Sure, it’s December and we’re all preoccupied with holiday cheer and making plans for that one New Year’s party that will finally be worth the all the hype. But even though they’ve suffered some setbacks this year, D.C. voting rights activists are pushing the cause through the holiday season. On Thursday, December 6, the D.C. Council will hold a hearing to consider legislation that would place large electronic billboards outside the John A. Wilson Building…

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…

As Sommer mentioned earlier this week, I was fortunate enough to have been invited to speak on a panel on D.C. voting rights at the YearlyKos Convention, a huge gathering of progressive activists and bloggers in Chicago. This morning I will be sitting alongside D.C. Shadow Rep. Mike Panetta, Danny Rose from DC Vote and Kesh Luddewhetty of DC for Democracy, all of whom will detail the current fight for voting rights, where it stands…

As you’ll of course recall from back in late March, during the House floor debate on the voting rights issue, Rep. Louie Gohmert volunteered to represent the interests of the District’s voters in the House of Representatives. Considering we still don’t have a full voting member of our own, we kindly thanked the congressman by asking all of you to get in touch with Rep. Gohmert so that he could address your concerns personally….

Browsing around the site a few days ago, we were struck by how much the photo of local informercial crazy guy Matthew Lesko resembled Ward 1 Council member and club shutter-downer Jim Graham — there’s the poofy silver hair, the 1950s glasses, the bowtie. It would only be better if Graham rode around in a question mark-covered Scion. But it got us thinking: who else in D.C. looks like somebody else? So after the jump…

Seriously, how much more ironic could this be? Queen Elizabeth II is visiting Washington today. Washington was named for one of the leaders of the fight for independence against the repressive British empire — then led by King George III — a battle that was in part provoked by a general frustration with the levying of taxes and the denial of representation. And yet, over 200 years later, the residents of Washington still pay taxes…

This week we begin a new feature highlighting our favorite comments of the week. DCist is nothing without our readers, whose thoughtful and often entertaining contributions help make this a vibrant community. Whether you disagree with us, share tips or just have a unique take on life in Washington, keep those comments coming. We couldn’t do it without ya. This week, fuzzy recollections of the Eighties, perils of D.C. residency, mainstream media critiques and more….

Last time we live blogged the House debate on District voting rights, things didn’t go too well. We’re hoping for a bit of an improvement today. From what we’ve heard on the Hill, debate kicks off at 10:30 a.m., and the legislation has been split up into two separate parts — one covering the actual voting seats both D.C. and Utah would receive and the other dealing with the minor increase in annual spending the…

While thousands of District residents braved wind and rain on Monday to demand that Congress pass legislation granting the city a voting representative, one congressman went a step further and introduced legislation that would similarly give the District two senators. Well, kind of. The legislation, introduced by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.) — yes, that Louie Gohmert — calls for the retrocession of all District lands not containing a federal building or monument to Maryland. In…

We’re just a weekend away from the March for Voting Rights, which kicks off at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, April 16 at Freedom Plaza, ending at the U.S. Capitol Reflecting Pool at 4 p.m. for a rally. As we’ve mentioned before, you only have to take an hour off of work to join in the cause, and we’d encourage everyone to do so. We’ll be there, and this is why: We’re Too Close To…