Potomac Confidential fills the midday lull with discussion by Metro columnist Marc Fisher of the latest news and a rigorous slicing and dicing of the issues that define who we are and where we live.

Fisher was online Thursday, July 20, at Noon ET to break the heat spell with a fresh look at the unfiltered comments of Maryland Comptroller William Donald Schaefer, the D.C. crime emergency and Friday's re launch of RFK Stadium.

Today's Column: At RFK, Using Manners to Surmount the Cultural Divide ( Post, July 20 )

Check out Marc's blog, Raw Fisher .

In his weekly show, Fisher veers wildly from serious probing to silly prattle, and is open to topics local, national, personal and more.

Archives: Discussion Transcripts

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Marc Fisher: Welcome aboard, folks. Politics, baseball, race, crime--separate stories? Not in this town. You give us the controversies, we'll find a way to connect them--that's the special genius of Washington.

Before we start connecting on those and other issues, the Yay and Nay of the Day:

Yay to the folks at Marriott, the hotel company that has now banned smoking in all its rooms--another powerful demonstration of the fact that the marketplace is taking care of the debate about public smoking even as a misguided few try to use the cudgel of government to impose their own views on others. Isn't it interesting that when a business issues such a decision, it's met with overwhelming support, but when the state makes a similar move, it divides the community? In a free society, the idea of choice--even the illusion of choice--is a powerful thing.

Nay to the D.C. Council for its acquiescence yesterday to Mayor Williams' knee jerk package of anti-crime initiatives, some of which are perfectly reasonable (notifying the police when tough repeat offenders are returned to the streets), while others of which are mere stunts (surveillance cameras in residential neighborhoods won't do a thing to prevent crime; their only possible purpose is to aid in the investigation after the fact). All you need to know about yesterday's moves is that they are "emergency" measures that don't even apply after a certain number of days; if that's not stunting, what is?

Your turn.

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Baltimore Md.: Marc: There is no question about William Donald Schaefer's deterioration. I heard a sound bite of him re the Korean flap the other morning on WBAL and he has that weak voiced huskiness so common in, if I may coin a phrase, the older elderly.

I think the sad fact is that the man himself knows it, but his entire life, from the Baltimore City Council on, has been given over to politics and public service. Unlike retiring Attorney General Joseph Curran he has no wife, no kids and his best friend, the wonderfully named Hilda Mae Snopes, died several years ago.

I don't think Schaefer will give up the office without a fight, because without it, he'll be dead in a short time.

Marc Fisher: Sad, but quite possibly true. And I've heard from quite a few Schaefer fans this week who intend to vote for him again just to send a message of thanks for all he's done over the years. Which is very sweet, but not exactly the most responsible use of a vote, no?

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Fairfax, Va.: William Donald Schaeffer is not only a national laughingstock, but an international one, as well! Friends in Belfast have forwarded an article from one of their papers on his various wicked comments and lack of remorse for having said them, along with a note congratulating me on moving to Va. from Md. a few years ago. As a proud, card-carrying ACLU member, I must say that in general I am much more in sync with the Md. rather than the Va. political scene. But I am happy to be free of he WDS albatross. And to think he may be re-elected!

Marc Fisher: I guess your friends in Belfast don't follow the doings of the Richmond legislature. You could regale them with tales that will keep them entertained all through the harsh Irish winter.

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Eastport, Md.: While Parris Glendening is not my favorite person, I'm sure I'm not the only one who is pleased he is managing to get some digs back at Shaeffer, who has said some truly reprehensible things about him over the years.

Marc Fisher: Sometimes the best thing to do is sit back and watch them consume one another.

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Washington, D.C.: Regarding today's column, it is sad that what I always thought of as normal, civilized behavior has to be taught. Don't yell at the customers! Why isn't that self-evident?

What really got me, though, was the image of the consultant throwing Hershey's Kisses at the ballpark employees. It made me think of a zookeeper throwing fish to a performing seal. How did the employees respond to that?

washingtonpost.com: At RFK, Using Manners to Surmount the Cultural Divide ( Post, July 20 )

Marc Fisher: I have to admit the trained seals image came to me throughout the first hour of the RFK training session I watched. I was appalled at first, but then as I got to see so many of the workers competing to get those treats tossed to them, I vacillated between being saddened that such simple behavior modification really works and somewhat mollified that everyone in the room seemed to be on board with the trick.

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G'burg (home)/SW DC (work): Tomorrow is my first Nats (or any team) game. I'm going with 50 co-workers. Sounds like we can expect a pretty good experience. Any advice or ideas? Are any of the seats guarded from rain?

Marc Fisher: Tomorrow should be as good as it gets at RFK given all that the new owners are putting into their big re launch. There may be a shower in the early evening but otherwise the weather looks ok--there are plenty of covered seats in the lower deck and even some at least mostly covered seats upstairs. Wherever your tickets put you, it's generally easy to move under cover while it's raining.

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D.C.: I just want to say that I am season ticket holder and have never been offended or treated rudely by any staff at RFK. Well, I have one issue with my section guard last year. He told me that I wasn't allowed to use my cell phone-and this was before the National Anthem had even been sung! He was kinda not fun. But aside from that, I've always thought things were perfectly fine.

Marc Fisher: Agreed--I've found the RFK ushers and ticket takers to be by and large unusually friendly and good at their jobs. It's the Aramark food service personnel who need the retraining, and unfortunately they were not part of the training program I watched. Supposedly, Aramark is doing its own retraining. I am not holding my breath for a big change there. The big change that is needed is the one to a different food company.

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Sterling, Va.: I love going to RFK, and 2nd reason is the great interactions I've had with the ushers and ticket takers.(The first reason is that WE HAVE BASEBALL NOW, which ranks for me as PRICELESS. We'll keep going to the games no matter how the team is doing. It seems everyone has already forgotten the no-baseball years.) In fact, the usher for our section the last time we when to a Nats game was so great we decided we want to be in his section all the time! We've got tickets for Sunday's game and cannot wait to see our new friend.

GO NATS!

Marc Fisher: Ok, so where do you think all those thousands of folks are who came to games even when the Nats were losing last year?

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Rockville, Md.: Marc, a bunch of haters harp on the Nats' attendance, but isn't this simple? The team is lousy in a city that likes winners, after all, even Redskins fans tried to sell their tickets during the Spurrier era.

And, more importantly, the thousands of stories on how bad the RFK experience is has got to keep fans away (or from going back). It's not Wrigley, Fenway or Yankee stadium where just being there is enough.

Marc Fisher: I haven't heard stories about how bad RFK is; mainly, what I hear is from people who actually like the old place, crumbling infrastructure and all. And you know the parking will never again be this easy.

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NWDC: Marc, I commend the Lerners for trying to improve the fan experience, but none of what they are doing will address the major gripe I had at the July 4th game: it was 95 degrees out and the vendors were charging $4.00 per bottle of water. I ended up spending $12.00 on water. I thought that was somewhat inhumane, as drinking water is essential during heat like that. And what if I were elderly or low-income and couldn't afford buying water? For my fourth water I figured out that I could take my empty bottle to the bathroom and fill it up there and will continue to do that from now on. But shouldn't the Nats provide free cups of water on sweltering days? I know they have to make money but charging $4.00 for each water on a hot day is a sure way to anger lots of hot and thirsty fans.

Marc Fisher: You're allowed to bring in your own water--we generally take in eight bottles of water for four of us and there's never a problem.

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Fairfax Va.: A pre-emptive defense of your column today:

No, the attempt to teach the employees at RFK good customer service skills is not racist, classist or elitist. This is training in an important career skill that workers get to keep as an entry on their resume.

There is nothing evil in saying that a sullen ticket-taker or "dim" parking attendant hurts the experience, or that schools are failing to teach manners. We all agree with that, and complain about poor service or bad manners ourselves. Anyone complaining about the column is probably insulted because these words are spoken by a representative of a wealthy baseball team owner. The messenger doesn't alter the truth of the message.

Marc Fisher: Thanks for the defense, but scrolling through the queue of comments, I don't think you'll have to weigh in--nobody's hurling such accusations today. Yet.

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Washington, D.C.: Your love for the sport of baseball is really getting in the way of your clear judgment. Can't you see that the NBA and the NFL has taken away the elite athletes from baseball? That is why baseball has so few recognizable national stars. There is no Shaq in baseball. Or a Michael Vick. No business can win while losing talent to other businesses. And that is why baseball teams like the Nationals are suffering. All the half-smokes in the world cannot compensate for an overall lack of talent in the sport. The Yanks and Boston may be perennial sellouts. But after them, not much talent is left for the rest of the league to entice the marginal fan to come out and watch a game. Contrast that with basketball. There are at least five teams in the league that have players that are consistent draws. In football, every team has elite players.

Marc Fisher: That's true in baseball, too. Even the lowly Nats have players who would be stars on any team in the sport--Soriano, Zimmerman, Johnson, Cordero.

You can make the same argument about watered-down talent level for every sport, certainly for baseball, basketball and football. That's the natural result of over expansion in every sport. In addition, the games themselves have evolved to make what were once considered pure, general athletic skills seem sometimes irrelevant to the specialized skills that are now coveted by owners and fans. We can all point to a purer game in the past in all the major sports. I don't see where baseball is any better or worse off than the others.

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Washington, D.C.: I have to disagree with your thoughts on cameras in the street. London uses them very effectively and the limited number of cameras in use in Baltimore has been effective too. That's not saying criminals don't just to unmonitored streets. But if a criminal is caught on camera and that's leads to an arrest and conviction, won't that be preventing crime?

Marc Fisher: Three reasons why these new cameras are a bad idea:

1) Putting them in residential neighborhoods doesn't make sense because those areas are by definition less densely trafficked than the business and tourism areas where the cameras are already in use downtown. Who's going to monitor all these new screens?

2) Do you really want more D.C. police officers pulled off the street to sit at desks watching TV screens?

3) The kinds of crimes we are told are causing the emergency are those that are committed by impulsive, young thugs looking for a quick opportunity. They are not likely to be deterred by cameras, which would require them to have thought out their plan well in advance.

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Petworth, D.C.: Does someone think that a numerical increase in police officers on the payroll will have an effect on crime prevention? I don't see police apprehending criminals, never mind stopping it. My calls to 311 or 911 are met with disinterest. Police sometimes drive through my neighborhood -- guns are in use here, but I don't see them making eye contact or stopping. Parking tickets are even rare.

The police I see in marked cars don't seem to follow all traffic laws. In the one experience a couple years ago when I asked four officers in a MPDC car to write a ticket for an infraction taking place nearby, the leader told me, "It's only a law." They had no intention of writing a citation. There is no point of adding new laws, cameras to observe them, or increasing a curfew, if there is no understanding that the police will do anything about them.

Marc Fisher: Part of that problem is a question of standards and expectations in the police department--a longstanding issue for the District. Surely, it's not a matter of overall numbers--we have perhaps the most densely policed city in the nation if you go by the raw numbers. But there is a but: Many D.C. officers have federally-required duties blocking streets and guarding so-called dignitaries, which does pull them out of the neighborhoods.

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Friendship Heights, D.C.: Is it even remotely realistic to think the D.C. cops will be able to keep teens off the streets after 10 p.m.? I'll be very interested in seeing the breakdown of how many teens, if any, are arrested in each of the city's wards. I doubt whether many Georgetown bartenders are crying in their beer over this one.

Marc Fisher: I would begin to believe that only if the police had had any success in keeping those same kids off the streets after midnight--the current curfew time. Drive around some night and you'll see literally hundreds of kids--even little ones--hanging on the streets at 1, 2, even 3 a.m., without the slightest regard for the curfew.

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Washington, D.C.: Am I the only person who found the heat wave to be far more comfortable than a regular summer day? Sure there are a few blistering minutes outside, but I found that the Metro was probably kept at least ten degrees cooler than it usually would be, and the same with my office.

Monday and Tuesday were the only days this summer when I didn't walk into work dripping with sweat.

Marc Fisher: Yes, you are the only one. But we like you nonetheless.

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Laurel, Md.: How do you see the Maryland Democratic Senatorial Primary ending up? Why does Maryland have its primary in September? I am originally from California and we always had primaries in June.

Marc Fisher: Hey, it's a lot better than these August primaries that are coming up in a number of states. Those would be your Please Don't Vote primaries. But you're right, the early September primaries are a close second in assuring low turnout and lack of knowledge about the candidates. The upside is that the late primaries assure a short fall campaign. But June primaries do seem to be the best of all worlds.

This Senate race is still too close to call. Ben Cardin would seem to have the upper hand if only because of his enormous lead in the money department, which will put him all over TV in those two weeks before the vote. But don't count out Kweisi Mfume, who is by far the better known of the candidates in the D.C. suburbs, which is where all the candidates agree this election will be decided. And Josh Rales apparently intends to spend $5 million on his long shot race, which could have a real impact on Cardin's support in Montgomery County, which in turn could swing the election.

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Washington, D.C.: Hey Marc - Have you all been discussing the theft of the aluminum seats at Ballou? That story might be in the running for most depressing DC story this year.

Marc Fisher: I would have put that on Page One--it's galling, astonishing, depressing, outrageous, you name it. I want to know where that aluminum went. Where do you take all those benches to sell? And how do you explain showing up at some aluminum center with a stadium's worth of benches?

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Washington, D.C.: Can we please talk about something slightly more important than baseball. Specifically the utter incompetence of the D.C. police department. Maybe we need to start throwing Hershey kisses at cops to get them to do their job.

Marc Fisher: Now you're talking. I want to sit in on that training session.

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Hershey Kisses: I took a seminar last month and the instructor would take a dollar bill out of own pocket and give it to an attendee that had asked a particularly astute question or made a prescient observation or comment. Just a couple bucks over the course of the day seemed to help drag the class out of its traditionally jaundiced view of this kind of proceeding. It's not the dollar of course..it's the recognition. I would suspect the Kisses could work the same way.

Marc Fisher: As the trainer at the RFK session put it, "Bribery works." Everyone in the room seemed to agree. And I know that where I work, back when we used to have celebratory cakes for various occasions, it did seem to have a positive effect on the work atmosphere. You're going to have to buy a lot more papers for us to get cakes again. But on the up side, we now get your comments attached to our stories online--the comments are more nutritious, if not quite as sweet.

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Dorsey, Md.: Bobby Haircut shamelessly panders to the disabled by choosing a completely unqualified blind woman to run as his Lt. Governor, and his approval ratings go up? 16 years ago I made the conscious decision to move from Virginia to Maryland because I liked their political situation better. Where on earth do I move now?

Marc Fisher: Um, the District? You could at least complete the trifecta. Anyway, what's your alternative? West Virginia?

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Washington, D.C.: I live in D.C., read the paper every day, and follow politics fairly closely, but I couldn't begin to tell you if there are any differences between the D.C. mayoral candidates on policy. Can you enlighten me?

My only opinion at this point is that I won't vote for Cropp based on her baseball antics and her previous job on the school board.

Marc Fisher: The more the candidates appear at forums, the more their publicly stated views have tended to coalesce into one big murky mess. But there are real differences and you saw one just yesterday in the vote on the mayor's anti-crime package, which Adrian Fenty voted against while Linda Cropp voted for it. Cropp argued that we have to do something, anything to create a greater disincentive for criminals and to prevent thugs from preying on people at will. Fenty said that the measures proposed yesterday would do more to limit civil liberties than to address any of the reasons why crime is seemingly growing; he focused on pointing public resources toward training, education, employment and drug treatment efforts.

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I Can't Breathe, D.C. : I just do not get your insistence that "choice" is the answer when it comes to smoking in public places. Why should people be able to "choose" to impose their carcinogeous, filthy smoke on my already-compromised lungs? (I have breathing problems.)

You're going to say I can just choose not to go to restaurants and such that allow smoking. Fine. I do. But let me raise this other issue: smoking near entrances to buildings I NEED to enter. Like my office building. I can't go out for lunch without exiting and reentering through a cloud of smoke. I have brought this up with my office, to no avail.

We need more legislation in this specific area. If no smoking were allowed within X distance of public buildings, it would help.

Marc Fisher: But wouldn't that simply move the cluster of smokers a few yards away to wherever the new boundary is? I share your disgust with the cloud of smoke outside office buildings, but I'd argue that those clouds exist regardless of whether it's the government banning indoor smoking or the business making its own policies. Wasn't that problem far better when smokers had their own rooms in the office, or even during that period when they went into the stairwells to smoke? Seems to me that businesses that are left to come up with their own rules might find more satisfying solutions, such as smoking rooms.

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Washington, D.C.: Mark, what are your thoughts on the new story on the stadium lease. Big deal?

Marc Fisher: This is a story just breaking on our home page--Major League Baseball accusing the District of failing to live up to the terms of the stadium deal, not handing over documents, not proving that the city has the title to the new stadium site, etc. The city is saying it's no big deal, they'll get the documents to MLB. But MLB is playing hardball one last time in an effort to get things in place before they hand ownership over to the Lerners officially. This relationship is destined to be difficult and fractious all the way to the end.

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20th and Pennsylvania, N.W.: Marc:

Posting early because of work; I value your opinion on the Senate race in Virginia. My feeling is that while Jim Webb may be personally and temperamentally a terrible campaigner, have a disorganized campaign staff and be tremendously behind in fundraising, Sen. Allen is by no means assured of a victory. From my view at home in Herndon, it seems like everyone I know is viewing this election as a plebiscite on the Bush presidency and the War in Iraq/Afghanistan. If you support the President you'll vote for Sen. Allen but if you're against the War (irrespective of party affiliations) you'll vote for Mr. Webb. I expect Mr. Webb to pull Tim Kaine like numbers in the counties north of the Occoquan, in Richmond, and, maybe, even Tidewater. Sen. Allen will do very well in the Valley and Southside, but are there enough votes there to overcome the more populous areas?

Thoughts and thank you very much.

Marc Fisher: Webb indeed is running from way behind, both in terms of personal popularity and campaign resources and organization. But as you say, there is an anti-Bush, anti-war climate that makes George Allen more vulnerable than he would otherwise be. I don't think we'll have a good sense of how serious the challenge really is until mid-September or so, after the Maryland and D.C. primaries, which will dominate the regional political coverage and discussion until then. A lot will depend on how things are going in Iraq, the Middle East and in general for the Bush administration. And Webb will really only have a shot if the national party and its donors get behind him in a big way--he'll need many millions to come close to matching what will be an impressive ground and air war on Allen's part.

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Tenleytown: Natwar Ghandi's statistics you quoted today should be of great concern. How would any jurisdiction survive if they can tax so few of it's leading employers or most of the employees?

Marc Fisher: Only with federal handouts, a commuter tax, or a basic restructuring of the District's boundaries or rules of play. And of those options, apparently the handout remains the most politically feasible, even though it's by far the dumbest use of resources of the bunch.

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Arlington: Where to live/Move?

I did the same calculus about 15 yrs. ago about moving from Va. (stuck in the past?) to Md. Then I thought: Va. government. is bad, but who has Md. put in the governor's chair? Spiro Agnew (criminal); Marvin Mandel (Criminal); Schaeffer (insane); Erhlich (don't know what to call it but it ain't any better than duds like G. Allen or Gilmore)....

So I stayed in the land of lower taxes, LOL... there is no greener grass...

Marc Fisher: You could choose then to go where there is no grass--the big city, home of the federal bailout, your guaranteed protection after each time you hit rock bottom.

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washingtonpost.com: MLB: D.C. Government in Default of Lease Agreement ( Post, July 20 )

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Washington, D.C.: Am I the only one that thinks the D.C. bureaucracy machine is one of the worst in the country? I am from politically-bureaucratic Providence, RI and my girl is from even worse post Tammany Hall New York City and D.C. has got it beat by far. This crime iniative is the stupidest idea I've heard, mostly because the police in the city are lazy and apparently do not fear being fired. I have reported three police officers for a serious offense (drunk on the job) to the proper departments....only to have them back in my neighborhood TWO DAYS LATER!!

Marc Fisher: Is that purely a question of bureaucracy? Isn't it more a matter of the culture of the department? Surely hiring and training practices are a big piece of the problem, but so is the confrontational nature of relations across classes and races in the city.

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Columbia, Md.: "You can make the same argument about watered-down talent level for every sport, certainly for baseball, basketball and football. "

And besides, isn't part of the fun of being a fan to root FOR the underdogs? I mean, Lord knows the Redskins haven't looked great in recent years. Doesn't mean I wasn't a fan...part of the experience was to cheer them on and hope for the impossible (or improbable) wins.

Marc Fisher: I've never understood why watching a winning team is so much better than watching a losing team--if you're a fan, you're there for the game and to see individual performances and moments. But it is true that all professional sports rely heavily on the non-fan, the casual visitor, and those folks are indeed drawn by the prospect of backing and seeing a real winner.

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Chevy Chase, D.C.: I was interviewed on the phone last night by a Washington Post reporter concerning my attitude toward Anthony Williams. My position is that he has done a good job during his time in office. I recognize that the bar was set incredibly low but nevertheless ... things are generally better. My sense was that the Post reporter was a little incredulous. Am I really that clueless?

Marc Fisher: I don't know who you spoke to, but reporters use lots of different styles of questioning to probe people's views and get them to think about their rationales. In this case, I know from interviewing lots of folks around town that the range of views on the mayor is enormous--more so than for most such politicians. I side with you--he's a lousy politician with sadly lacking communications skills, but he's a very sharp guy with a real vision for the city and he's made enormous progress on many fronts.

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Montgomery County, Md.: Who is paying for all the upgrades at RFK and this training, the Lerners or MLB who still owns the team? My guess is the Lerners. Yet, won't MLB pocket the profits from this weekend because they still actually own the team?

Marc Fisher: Yup. But most of the improvements will last beyond this weekend and if they pay off in increased attendance, that will help the Lerners fund the rebuilding of the team after they take over, which is supposed to happen before the end of this month.

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Washington, D.C.: Here's another example of the poorly run jury duty system at the D.C. Superior Court. My brother reported for jury duty at 10:30 a.m. yesterday, and he reported that there were more jurors than seats in the waiting room. The judges were very slow calling for jurors in the morning. Many jurors were released by the clerk's office in the early afternoon. Why can't the D.C. courts make a better estimate on how many jurors that they may need? Perhaps not so many D.C. citizens might be called every 2 years. Jury duty is an inconvenience, and there seems to be no effort to improve it in Washington.

Marc Fisher: They do overstock the room, and judges are way too cavalier about keeping jury pools waiting all day when it's clear to everyone that no jury will be seated in mid to late afternoon. But overall, that process has grown much better in recent years. Now, if they can just do something about providing more space for the many people who want to use the quiet room rather than the much larger Extra Loud Blaring TV room...

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Cleveland Park, D.C.: "Sure there are a few blistering minutes outside, but I found that the Metro was probably kept at least ten degrees cooler than it usually would be, and the same with my office."

I have to agree. I dined alfresco in Dupont last night, and it wasn't that bad. Most people were inside the restaurant where it was freezing cold! Now, for bad, try my apartment at the Kennedy-Warren, which is without water and power. It's like living in a dark steamy cave. THAT is bad.

Marc Fisher: The evenings haven't been that bad throughout this heat wave--the heat was not accompanied by the drenching humidity that usually hits this time of year.

That was quite the scene outside the Kennedy Warren yesterday--are things back to normal at all?

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Chantilly, Va.: Marc: Regarding the drop off in Nats attendance from last year, remember that last year, (1) the team was a novelty, and (2) against all odds the team was in the playoff hunt until the last week of the season.

This year, the team fell out of the race immediately, the stadium is still the same dumpy ol' RFK, there is still no good broadcast deal in place, and the owners were not chosen until well after the season started.

Marc Fisher: The TV piece is key, and the new owners don't seem to be moving as quickly on that as many people had hoped. The FCC's assistance last week could help in the long run, but again, no imminent action seems to be in the offing.

But you're right about the extraordinary performance of the team last year and this year's utter flailing. Still, a couple more blockbuster trades, and there could be some interesting new faces on the field this season.

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Re: $4 water: I think if it takes you that long to realize you can take your empty water bottle to the RFK restroom to refill it with tap water, you deserve to pay that much money. Common sense, people.

Marc Fisher: Bring ice.

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Mayor Williams: Great headline in the Express earlier this week: Williams Spotted in DC

Marc Fisher: Fabulous.

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Arlington, Va.: Could the D.C. government put one of the new cameras in RFK so I can watch the Nationals?

Marc Fisher: Even more fabulous.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Thanks for telling me I can bringing water to RFK for the Nats -- but I keep kosher, can I bring my own food? Or just go hungry?

Marc Fisher: Sorry, out of luck--but starting tomorrow, a kosher stand is part of the new food service that Aramark is adding.

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Washington: I didn't understand your concern about the lack of televised Nats games until I was in Massachusetts last week. (I must admit that I have RCN so I always had televised games.) I would take evening walks along the beach. You could see into the windows of the cottages, and I was amazed at how many people were watching the Red Sox. It's time to get Comcast and MASN to the table and end this stalemate.

Marc Fisher: TV is key. I too have Starpower, so we get every game, and I can see how it makes a huge difference in the formation of attachments. My kids don't watch every game, but by dipping in here and there, they get to know the players and that drives them to read the box scores and before they know it, they're conversant in and obsessed with the team and they're talking it up with their friends and the whole thing snowballs.

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Washington, D.C.: Can anything be done that might encourage someone (anyone) in the D.C. government to maybe even consider doing their job on occasion? I love this city, but the state it is in (and has been in for years) is pathetic. The crime "emergency" is just symptomatic of the larger issue which is pervasive institutional incompetence.

Marc Fisher: How do you propose getting that change to happen? The last mayoral candidate to address that issue head on was Mr. Tony Williams in his first campaign. And he can point to a bunch of initiatives that improved customer service, certainly in parts of the DMV, DCRA and the general phone culture of the city government. But other parts of the bureaucracy seem unchanged, and he never did wield the broom as promised. Why is it that none of this year's candidates even talk about that issue?

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SS Md.: re: "I Can't Breathe." I can't breathe either as I'm riding my bicycle from SS to downtown every day as most of the non-smokers pass by me in their cars on 13th street. I'm pretty sure that cars put a lot more pollution into the local air than smoking. Can we pass a law stating that all motorists must turn off their cars and push them when they are within 50 ft. of a bicyclist? The second hand smoke from your car is worse than my nasty habit. By the way I'm ridding across town on my way home to pick up some nice cigars for the weekend.

Marc Fisher: Life is a barrel of contradictions. I hope they're Cubans.

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Washington D.C.: RE: Smoking outside of office buildings. Smoking areas can/should be established in the alleys behind the buildings where the dumpsters are kept. Might as well keep all the stink together.

Marc Fisher: But you have to share the space with the rats, and they're pretty particular about the air they breathe.

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Rockville, Md.: Hi Marc, Is there any way we can get a big B, or some blue shading or something, over the baseball-related questions in your chat so I'll know to skip them? I like your columns and I hang on every word you say in these chats, except when it's about baseball. I just don't care much about the sport, or agree with you about the Nats. But I like everything else you have to say. What are the chances of a little filtering?

Marc Fisher: Great idea. Let me ask our tech folks about adding some colored shading. Spice up the look of the big show and all that.

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Takoma Park, Md.: Marc, I live right around the corner from where that woman was stabbed in Takoma, D.C. last week. I have never in my 20 years living there seen a single D.C. cop patrolling anywhere near that location. If this is a trouble spot, as Chief Ramsay said, why isn't there more police presence? Is D.C. depending on the Takoma Park and MoCo police to do their jobs for them?

Marc Fisher: I have several posts along these lines in the queue--what can I say? City residents in all neighborhoods have the same plaint about the police and their lax attitudes, yet if you look at the numbers--patrol units on the street, number of arrests--the department can point to improvements and successes. A lot of this has to do with attitude and far too many D.C. police do seem to shy away from useful contact with the citizenry.

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Washington, D.C.: I think the citizens/politicos of D.C. should use this recent "crime emergency" to re-galvanize the Taxation w/o Representation fight. The fact, as you pointed out, that our neighborhoods are struggling because D.C. cops have federal responsibilities, but we have no federal representation is idiotic.

Marc Fisher: But unlikely to change.

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Washington: Do you think all the "evacuees" coming from the Middle East have good passports/papers? Anyone sneaking in here under the guise of a rescue?

Marc Fisher: So the Middle East problem will become a new piece of the immigration debate?

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Washington, D.C.: Hi, Marc. I don't know where else to take this rant, so you are the lucky winner. WHY do cigarette smokers think of the world as their ashtray? People toss their used butts on the ground, they empty their car ashtrays in parking lots, they throw their used butts out of car windows so that they can blow back and hit my car (I'm talking to you, green Suburu Forester crossing the Roosevelt Bridge about 9:15 a.m.). People who throw food wrappers or empty water bottles in the street are littering; why isn't that true for cigarette smokers, too? Could someone please explain this to me??

Aaahhhh. I feel a little better now.

Marc Fisher: Happy to help.

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Arlington, Va.: Hi, Marc. You must know by know that Eleanor Homes Norton actually has some competition for her seat this time around. Your thoughts?

Marc Fisher: If it's someone with a solid history of paying taxes, I'm there.

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Alexandria, Va.: OK, I think those Metro courtesy signs are as ridiculous as anyone (PlanBdextrous, anyone), but I would like to KISS the person who created the sign I saw this morning defining the terms Escaleftor as someone who stands on the left side of the escalator when they should be standing on the right. Don't know if this is old or what, but I was happy to see it, especially with all the tourists in town.

Marc Fisher: Are those new signs? I haven't seen them yet--sounds like a great idea.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Can we change the name of this chat to "Potomac Whinery Confidential"? Sheesh! It's a beautiful summer and we have baseball in DC. Lighten up folks!

Marc Fisher: Serving no whine before its time.

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Alexandria: Should I go to the game for the hat, the t-shirt, or the towel?

Marc Fisher: Towel.

Gotta go for the most novel gimmick.

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Washington - MPD: "I have reported three police officers for a serious offense (drunk on the job) to the proper departments....only to have them back in my neighborhood TWO DAYS LATER!!" Ah, but if the officers had made a momentarily insensitive statement while drunk, they'd be history (or at least forever reassigned to lesser duties).

Marc Fisher: It's part of our new national preference for holding people accountable more for what they say than for what they do.

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Maryland: Know you'll be happy to hear this, Marc....

On the radio this morning, Nats president said that yes, there WILL be real ice cream tomorrow, and for all 9 innings! Woohoo!

Marc Fisher: Let's all try to buy a cone in the 8th inning and see what happens. Report back here next week--in color-coded postings, for the benefit of the non-baseball inclined.

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Crime and cameras: Mark,

I am fed up with the white liberal-speak you spew. It's very easy for you to sit in your cozy upper NW home and knock the DC Council's proposals for fighting crime. You aren't dealing with it on a daily basis.

Cameras may not be solve the problem, but they will help get a few thugs off the street. And as someone who doesn't live in your cozy neighborhood, I must say I 100% support that idea.

But you would rather we all gather around in a circle and hug, wouldn't you?

Marc Fisher: Um, no, I'd rather we lock em up and toss the key--is that liberal-speak enough for you? The lack of tough punishment is every bit as big a problem as the failure to prevent thugs from developing in the first place. Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't buy the circle hug approach in the least.

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.....The new owners: I'm a season ticket holder and got a letter sometime last week in the mail from the Nationals. It explained what they were going to do this weekend, expressed an understanding of the TV frustrations, and said that 'town halls' would be set up in DC, VA, and MD in the coming weeks. For a group that doesn't even actually 'own' anything yet, not bad.

Marc Fisher: I saw that letter and it's a very good start. I'd much rather see real action toward a TV deal than town meetings, but those would be fun too.

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Marc Fisher: Thanks for coming along, folks. More on the blog at washingtonpost.com/rawfisher and in the paper and on the big site this Sunday with the Listener column and back in Metro on Tuesday. Stay cool.

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