Anonymous
09/05/2023 17:27
Subject: DC government is broken, it's Muriel Bowser's fault, and Matt Yglesias got us here
Anonymous wrote:Bowser is the best candidate that we had. Voted for her last time and will likely do so again given the likely candidates.
She has never been the best candidate. But she is the candidate that the "green machine" that created Adrian Fenty, landed on, so here we are.
Anonymous
09/05/2023 15:10
Subject: DC government is broken, it's Muriel Bowser's fault, and Matt Yglesias got us here
Anonymous wrote:
The DC government is bad at performing the basic functions of government.
The agencies are an absolute mess.
DGS can't fix things - public spaces have broken gates and rotting surfaces. Playgrounds are broken and degrade because of terrible maintenance. Schools have broken HVAC.
DPR can't clean playgrounds or pools - rats live in trash cans at schools. The streets are filled with trash. Wilson pool has been closed for SIX MONTHS because the mayoral agencies did not do maintenance.
The housing agency is doing a terrible job managing and assigning vouchers.
The social service agencies are doing a terrible job with mental health care and supporting the homeless.
OSSE is a corrupt ineffectual mess that saddles charters and public schools alike with endless testing and can't even bus students to where they need to go.
The police are engaged in a work slowdown that the mayor is not handling.
We have a strong mayor system, which means the mayor is accountable FOR IT ALL. The Council has very very little power or oversight ability.
This is THE MAYOR'S FAULT.
Muriel Bowser is doing a bad, bad job as mayor.
The Post local section appears to be a handful of interns plus a Republican editor who lives in Maryland. And so when Matt Yglesias told the world that DC should elect Bowser because she had a slightly better housing plank than Robert White, it had a huge effect.
The decay of District government is Bowser's fault, but it's also Yglesias' fault. The guy knows little to nothing about how the District actually works and he has poisoned new DC voters' brains about what is going on.
Someone has to hold Bowser accountable for the absolute disaster of the city executive agencies, which she has total control over. Who will hold her accountable?
(ps if you bring the rightwing BS in here about DC as a city, or blame Nadeau or others who have little control, you will just embarrass yourself. Please address Bowser's administration of the agencies she controls.)
I'm all for bashing Matt Yglesias, but do you seriously think a Substack newsletter is the reason the incumbent Democratic mayor won the Democratic primary in D.C.? Bowser beat White by 9 percentage points. I don't think the "I primarily base my vote on housing politics and/but the only source of information I have on D.C. politics is Matt Yglesisas's opinions on it" bloc accounts for 9 points. I'd be surprised if that bloc accounted for as many as 9 votes.
Anonymous
09/05/2023 15:09
Subject: DC government is broken, it's Muriel Bowser's fault, and Matt Yglesias got us here
The Bowser administration has no shortage of failings, but the absolute lowlight of her tenure was her decision to keep DCPS shuttered for about a year longer than it needed to be. She made that choice for very naked political reasons and we can see very clearly now that it destroyed a full two decades of learning gains and improvements in public safety. It was an unmitigated disaster and the blame for the spike in youth crime and general lawlessness can justifiably lies mostly with that decision.
For the fact that she was reelected we can blame the lack of RCV, Trayon White, Robert White's abysmal campaign, and the failure of anyone with any serious credentials to enter the race.
Unfortunately, there is no one in DC's political scene who is well-positioned to replace her. Of the current crop of council-members, I agree that Christina Henderson is probably the smartest. I doubt she could beat Bowser, though, and probably would also struggle against the likes of Kenyon (who would be abysmal).
How DC gets out of this mess is to vote for RCV in the 2024 referendum (unless the DC DP succeeds in blocking it) and then have Henderson get herself known across the city.
For the fact that she was reelected we can blame the lack of RCV, Trayon White, Robert White's abysmal campaign, and the failure of anyone with any serious credentials to enter the race.
Unfortunately, there is no one in DC's political scene who is well-positioned to replace her. Of the current crop of council-members, I agree that Christina Henderson is probably the smartest. I doubt she could beat Bowser, though, and probably would also struggle against the likes of Kenyon (who would be abysmal).
How DC gets out of this mess is to vote for RCV in the 2024 referendum (unless the DC DP succeeds in blocking it) and then have Henderson get herself known across the city.
Anonymous
09/05/2023 14:39
Subject: DC government is broken, it's Muriel Bowser's fault, and Matt Yglesias got us here
Anonymous wrote:Bowser is the best candidate that we had. Voted for her last time and will likely do so again given the likely candidates.
We have had such horrible choices.
Anonymous
09/05/2023 13:40
Subject: DC government is broken, it's Muriel Bowser's fault, and Matt Yglesias got us here
I agree that the DC government is broken and that Mayor Bowser is responsible. But I don't understand this thread. Who is Matt Yglesias? And what is he responsible for?
Anonymous
09/05/2023 13:06
Subject: DC government is broken, it's Muriel Bowser's fault, and Matt Yglesias got us here
Anonymous wrote:Bowser is the best candidate that we had. Voted for her last time and will likely do so again given the likely candidates.
Yeah, this is the truth. I voted for Catania before, but for Bowser last time. Robert White is a total lightweight.
I'm a reporter who is now old enough to have once covered Vince Grey as the mayor, and I think it's such a shame what happened to him. He has heft and he understood the issues. He should have been mayor for a few more years.
Anonymous
09/05/2023 12:58
Subject: DC government is broken, it's Muriel Bowser's fault, and Matt Yglesias got us here
It all started when Ygie got knockout gamed and then lied about it.
Anonymous
09/05/2023 12:41
Subject: Re:DC government is broken, it's Muriel Bowser's fault, and Matt Yglesias got us here
I want some freaking technocrats in office -- people who get stuff done, make the trains run on time, keep the budget in check, help expand the tax base by making this a desirable place to live and work and have a business.
Except the progressives ARE the technocrats!
Bowser and her people are corrupt and they steer govt contracts to their people and demand complete loyalty.
That's why the agencies suck, because they're run by incompetents whose main qualification is loyalty to Bowser.
Elissa Silverman, the progressive, wanted oversight and less corruption and better government. That's why Bowser hated her and that's why Republican money (DFER, funded by big GOP donors) came in against her.
And yes, Yglesias with his focus on one policy issue and lack of understanding of good governance, really hurt us here.
Anonymous
09/05/2023 12:38
Subject: DC government is broken, it's Muriel Bowser's fault, and Matt Yglesias got us here
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Yglesias? Really?
That's a weird ass tangent. I'd venture that lots of Yglesias readers voted for David Catania in 2014. (this one did)
Dumb take.
Yglesias is a douchebag of the highest order, but I also voted for Catania in 2014. I'm proud to say I've never voted for Muriel and I never will.
Yeah, Yglesias was full pro-Bowser in 2022.
In my experience, talking to people in their 30s who were excited to go out and vote, with kids in school and upset about the state of the city -- many of them were pro- Bowser. And when I asked why, they gave Yglesias' housing talking points.
(I like GG Wash but they too shot ourselves in the foot with their split endorsement of Bowser.)
Anonymous
09/05/2023 12:13
Subject: DC government is broken, it's Muriel Bowser's fault, and Matt Yglesias got us here
Bowser is the best candidate that we had. Voted for her last time and will likely do so again given the likely candidates.
Anonymous
09/05/2023 11:34
Subject: Re:DC government is broken, it's Muriel Bowser's fault, and Matt Yglesias got us here
Anonymous wrote:I think Matt Yglesias is a professional troll but he has ZERO influence over the vast majority of DC voters. Do you actually know who votes in DC? Matt Yglesias speaks to a tiny percent of DC voters and most of his audience lives outside the District.
I can't stand Bowser and consider her a failure as a mayor, but Robert White was an awful candidate. He was musing out loud about closing schools for Covid in the spring of 2023.
A huge problem in DC is that local government focuses WAY too much on political position in a city that is like 98% democrats. Who cares? I don't want to vote for someone who is an anti-semite or a conspiracy theorist, but the amount of debate over hot-button progressive topics is dumb in a town where most people are pretty like-minded. I want some freaking technocrats in office -- people who get stuff done, make the trains run on time, keep the budget in check, help expand the tax base by making this a desirable place to live and work and have a business. I miss Fenty, who I think is a good model -- energetic, growth minded, checks all the liberal/progressive boxes but isn't sitting around virtue signaling because he was too busy actually doing things that made DC a better place to live for all of us.
The one current DC politician I genuinely like right now is Christina Henderson. I actually think Phil Mendelson used to be okay but his alliance with Bowser has not been a good one. The two factions in DC government right now are both do-nothing virtue signalers. Where are the people who know how to actually accomplish something? I guess they decided it's not worth it, which sucks.
The Hatch Act precludes lots of smart, capable federal employees from getting involved in local politics. They can't run for Council or build a political base.
Anonymous
09/05/2023 11:00
Subject: Re:DC government is broken, it's Muriel Bowser's fault, and Matt Yglesias got us here
I think Matt Yglesias is a professional troll but he has ZERO influence over the vast majority of DC voters. Do you actually know who votes in DC? Matt Yglesias speaks to a tiny percent of DC voters and most of his audience lives outside the District.
I can't stand Bowser and consider her a failure as a mayor, but Robert White was an awful candidate. He was musing out loud about closing schools for Covid in the spring of 2023.
A huge problem in DC is that local government focuses WAY too much on political position in a city that is like 98% democrats. Who cares? I don't want to vote for someone who is an anti-semite or a conspiracy theorist, but the amount of debate over hot-button progressive topics is dumb in a town where most people are pretty like-minded. I want some freaking technocrats in office -- people who get stuff done, make the trains run on time, keep the budget in check, help expand the tax base by making this a desirable place to live and work and have a business. I miss Fenty, who I think is a good model -- energetic, growth minded, checks all the liberal/progressive boxes but isn't sitting around virtue signaling because he was too busy actually doing things that made DC a better place to live for all of us.
The one current DC politician I genuinely like right now is Christina Henderson. I actually think Phil Mendelson used to be okay but his alliance with Bowser has not been a good one. The two factions in DC government right now are both do-nothing virtue signalers. Where are the people who know how to actually accomplish something? I guess they decided it's not worth it, which sucks.
I can't stand Bowser and consider her a failure as a mayor, but Robert White was an awful candidate. He was musing out loud about closing schools for Covid in the spring of 2023.
A huge problem in DC is that local government focuses WAY too much on political position in a city that is like 98% democrats. Who cares? I don't want to vote for someone who is an anti-semite or a conspiracy theorist, but the amount of debate over hot-button progressive topics is dumb in a town where most people are pretty like-minded. I want some freaking technocrats in office -- people who get stuff done, make the trains run on time, keep the budget in check, help expand the tax base by making this a desirable place to live and work and have a business. I miss Fenty, who I think is a good model -- energetic, growth minded, checks all the liberal/progressive boxes but isn't sitting around virtue signaling because he was too busy actually doing things that made DC a better place to live for all of us.
The one current DC politician I genuinely like right now is Christina Henderson. I actually think Phil Mendelson used to be okay but his alliance with Bowser has not been a good one. The two factions in DC government right now are both do-nothing virtue signalers. Where are the people who know how to actually accomplish something? I guess they decided it's not worth it, which sucks.
Anonymous
09/05/2023 10:58
Subject: DC government is broken, it's Muriel Bowser's fault, and Matt Yglesias got us here
Anonymous wrote:Yglesias? Really?
That's a weird ass tangent. I'd venture that lots of Yglesias readers voted for David Catania in 2014. (this one did)
Dumb take.
Yglesias is a douchebag of the highest order, but I also voted for Catania in 2014. I'm proud to say I've never voted for Muriel and I never will.
Anonymous
09/05/2023 10:56
Subject: DC government is broken, it's Muriel Bowser's fault, and Matt Yglesias got us here
Yglesias? Really?
That's a weird ass tangent. I'd venture that lots of Yglesias readers voted for David Catania in 2014. (this one did)
Dumb take.
That's a weird ass tangent. I'd venture that lots of Yglesias readers voted for David Catania in 2014. (this one did)
Dumb take.
Anonymous
09/05/2023 10:51
Subject: DC government is broken, it's Muriel Bowser's fault, and Matt Yglesias got us here
The DC government is bad at performing the basic functions of government.
The agencies are an absolute mess.
DGS can't fix things - public spaces have broken gates and rotting surfaces. Playgrounds are broken and degrade because of terrible maintenance. Schools have broken HVAC.
DPR can't clean playgrounds or pools - rats live in trash cans at schools. The streets are filled with trash. Wilson pool has been closed for SIX MONTHS because the mayoral agencies did not do maintenance.
The housing agency is doing a terrible job managing and assigning vouchers.
The social service agencies are doing a terrible job with mental health care and supporting the homeless.
OSSE is a corrupt ineffectual mess that saddles charters and public schools alike with endless testing and can't even bus students to where they need to go.
The police are engaged in a work slowdown that the mayor is not handling.
We have a strong mayor system, which means the mayor is accountable FOR IT ALL. The Council has very very little power or oversight ability.
This is THE MAYOR'S FAULT.
Muriel Bowser is doing a bad, bad job as mayor.
The Post local section appears to be a handful of interns plus a Republican editor who lives in Maryland. And so when Matt Yglesias told the world that DC should elect Bowser because she had a slightly better housing plank than Robert White, it had a huge effect.
The decay of District government is Bowser's fault, but it's also Yglesias' fault. The guy knows little to nothing about how the District actually works and he has poisoned new DC voters' brains about what is going on.
Someone has to hold Bowser accountable for the absolute disaster of the city executive agencies, which she has total control over. Who will hold her accountable?
(ps if you bring the rightwing BS in here about DC as a city, or blame Nadeau or others who have little control, you will just embarrass yourself. Please address Bowser's administration of the agencies she controls.)