Political commentator and vocal statehood advocate Mark Plotkin has left WTOP, the Post's Erik Wemple reports. more ›

Even though WTOP's Mark Plotkin got all worked up about it, Mayor Vince Gray was invited to the State of the Union, just not by the White House. But he had other plans Tuesday night. more ›

As we return from the Fourth of July weekend, many of us are still recovering from celebrating America's independence and a system of representative government that guarantees that each and every citizen can have a voice in the policies and decisions that affect their lives. But of course, no Independence Day is free from irony for District residents -- while one of the rallying cries of the movement for independence from Britain was a lack of representation (while being taxed, no less), the 600,000 or so of us in D.C. still live with that reality, some two centuries later. Somewhere, the Brits are smirking. more ›

The Post's Reliable Source reported yesterday that WTOP Political Analyst and longtime voting rights agitator Mark Plotkin cornered Obama advisor David Axelrod at the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner last Friday and pressed for the president to put the "Taxation Without Representation" tags on the presidential limousine. Axelrod didn't seem to think much of the personal appeal, telling Plotkin, "That's your thing." Plotkin also found RNC Chair Michael Steele and followed up on the former Maryland Lt. Governor's promise to put the protest plates on his car. more ›

WTOP Political Analyst Mark Plotkin was raising hell on behalf of D.C. voting rights all over town today. First, he went to the aforementioned D.C. school voucher press conference hosted by Sens. John Ensign (R-Nev.), Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). In typical Plotkin fashion, he lobbed pointed questions at the Senators, along with the D.C. students they had brought along as props, on the voting rights bill, causing him, as D.C. Wire reported, to be questioned and called "rude" by a Weekly Standard writer. more ›

City Desk reports that reporter Mark Segraves was unceremoniously booted from one of the council's administrative meetings yesterday, and by council Chair Vincent Gray no less. Gray claimed that the meeting was closed to press because it dealt with matters of the council's operations, including personnel matters. Segraves countered that several issues from the council's January 6 breakfast meeting—which was open to the press%mdash;were put off and were to be dealt with at yesterday's administrative gathering. more ›

Up until last year, the D.C. Council's weekly breakfast meetings were closed to the press and the public. The meetings, which then council Chair Linda Cropp claimed were merely social in nature, were thought of by local reporters as the place where city politicos hammered out sensitive deals -- and did so away from the prying eyes of the District's residents. Even though that has now changed, we've never really gotten much of a sense... more ›

Last week was a busy one when it comes to good comments, with thoughtful and funny ones about the Navy Yard Metro, Columbia Heights Day's existence, avatars, and more. And speaking of avatars, why not set up your own? Maybe you can be like monkeyrotica, who was the talk of DCist's commentariat — what's his going to be? Something profane? Something phallic? Mr. Monkey's response was this: For an avatar, I was about to go... more ›

If there are two things most people know about WTOP Political Analyst Mark Plotkin, it's that one, he's not very tech-savvy, and two, he's passionate aboout District voting rights. So passionate, it seems, that he even got himself kicked out of the White House yesterday. According to fellow WTOP reporter Mark Segraves' account of the incident, Plotkin, along with the rest of the D.C. press corps and various local elected officials, attended an event at... more ›

Just this week, GQ published their annual "50 Most Powerful People in D.C." list. Populated by the likes of Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Karl Rove and Tim Russert, the list better describes the movers and shakers in "Washington", but not the District. And since we're snobs about local news and happenings, we threw together a little list of the people who really exercise influence in or over the lives of people who live and work... more ›

Good Monday morning to you, Washington. We can officially declare that the dog days of August have arrived today, now that the House has finally, finally adjourned for their summer break. News junkies will want to note that before heading home they passed a modified version of the defense budget, which will increase spending for defense health care and military housing, among a list of other expenditures. Of course what Washingtonians really care about is... more ›

Since 1983, Loose Lips, the City Paper's weekly local politics column, has been the place to get quirky news and commentary on the District's political figures. But today, James Jones, Loose Lips columnist for the last two years, bids farewell to the paper. Jones came to the City Paper after a stint at WAMU, and his first column was published on March 11, 2005. According to the folks at the City Paper, Jones has taken... more ›

Well that was fast. After placing a second hold on legislation granting Mayor Adrian Fenty direct control over the District's public schools, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) this afternoon agreed to lift her hold and let the proposal move forward in the Senate. According to the Post, Landrieu did so after being assured that School Board President Robert Bobb (pictured right), who had asked for the hold, and Fenty had agreed to sit down and iron... more ›

We're but five days away from the March for Voting Rights, the biggest and best chance District residents and their supporters will have to demand that Congress finally do something about our longstanding disenfranchisement. As we noted yesterday, you only need to take an hour off of work to support a worthy and principled cause. But why should you? Well, on Friday we'll be listing the reasons we're heading out to march. But everyone is... more ›

This might just be our opinion, but we always thought it was poor form to run your employment options by a guy hosting an online chat. Especially, it should be noted, if the potential employer might end up READING THE CHAT. From today's session with Mark Plotkin over at the Post: Downtown: Howdy Mark. I got a career question for you: I'm a recent grad and have been offered a job working for a guy... more ›

Via FreeRide, we read that WTOP's Mark Plotkin spent part of his live chat with washingtonpost.com yesterday afternoon to call out Ward 3 residents for not caring enough, if at all, about the District's lack of voting rights in Congress. Q: In your experience, do people from Ward 3 generally not support statehood/voting rights? I grew up in the ward - Forest Hills represent - and have found so many people on my parents block... more ›

Speculation over how things may or may not change is an inevitable part of any election. There has been plenty of chatter about the impacts our city's new leaders might have on the lives of District residents. However, we mustn't forget that D.C. is America's first and best official fiefdom, subject to the whims of what can only be called a highly creative bunch of representatives and senators. As a result, elections held hundreds of... more ›

The polling on the prohibition of gay marriage and the support for incumbent senator George Allen proves what we've always known -- Northern Virginia is becoming less and less like the rest of the state. But what to do about the polarization? Easy. Secession. D.C. Metblogs head honcho Tom Bridge, himself a Virginian, today proposed giving the District back the Virginia lands (and then some) that originally formed part of the city but were retroceded... more ›

Will a Frenchman represent the District in the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall? It looks like it. According to an online chat with WTOP Political Reporter Mark Plotkin over at the Post, Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the man George Washington charged with designing the District, has been chosen as one of the city's two statues for the famed hall in the U.S. Capitol. As we reported in April, the D.C. Commission on Arts and Humanities allowed... more ›

Last week we reported that D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams had gotten a touch testy at a weekly press briefing, throwing out an expletive in response to the nagging questions of WTOP's Mark Plotkin. Yesterday in a Post chat, Plotkin defended himself and went after Williams, writing: No, I didn't go over the line. All I asked the mayor to do was pick up the phone and call some congressman and the president. His profane response... more ›

Every now and then the finely tuned machines that are seasoned politicians sputter and choke. Be it Vice President Dick Cheney's warning to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to "fuck off" or Rep. Cynthia McKinney's recent dressing down of an aide while still wearing a clip-on microphone, even those trained in the art of diplomacy and tact occasionally allow their true feelings to be heard. Today was D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams' turn. more ›

Late last September, D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton requested that the District be allowed to place two statues in the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall, alongside those chosen by the nation's 50 states. That idea may soon be moving forward. The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities is asking the public for its input as to who the District should immortalize in Statuary Hall, allowing residents to either pick from a list of 30... more ›

In case you've had your fill of numbered streets and avenues named after states, the District just might have some new thoroughfare nomenclature for you. According to the Examiner, the D.C. Council is considering legislation that would rename various city streets after U.S. territories in the Pacific. According to the legislation, M Street in Southeast between 11th and Water Streets would become "Guam Avenue" and "Samoa Avenue." An as-of-now unnamed circle west of 12th Street... more ›

Last night the five mayoral candidates -- Adrian Fenty, Marie Johns, Vincent Orange, Linda Cropp, and Michael Brown -- squared off in the first debate of the 2005-2006 campaign season. Facing an audience of 700 at the University of the District of Columbia, the candidates debated education, school modernization, economic development, affordable housing, crime, and yes, the stadium. Moderated by the Post's Colbert King, the candidates gave brief opening questions, faced withering questions from... more ›

We're finally within 365 days of when District residents head to the polls to choose their next mayor, and what better way to celebrate than an old-fashioned debate? Yes, tonight marks the official beginning of the 2006 campaign season, and all five officially-announced mayoral candidates will be taking each other on in what promises to be a battle royale over school modernization, taxes, development, crime, and affordable housing. Ok, it may not be that exciting.... more ›