Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Y’all better be careful. You might be accused of being “racist.”
At least, that’s what many of us were called when we had the same criticisms of Obama.

Really??? I'm black and I voted for Catania. Why can't she just be useless. Why do you have to bring up the race card, then be the first one to tell us it's the black people.

Very refreshing attitude. Very unusual too.

Anonymous wrote:Y’all better be careful. You might be accused of being “racist.”
At least, that’s what many of us were called when we had the same criticisms of Obama.

Really??? I'm black and I voted for Catania. Why can't she just be useless. Why do you have to bring up the race card, then be the first one to tell us it's the black people.

What IF DC had Baltimore's mayor?

It coukd be worse. What is DC had Baltimore's mayor ?

Anonymous wrote:Jeff should run. Seriously, DCUM superpac could easily raise millions.

What Marion Barry once said about Jesse Jackson applies to me as well: I don't want to run anything but my mouth (and DCUM).

I'd be willing to bet that more Catania voters were motivated by race than Bowser voters.

Anonymous wrote:I grant that race is a large factor in DC, but I think that Fenty and Bowser, the darlings of WaPo, are more on the white side of the divide than the black side. Going back a few years, David Clarke had no problem getting elected citywide, and maybe David Grosso could do it today.

If the US can have a black President, DC can certainly have a white, Latino or Asian Mayor.

And soon.

Jeff should run. Seriously, DCUM superpac could easily raise millions.

I grant that race is a large factor in DC, but I think that Fenty and Bowser, the darlings of WaPo, are more on the white side of the divide than the black side. Going back a few years, David Clarke had no problem getting elected citywide, and maybe David Grosso could do it today.

Anonymous wrote:I don't get this. Why is a spike in DC crime being blamed on Bowser rather than Lanier? Or on the white members of Congress who refuse to support tougher gun control laws? What specific policy decisions did MB make to warrant singling her out here?

You really believe that the criminals who are killing with guns would abide by tougher gun control laws????

I don't get this. Why is a spike in DC crime being blamed on Bowser rather than Lanier? Or on the white members of Congress who refuse to support tougher gun control laws? What specific policy decisions did MB make to warrant singling her out here?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good leadership has nothing to do with race.

I think the argument could be made that Bowser is incompetent AND that she isn't responsible for the spike in crime.

I agree. Although I get the sense that at least a couple of people are saying that if a White candidate ran against a Black candidate, that they would presume that the White candidate is the "better" candidate. It is the whole racial idenity voting thing in reverse.

I don't think she is responsible for the spike in crime, but she is certainly responsible for responding to the spike in crime, and where it comes to the kinds of violent crime that has been happening, I want to see a commensurate spike in arrests, prosecutions and convictions to swiftly and aggressively deal with the spike in crime. But, I'm not seeing any of that. This city is certainly efficient and aggressive at policing parking violations, I'd like to see the same with policing *real* crimes, and to have that be a much greater priority rather than harrassing and oppressing non-violent offenders.

Anonymous wrote:Good leadership has nothing to do with race.

I think the argument could be made that Bowser is incompetent AND that she isn't responsible for the spike in crime.

I agree. Although I get the sense that at least a couple of people are saying that if a White candidate ran against a Black candidate, that they would presume that the White candidate is the "better" candidate. It is the whole racial idenity voting thing in reverse.

Anonymous wrote:I understand that the lot of you just want to complain, but I would love to hear what you think that Bowser should be doing. What would you suggest, since you are so motivated and well informed?

Agreed. I didn't vote for Bowser and I was really worried about her lack of leadership over the years. That said, it's not clear to me yet what needs to be done. This isn't like negotiating over a sports stadium where you have a negotiating partner and clear interests at stake. The mayor says one thing. The police union says another. My pissed off neighbors say something else. But I don't know yet what should happen. And it's not even clear how much control any one institution has over these circumstances even it were clear what should happen. Some people on this board love Anthony Williams. Does anyone know what Williams would have done, for example? I'm willing to wait a little longer for Bowser to put together something more comprehensive. Would also be interested in hearing what other cities facing this sudden increase are doing, too.

Anonymous wrote:We could have Marion Berry's offspring.

Not gonna happen. The kid couldn't campaign his way out of a wet paper bag. Marion knew how to campaign.