December 18, 2008
Morning Roundup: Fourth Amendment & Banal Entertainment
Good morning, Washington. You'll have to excuse us if this opinion is off-base — last night was the DCist holiday party, and we're slightly worse for wear. But to those of you who caught Christmas in Washington on TNT last night: wasn't that about the most godawful nonsense you ever saw? Good lord. Doctor Phil presiding over holiday standards sung by washed up actresses and the guy from Hootie and the Blowfish? It wasn't exactly what we wanted to have associated with our city.
Questions Raised About Fenty Granting Lanier Subpoena Power: The Examiner reports on a new clash between the City Council and Mayor Fenty. It seems that a quietly-issued executive order from the mayor provides subpoena power for MPD Chief Cathy Lanier. This doesn't sit well with councilwoman and constitutional law professor Mary Cheh, who feels that the measue may violate the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement. Fenty appears to have crafted the order to speed up the investigation and prosecution of small-scale crimes. However, when other cities grant such powers to their police forces, they're typically more limited in scope and duration.
Inauguration Performers Announced: The inaugural festivities will include Aretha Franklin and Yo-Yo Ma, according to WJLA. It's safe to say that these choices were, well, safe to say. A bit more controversial: pastor Rick Warren, who's slated to offer an opening prayer and whose past support of California's prop 8 is prompting objections from progressives.
Briefly Noted: Kaine proposes budget cuts... Neighbors object to church's new quarter-hour bell schedule... Reward increased for information related to fatal 11th & Q shooting... Shooting leads to crash at North Capitol and Michigan Ave... Man acquitted of manslaughter after accidentally leaving son in car... 500 chickens seized from suspected cockfighting operation in Virginia... Shooting in SE... Wilson Bridge traffic snarled by police chase... Fire department makes late night call to State Department...
This Day In DCist: One year ago we got back a bunch of things: our postmark, our needle exchange program and Alberto's.
Image posted to DCist Photos by Karon
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"500 chickens seized from suspected cockfighting operation in Virginia."
I though Michael Vick was still in jail...or was this Marcus?
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The choice of Warren is a slap in the face.
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I was stuck in that Wilson Bridge fiasco. One smashed VW convertible and FIFTEEN state troopers surrounding it, blocking off two-of-three lanes. WTF? Get a wrecker and get that $h!t off the road. Here it is THREE hours later and they're still blocking the bridge. Shouldn't you guys be out, I dunno, shaking down hookers or something?
If that church really wanted to be annoying, they'd replace the bell with a digital loudspeaker that played "Turkey in the Straw" ad nauseum. At least they'd have an excuse to sell Good Humor ice cream.
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Washed up actresses? Kristin Chenoweth? You're joking right?
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As long as the church doesn't mind me playing AC/DC at a volume equal to their bells every 15 minutes, I think they should be able to play their bells.
I like to bring peace to the neighborhood too, in my own way.
Fair is Fair.
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I'd volunteer to ring the bell myself while rescuing gypsies and screaming "SANCTUARY! SANCTUARY!" but I'm already late for a briefing at the Pentagon. That Bob Gates is a tough customer. God forbid you use Courier in your Powerpoint slides.
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Yeah, I've got "subpoenas" for you.
IN MY PANTS.
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I don't completely understand the backlash about Rick Warren. Obama stood out in the campaign for his conciliatory language. He was against the "us" versus "them" mentality. I do disagree with many of Rick Warren's beliefs, but Obama is making a statement - that there can be redeeming qualities in people that don't share all of your views.
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"Yo-Yo Ma rocks!"
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Whatever happend to DC's needledick exchange program? Because there are a couple Councilmembers I'd like to trade in for some heroin. At least the heroin serves a purpose.
Heh. "Member." Heh.
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marigold - That is correct. However, many people, myself included, believe that "acknowledging redeeming qualities in people that don't share all your views" does not include rewarding those people with a historic honor.
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only person i would have watched on the TNT thing last night was Kristin Chenoweth. Dr. Phil is a hypocrite. but i totally have a girl crush on Kristin Chenoweth. have you seen her, or heard her sing?
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It sounds like instead of Christmas in Washington they should've have called it A C-List Christmas.
By the way, according to the Reliable Source one Blowfish married another Blowfishes ex-wife. Awwkward...
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How does one snag the dcist holiday party invite? I’ve been making inappropriate comments for over a year now and so far nothing. Of course I would hate for y’all to miss my very special eggnog ala boondoggle. I like to say there is something of myself in every glass. And yes, that is furniture polish you taste.
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#8 -- I agree on including some conservatives, reaching across the aisle, etc. But Rick Warren has publicly compared being gay with bestiality, pedophilia, and incest, and actively campaigned for Prop 8. I've said all along that most people don't care about gay rights, those that do are antigay, and Barack Obama is a shrewd politician who will throw gays under the bus as soon as it's politically expedient to do so. Which unfortunately happened before his first day. Don't expect much.
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Washington - MSNBC television host Mika Brzezinski has been mugged in Washington just before sitting down for an interview with D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty.
Now that's embarrassing. Where's your messiah..er
I mean where's your Chief Lanier now.
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Unfortunately, due to Gothamist cost-cutting measures, this year's dcist holiday party will involve listening to a scratched copy of "A Don Ho Christmas" on Sommer's stoop while eating shoplifted Rap Snacks and Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill. They couldn't even afford the drycleaning on the panda suit this year. And that thing needs a cleaning. Badly.
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Dump Rick Warren.
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UH-Oh a FoxNews Fembot was mugged in DC. Here comes some quality PR to the redstaters. Drudge is all over it.
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Isn't a judge supposed to approve a subpoena? While I appreciate the police department's need to enforce relatively minor crimes quickly, granting too much power to one agency seems unwise. It doesn't take much imagination to foresee abuse of power allegations against DC police. It feels like Fenty is setting up the policy department for trouble.
Can any attorneys out there shed some light on this issue?
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Take that back...MSNBC Fembot.
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Hello, Darius Rucker has the #1 country song in the US. I think he deserves a little more respect than "that guy from Hootie and the Blowfish"
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Here we go again. Tieing the police's hands with nonsense like "due process" and "judicial oversight." Don't you know that there are icecream trucks blaring "Turkey in the Straw" during my infant's naptime? That's a crime! And whenever I call 911 they have the nerve to tell me that it's not important!
And as your attorney, I advise you not to worry. Take a hit out of that little brown bottle in my shaving kit.
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Frickin' Rick Warren? I'd expect that from Bush. Very disappointing.
Hello, Darius Rucker has the #1 country song in the US. I think he deserves a little more respect than "that guy from Hootie and the Blowfish"
Upon learning that, I have even less respect for him.
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From WJLA site...
"The second driver, who was in a black Cadillac SUV, hit a Mercury causing the airbags to deploy. He also swiped a D.C. government vehicle before crashing into the curb near a bus stop. Then, he and his passenger tried to flee for their lives."
Who writes this sh*t?
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Michael Bay?
Naw, couldn't be. Not enough $h!t blowing up.
My money's on the WJLA intern. From Guatamala.
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I attended the DCist party disguised as a mild mannered houseplant hidden in the corner of the room. Now I smell like puke and crack candy. Go figure.
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This secretly guarded DCist holiday party has me spitting pine needles. All week long I've had on my tree skirt, my body plastered with a string of popcorn, and candy canes shooting out of my ass but nobody invited me. Shame on you, DCist!!
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No one would dare mug Campbell Brown: No Bias. No Bull. Weeknights 8PM ET CNN.
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"Darius Rucker has the #1 country song in the US."
And isn't he, um, not white?
Not to put to fine a point on it, but that don't happen every day in country music.
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Apologies, Rucker/Chenoweth fans: you're right, it was an all-star cast. I also forgot to mention Youtube a cappella sensations Straight No Chaser, who were featured prominently. THAT'S the level of celebrity firepower that was on hand last night!
Seriously though: that show was terrible, and it had nothing to do with the city other than having the first lady in attendance. The city council ought to be collecting royalties from TNT for use of the word "Washington".
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Mixed opinions on the Rick Warren thing.
I understand the 'reaching out to the other side' thing. Excellent political tactical move, and the cynic in me loves that.
And the other preachery guy (invocation?) is in favor of gay marriage.
But I wonder if we'd be having the same conversation about 'reaching out' if Warren had said the same sort of crap about Jews, blacks, or others?
Incidentally, does anybody have some good links to what Warren has actually said on the subject of The Gays and their Eternal War on Decent Christians?
And can't we find common ground? The Gays are generally against mixing clothing fabrics, and The Christians actually find it an abomination, punishable by death (that is, if they were to actually enforce all 'abominations' equally).
Can't we have a nice Sunday afternoon with Christians and Gays stoning some polyester/cotton abominations?
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i'm not saying it was an all-star cast, i'm just saying i like Kristin Chenoweth. stand down.
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I can only imagine how awful the Christmas in Washington program was. I was at the National Building Museum on Saturday with one of my kids to build a gingerbread house while they were holding the dress rehearsal. That was horrible. The museum staff who were running the gingerbread workshop kept turning up the CD's of Christmas tunes to drown out the bellowing. My other kid's daycare center put on a better performance than the "stars". It was neat to see how they staged the event.
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RE: Brzezinski
"A guy walks across the street straight for her," Mr. Scarborough said.. Mrs. Brzezinski said she gave the mugger the $6 in cash she had with her, adding that he asked her for $20 and said something along the lines of "Give me money and nothing will happen."
To me that does not like a mugging as much as a really aggressive panhandler. Doesn't it seem like she could have just laughed and walked back into the hotel if it was 6ft away? (where she said "it" happened) In broad daylight?
I am assuming she exaggerated, or made the whole "nothing will happen..." line up. She is probably just not used to seeing a human of the lower caste asking for money, so she emptied her purse upon sight and created a mildly threatening story to spice it up to her friends- and it blew out of proportion when it got mentioned on the air.
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Given the hour that morning show personnel need to show up at the studio, I can just about guarantee that it wasn't "broad daylight" when Brzezinski was approached. Probably something more like 4 a.m., which also explains why there wouldn't have been a doorman outside or just inside the door of the hotel.
I agree that it sounds like a pretty moderate mugging, as such things go, but you've got no idea how aggressive or threatening the guy might have been based on one second-hand quote.
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Come on, you dumbasses.
Clearly what happened is a casual observer on the street noticed that this was a minor media personality that was NOT Campbell Brown. Then said observer gently instructed said 'personality' to get a face transplant (ala yesterday's news) to look more like Campbell (Ms. Brown if you're nasty).
We should learn to expect this sort of 'muggging' on a daily basis from now on.
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how come we werent invited to the holiday party?