Again, Why I’m Glad I Don’t Live in DC.

Washington DC is a very fine Nation’s Capital. It’s not even a bad city.

Every year, though, it pushes for statehood and every year it is denied. Those DC residents who want to know why that keeps happening should look no further than this Marc Fisher column.

No jail time. No requirement that he resign from office. No fine. Not even a lecture from the judge. Not even a pro forma pronouncement that Marion Barry had disgraced his office, disrespected his constituents and ripped off the taxpayers.

No, Marion Barry walked out of the U.S. District Courthouse in Washington this morning so relieved that when reporters asked him if he was surprised to get off with probation, he flashed a huge smile, laughed, and said, “I was pleased.”

To the glee of his entourage, Barry got off with probation after his conviction for having failed to file federal and D.C. income tax returns from 1999 to 2004.

This, as you know, is not Barry’s first brush with the law. It’s not as if Barry’s a novice to appearing before the court.

Nevertheless, Marion Barry remains the city’s most recognizeable public figure and it’s most media-covered elected official. I imagine that Mayor Tony Williams would kill (one of the crimes for which Barry has not been arrested or investigated) for the sort of immediate, overwhelming, and slobbery-kissy media coverage that Councilman for Life Barry gets every time he opens his mouth.

And just so you know. Marion Barry is still a member of the City Council. You can’t slow down a city politician with a mere criminal record.

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Category: The Good Old US of A