Marc Fisher: As the Senate gets ready to debate the District voting rights legislation, Fisher lists the dozen top reasons why senators from both parties should vote to enfranchise the city’s residents. The more and more we look into it, the better the case looks. Let’s hope the Senate agrees.

Tom Knott: You know Knott’s verbal insanity is in good form when the title of his weekly column is “It’s Gathering of Eagles vs. nitwit marchers.” Preparing for this weekend’s anti-war protest, Knott throws out a warning — be fearful, peaceniks, for you shall suffer the wrath of the Gathering of the Eagles. As we detailed this week, the Gathering of the Eagles, an anti-antiwar group, will be on hand to let the protesters know that supporting the troops means supporting the war, with no exceptions. “This should be taken as a warning to the innocents who live in the region and the unlucky tourists who planned a vacation at the same time the nitwits of the nation planned a celebration of their insanity,” warns Knott. “Stay away from the downtown part of the city if it is at all possible. The start of the Million Nitwit March is Saturday.” And what does Knott think of the anti-war movement? “They make me sick.”

Harry Jaffe: While many argue that a Starbucks is a sign of a gentrifying neighborhood, Jaffe posits that a local hardware store is a true sign of a healthy community. Drawing upon the examples of Capitol Hill’s Fragers, 18th Street’s Candey Hardware and Brookland’s Brookland Hardware, Jaffe writes, “A great, old time hardware store is an excellent barometer of a community’s health. Any crossroad of four-lane highways can support a Home Depot. You can find a Lowe’s every five miles along suburban strip malls. But how many D.C. neighborhoods can sustain a genuine hardware store where you walk in the door and the owner says “Whaddaya need today?'”