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You don't have to be a genius to have guessed that this might have been the case: Tim Craig reports in the Post that Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, the ex-girlfriend Marion Barry is accused of stalking, was hired by Barry as a contract member of his staff after they had struck up a romantic relationship. Barry has reportedly paid his former special lady friend at least $10,000 worth of taxpayer funds for her services as a consultant. You mean to say a politician whose time as mayor is as much known for his totally corrupt job patronage practices as it was for crack cocaine use is still hiring people as favors while serving as the Ward 8 D.C. Council member? Color us totally unsurprised.
Report: Barry Hired Ex-Girlfriend as Patronage
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Does anyone know about the armed robbery on 13th NW last night in Columbia Heights? The helicopters
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If I've said it once, I've said it a million times -- this is why we don't deserve voting rights or statehood.
So using the same logic America shouldn't have voting rights because we've elected people like Bush, Carter, and Sanford?
That was my inner Tucker Carlson talking. Sorry.
My inner Tucker doesn't care much about Barry, but still can't get over Michael Brown
"I'm shocked, simply shocked to discover gambling going on!"
Your winnings, sir.
Applaud the obscure film reference, Capt. Renault.
I'm shocked, shocked to find there's patronage going on in DC!
Obviously 10K wasn't enough.
Barry is the perfect representative of his Ward.
Hmm. $10,000 for knocking boots with Barry. I'm leaning toward "hell no".
Marion Barry = The picture I get when I think of Washington, DC.
Barry hasn't had a memorable impact on city policy in years. Outside of those who need to deal with Ward 8, the average person really has no inherent reason to think much about him in the first place. He's become largely irrelevant.
Why I agree (locally) he does project beyond the region.
Hah, he doesn't need to make a memorable impact on city policy in order to get headlines like these. It's a circus, I tell you.
I stand by what I said. Every large city has its problems, but Washington is 'famous' for its inability to do anything right. Story after story; embezzlement, poor services, do nothing services, etc., point to a city that looks like it feels it doesn't have to do a good job.
And that is how I view Marion Barry. Any accomplishment of his in the past is far outweighed by his sense of entitlement and victimization. He speaks to me as one who feels it is his 'right' to provide poor service, take 'a little something' for himself, and condemn those who question him.
We all join the call for 'state's rights' for the District, but without a major house-cleaning, nothing will change.
While Barry may have had no effect on day-to-day policy, the effect of his mayoral administrations will haunt DC for decades. His summer jobs program is still a get-paid-to-do-nothing joke and the kultur of kleptocracy, corruption, and entitlement he left behind remains to this day. Harriet Walters couldn't have happened without Barry. It took years for the control board to strip Barry of all his powers, but the damage was already done. The legacy of Marion Barry is in the eyes of every kid at Oak Hill Detention Center and every member of the Simple City crew.
Boss Shepherd was also a corrupt jerk of a DC mayor, but at least he left some paved streets behind, paid his taxes, and kept it in his pants.
I completely agree with you, Monkey. I'm simply pointing out that anyone who's first thought of DC is Marion Barry is stuck in the past. I don't deny that pieces of his legacy still exists, but they are eroding day by day. Moreover, as the relatively small scale of this scandal illustrates, his ability to recreate or perpetuate his legacy of kleptocracy/corruption is, if not noexistant, near inconsequential.
The Barry of the past is not the Barry of today. Gone are the days when Barry can direct significant portions of DC's budget and services. DPR is right in comparing the Barry of today to a circus act, and he's a side-show one at that.