Let Him Enforce It If He Can
Dear Enforcers:
I really do want to get on to other subjects, but at the DCist site
Martin Austermuhle responded to what I wrote in the last issue on DC’s
gun laws, http://dcist.com/2008/07/24/in_a_post_today_imhoff.php.
Martin wrote, “Our problem with Imhoff’s logic is that he doesn’t
see any difference between what Congress can do and what Congress should
do. We’ve long known that Congress can act as a benevolent dictator
(or not so benevolent, depending on the member playing the role) when it
comes to the District’s local affairs, but we’ll never argue that it’s
right that they do so. Yes, the Supreme Court ruled that handgun
ownership can no longer be banned, but they didn’t spell out exactly
which regulations and restrictions are permissible. And yes, the DC
council is playing dumb, making only the most incremental changes and
running the risk of years and years of litigation. But that’s how
democracy works — legislative bodies legislate, the judiciary weighs
the constitutionality of their actions. Just because Imhoff disagrees
with the DC council’s actions — even if he believes they are not
living up to the spirit of the court’s decision — doesn’t mean
that Congress should suddenly step in and legislate for us. If anything,
it means that Imhoff should start writing letters, lobbying council
members and even threatening to run himself should the council not act.
If he’s not willing to work within the District’s democratic
process, than he should be ready for the Pandora’s Box he’s willing
to open by saying that in this case it’s OK that Congress legislate
for the District from up on high.”
There are two problems with Martin’s problem with my logic. The
first is that he apparently believes that, except for the courts, the
federal government should not act when a state or a federal district
like DC violates the constitutional rights of its citizens, and that the
courts should be left alone to enforce their decisions. In 1832 the
Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokee tribe was a sovereign nation, and
that the government could not expel the Cherokee from Georgia unless
they signed a treaty agreeing to move. One of the many variants of what
President Andrew Jackson famously said after that ruling is, “[Chief
Justice] John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it if
he can.” That defiant attitude was echoed by many southern states in
the wake of the Court’s school desegregation ruling, and by the
District government in the wake of the Court’s Second Amendment ruling
in DC v. Heller. In the Cherokee case, the Supreme Court’s
ruling was not enforced, and Jackson and his generals were never
punished for the injustice of the Trail of Tears. In contrast, in the
aftermath of Brown v. Board of Education, although there were
many court cases for decades following the decision, the president and
Congress, not just the courts, took active roles in enforcing the ruling
against local and state governments that resisted school desegregation
— Eisenhower even reluctantly sent the National Guard to Little Rock.
Martin apparently thinks that Eisenhower was wrong, and prefers the
Jacksonian approach of seeing whether the Supreme Court has the power to
enforce its own decision.
The second problem is that under the article of the constitution that
created the District of Columbia, Congress does have exclusive, total,
and ultimate legislative authority over DC. That is a fact. You don’t
have to like it, but it can’t be wished away. It does no good to say
that Congress shouldn’t fulfill its constitutional duties. If our city
government insists on passing laws that violate the constitutional
rights of its citizens, it is deliberately provoking Congress and
inviting it to act. It is the one opening Pandora’s box. It is also
sabotaging DC’s efforts to attain statehood or a vote in Congress. As
commentators on Martin’s article have mentioned, DC Vote is doing a
nationwide tour seeking support for their efforts to get a Congressional
vote. How effective will its tour be when groups that support the Second
Amendment start organizing to meet DC Vote at its appearances, asking
why the city is defying the Supreme Court’s ruling? In how many states
will defying Heller make DC’s cause more popular? In addition,
Adrian Fenty is doing a national tour campaigning for Barack Obama. How
long will Obama continue to use Fenty as a surrogate after the press
asks him whether he supports Fenty’s position on gun laws?
Joel Lawson sends a follow-up to Ed Barron’s posting on harassment
of photographers at Union Station. It’s a report on his blog about
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s hearing on the issue, http://lightboxdc.blogspot.com/2008/07/norton-schools-union-station-management.html.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
Bans on the breaking up of six-packs of beer by liquor stores to be
sold as “singles” are increasingly popular, with bans already in
place in Wards 4, 7, and 8, and bills now in the council for bans in
Ward 2, part of Ward 6, and in Mount Pleasant (Ward 1). These bans are
aimed at indigent drinkers who want to, or can afford to, buy only one
bottle of beer, then take it onto the street for open-air drinking.
These problem drinkers are notoriously badly behaved, getting drunk,
sleeping on park benches, and using alleys and gardens as urinals.
Single sales bans are supposed to end this noxious behavior.
Ah, but does such a ban “end” the bad behavior, or does it merely
shift it from one place to another? No one believes that merely
eliminating cheap singles will reform problem street drinkers and put a
stop to their bad behavior. But our councilmembers imply that it does,
noting the improvements where bans are in place, and never admitting
that the sole goal of a single sales ban is to make these unpleasant men
go somewhere else, away from the complaining residents. One Mount
Pleasant resident at recent council hearings revealed the truth: after
the ban went into effect, his neighborhood drunks “evaporated, they
went away, and we don’t see them any more.” Well, I’m sure that’s
happy news for him, but presumably these men are still out there
someplace, drinking and littering and sleeping and urinating. Is it
acceptable public policy to solve my problem by taking it out of my back
yard and putting it into yours?
Our District councilmembers have been unwilling to face up to the
real problem: a population of problem drinkers, many of them homeless,
forced out of shelters and onto the streets during the day, with no
access to toilets, and nothing to do but sit on park benches and drink
the cheapest alcohol they can find. On July 23, the Mount Pleasant ANC,
by a unanimous vote, called on the District council to give up the bogus
single-sales bans and instead look for a more responsible solution to
the problem. Curing these men of alcohol addiction is not realistic, but
we could mitigate the neighborhood nuisance factor by providing daytime
shelters, where they would no longer be an unpleasant presence in our
parks and on our streets, and would not be using our alleys as public
toilets. Unsatisfactory as that may be as a solution to the problem, it
beats simply shoving the problem population from one neighborhood to
another.
###############
Showdown at the DCPS Corral
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
Reforming DC Public Schools: publicly DC’s elected leadership tries
to give the appearance that they are united regarding efforts to reform
DCPS. However, when it comes to implementing that “reform” agenda,
relationships between the Fenty administration and the city council have
become increasingly contentious.
Skirmishes: in recent months, there have been several skirmishes
between the council and the Fenty administration that have pierced the
thin veneer of cooperation. For example, in the spring the council was
angered by the lack of transparency and detail in the FY 2009 budget the
mayor and Chancellor Rhee submitted to the council. Council Chairman
Vincent Gray refused to move Fenty’s nomination of Robert A. Wines to
the State Board of Education (PR17-645) after a disastrous roundtable
confirmation hearing in March at which Wines showed no knowledge of the
public school system or the mayor’s reform proposals, gave evasive
answers, and displayed no background in education. The council failed to
approve Fenty’s selection of Dr. Kenneth Wong and Dr. Rick Hess to
serve as the independent evaluation team to do the annual assessment of
DCPS as required by Section 204 of the Public Education Reform Act of
2007 (PR 17-765) because of concerns that they were not truly neutral
and independent and because of questions about the outside funding for
their salaries and the work of their evaluation team. And in June the
council balked when the mayor submitted thirteen school modernization
contracts totaling $81 million and two reprogrammings of funds totaling
$124 million because they were sent to the council late with
insufficient documentation, and the administration refused to provide
witnesses to answer questions at two separately scheduled hearings.
War: now the Fenty-Rhee-Reinoso team may be on a collision course
with the council over the proposed contract that Rhee will submit to the
Washington Teachers Union (summary at http://www.dcpswatch.com/wtu/080721.pdf).
Rhee is seeking to bypass WTU’s Executive Board and Delegate Assembly
and take her proposed contract directly to the union membership. To
accomplish that goal, Fenty and Rhee have launched a public relations
campaign, both nationally and locally, to discredit the union and
badmouth Washington teachers. The contract is a real union buster,
asking current teachers to give up job security in exchange for
potential pay bonuses. The government will not fund the bonuses,
however; Rhee and Fenty are seeking startup funds from foundations such
as Gates and Broad and the District’s business community, such as
CareFirst and developers. As a result, funding for the possible bonuses
will only be guaranteed for the first year of the contract, while
teachers will have given up tenure and job security, both for themselves
and all new hires, permanently. However, the council has traditionally
been very pro-union, and if councilmembers don’t come out against
these provisions in negotiations with teachers they will signal to all
government employee unions that they can’t be trusted to support them
against Fenty’s future union-busting initiatives.
###############
I never thought that I would see the day our Washington Teachers
Union would be offered a proposed contract that seeks to eliminate the
due process rights of teachers. In a climate in which teachers are
frequently disrespected and anti-teacher and antiunion rhetoric is
regularly espoused by our chancellor and the mainstream press, I am not
surprised this is happening. This year Chancellor Rhee’s office fired
seventy-eight probationary teachers in June without regard to their
certification, work performance, and annual evaluations. I am fearful
that teachers giving up seniority and tenure rights on both the red and
green tiers will lead to massive terminations.
Our proposed teachers contract is full of dangerous pitfalls ahead on
both tiers. The red tier, which is being sold as the safe tier, takes
away teachers’ seniority rights. If teachers are excessed (eliminated)
on this tier, which they frequently are, they can find another teaching
job only with the mutual consent of a willing principal. Under the
current contract, they must be placed in another job if they are
excessed without the consent of a principal. If they don’t find
another job, initially they can chose to quit with a one time $25,000
bonus, retire early, or hang around to try to find a job during the next
year. Should they not be able to find a job within one year, teachers
will be fired without any financial incentives. Unlike what the Post
reports, all teacher raises and bonuses on both tiers will be based
totally on private funds, which are not recurring. If the union fails to
vote for this contract, our chancellor states that teachers will receive
no cost-of-living raises. No credible school system seeks to maintain
and attract a cadre of teachers as career professionals using these
draconian methods. Vote no on this contract and support going to an
impasse in the name of fair and collective bargaining! Write to American
Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten at rweingar@aft.org
and to Mr. George Bordenave, AFT/WTU National Representative, at gbordena@aft.org
to voice your concerns.
###############
Update on Student Efforts to Reinstate Dr.
Siebens at Wilson High School
Sarah Cox-Shrader, sarah.coxshrader@gmail.com
Hanna Mahon, hanna.mahon@gmail.com
Our last posting [themail, July 23] alerted readers to the testimony
by Wilson students before the DC city council on Friday, July 11, in an
effort to reverse the decision to remove Dr. Arthur Siebens, Wilson High
School’s dedicated and beloved biology teacher. Four of Dr. Siebens’
students also testified the next day, July 12, before the city council
at its monthly youth hearing. Two students testified explaining their
reasons for supporting Dr. Siebens’ reinstatement, and two students
sang one of the songs composed by Dr. Siebens to help his students learn
biology concepts, “The Nephron’s Like A Grapevine” (to the tune of
“I Heard It Through The Grapevine”), which teaches about kidney
function. They also sang “Do You Know How Much I Miss You?” which
was written by Dr. Siebens as a tribute to his students. Following this
testimony, councilmembers were very supportive of Dr. Siebens. “I wish
we had the authority to be able to hire him back, because I would in a
New York minute,” said Chairman Vincent Gray. “Everything we have
heard thus far would suggest an egregious error has been made here and
that our young people are going to be deprived of a wonderful teacher,
role model and somebody who loves his students,” added Gray. Excerpts
of the comments and questions from Chairman Vincent Gray and
Councilmembers Cheh and Alexander are available at http://www.dcpswatch.com/wilson/080712.htm.
The students have also created an online petition for current and
former Wilson students and their parents to support Dr. Sieben’s
reinstatement. The petition provides additional information about Dr.
Siebens and the decision to remove him from the Wilson faculty. Launched
on Thursday, July 17th, the petition already has over five hundred
signatures. The petition is at http://gopetition.com/petitions/reinstate-dr-art-siebens.html.
Petition signers have left comments as well, including the following
representative sampling available at http://www.dcpswatch.com/wilson/080727.htm.
###############
Rhee Has It Right
Ed T. Barron, edtb1@macdotcom
The only way to improve the results in DC’s schools is to get good
teachers in every classroom. Some schools in NY City have shown
incredible performance gains in those schools where teacher tenure was
bypassed and non-tenured teachers were placed in the classrooms. That
means getting rid of tenure and replacing it with a merit system that
rewards performance. School principals can only make their schools work
right if they can put good teachers in every class and get rid of those
who cannot perform. School Chancellor Rhee is offering raises to teacher
who can demonstrate good performance. This is just what the Teachers
Union is fighting against, and if the union prevails our schools will
never improve. Parents and taxpayers have to choose between teacher
tenure and better schools for our students.
###############
The Many Facets of Freedom
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
While teaching a videoblogging class for SALSA, the Social Action
Leadership School for Activists, it occurred to me that I need to
practice more of what I preach. So I composed this new freedom song that
connects the civil rights movement to the free software movement. I
uploaded a video of this song to YouTube and added lyrics underneath:
(See http://youtube.com/watch?v=6cPTUsDyZ6c)
When I shared this song with Malcolm Wiseman, a freedom fighter right
here in themail, I was pleased that he enjoyed the song. Malcolm has
been fighting for voting rights in DC from way back in the last century.
He’s also a huge fan of Linux and free software. This is no
coincidence.
Astute viewers will notice that I packed a bunch of allusions into
this song. Some of these allusions are “double allusions,” alluding
to more than one reference. The first person who correctly identifies
the double allusions to “rice” and “Sun” gets a free meal with
me at the Lebanese Taverna, in Woodley Park, which is my favorite
restaurant in DC. My graduate students at American University were able
to recognize most of the allusions in this song, but then again they had
been listening to me preach (I mean teach) for several weeks.
###############
The Fenty Administration Alone Is Not the
Problem
Qawi Robinson, qrobinso@lycos.com
Fellow DCWatchers, I must say that the July 20 edition read more like
satire from the Onion than what I’ve come to expect. It was
satirical in the sense that we all are passionate about our causes, but
collectively we have not fully come to the realization that the current
Administration cares less for citizens and familles than it does for
corporate and Congressional pressures. The good legacy that many of us,
as citizens, left in previous decades is slowly being eroded by careless
actions by some politicians. To blame Fenty solely for this is missing
the point. This style of governing was in effect prior to his
administration. The only difference is that Fenty does more photo ops,
is less tolerant of other’s mistakes and more tolerant of his own.
Time and time again the collective voices in this newsletter have stated
what most people already know — that good, bad, or indifferent, DC is
changing. Only time will tell if this “change is what we can believe
in,” to borrow from a campaign slogan.
Before Rhee, DCPS was systematically disassembled by financial and
occupational corruption, elimination of full representation on the Board
of Education, and apathy (from students, parents, teachers, and WTU).
Based on this, it is no wonder that Rhee will continue on this path. She
is yet another in the long line of “fixers” who have ideas to repair
a system that is a shell of itself in the first place. The only
difference between her and previous superintendents is that she can
exercise more power because of Fenty’s backing and the WTU President’s
catering to her every whim/firing/downsizing. All of this is done under
the guise of reform. “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.”
It is unimaginable to think that just twenty or thirty years ago, a
publicly elected school board along with several superintendents of
schools, and committed teachers were able to produce countless college
and trade school bound scholars. DCPS has been called bad for so long
that we don’t even remember when we were the envy of the metropolitan
area. What changed? We (as a community and city) stopped giving a “you
know what,” which grew into apathy, which ultimately put us in the
mess we are in. The challenge now is to show the public and the current
administration that not only parents care about DCPS, but those in the
community do too.
I also noticed that no one in themail has reported or commented on
the Director of CFSA stepping down. Some would say good riddance to a
bad agency, but with the morale low and the turnover rates high, not
having capable people (or in some cases any people) surely affects the
community, which in turn affects the schools, which in turn can affect
crime, policing, and eventually the city.
###############
Interesting Response to the Supreme Court
Ruling
Bob Levine, rilevine@cpcug.org
Here is an interesting response to the Supreme Court ruling on the DC
gun ban. It’s short and clever and from NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92905101&sc=emaf.
###############
DC Log Cabin Republicans Endorse Carol
Schwartz and Christina Culver
Chris Scalise, president, DC Log Cabin
Republicans, cmscalise@comcast.net
On July 23, the DC Log Cabin Republicans endorsed Carol Schwartz
(R-At Large) for reelection in the Republican primary and the general
election, along with Christina Culver, candidate for Ward 2 DC council
for the November general election.
Our members made a good choice by endorsing Carol and Christina. They
share a desire to want to move our city forward with commonsense reforms
while protecting and expanding rights for the gay and lesbian
communities. The DC Log Cabin Republicans will be there in full support
for Carol and Christina on primary day and this November’s election
day.”
###############
Join DCVote at the Democratic and Republican
Conventions
Eugene Dewitt Kinlow, info@dcvote.org
Going to one of the conventions? DC Vote’s staff and supporters
will be spreading the message of DC voting rights to delegates from the
across the country. We will have the unique opportunity to educate and
engage thousands of new, politically-active supporters. We’ll be at
the Democratic National Convention, in Denver, Colorado, August 25-28,
and the Republican National Convention, in Minneapolis/Saint Paul,
Minnesota: September 1-4.
If you’ll be at either convention, sign up at http://www.dcvote.org/involved/conventions.cfm?cid=1554&uid=125132
to receive all the latest updates on our activities including
invitations to some great events and opportunities to volunteer with DC
Vote.
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Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham, the WMATA
Board, and Representing the Citizenry
Richard Layman, rlaymandc@yahoo.com
Despite Dino Drudi’s reasonable point [themail, July 16] about
appointing at-large councilmembers to such positions as the WMATA Board,
to ensure that all of the city’s residents are heard and represented,
I believe that I am heard by Councilmember Graham with regard to transit
and WMATA issues, although I now live in Ward 4.
Certainly, Councilmember Graham’s advocacy for all riders vis-a-vis
the recent fare hikes was not focused only on his Ward 1 constituents.
In fact, his strident advocacy for bus riders in particular was noticed
and appreciated in many quarters of the city. I still appreciate
Councilmember Graham’s advocacy for bicyclists, who live in all wards
and throughout the region, for extending the hours that bicycles would
be permitted on the subway, as well as for adding bicycle racks to all
Metrobuses. I also appreciate his advocacy for extending subway system
hours on Friday and Saturday nights.
Clearly, Councilmember Graham represents all of the city, and looks
out for regional interests as well, in his service as one of DC’s
representative on the WMATA board of directors.
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Right to Bear Arms
Ron Linton, rmich@rcn.com
So if understand you, I have a right to bear any arms, under any
circumstances, in any manner, as long as it is in self defense, where I
believe myself to be threatened. But this leaves out the rights of those
who believe the Second Amendment was designed to allow them to gather up
their neighbors and go overthrow any tyrannical government. In today’s
world that would require substantially more than just an automatic
handgun. I want to keep my tank in the garage and mount my cannon on the
front porch. And as for self defense, if I see a group coming down the
street that I believe is threatening, I’ll lob a few rounds of grape
canister at them.
Of course this is nonsense to the extreme. But so is most of the
debate from both sides of the issue. The writers of the Second Amendment
hardly had the foresight to visualize the nature of arms in the
twenty-first century. If they had, might it not be reasonable to assume
they would have written something different from what they did in a
world of muzzle loaders, single-shot pistols, and five pounders?
A lethal weapon is a dangerous instrument and arms fall into that
category. Some are opposed to even police having arms as a routine
matter. There are enough examples of emotionally impulsive use of a
firearm resulting in fatality that suggest great caution. What is
missing here is a discussion of the requirements for the maintenance and
use of arms of every nature. I don’t see that happening. If one is
going to be allowed to have and use a dangerous instrument, then we need
to have rules that govern the responsibility of the individual with the
weapon. This is not an either “nothing” or “all” situation. It
is one that calls for a deliberate and careful postulation of rules.
[It is a common argument that the Second Amendment is outdated and
outmoded because today’s rifles and pistols are improved from 18th
century rifles and pistols. But when the Bill of Rights was written, the
only mass media were newspapers and pamphlets printed on hand presses.
Since then, electronic presses, movies, radio, television, and the
Internet have been invented. Do those mechanical advances make the First
Amendment obsolete? Should freedom of the press be allowed only to those
who use hand presses, or do the principles in the Bill of Rights remain
valid even in the face of technological change? You can guess what I
think. — Gary Imhoff]
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Fun Family Films Under the Stars, July 29, 31
John A. Stokes, john.astokes@dc.gov
The District’s Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) will hold
“Fun Family Films Under The Stars,” its 2008 Family Movie Night
Season, this summer. “Fun Family Films Under The Stars,” which
continues until late-September, will afford residents of all ages and
families of all sizes the opportunity to enjoy viewing the free,
family-oriented films in DPR’s outdoor settings. As in previous years,
viewers are invited to bring their own snacks, chairs, and blankets.
This year, District residents will have a greater selection of viewing
locations. Movies will be shown from 8:45 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Community members who arrive early enough for each screening will
have the opportunity to place a vote between two movies that may be
shown that evening. The movie that receives the most votes will be
shown.
Tuesday, July 29, Hamilton Recreation Center, 1340 Hamilton Street,
NW
Thursday, July 31, Guy Mason Recreation Center, 3600 Calvert Street, NW
Thursday, July 31, Stead Recreation Center, 1625 P Street, NW
###############
National Building Museum Events, July 30-31
Jazmine Zick, jzick@nbm.org
Wednesday, July 30, 6:00-8:00 p.m., Outreach Program: Investigating
Where We Live Exhibition Opening Reception. Join us for a visual journey
as middle and high school students reveal their fresh perspectives on
three of Washington’s vibrant and historic neighborhoods. This
student-designed exhibition features photographs, writings, and artwork
developed over the course of the IWWL program. Free. Registration not
required.
Thursday, July 31, 6:30-8:00 p.m., Origins of the Bauhaus. Martin
Moeller, National Building Museum senior vice president and curator,
uncovers the complex origins of the Bauhaus, the sometimes surprising
work of its students and faculty, and its lasting legacy. $12 members;
$12 students; $20 nonmembers. Prepaid registration required. Walk-in
registration based on availability. Both events at the National Building
Museum, 401 F Street, NW, Judiciary Square stop, Metro Red Line.
Register for events at http://www.nbm.org.
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