marion barry

[Anonymous]

i don't even know why i am bringing this up, but....

is anyone else stunned that a member of the city council has his wages garnished by the federal govt for nonpayment of taxes? and that DC itself will likely soon be taking steps to garnish his wages--the wages he earns as a city official. i just CAN"T get my mind around it.

and he hasn't filed his 2008 taxes.

i don't know why i am even trying to understand it, but i am.

[Anonymous]

You are stunned about Barry's non payment of taxes? This seems pretty low on the list of things Barry has done and yet he continues to be re-elected. That's democracy for you.

[Anonymous]

It boggles my mind too OP.

In fact, I was surprised he got another gov't job at all (an elected city council job no less!) after his arrest years back. I guess only politicians can get away with that...and paying taxes (the list seems to keep growing). So much for do as I say, not as I do.

[Anonymous]

Let's face it. There is some sort of supernatural force field around Marion Barry that is bigger than all of DC. No one understands it. Everyone just shrugs their shoulders and accepts it, because it has been there so long that we have all given up trying to figure it out.

[Anonymous]

People on this list may trust the Feds more than they trust Barry, but down in Ward 8, I think it's a very different story. What we see as prosecution looks like persecution to them.

[Anonymous]

So true, pp, and the mistrust has been earned by the Feds. People in Ward 8 have suffered a lot. However, when it comes to Marion Barry it also looks like co-dependence to me.

[Anonymous]

No it does not suprise me. DC has one of the lowest HS graduation rates in the country.

[Anonymous]

I think to understand why Marion Barry keeps getting re-elected, you would have to understand DC. When Marion Barry was mayor, he cared about the black people in DC - in particular he gave them jobs. Now, DC has turned white and gentrified and no one cares about the black people who have lived in DC all their lives - they are simply too busy trying to ship them out to PG County. It is funny that white people used to run from DC and now they are moving back in after they determined it was "cool" to do so. And the most recent mayors have encouraged it. Now, it is full of uppity white folks who make ignorant comments like - DC has the lowest HS graduation rated in the country. I don't expect you to understand it - you are too wrapped up in your own world and probably don't notice black people on the street.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Now, it is full of uppity white folks who make ignorant comments like - DC has the lowest HS graduation rated in the country.

Angry much? I am a native Washingtonian and I am black...the sad truth is DC has an abysmal HS graduation rate. Its a sad legacy from the Barry years.

Data from research conducted on a cohort of 9th grade students from DC public schools AND DC charter schools showed the following:

Of every 100 students who enter 9th grade in DCPS and DC charter schools:
• 43 graduate from high school in the District within five years,
• 29 enroll in postsecondary educational programs within 18 months of
• graduating high school, and
• 9 attain a postsecondary degree within five years of enrolling in college.

Data is from the 2006 report, Doubling the Number for College Success, www.doublethenumbersdc.org.

And I don't appreciate your use of the word "uppity".

[Anonymous]

He is so pathetic:
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Mayor-for-Life-Drops-800-on-Jacket-for-His-Girlfriend.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think to understand why Marion Barry keeps getting re-elected, you would have to understand DC. When Marion Barry was mayor, he cared about the black people in DC - in particular he gave them jobs. Now, DC has turned white and gentrified and no one cares about the black people who have lived in DC all their lives - they are simply too busy trying to ship them out to PG County. It is funny that white people used to run from DC and now they are moving back in after they determined it was "cool" to do so. And the most recent mayors have encouraged it. Now, it is full of uppity white folks who make ignorant comments like - DC has the lowest HS graduation rated in the country. I don't expect you to understand it - you are too wrapped up in your own world and probably don't notice black people on the street.

There's a big difference between "caring" in the abstract while setting up a corrupt, dependent patronage system and effective leadership leading to functional city services and citizens. And it is the normal way of the world for demographics to change over time.

I'm also somewhat steamed about the public $800 expense, but it isn't an offense on the crack level or even the mismanagement level, though I guess it is an example of personal financial mismanagement.

[Anonymous]

Marion Barry is a joke. He has made himself into a joke. Pity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Now, it is full of uppity white folks who make ignorant comments like - DC has the lowest HS graduation rated in the country.

Angry much? I am a native Washingtonian and I am black...the sad truth is DC has an abysmal HS graduation rate. Its a sad legacy from the Barry years.

Data from research conducted on a cohort of 9th grade students from DC public schools AND DC charter schools showed the following:

Of every 100 students who enter 9th grade in DCPS and DC charter schools:
• 43 graduate from high school in the District within five years,
• 29 enroll in postsecondary educational programs within 18 months of
• graduating high school, and
• 9 attain a postsecondary degree within five years of enrolling in college.

Data is from the 2006 report, Doubling the Number for College Success, www.doublethenumbersdc.org.

And I don't appreciate your use of the word "uppity".

Amen, PP. And Marion Barry did an enormous amount of damage to the District, especially our public schools, through the system of patronage that he initiated, and that helps return him to the council year after year.

[Anonymous]

Much as I dislike Marion Barry, I suspect a lot of damage to the public schools had already been done before he became mayor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Much as I dislike Marion Barry, I suspect a lot of damage to the public schools had already been done before he became mayor.

I'm the pp who mentioned the schools, and yes, you're right -- but he was on the council at that time, I think, and was a huge player in driving the patronage system that has devastated the District. I read several histories of DC public schools recently, and they all agreed on that.