DC Politics. Not politic. |

Ah, DC. The Capital of the United States of America.

Where local rule is a fiction. Because for years it has been a majority minority city. It has always been a reliable Democratic Party bastion. (In the DC-MD-VA region, the only place that provides a more reliable Democratic voting record is Alexandria, where I live.)

While Walter Washington was the first elected mayor of DC, that was not really much of an accomplishment. After all, he had served as the appointed mayor (from 1967 to 1975)- and was simply seeking another term in office when voting for the office was instituted. His successor- the criminal (and populist) Marion Barry. (Hmm. We have yet another populist criminal [oh, wait, unindicted co-conspirator- at least, as of today] holding sway in the District.)

Now, 7 mayors hence (there have been 8 elected mayors- Barry served two distinct tenures; 1979-1991 and a return trip from 1995 to 1999), we have Mayor Muriel Bowser and the current city council.

Mayor Bowser stood idly by as one of the council members declared his anti-Semitic beliefs. (O.K. He declared his absolutely asinine beliefs. That the Rothschilds [he thought they were Jewish] controlled the weather. And, the Jews controlled the World Bank and the federal government. Among his many other anti-Semitic statements and actions.) (This brings up an old joke. Chayim and Yonkel are good friends, living in Germany in the 1930s. Yonkel finds Chayim reading a Nazi rag and accosts him. “Chayim- why are you reading that trash? It does nothing but denounce us!” To which Chayim replies, “But, these papers keep saying how all-powerful we are, how we run everything. It makes me feel good to read that!“)

According to the Council rules, Trayon White should have been censured ffor his statements.. It took the actions of my rabbi, Shmuel Herzfeld, who barged into a council meeting (declaring “shame on you” to the council members), to finally have the DC Council eke out a mild rebuke.

And, shortly after that, Ms. Bowser refused to fire her campaign operative (and political appointee), Joshua Lopez. After all, all he officially did was provide money to Louis Farrakhan (a prominent anti-Semite) and organize a “unity” rally (to support the above-mentioned Anti-Semite, Trayon White) at the District’s government office and for the Nation of Islam. And, Joshua stood idly by as anti-Semitic slurs were lobbed at a Jewish council member. Eventually, Lopez resigned. (Only 5 of 13 council members called for Lopez’ resignation, by the way.)

(See the parallels between these actions and TheDonald’s statements after the Charlottesville debacle?)

But, there clearly was more to the Lopez fiasco. As we see now.

Ms. Bowser- a Democrat- has been raising funds to help a novice, Dionne Bussey-Reeder run for office. OK. Not just for any office. For the position held by Elissa Silverman, the at-large council member, who’s been serving for 4 years now. The councilperson who was being slurred at that Lopez-organized rally.

By the way, the seat Silverman retains (as of now) is one designated to be held by an independent. NOT a Democratic party member. (A Republican is allowed to hold this seat.) So, Ms. Bowser’s funding of and assistance to Bussey-Reeder is even more curious.

The D.C. African-American newspaper (the Washington Examiner) has joined the fray. Some of their recent headlines: “Prominent Black Women Back Reeder for D.C. Council”. “At-Large Council Race Reveals Racial Schisms”.

And, so it goes. More than one political activist remarked how sad it is in 2018 to have folks use this rallying cry- “Don’t vote for someone because they’re white”.

Note: Dionne Bussey-Reader is not an anti-Semite. But, she’s been put in that awkward situation.