🚀 go-pugleaf

> I know that this assertion draws lots of shrugs
> and eye-rolls but lets face it folks:  this issue isn't about responsibility
> or even mainly about politics, this issue is about race.

How is this a racial issue?  By racial I will assume that you 
mean that the District is not going to get statehood because:

   1) most of the people living there are black
      or
   2) the mayor is black
      or
   3) what?

I think that there are a lot of things that are going against
statehood for the district.  Not all of them are things that
the District is in control of, but they are reality nonethless.
In no particular order:

1) The perception in congress that the district is not well
   run, and that if the government is not doing a good job 
   in its current situation, with lots of oversight, then
   they will do a worse with more independence.  An example
   might be the violent crime rate; it gives the District
   a bad image on Capitol Hill (itself a violent area) and
   those are the people who have the power to make statehood
   a reality.  Driving on the streets of the District might 
   also have some effect on opinions; street condition is poor.

2) There is a resistance to admit any more states, for fear 
   of the changes in the power balance in congress.  The District
   would be democratic for sure, so there will be some people who
   will not want to see it happen.

3) Admission of DC might spark some other places to push 
   for statehood.  Yes, these things are long shots, but 
   remember that politicians and the government prefer the 
   status quo.

DC could go a long way toward making statehood possible if it 
was a really great example of how things should work, if the
crime rate was just average, if it stopped having embarassing 
moments show up on national television (I was in California 
when the Barry thing happened, and the coverage there was 
pretty in depth).  In short, if they are going to go ask 
congress to make a decision in their favor, they will have to
earn it.  Fair?  Maybe not.  Reality?  Maybe so.

Doug

Disclaimer: not the views of Digital Express Group Inc., just mine.
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Doug Humphrey              doug@access.digex.com               +1 301 220 2020
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