August 15, 2007
Morning Roundup: Answering ANSWER Edition
Good morning, Washington. Well, it couldn't last forever: this week's temperatures are edging up after all. And while things are still relatively pleasant, tomorrow's high of 98 still sounds unappealing to our recently-spoiled selves.
D.C. Goes After Posters: WJLA brings encouraging news for anyone who's been sorry to see a lingering ad for a years-passed protest event: the city government is cracking down those who illegally post notices on traffic and utility boxes. Among the biggest offenders is ANSWER, the group responsible for many of the city's largest anti-war protests and some of its most tenacious posters — they're facing thousands of dollars in fines. ANSWER claims that the new enforcement is politically motivated.
Maryland Slots, Yet Again: A new report from O'Malley administration official Thomas Perez seems poised to reignite the slot machine gambling debate in Maryland. The AP, via WTOP, supplies the details: apparently Perez visited parking lots at gambling facilities in neighboring states looking for Maryland plates. This, combined with research that included interviews with gamblers, led him to estimate that Maryland is passing up $150 million of tax revenue by not allowing slots. The report also argues that slots would be an important bulwark against suburban sprawl, as they would prop up the horse racing industry which in turn occuppies rural land that would otherwise be developed. The Post has a writeup, too, albeit one that focuses more on the politics of the report than its Rube Goldberg homages.
Virginia Reinspects Bridges: In the wake of the tragic bridge collapse in Minnesota, Virginia is taking steps to reassure its residents that their bridges are safe, according to NBC4. Beginning August 11, new teams will be sent to re-certify eleven bridges throughout the state. The progress of the project can even be tracked online at what is no doubt an extremely boring website. No word yet on whether you can have bridge SMS updates sent to your phone.
Briefly Noted: Police warn of GPS thefts in Md... Summer blood shortage worse than usual (click here to find donation opportunities)... Second death from construction site hit & run...
This Day In DCist: One year ago we lamented national chains' prominence on "Best of DC" lists and welcomed a triathlon to the nation's capital — one that would eventually wind up being a biathlon (but without rifles and skis).
Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user tjunedavis
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Thank you DC for going after ANSWER! Those assclowns are responsible for as much visual blight in Shaw as the (similar) megalomaniacs that tag their names everywhere here.
And for any ANSWER people reading: I would be more interested in listening to what you have to say if you hadn't been so productive at vandalizing my 'hood.
Yeah. I don't mind the posting (though that's not legal) as much as the insulting disrespect shown by the lack of follow-through on clean-up.
Get 'em up, do the event, take 'em down. And don't whine about political persecution when you don't give enough of a damn to clean up after yourselves.
ANSWER aside, DC could use more flyering and posting of bills. This city looks way too plastic. Don't people live here? Or just robots.
"apparently Perez visited parking lots at gambling facilities in neighboring states looking for Maryland plates. This, combined with research that included interviews with gamblers, led him to estimate that Maryland is passing up $150 million of tax revenue by not allowing slots."
-Next up: Perez visits ski resorts!
It's useless arguing with ANSWER-types. You'll start arguing about city ordinances or the like, and within 15 seconds they'll be talking about Palestine or the School of the Americas.
They are so utterly convinced of the importance of their ideas that any resistance to their ideas or methods is tantamount to fascism. The ironic thing is that they wouldn't want it any other way. They thrive on the cathartic rush of confrontation. Don't be mistaken, they love that the city is making a stink of their advertising. In their eyes, the DC government is just another stooge of this fascist adminstration. This is just another chance to chase that confrontation rush.
H street NE is completely trashed by these yuckel heads. One or two posters a block is informative, but four posters on every single light pole, for blocks is graffitti, and it should be fined.
Thank you for taking on the stinking smelling hippie ANSWER organization. They're no different than graffiti.
I'm actually sympathetic to a few of their "issues" but I'll never participate because they have no focus. Its all a jumbled mess.
Um...yeah, it's called a duathlon. You guys do any research before you write? Even your own link goes to a page saying "Triathlon becomes Duathlon".
ANSWER like a lot of these protest groups can't even focus on one thing to protest. First it's the war, then it's "Palestine," then it's the "system." Do these crust-punks and hippies have protester-ADD or something?
It'a amazing how much trash builds up after each of their protest rallies and how they take over areas like Shaw and H St NE when in town. I'm not opposed to protesting, but I wouldn't mind the litter and annoyances so much if anyone in America actually listened to ANSWER.
Remember Hippie Q. McFreakington... The rest of Americans aren't like you. You'd get your message across far better wearing a business suit or at least clothes that have been washed recently.
ANSWER is an awful organization. Even radicals hate them, and the signs are disgusting. Nobody that truly supports public/street art or graffiti is going to support the corporate advertising of these jerks.
I actually agree with some of ANSWERs political views. But their constant plastering of the parks and streets in my hood with posters that must be scraped off by residents is endlessly annoying and loses them a lot of local support.
I've NEVER seen one of their people come out and take down a poster or scrape off one of those sticky fliers. Ever.
I am so sick of their post it, and leave it crap. Everytime I leave my building I have to stare at their stupid posters still up from last year. They plaster them all over our hood and leave that crap forever! It is about time something is done about it..and yeah in D.C. it is obviously politically motivated, last I checked the D.C. government would be on their side. Idiots
Yes, thank G*d we're tackling the real problems, and cracking down on those people vandalizing our nation's capital with their posters. If someone would just stop all the illegal postering in Iraq's capital we'd be all set . . . and by postering I mean ethnic cleansing.
Thanks for your volunteer efforts, Guest#13!
Maybe you could draft a plan for work Visas that allow Iraqi refugees to come here to remove ANSWER posters? Have it on my desk in the morning, please.
Duathlon = run/bike/run.
Biathlon (usually) = Cross country skiing + rifle shooting.
While it would be interesting to see a biathlon on the Mall, I think MPD, the Secret Service and the Capitol Police would have problems with people running around on skis with guns.
Because all of the millions of posters for Young Jeezy albums aren't a blight?
The ANSWER posters are at least well done and for a good cause. If you're going to go after postering groups, go after all the commercial stuff first.
"ANSWER claims that the new enforcement is politically motivated."
No. Really?
I think it’s great that those deranged little ANSWER turds are finally catching some heat for their constant vandalism, but why fines? Wouldn’t it make more sense to make ANSWER’s leadership stop ranting about Mumia and Israel long enough to go scape all their gigantic stickers down?
ANSWER's rallies seldom achieve anything due to a lack of focus. Sure, they say it's an anti-war rally, but then they tag on nearly every tangential pet cause into their speaker lists, making them seem like a bunch of crazed freaks. If they simply limited the scope of their events to one, focused rallying point, they may actually look like less of a farce and achieve something.
As such, I think that the ANSWER Coalition is a self-defeating farce. Seriously, the "big tent" attitude, while an admirable goal, waters down and corrupts the meaning of their events. In fact, even though I agree with a few of the causes they support, I go out of my way to avoid their events because they are so self-defeating.
Also, as is the case with most of the new-school anti-war rallies: how many of the people who attend them actually put any additional effort into the causes? Simply attending the rally, then saying you "did something" to support the cause by attending the rally, is ego stroking and self-placation of the highest degree.
Just my $0.02 - your mileage may vary.
And I think it is high time that DC cracks down on their insane flyer postings. Then again, they should also hit up Vincent Orange, Adrian Fenty and Harold Brazil for still having signs up for their elections, months (and in Brazil's case, years) after their elections.
The posters are an eyesore and public property should not be used to promote political or commercial causes unless it is open to all and paid for.
I have no problem with metro selling advertising as they make it available to all groups at the same cost (well maybe not Hustler). If Answer can use this property to promote their cause for free, why can’t Starbucks or Subway? I would much rather know where to get my next coffee than where to spend a day protesting.
Answer should inquire about advertising on Metro, bus shelters, etc. and paying for it.
There is already a call to action on ANSWER's website:
Stop Government Attacks
Against the Anti-War Movement!
Take Action to Defend Free Speech
answer.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ANS_homepage
Hey. ANSWER. If it's politically motivated and you want to make the DC government look like idiots, tell your activists to go out and take down the old posters.
You'll get to make the gov't look stupid, and then if you put up new ones, they'll be more noticeable.
If you are just in it to feel superior to everyone else and revel in feeling prosecuted, carry on as before.
Why would ANSWER take down the signs? Have we pulled out of Iraq? Has the Bush administration stopped violating the Constitution?
To "downtown rez:" Here's a plan, how about we let in Iraqi refugees, to prevent them from being slaughtered by the militants we're failing to control. If they want to take down the posters, we can leave that up to them. Would you still like that typed up?
I loathe ANSWER. While I consider myself a raging leftie, the organization is basically anti-Semitic to an extreme, and I'm disgusted by how the mainstream left doesn't call them on it.
During the Republican convention in NY in '04, I had the chance to speak about the Middle East to one of the ANSWER protesters who was there. His basic philosophy:
Israel is an illegitimate state;
Most Israelis are Jews;
Therefore, Jews are illegitimate people;
Therefore, suicide bombings against Jews are acceptable.
And, no, this wasn't an Arab or Muslim guy - just a tongue-pierced white guy with scruffy hair and a Star of David = Swastika T-shirt on.
Utterly vile.
I wonder how vehemently these ANSWER types would protect my First Amendment rights if I were to spray paint "Four More Years! W Is My Homeboy!" on their bikes/messenger bags/group houses.
Guest 23: most of the posters I've seen are for specific marches that happened months or years ago. If they were general statements of opposition to the war you might have a point. But most of ANSWER's postings are clearly advertisements for specific events. They don't bother cleaning up after the event has passed.
The linked article also implies that they may be using an unusually strong adhesive, which seems needlessly destructive.
I have no problem with postering (within limits), but the issue is that these things are so hard to remove. Do you really need to be using industrial-strength glue? If you can't take it down, there really is no difference between these posters and using spray paint.
A compromise? Put up as many posters as you want, but don't make them such a pain in the a** to remove (staples? duct tape?). Ideally you should remove your own signs when you're done, but let's not get overly optimistic... just make it easy for someone who cares more than you about keeping their neighborhood looking nice to do so FOR you.
Sharon, I just love that you used the term "yuckle heads."
Why would ANSWER take down the signs? Have we pulled out of Iraq? Has the Bush administration stopped violating the Constitution?
This is a great example of why it's pointless to argue with these people. Their self-importance justifies all their actions and no cost is too great to express their opinion, particularly considering how rarely they actually have to bear the burden of that cost. When you are so utterly convinved of your own righteousness, you can justify anything.
This is the logic of fanatics.
Of course they have no focus. Just look at what their name stands for:
Act Now to Stop War and End Racism
Okay, those are both great causes that I support, but I fail to see a coherent connection between the two. I think they tacked the "End Racism" part on to the end because ANSWER sounds more empowering than ANSW.
Politically motivated? Really? Because if there's a new political party in town whose principles are 1) clean up after yourself 2) focus on one cause at a time and 3) don't annoy the shit out of people with your completely clueless self-righteous preaching, then SIGN ME UP.
Why does guest #23 sound like she is from ANSWER? And they obviously don't understand the End Racism part from what #24 says, sorry your name was too long to type.
Just because they're idiots doesn't mean they're wrong. If the complaint is really HONESTLY that their posters stick to things and are hard to remove, and not the content of those posters, then you have a point. However it's very hard to make that point without sounding like your whining that "They're getting their icky politics all over my shiny new gentrification."
I for one have little desire for conversation with glassy-eyed hippies, but must admit that in the darkest days of the Bush admin, back when any signs of dissent were characterized by the MSM as lunatic at best and traitorous at worst, I got a little lift every day when I passed the Tom Delay "Put The Hammer In The Slammer" poster glued up in Scott Circle.
Yep, this is what DC cares about most. Anti-war posters.
It only took 33 posts to get to "gentrification!" Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Get an education, get a job, then you too can afford to live in a nice place. Until then, shut about "gentrification" or move out to PG County where poor people belong!
Take that ya hippies
Oh and it only took 35 posts to get to Love It Or Leave It. Fantastic.
Having gotten the first tier education, and the job, and being able to afford to live where the f*** I want, I feel confident in saying that though I don't know you, I can already tell that the problem with the "nice place" where I live is that it's full of people like you. Why can't you move to Northern Virginia where rich people belong?
Not wanting wheatpaste flyers stuck to every lightpost on your block != wanting a Starbucks on every corner.
Should DCist implement a Godwin's Law, applicable to Gentrification?
What's funny is that DC would probably pay an arts coalition millions of dollars to create crappy murals that say the same thing.
"However it's very hard to make that point without sounding like your whining that "They're getting their icky politics all over my shiny new gentrification.""
Nonsense. Wanting to have the little green space we have in DC free of crappy posters for long-over events is hardly a sign of gentrification assholedness. It's a sign of wanting a decently clean park. And it's a sign that the actual residents here are sick to death of these asswipes disrespecting our public spaces.
These losers will put super sticky posters on anything, and they NEVER return to remove them. I've seen them post a dozen or more little posters on a single park bench. WTF good does that do? If you're not convinced of their message after one poster, do they really think the other 11 will turn you?
To me it makes them look like spoiled little children who think that they are special and that rules don't apply to them.
Which is sad, really. As I am sympathetic to some of their causes. It's just them that I can't stand.
Personally, I find my enjoyment of our little green space to be ruined more by the homeless covering every horizontal surface than the obsolete posters covering the vertical ones. And then there's the pervasive stench of urine...
41: You have a valid point. Ironically, ANSWER is undoubtedly in favor of continuing policies that allow homeless people to take over public lands indefinitely.
I'm SO glad to see this is getting brought up. I was out of town, came back and saw that the entirety of Grant Circle was plastered with at least 45 posters, 3 on every light post. So I called the number on the poster to complain and the woman hung up on, told me it was public property and they could do anything they wanted.
I don't mind posters. I do mind, however, 3 posters on every light post every 6 feet around an entire circle in a neighborhood where people are against the war anyway.
It wasn't politically motivated for me. I'm against the war. I just don't want trash all over, that goes for on the ground (which I pick up when I see it) or all over the light posts.