When blogging about books in D.C., you tend to receive more press releases about political non-fiction than any other genre — so much that it starts to make you cynical. Most of the books read like armchair quarterbacking with an unhealthy dose of rhetoric. But Matthew Yglesias’ book, Heads in the Sand: How the Republicans Screw Up Foreign Policy and Foreign Policy Screws Up the Democrats, manages to break out of that mold. Yglesias, an…
New Hampshire Looks to Smack Down Senators: After the U.S. Senate failed to overcome a filibuster on legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives, voting rights activists swore they would have their revenge. On the top of their list are Republican senators John McCain (Ariz.), Gordon Smith (Ore.), and Thad Cochran (Miss.), not to mention the lone Democrat to vote against the bill, Max Baucus (Mont.). But one…
Republicans in Congress just haven’t been nice to the District lately — they delayed a vote on the voting rights bill by adding a rider to end D.C.’s handgun ban, and now they’re preventing a free concert from being held near the Capitol on July 7. The concert was to be part of Al Gore’s Live Earth series of concerts to raise environmental awareness and was to feature some combination of acts like the Police,…
Underrated for years, Wizards star Gilbert Arenas has recently arrived as a true media-validated superstar complete with the lavish birthday party and loose talk of MVP awards. The obvious question becomes: When does the backlash against Gilbertology begin? Perhaps this very afternoon. Arenas fans who tuned in to ESPN.com scheduled chat with the high-scoring point guard were disappointed when, after almost fifteen minutes of waiting, we heard that “we were forwarned that he might not…
The Wizards absolutely crushed the Memphis Grizzlies last night at the Verizon Center in the most one-sided NBA game we’ve witnessed in a while. D.C. exploded to a 45-18 lead in the first quarter, and set a new Verizon Center record by scoring 77 in the first half. Gilbert Arenas took his new Kobe-inspired mantra of “quality shots” seriously, scoring his 31 points on just 13 field goal attempts in 33 minutes. Thanks to injuries…
Written by DCist contributor Matthew Yglesias Wizards fans in the Verizon Center for last Sunday’s overtime loss to the Nets could smell victory as the Nets were forced to try and in-bound the ball facing a three-point deficit with only 2.7 seconds remaining on the regulation clock. Odor turned to palpable taste as guard Vince Carter launched a long shot on a short-arced trajectory that couldn’t possibly fall in. And, indeed, the shot slammed into…
Written by DCist contributor Matthew Yglesias The good news for the Wizards after the NBA’s first week of action is that they’re scoring the most points in the Eastern Conference. They’re even outscoring their opponents, albeit narrowly, by an average of 0.3 points per game. Unfortunately, they’re also giving up the second-most points in the East, and losing two out of their three first games. Somewhat remarkably, both Washington and their opponents are scoring in…
Written by DCist contributor Matthew Yglesias. The scheduling gods decreed that for tonight’s season-opening game, the Wizards face off against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the very team that sent the Wiz packing from the playoffs last year in a heart-breaking six game defeat. Despite the superficial difference in records (50-32 for Cleveland, 42-40 for Washington), the two squads were extremely closely matched last season in terms of point differential and expected wins. The…
Earlier this week Matthew Yglesias took us to task for referring to a “Mid-City” part of town when discussing a campaign for a new Trader Joe’s near U Street. Matt is actually quite wrong to suggest “shady real estate cabals” are the architects of the term Mid-City, but the fault for his misinformation is likely ours. You see, last winter we ran a post mocking the MidCity Business Association’s moniker, basically accusing them of trying…
Reader Matthew Yglesias responds to a recent piece we posted on crime in the city. Want to add your own voice to this debate? Email Opinionist. Should the District respond to its high crime rates and current purported “crime emergency” by hiring more cops as several City Council members are proposing? Calm heads like DCist’s Martin Austermuhle say no and they have the numbers to prove it. He points out that DC has traditionally had…
