Photo used under a Creative Commons licenseMy eyebrows were raised this morning while reading this story in the Examiner, in which Councilmembers Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5) and Kwame Brown (D-At-Large) provided their thoughts on whether Michelle Rhee, regardless of the result of the primary, would actually stay in the District after her wedding.
“She’s getting married to the mayor of Sacramento,” said Ward 5 Councilman Harry Thomas during a breakfast with reporters Thursday morning at City Diner. “Is she going to have a bicoastal marriage?” At-large Councilman Kwame Brown, who is campaigning to be the next D.C. Council chairman, expressed a similar sentiment during a meeting with The Washington Examiner’s editorial board Thursday morning.
“Is Michelle Rhee prepared to stay?” Brown asked. “If she’s not, then we’ll have to go through a new chancellor and the implementation of a new philosophy.”
Buried somewhere beneath those quotes, there’s a perfectly legitimate question — you can’t fault people for wondering how often Rhee will be in the city after she gets married, if she keeps her job. But there’s got to be a better way of framing that discussion than just stating that her marriage will simply diminish her capability to perform, right? For instance, I haven’t seen anything suggesting that Kevin Johnson, Rhee’s fiancé, may consider stepping down as the Mayor of Sacramento simply because he’s going to be in a “bicoastal marriage.” What do you think?
