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, Sept. 14, at Noon ET to discuss all of the ramifications of this week's primary election.

Check out Marc's blog, Raw Fisher .

Today's Article: Casting Some Votes for Sense (Post, Sept. 14)

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

The transcript follows.

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Marc Fisher: Welcome aboard, folks. The voters have spoken and now you're eager to do so as well--the queue is bulging with comments and questions, so let's get right down to it, after the Yay and Nay of the Day:

Yay to the voters in Maryland and the District--and especially to those in Montgomery County, who rose above the mess at the polls--for making intelligent choices that looked beyond the moronic appeals of TV ads and the cynical efforts by party strategists to encourage race-based voting.

Nay to those who see conspiracy where incompetence reigns. The foul-ups in Montgomery County are bad enough without adding on the notion that there was evil intent behind the failure of the polls to open in fully functioning order on time.

Your turn starts right now....

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Germantown, Md. working in Washington, D.C.: With all of this buildup about how this is an important primary that would change MD politics, I feel like this year's election results is anticlimatic to the furor about the failures of the process. Anyone else feel the same?

Marc Fisher: I hope not. Obviously, the mess at the polls will dominate discussion for a little while, but once we have a better handle on how and why it happened and what's to be done to prevent a repeat performance in November, it's well worth looking at what voters did on Tuesday, because there were momentous changes in both the District and Maryland, and there even appears to be a rationale that voters were expressing for their actions.

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Washington, D.C. 20008: I am grateful for your column today. I was irritated that the coverage of the Council Chair's race today and yesterday in The Post highlighted the racial dimensions of the voting to the exclusion of all other explanations. Sure, race is an issue. But Kathy Patterson picked up big majorities in Wards 2 and 3 because her campaign emphasized fiscal discipline (an issue that carries more weight in these parts of the city) and because she got the endorsement of the Current newspapers. And, just as Adrian Fenty and Vincent Grey got the biggest wins in their home wards, Kathy Patterson won the most in her home ward (as one would hope in politics). I thought the real story was what you highlighted -- that voters looked beyond race more than you might think. In contrast, as far as I can tell, The Post just phoned in some stereotypes and called it a day.

- A white ward 3 resident who voted for Vincent Grey

Marc Fisher: Thanks very much--my own analysis of the vote in the city was indeed at odds with the one expressed in one of our news stories today, but I wouldn't use that difference to argue that the Post institutionally is making one or the other of those points. There are a lot of folks here who report and write about politics, and it's only natural that we will sometimes look at the same set of facts and draw different conclusions. Our mission should be to gather and deliver the facts and then to offer readers a variety of interpretations for all of us to chew on--and disagree with.

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Adams Morgan, Washington, D.C.: Marc--I voted for Mendelson but I disagree with your characterization of Bolden's ads as race-baiting. Specifically, you cited a Bolden ad in which an African American schoolboy stands at a chalkboard and Mendelson's picture is inserted above the child. The ad says that Mendelson has "failed" D.C.'s public school children.

Mendelson is white. Nearly every child in D.C. public schools is Black or Brown. Bolden presents an entirely accurate picture of the demographic. How is this race-baiting?

Moreover, in Mendelson's flier sent that same week, every picture shows Mendelson smiling alongside African Americans--every single picture!

So how is Bolden's ad race-baiting and Mendelson's ad not?

Marc Fisher: I agree that there's no race-baiting in the Bolden ad you cite. But there were other Bolden ads that did use race as a cudgel against Mendelson: In one brochure that was sent to District voters, Bolden accused Mendelson of working against the interests of D.C. school children and his evidence was that Mendelson opposed creating an Emancipation Day holiday for D.C. workers. There's obviously no connection between such a move and the education of children, so the only reason to write the ad that way was to raise the question of racial allegiance or sensitivity. In addition, Bolden argued that it was time for blacks to take back the majority on the D.C. Council--not exactly a race-neutral approach to campaigning.

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Logan Circle, Washington, D.C.: Marc--Gray beat Patterson by double digits; Mendelson beat Bolden by 3-1. Neither Gray nor Mendelson could have won so dramatically without a large number of voters voting against the candidates of their own race.

I'm a 29 year old African American man and I voted for both Patterson and Mendelson.

Hopefully this election will end the local D.C. pundit's obsession with 'the black vote" and "the white vote." You and other Post and Citypaper writers would have us believe it's still 1994.

This election shows that D.C. voters--in all 8 wards--are more sophisticated than our local pundits give us credit for.

Marc Fisher: I agree and that's what I wrote in today's column. In both the District and Maryland, there were several elections in which voters seemed to rise above questions of race and just vote for the candidate they thought could best get the job done--and their conclusions included both black and white candidates.

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Washington, D.C.: Marc,

Interesting column on the Texas Roadhouse situation in Virginia. While the action of the one manager is deplorable, the end of your piece only hinted at the larger issue here. When did we become a nation of such spoiled brats, and what is the solution? Do you ever read Tom Sietsema's chat -- it's the same situation as you described, but from the diner's perspective. "I didn't get my extra dressing, why didn't they comp my entire meal?" "We had to wait five minutes and they didn't give us a free entree!" "The room was too chilly and they had the nerve to charge me for hot tea!" After dealing with such whiny complaints from rude diners, day in and day out, it's unfortunate but not at all surprising that the restaurant manager took the same tone with the police department. Sorry for the rant, but whither civility?

washingtonpost.com: It's Enough to Make Your Stomach Turn (Post, Sept. 12)

Marc Fisher: Thanks--you make a good point about all the unwarranted abuse that people in the restaurant business take, and the preposterous expectations that customers have, but it was still surprising to me that someone who daily sees the pettiness of people would so appallingly stoop to an even lower level. I've received many emails from people who work at that restaurant saying that they ought not be blamed for the foolish action of their manager, and of course they shouldn't be blamed individually. But it seems somehow apt if customers offended by the store's actions try to send a message back to the restaurant.

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Arlington, Va.: The article about the MoCo football player who's been accused of felony robbery and was just made captain of his football team got me thinking. It seems like we live in a society consumed by inexhaustible greed where selfishness rules the day. Many of the universally excepted values of the past have been discarded, such as respect for others, compassion, honor and integrity. The football player is a perfect example. Not only can a talented athlete get away with just about anything, his stature actually increases with fans when he commits a crime. I'm no fan of the evangelical right, but you have to admit that when they say something is wrong in this country, they have a point. As someone who interacts with all kinds of people in the community on a regular basis, what do you think?

Marc Fisher: In both the Texas Roadhouse case and in the horrifying tale of the football player who has no business being a football player, it's easy for the rest of us to be shocked and appalled by others' lack of regard for doing the right thing. And you're right--I hear from many, many people every day, and some of them get very angry about what I've written. I love it when folks argue back, and I don't mind when they get tough about it. But this here Interweb has made it much easier for all of us to mouth off at strangers at a very odd distance--just far enough away so that we don't have to take immediate responsibility for our words and actions, yet close enough to have a real impact. Just as I find that writing back to abusive e-mailers almost always brings an immediate and heartfelt apology--"I didn't think anyone was really going to read it," they often say--I think it's also true that folks like that restaurant manager and maybe even the people who let that kid play football would rethink their decisions if other human beings just sat them down and helped them think it through.

Impulsivity problems is what the touchy feely school counselors would call this.

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White's Ferry : Safe or not safe? Fight the Coast Guard or not?

Marc Fisher: Fight the Coast Guard. Keep the ferry going.

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Fairfax, Va.: I'd appreciate yours and your readers thoughts on a situation I'm in. A new family with young kids moved in next to us recently and want to let their kids play in our yard (they have a nice big yard of their own, so I don't get why they need ours as well). The thing is, I found out that the father is a personal injury lawyer. If I let them play here, should I have them sign a waiver (only partially kidding). Thanks.

Marc Fisher: Unless you're the sort who loves to sue people, I'd let it go. What's wrong with someone's kids playing on your yard? As long as you're not at that moment out back shooting target practice, I don't see the problem. Anyone?

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Washington, D.C.: On the Metro recently, I encountered a man wearing a uniform with a badge that read "Special Police." Upon further review, I realized that he worked for a security firm. Why isn't it illegal to use the word "police" if you are a security guard? It seems like that is impersonating a police officer--you're wearing a police-like uniform, wearing a badge, often carrying a gun, and have the word "police" on your uniform. What do you think?

Marc Fisher: I'm with you. Those "Special Police" arm patches always make me angry. There's nothing remotely special about most such folks, and I know I wouldn't want them as my police--not unless their security guard company is paying to put them through a year at the police academy, which you know is not happening. What I don't get is why the real police are so sanguine about this--doesn't this degrade the public image of the professionals who worked hard to become real police officers?

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Washington, D.C.: Cheers to The Post editorial page for endorsing a change in the name of Washington's football team, which is so vile that it shouldn't even be mentioned. Although I seriously doubt they would, the team should change its name before the courts order them to.

Marc Fisher: That won't happen, nor should it. As a letter writer on today's editorial page noted, Indians themselves have spoken out on this question in one opinion survey after another, and despite the whining and moaning of the speech police, Indians overwhelmingly do not mind the Redskins name--in fact, most find it to be as complimentary as Braves, Chiefs, Indians and other such team names.

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Bethesda, Md.: So, Marc, can you come clean with your readers on why you hate Montgomery County so much (re your latest blast on the voting problems, which also occurred in PG County and other jurisdictions)? Did you get a speeding ticket on River Road?

Marc Fisher: I didn't have a bad meal at Joe's Noodle House either--a stellar example of MoCo's fine food offerings. No, I like Montgomery just fine. We kid because we love, or something like that.

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Potomac, Md.: I enjoy reading your take on various issues and candidates. Well thought out and written. We can use you over here in Montgomery County.

Marc Fisher: And there's the other side. Thanks.

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Clifton, Va.: Hey if the lazy good for nothing donut eating neo Nazi's i.e. The Fairfax County PD costs my business money irrespective of the cause I would send their department the bill. More often then not the lazy officers from the Sully and Fair Oaks division are out hiding in out of the way locations parked like the powerlines off Moore Rd just shooting the bull and not patrolling while some bright enterprising criminal is breaking into your house. Fairfax pigs are worse then DC's. Cut their pay by 50 percent!

Marc Fisher: Although I'm sure you wouldn't be so bold about expressing your views of the police department if you couldn't hide behind the anonymity of the web, I bet even you would agree that it's not exactly in the common good for police officers to be shot in the line of duty. Someone who complains about lost pennies as a result of a police funeral is therefore among the lowest of the low.

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Springfield, Va.: Hi Marc, What do you think will happen to the Town of Vienna after all of the proposed development occurs around Metrorail stops in the Vienna, Dunn Loring and Tysons's area? Historically, Vienna has been able to control their own growth, but soon they will be surrounded by high rises and the population will explode in these areas. I can't help but think that Vienna will be severely impacted.

Marc Fisher: Depends on what you mean by impacted. Will there be more density around those Metro stations and will that density create more congestion on the streets around those stations? Absolutely. Will that change the nature of development in Vienna, which has managed to keep a fairly low-density approach even while it already borders on more heavily developed areas? Not necessarily. The town's residents and government may well decide to hold the line, but there's a price to pay for that in increased property values and therefore higher taxes and prices. That inevitably changes the demographics of the town. So yes, it's possible that if Vienna wants to remain a place with housing that's affordable to young families, it may have to join its neighbors in accepting more density. That's how communities evolve; that's the nature of a changing urban environment.

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Washington, D.C. Public School Parent: Someone wrote: "Nearly every child in D.C. public schools is Black or Brown. Bolden presents an entirely accurate picture of the demographic. How is this race-baiting?"

Nonsense. Black students may be in the majority, but there are many students who are white or other races. Mendelson's own child attends the public schools (did Bolden's kids?). I though that Bolden's ads on this point were designed to inflame.

Marc Fisher: I agree with you, but the previous poster was right on the facts--the D.C. school system remains well over 90 percent non-white.

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Washington, D.C.: I was surprised to see the comments in the Tuesday night chat about requiring photo id at polling places.

Photo id is NOT a requirement to vote. An attempt to implement this in Georgia was recently ruled unconstitutional.

Getting a photo id costs money. No proposals yet have gotten around that. Avoiding disenfranchisement means no monetary restrictions on voting.

Marc Fisher: True enough, but there ought to be some modest effort to confirm that the person presenting himself to vote is actually that person. Even if it's just asking the person to verify his address, that's something. And that is entirely constitutional. There should be something between the absolutely nothing that we see in many polling places and the photo ID method that may well present constitutional problems.

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Washington, D.C.: Fenty uses 2 Blackberrys to service 1 ward; now he'll need 16.

Marc Fisher: Buy the man a Blackberry belt.

Several e-mailers yesterday said that they expect that now that Fenty has won, he'll stop showing up in the neighborhoods. I disagree: I bet you see him in semi-permanent campaign mode. The constant movement is essential not only to his style of governing, but to his very being. And he makes a reasonable argument that other big city mayors have used this approach very effectively to ride herd on city workers and to raise popular expectations of their government.

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Kids in the yard: Let the kids play in your yard but make clear to their parents that you reserve the right to give the rugrats the boot if you need some peace and quiet.

Marc Fisher: Fair enough.

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Anonymous:

"Unless you're the sort who loves to sue people, I'd let it go."

Are you kidding? It seems to me this person is worried (and justifiably so) about BEING sued. No way would I let the kids play in my yard. There's no telling how many ways they could hurt themselves on something that a determined lawyer could spin into some kind of negligence on my part. (Yes, I'm a lawyer too, though not in personal injury stuff.)

By the way, a question for the tech people: what's up with The Post site today? All the tops of the pages, except the home page, are being cut off.

Marc Fisher: And this is why we end up with people who demand restitution from the police because a funeral slowed their revenue flow. The lawyer's way of thinking--always measuring who is liable in any given situation--is a deeply cynical and inhumane approach to life. It is to be avoided and fought at every turn.

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Baltimore, Md.: I think you misunderstood Fairfax's question - if the personal injury lawyer's kids get hurt on Fairfax's property, it's the lawyer that would sue Fairfax. Not the other way around. One solution would be just to tell the lawyer you don't want the kids playing in your yard. Another way would be to say it's okay as long as the lawyer supervises. The final way would be to build a fence.

Marc Fisher: There is one other possibility: Say nothing and let the kids do as they wish. If and when they smash your window, you can deal with it at that point.

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those darn kids in the yard: I also expect discount lawn mowing when they come of age.

Marc Fisher: Absolutely.

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Yard: Do NOT let his kids play in your yard. HE may be looking to sue. If you give them verbal permission, what happens if they destroy something of yours or if they get injured? Unfortunately, we are a society that is ready to sue anyone and anything we see as an injustice against us. We have people suing because they got fat eating burgers at a fast food restaurant. Politely tell them you don't feel it is a good idea. You have landscaping that could be ruined, they could break a window, etc. Who would be responsible? Bottom line, they get injured, you get sued. Giving them permission is opening up another can of worms. It doesn't make sense they want to use your yard if theirs is plenty big. Why would they? Naivete could cost you your home.

Good fences make good neighbors.

Marc Fisher: You're right to bring up the nutjobs who are suing fast food places because slovenly customers pig out on their burgers. Do we really need more such loons in this country? Wouldn't it make sense to try to bring up a generation of kids who don't think to sue every time something doesn't happen as they want it to?

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Washington, D.C.: Ok, I just read the Texas Roadhouse story. Yeah, it was a little tacky, but why all the fuss? You know that corporate restaurant chains are infamous for bean-counting, and that they hold managers accountable for a restaurant's take.

This fellow was likely imagining a conversation with his superior in Dubuque, or wherever: he gets called on the carpet for being $9,000 short of his expected take, and he says, sorry about that, but see, there were these two funerals that shut us down. He know his superior, and knows that the guy will want to know what steps he took to recoup the losses. So he take some, preemptively. Also, he could have done it at the behest of his superior, who is now throwing him to the wolves to protect the company.

Why is everyone so quick to assume that the manager was greedy and tactless? If the police department can demand payment for responding to a faulty alarm-- which was certainly no fun for the manager-- it seems logical that the restaurant owner can request compensation for his loss, as well.

Marc Fisher: Wait a second--the cops didn't fine the place because they felt personally bothered by the restaurant's repeated false alarms. They fined the place because it costs the taxpayers big money to have cops go chasing after every errant alarm. The cops' job is to protect their time so that they can go out and fight real crime. That's a public function.

The eatery, on the other hand, has two functions--make money and serve or entertain people. If the funeral interfered with making money, that's too bad, but in the long run, as we see now with this controversy, the restaurant loses out on both of its main functions if it takes the petty route of trying to recoup the lost money: The place has succeeded in angering its customers and will therefore make less money. Not exactly smart.

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Crofton, Md.: What if it was the neighbor's dog instead of the neighbor's kids? I think Mr. Dog-Hater would have a different opinion.

Marc Fisher: Quite right--in one case we are talking about rational and controllable, if immature, human beings, while in the other we have no idea what we're getting--a nice doggie, a vicious killer, or a pile of refuse.

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Webb vs. Allen: Marc:

While I understand that the Webb article on women in combat is a viable story, I don't see how it hurts him in the campaign. He's already said he's changed his view since then and has apologized for any harm done. More pragmatically, it only confirms his status as a "non-liberal" Democrat which should help him in the campaign. The people most likely to agree with his original premise were probably going to vote for Allen. He might actually pick up some of those votes, in my mind. Meanwhile, those most likely to oppose his original premise were likely to be Democrats and they're still going to vote for him. How does this hurt him?

washingtonpost.com: Fighting Words From Webb's Past (Post, Sept. 14)

Marc Fisher: You're probably right. Allen hopes that a steady drumbeat of stories about some of the boneheaded things that Webb has written during a very long career as a writer will diminish the appeal of the outsider candidate. And Webb has always been upfront in saying that as a writer, he has a long record of statements that are not remotely politic (that's true of anyone in this trade, which is one reason why writers pretty much never get elected to anything). But if you're saying that Webb's anti-woman statements from the '70s will actually attract support, I don't think I'd go that far.

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Silver Spring, Md.: The State of Maryland offers a photo State I.D. to people who do not have/want driver's licenses.

If this photo I.D. was free, wouldn't this cancel out the "disenfranchisement" argument?

I just spent two unsuccessful hours at the MVA, so I know it could be a pain for people to spend a couple hours there to get the I.D. But to protect the sanctity of the vote - knowing that every person voter is eligible with the proper I.D. - is well worth it.

Marc Fisher: If it's free, and if it's made easily available to voters when they register, that would seem to obviate the legal concerns.

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the whole nine yards : What do the neighborhood kids say about Ol' Man Fisher's house and yard?

Marc Fisher: We ain't got no playable yard, thank the Lord, but the kids manage to find a little place to play ball and anyone who happens along plays with.

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Washington, D.C.: You shouldn't give permission to other people's kids playing in your yard because you set yourself up for liability if they get hurt in your yard, think swimming pool legislation if that helps. And why, oh why, should someone you don't know who is new to the neighborhood have their kids in your yard when they have a yard and it isn't to play with your kids? Seems like chutzpah to me, shouldn't they at least get to know each other first?

Marc Fisher: Good way to get to know each other, no?

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Silver Spring, Md.: My mother used to give me heck for going in the neighbor's yards.

She said it was a matter of respecting private property. It wasn't our yard, so stay out of it.

I don't think Fairfax has anything to apologize for by not wanting the neighbors' kids in his yard. I'm really surprised at the gall of some people -- I'd never ask someone to let my kids play in their yard. Lawsuits don't have anything to do with it.

Marc Fisher: There are a lot of games that require big space. I've never lived near large yards, but if I did, I'd want to see how far we could hit the ball.

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Avoiding stereotypes: I wouldn't be so quick to assume the neighbor is litigious, just because he's a p.i. lawyer - most of the lawyers I know tend not to be litigious in their personal lives, they get enough of it at work. I guess the real question I have is, why play in the neighbor's yard if they have their own? But, at the same time, grew up playing in other neighbors' backyards and their houses - so why restrict them, either? Just wait and see what happens - I think the other lawyer who wrote in is overstating the liability issues, anyway, unless there's a pool or some other sort of danger - but if there is, it should already be fenced.

Marc Fisher: A reasonable approach!

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Washington, D.C.: I enjoyed your column today, however it may be a bit soon to claim that DC-area residents no longer "cast ballots along racial lines." How else do you explain the P.G. Registrar of Wills election of Cereta Lee,a black woman with 2-yr degree from mail-order University and NO experience, over white incumbent Lynn Skerpon who has law degree and POST endorsement? It looks like we still have a way to go for a colorblind election in Prince Georges County.

Marc Fisher: You're right there--that was a particularly unfortunate contest and outcome.

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Garage City, USA: The suspense over whether or not Herb Miller's proposed project to build garages for the Nats wrapped by condos seems to be heading towards a climax. While this suspense is not quite the same as that associated with a pennant race, the implications for the city is probably more significant. Are you willing to go out on a limb now and predict what you think will happen?

Marc Fisher: Sadly, I have to predict the worst possible outcome--neither an underground garage, which is the only solution that would justify the public investment in the stadium, nor an aboveground garage, which would be devastating to the development of an attractive and walkable entertainment district, but rather, the easy out: A surface parking lot that deadens the area and provides little if any tax revenue for the city.

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Rockville, Md.: A question concerning the Montgomery County election debacle--do you believe Governor Erlich will hold the Election Board and staff accountable?

In my view, the resignations of Ms. Dacek, president of the Election Board, and Ms. Jugensen, chief of the professional staff, is imperative. In particular, Ms. Dacek's remarks that this was merely a "glitch," that her chief concern was poll workers not the voters themselves, and her preemptive attacks dismissing anyone suggesting that she be held accountable as "scapegoating" have caused me to lose all confidence in her.

I am angry enough to make this a single-issue litmus test in the coming general election. If the administration does not hold these two officials accountable, I will have no choice but to hold the administration accountable in November.

To get off my soapbox and back to the question--do you think they "get it" that this debacle demands swift, nonpartisan accountability?

Marc Fisher: Depends on who you mean by "they." Certainly the MoCo administration wants quick action, but the county is a bit rudderless with Doug Duncan not yet back at full speed. Gov. Ehrlich will try to make political hay of this; even if he eventually does the right thing, it will seem politically motivated because of the way he has attacked this as a partisan issue from Word One.

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Alexandria, Va.: But would you let William Donald Schaefer play in your yard?

Marc Fisher: He can be my yard monitor and also the barker for the home version of our Game of Life.

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Washington, D.C.: are DC users saying we don't know if Fenty will ever be a good mayor but we know Cropp wouldn't? I just can't seem to understand WHEN did Cropp lost the campaign. Hers and Townsend's.

Marc Fisher: She lost it on the day she launched her campaign, when she surrounded herself with old Barry hands and a generation of campaign workers that made her whole message seem dated.

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Photo IDs to vote: Form I-9 that you have to fill out to prove you're eligible

to work in the U.S. lists TONS of alternative IDS that one

can present. Why can't election boards require some of

these?

School ID card

Birth Certificate

hospital record

employer ID card

social security card

And more.

It's not rocket science, people! Something, ANYTHING that

says you are who you say you are!

Marc Fisher: We're having a virtual epidemic of reasonable comments here. Must be a technical glitch.

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Washington, D.C.: Do you think Jack Johnson barely squeaking out a win will be a much-needed wake-up call? I'm still scratching my head about the Jesse Jackson -insert rolling eyes]endorsement. When did he ever live in Prince George's County?

Marc Fisher: Who is it that you think will wake up? Johnson? While he got the scare of his career, why would he change his stripes after this? He's not running again, and he won. I would not expect to see significant change.

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Nats Ballpark Development: I agree that surface lots are the easy out, but they are not the worst possible outcome. A ring of hulking above-ground garages would be. It would be decades before the above-ground garage mistakes could be corrected. Surface lots, while "dead" and unattractive, probably will be developed into commercial/residential sites with underground parking over the next few years.

Marc Fisher: Ok, maybe it's better in the long run than above ground garages, but if the idea is to grab people during the first couple of years of the stadium's run and persuade them that this is a fun place to come to for a game and for a whole evening or afternoon, then a sea of cars is not exactly a winning approach.

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Germantown, Md.: In the Montgomery County Council at-large race, where did Marc Elrich and Duch Trachtenberg come from? I got one mailing from Trachtenberg but otherwise never heard or saw and ad from either. Nor did I see many of their signs, yet they racked up big vote totals. I understand Trachtenberg is some long-time national activist but they hardly seem to have a had a presence in the county - particularly Upcounty - before this election.

Marc Fisher: Both have reasonably well known names stemming from, in his case, activism in Takoma Park and beyond on the slow-growth front, and in her case, a position at NOW as well as previous candidacies in the county. This, along with Leggett's election, is a turn away from the pro-development and growth stance that Duncan and the End Gridlock slate promoted a few years back.

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Takoma Park: I really hope Fenty isn't too serious about this DC Statehood thing.

It will waste time and resources.

If the problem is "Taxation without Representation", why not address the other half of the equation, TAXES.

Get the DC residents a tax break (shoot, turn the place into a tax haven a'la Monaco, why the heck not) and I insure you, nobody would complain about the lack of representation.

Marc Fisher: I wouldn't expect to see Fenty lift a finger for statehood. He recognizes that that's a dead issue.

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Alexandria, Va. How about the fact that the NCAA has deemed the William and Mary logo to be offensive (a Green and Gold WM with two feathers) but find no fault in the Florida State Seminoles???

Marc Fisher: If we go there, we're going to fall deep into the twilight zone.

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last comment on the Skins name and logo: Marc,

The one thing that doesn't seem to get covered much in this discussion is the religious implications of much of the merchandise and icons. To many people, a headdress is a sacred item, worn during religious ceremonies. What would happen if, say, a visiting team band went to a Catholic School dressed as nuns? Basically the same difference. Oh, that's right, they'd be banned from the stadium (as happened to the Stanford Band in the early Nineties visiting South Bend) So for all the people using the Fighting Irish as a reductum ad absurdum argument: yes, your school has just the same sensitivity.

Stop thinking in racial terms and start thinking in religious ones, and the whole thing changes. It's what convinced me.

By the way, in the late '80s, I went to a school in Toledo who used the name "Mohawk" as our mascot, complete with basically the same image as the Skins. As a project, a class wrote a letter to the Mohawk Nation asking if they minded. their response was, basically "Hell yes, we mind." the mascot is now the Hawks, and the logo is a raptor.

Marc Fisher: There are lots of religion-based team names and mascots that, if you listened to the opponents of Indian names, would also have to be excised from the language. But in fact those colorful names that many religious school teams sport are great fun and strong traditions.

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NW Washington, D.C.: Last night on Fox 5 10:00 broadcast, the reports on the DC Mayor's race repeatedly referred to the Primary winner as the next Mayor. This reporting irked me. Granted the primary winner is the likely winner. If in fact there is no Republican candidate then of course the primary winner would be mayor by default. But the broadcast did not state such facts. When I message to the station has of course gone unanswered. So bottom-line. For a Republican in the District --- it's as if you're completely NOT represented! (In fact, I tend to vote Republican but am a registered Democrat only to feel that I have a voice in an election process, that feels like a sham.)

Also, other than city council candidate Conroy, are any Republicans running for Mayor? When is the cut-off date to get on the November ballot?

Marc Fisher: There is a GOP mayoral candidate, David Kranich. I believe he is a Realtor in town. Nice guy. Doesn't seem to know much about the city. If he gets more than six percent of the vote, I will buy you lunch.

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Washington, D.C.: In the SS judge's story on your blog, they found there's no card shortly after 6 a.m., but the cards didn't arrive until 9:25. I don't know where the BOE is and where his poll station is, but they can't be 3 hours apart.

I suspect the cards were NOT forgotten, but were never ready before the polls open.

Marc Fisher: No, the distribution delay once they discovered the problem is entirely plausible--consider that the issue here is not geographic distance, but staffing. Elections boards never have large staffs. That's why they rely so heavily on volunteers come Election Day. So the professional staff is always shorthanded on the big day.

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Logan Circle, Washington, D.C.: I see the House is considering a bill to give D.C. a voting delegate. Instead of adding another grandstanding, blowhard to Congress, why don't we just get an exemption from Federal income taxes, like Puerto Rico?

Marc Fisher: One way or the other. Either let us vote or exempt us from federal taxes and military service. Preferably the former.

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20th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, D.C.: Marc,

A few thoughts on William Donald Schaefer from a former constituent of his (in my (much) younger days a citizen of Baltimore City). It is a shame to see his career end as it did. Anyone who lived in Baltimore in the late '60s and early '70s knows how dysfunctional the city was. He changed things through the course of sheer will. The good things in the City that exists now are a testament to that.

He represents the old Democratic Party. Someone who was educated in public schools (and I mean college and law schools, not just grade and high school), was taught the value of education by his parents and worked hard to gain that education. Worked his way up through the local political machine helping citizens who couldn't get their alley paved or garbage picked up. He represents the Democratic Party of Hubert Humphrey, et al. The Democratic Party my late father and I left after watching George McGovern, Jimmy Carter and the Ivy League educated, blame-America first, elite turn it into a party of entitlements and special interests. (Mom is a Goldwater Republican, a very rare breed, but that's a story for another time, she'll probably be voting for Gov. Ehrlich).

Gov. Schaefer never took a dime for all the projects he oversaw on the Board of Public Works as Governor or as Mayor. He was never tarred with scandal, never was accused of mis-, mal- or nonfeasance. I, for one, hope he does run for Mayor of Ocean City and stays in the limelight for a long time for it will be very sad to see him go.

Marc Fisher: Alas, he's not eligible for Ocean City mayor--he missed the deadline. But it would be fun to see him find something else.

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Fairfax, Va. To the person ripping the Fairfax police and other police: I don't see you putting your life on the line everyday. You're a coward.

Marc Fisher: Thanks.

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DC mayor : When will Fenty fill my pothole?

Marc Fisher: Give him an call and then give him an hour. (See, he's raised expectations to preposterously high levels. So he's destined to disappoint. That's the story of politics.)

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Washington, D.C.: The manager of the Texas Roadhouse was not "personally inconvenienced" by the loss of business. He has superiors to answer to, and his job, his livelihood depends on it.

It is the business of cops to fight crime. When something takes up their time and prevents them from doing so, they levy a fine.

It is the business of a business to satisfy its stockholders in the form of profits. (See all the neo-con chatter about huge corporate profits at the cost of stagnating wages being A-OK because "they have a responsibility to the stockholders".) When something prevents it from doing so, a restaurant has what recourse?

I can't believe a smart cookie like you fails to see the parallel. You're pandering, Marc.

Marc Fisher: Another view heard from.

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Silver Spring, Md.: I went to an all-girls Catholic school in Rockville run by the nuns from the other side of South Bend.

If someone came to a football game dressed as nuns, I'd find it hilarious.

Don't let Notre Dame's lack of a sense of humor let that speak for all Christianity.

Marc Fisher: Thank you.

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Kids in the Yard: You said, "Wouldn't it make sense to try to bring up a generation of kids who don't think to sue every time something doesn't happen as they want it to?"

Exactly. And part of raising kids that way is to teach them to keep within the boundaries circumstances have set, such as the size of the property their parents were able to purchase.

The guys should just say NO if he wouldn't -enjoy- having children play in his yard.

Marc Fisher: Ok, so maybe my argument should be that he should enjoy having them in his yard.

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Michael Steele drum: Would a MD Democrat vote for a black Republican against yet another white guy from Bawlmer?

Marc Fisher: We shall see.

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Ward 2: When is Councilmember Blackjack Evans going to stop dissing Adrian Fenty? This morning in a certain New York City newspaper, Evans is at it again, sniping at the man who won every single precinct in the city?

Evans' jealous is growing tiresome.

Marc Fisher: Is he speaking the truth or running for mayor next time or will he get on board the Fenty train? I bet Evans sets himself up as the voice of the opposition. He'd be good at it.

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Marc Fisher: We're over our hour and there are oh so many comments I couldn't get to today. Come on back next time and we'll try it again. Thanks for coming along.

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