When the Clash sang "anger can be power," they probably didn't expect it to be wielded they way Lewis Black wields it. The Silver Spring native has made a stand-up career as a profanely angry everyman and keeps busy hosting Comedy Central's "Root of All Evil."

The premise: Judge Black hears testimony and rules which of two current objets d'hate is more evil. Recent "decisions" included Dick Cheney over Paris Hilton and Oprah over the Catholic Church.

"The great thing about the show is you can put up anything vs. anything," says a (fairly mellow) Black. "We had a board with a billion things, initially."

Black's prior trip home was not so mellow. His 2006 HBO special "Red, White, and Screwed" was moved to the Warner because the Kennedy Center objected to the profanity.

"It's not the [expletive] Jefferson Memorial; it's a performing arts center," he exclaims, noting the "giant chewing gum head of JFK" on display.

Speaking of local institutions, how about them Redskins?

"Don't change the name. Although, if it's going to be lean times for 50 years, change it to the Washington Snyders, so we know who's responsible.

"It's hard enough to care about sports as you get older," he continues. "They took away the Senators - twice!"

He'll also touch on the primaries during his Warner stint, although by now, "I feel they've all been president and now it's time for someone else."

His choice to unify the country?

"Santa Claus."

"We are screwed for a while," he figures. "But we'll come out the other end. It could be the back end, though."

He doesn't mince words about President Bush ("the first administration that doesn't seem to read resumes") or Sen. John McCain ("the same tide-is-turning [expletive] we saw in Vietnam").

Those political types get off lightly, though.

"If I'm ever near [Dan] Snyder, I'll try to bite him."

--Paul Stelter, Express (May 2008)