, on
Saturday, January 5, I received a large envelope, with a postage-metered
date of November 28, 2001, mailed from Minnesota. It had clearly been
irradiated (the envelope was yellowed and so brittle that it began to
fall apart in my hands as I tried to open it). Perhaps Ms. Henderson's
letter and my envelope were MIA together. More importantly, how much
other mail is in limbo? I heard a report some time ago that a large
quantity of mail was to be destroyed by the USPS. Has anyone heard
anything further on that?
Next time you want to fly out of the
Airport-Formerly-Known-as-Washington-National, just tell the agent you
want to fly out of “DCA.” That's the code assigned decades ago to
identify Washington National Airport, or whatever else anyone may choose
to call it these days. The three-letter airport code (ever notice them
on airline luggage tags?), used by airlines, online reservation systems,
air traffic controllers, etc., to identify the airport alongside the
Potomac in what was once the District of Columbia, has not changed. Yet.
###############
I can't help but chuckle when Peter Jennings refers, or more likely
doesn't refer, to Reagan National by the partisanly anointed name. He
almost always calls it “Washington National Airport.” After all it's
already named after a president, isn't it?
###############
I noticed on Sunday evening when sitting at one of the eating
establishments in the new Main Terminal (no, I don't go there just for
the dining experience) that the welcome/security announcement referred
only to “Washington National Airport.” I don't know if that is a
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) oversight or was
purposeful, but, ever the optimistic person I say bless the hearts of
MWAA.
###############
Taxicab Meters
Richard P. Schmitt, seabsct@smart.net
There apparently is resistance to meters because a short trip will
cost less then some current in-zone trips. Why can't the initial fee be
set higher? Isn't this part of the flexibility of the meter systems?
Fares can be adjusted up or down by the 10th of a mile. Increase the
proposed fee to go the first 2 to 4 tenths of a mile, and lower the fees
for each additional tenth.
Am I missing something? Is there some politics which the local
newspapers are not reporting about?
[The local newspapers hadn't reported the real politics of meters
versus zones until Marc Fisher's perceptive, on-target article
yesterday, “The Wrong Way for District's Taxis to Go,” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11420-2002Jan7.html.
Fisher writes: “Who favors meters: the mayor, big business and the
companies that want to take over Washington's cab industry. The
opposition: taxi drivers and customers. What's wrong with this
picture?” Anyone who wants to change DC's cab system drastically, by
introducing meters or by legislatively setting (and reducing) the number
of drivers, needs to confront Fisher's analysis. — Gary Imhoff]
###############
Re: CRS Report on the Horizon by Mark David
Richards
George LaRoche, LaRoche@us.net
It's a good sign that Congress is looking into the District's status,
but the CRS should not be the definitive — much less final — word on
the subject, since their previous work on DC is usually quite accurate
as far as it goes, it has tended not to go into the issues actually at
stake for the District. As for the comparison of DC to other “federal
capitals,” the best source for such is Donald C. Rowat, a Canadian
political scientist, whose The Government of Federal Capitals was
published three decades ago, in 1973. Harris, in fact, bases some of his
work on Rowat's work.
But while the notion that Congress could and should do the “same
thing” for DC as was done for other federal capitals in other
countries is tempting, it overlooks something fundamental. In most of
those cases, the countries who have taken such steps have somewhat
different political norms than we pretend to cherish and, in all such
cases, the fact that adjustments are made to provide
"representation" of the federal capital in the national
legislature STILL leaves unanswered the question of local
self-government. Mexico City, for instance, is more or less constantly
at war with the national legislature of Mexico to control its local
fortunes, and its dismal environmental conditions are in no small part a
result of national efforts to trump local measures to clean up the City.
In short, the exclusive focus on "representation" in the
national legislature ignores the reality of what government is, what it
should do for us, and why we have governments. In the complex of events
which we recall as the American Revolution, we determined that we HAVE
government in order to secure life, liberty, and the chance to pursue
happiness. We determined that this thing called “government” arises
from and is sustained by our ongoing consent. We had spent several
fruitless decades trying, under the banner of “taxation without
representation is tyranny,” to persuade the government of Britain to
“let us in” to its structure, arguing that we were good and loyal
subjects of the Crown. When that effort failed, we decided that it was
necessary to “dissolve” the bonds which linked us to Britain and
govern ourselves. That was the essence and accomplishment of the
American Revolution. It is possible to read all following American
history as the unfolding of the original commitment to self-government.
Every situation in which Congress has trampled a local initiative or
desire, every instance in which Congress has told DC what to do with its
own money, every time Congress has trumped with will of the citizens of
DC to do something they think right and proper, is an instance in which
self-government has been denied, and “representation” in Congress
will not eliminate this at all. As I note above, Mexico City is
“represented” in Mexico's national legislature, yet it has the same
fights DC has now, and loses them as readily as DC does now. If you're
not a part of the SAME GAME, if you're not an equal member of that
national legislature because you enter ON THE SAME FOOTING as every
other member, you are a second-class citizen. The issue at stake is
self-government, not "representation" in the national
legislature.
###############
I take issue with Ed Barron's statement that DC's single parents are
“presumably dysfunctional.” Do you mean to suggest that all single
parents are dysfunctional? Or do you mean to suggest that only single
parents who live in DC are dysfunctional? Either way, that statement is
specious. The 2000 Census revealed that more than two million men in
America are single parents, and, of course, many more are women. Some of
these folks are much better parents than those in “traditional”
households, just like many single parents have been from the beginning
of time.
Ed Barron hit the nail on the head when he said the problem with DC
schools is not money. One of the real problems is culture. I believe
Harvard professor Dr. Cornel West made a compelling argument about how
some contemporary U.S. cultures eschew the stereotypical middle-class
lifestyle progression of pursuing good grades to get into a good college
and then find a good white collar job. Until and unless that culture
values education, students will continue to do poorly in school.
###############
I have a few responses to the SmarTrip discussion. Jamie Treworgy
continues to complain about Metro's $5 charge. He admits that it may be
only cheapskates that will not pay it, but the “collective of
cheapskates means using SmarTrip.” I think it's a failure to design a
system to satisfy cheapskates. Also it's not fair to compare this with
Exxon charging for the chain thing. How much does that thing you waive
at the pump really save you it time and convenience? How often do you
use it? (I may go to an Exxon station one a year. I wouldn't carry an
extra thing on my key chain for that.) He also complains about standing
in line to purchase the SmarTrip card. I have purchased four (one for
me, one for my wife, and two for guests). I stood in line at Metro
Center for about a minute to buy the first two. The next two, I used a
form that I picked up at a Metro station. They can also be ordered from
Metro's web site.
Something that I'm surprised that people haven't raised in this
discussion is the registration. If you register the card (you don't have
to), you get insurance that if you lose your card, you can report it to
Metro and you're only out the $5 cost of the card and any fare deducted
before you report it. But when you register the card, Metro will know
about every trip you make using the card. To some people, that's too
much like Big Brother. Since Metro isn't the government, I'm not
bothered. I assume they'll use that information to tweak service.
Finally, Annie McCormick asks what to do with used fare cards. Here's
the rule: Any unused fare card can have its value added to the SmarTrip
card. Any used card below a certain value (I think it's $6) can be added
to the SmarTrip card. When I got my card I added my collection of small
value fare cards to the SmarTrip card.
###############
Offensive Greetings
Kurt Vorndran, Kvorn@nteu.org
The question is asked: “Warm best wishes. You got a problem with
that?” Yes, it is very offensive. It is a northern Eurocentric
greeting. Why warm? Sure, northern Europeans would wish each other
“warmth” in their cool climates. For people from the tropics,
southern Europe, the Middle East, a cool greeting would be preferred.
Try again!
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
“Beautiful,” “Devastating” Play at
Round House
David Sobelsohn, sobelsohn@footlightsdc.org
A “beautiful” (New York Times), “devastating” (Chicago
Tribune) play about “the healing potential of storytelling”
(Financial Times), “The Weir” takes place in a rural Irish pub,
where locals compete to impress a young Dubliner by telling ghost
stories. Her own painful, personal tale tops them all. Footlights —
DC's only modern drama discussion group — has a block of discount
tickets for the 3 p.m. Saturday February 2 matinee of “The Weir” at
Round House Theater, 12210 Bushey Drive, between Randolph and Veirs Mill
Roads, a few blocks from Connecticut Avenue in Silver Spring. They're
only $17, including a special post-show discussion arranged just for us.
We'll have dinner afterwards at a nearby Chinese restaurant. Send your
check, payable to “Footlights,” to Robin Larkin, 5403 Nibud Court,
Rockville, MD 20852 (301-897-9314 and rlarkin@footlightsdc.org).
We can get you there; if you need a lift, just ask. More info at http://www.footlightsdc.org.
###############
FMMC Concert at Kennedy Center — FREE!
E. James Lieberman, ejl@gwu.edu
Forwarded from FMMCOrchestra@aol.com:
the Friday Morning Music Club Orchestra invites you to attend a concert
at the John F. Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater on Wednesday, January
16, at 7:30 p.m. Sylvia Alimena will conduct and tenor Tim Augustin,
winner of the 2001 Washington International Competition will be the
featured soloist, performing Vaughan Williams' On Wenlock Edge. The
program will also include Brahms' Academic Festival Overture, and
Beethoven's Symphony #8 in F. Tickets are required for this concert and
must be reserved in advance, but they are free. To reserve tickets call
333-2075. If a wheelchair is required, it must also be reserved at the
same time. Tickets will not be mailed, they will be held outside the
entrance to the Terrace Theater until 7:15 p.m. on the evening of the
concert. Order your tickets early as this is generally a sold-out
concert!
###############
DC Preservation League Annual Meeting
Alexander Padro, Padroanc2c@aol.com
The DC Preservation League, Washington's citywide historic
preservation organization, invites you to attend the League's annual
meeting in the newly renovated John A. Wilson Building on Wednesday,
January 16, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The John A. Wilson Building, formerly
the District Building, was constructed from 1904-1908 to house the
government of the District of Columbia. The building was designed by
prominent Philadelphia architects Cope & Stewardson. The recently
rehabilitated landmark building was renamed in honor of Councilmember
John A. Wilson in 1999. The building is located at 1350 Pennsylvania
Avenue, NW. The public entrance is on the south side of the building (D
Street).
The program will feature remarks by city officials, an update from
the League's president on major preservation accomplishments of the past
year, a summary of the Wilson building renovation by project architect
Shalom Baranes, and tours of the building. Hors d'oeuvres, wine, beer
and soft drinks will be served. The event is free for members. Nonmember
admission ($45.00) includes a one-year individual membership. For more
information and to make reservations, call the DC Preservation League at
955-5616 or E-mail dcpreserv@aol.com.
###############
US Department of Labor Jobs & Skills Fair,
January 10
David A. Catania, David.Catania@dc.gov
I am forwarding the information below as a public service
announcement, given recent increases in unemployment and the downturn in
the economy. Please share the information below with others who might be
interested in attending. Department of Labor Workforce Recovery
Conference, Thursday, January 10, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Washington
Convention Center (9th Street Entrance), 900 9th Street, NW. Free of
charge to exhibitors and attendees.
This is a day-long jobs and skills fair to help put the Washington,
DC, region back to work. It's for the people in the Metro area
particularly affected by the aftermath of 9-11-01, and for those who are
helping the recovery: employers in public service, security and public
safety, construction, healthcare, transportation, technology, government
contracting and more; providers of services and information on training,
certification, skills, education, and access to the full range of
services for workers in transition; and qualified job seekers in need of
opportunity or assistance. For more information, please send an E-mail
to jobfair@raskydc.com.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — HELP WANTED
I understand about twenty citizens have come together to place this
ad in local newspapers. Thought it appropriate for themail. “Help
Wanted. MAYOR: With demonstrated expertise, experience, and competence,
willing and able to work with the people of this city to educate and
protect our children, care for our needy, manage our hospitals, protect
us from crime (street crime and white-collar crime), keep us from
burning down, defend our interests, lead us into self-government, use
our money wisely, and a lot more besides. Must be more interested in
accomplishment than in self-promotion. Must have ethics and demand
ethical behavior from colleagues. Has to be able to talk to people not
wearing tuxedos and not writing checks. Courage and a sense of humor
would be big +. Pay is not bad. Positions also available for Council
Chair and six Councilmembers, Chair of the Board of Education and two
Members, ANC commissioners, and some other offices. To apply, call
202-526-0003 for the address to which you should send your resume and a
1- or 2-page statement of why you should get this job. (The people of
this city are an Equal Opportunity Employer.) Do not send references
from Congress, the White House, the Control Board (R.I.P.), or the
Federal City Council.”
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
Flexcar
Robert Marvin, robert_marvin@yahoo.com
Flexcar: Has anyone tried the new car rental service whereby renters
pick up cars at Metro stations? Convenient? Better or worse than Avis or
others? Personally I think its a great idea, but have not tried it yet.
###############
themail@dcwatch is an E-mail discussion forum that is published every
Wednesday and Sunday. To subscribe, to change E-mail addresses, or to
switch between HTML and plain text versions of themail, use the
subscription form at http://www.dcwatch.com/themail/subscribe.htm.
To unsubscribe, send an E-mail message to themail@dcwatch.com
with “unsubscribe” in the subject line. Archives of past messages
are available at http://www.dcwatch.com/themail.
All postings should also be submitted to themail@dcwatch.com,
and should be about life, government, or politics in the District of
Columbia in one way or another. All postings must be signed in order to
be printed, and messages should be reasonably short — one or two brief
paragraphs would be ideal — so that as many messages as possible can
be put into each mailing.
