On the Scene: State Hoods

EACH morning, we who live in and around Washington reach for our newspaper and confront an ongoing challenge: to make sense of local affairs in the District of Columbia. Twenty-two years ago D.C. got a Home Rule Charter from Congress granting partial “self-determination” under a mayor and city council. The years since have brought on scenes of chaos, corruption, misery, and melodrama unrivaled in American politics, all entirely self-determined. Usually, just when you think you understand what’s happening in D.C., the gods scatter the puzzle and you have to start all over. But lately events seem to be falling into some kind of comprehensible order.

Here for example are some recent developments that Districtologists are busy trying to sort out:

About the Author

Matthew Scully

Matthew Scully is the author of Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy. He served as literary editor of National Review and as a senior speechwriter to President George W. Bush.

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EACH morning, we who live in and around Washington reach for our newspaper and confront an ongoing challenge: to make sense of local affairs in the District of Columbia. Twenty-two years ago D.C. got a Home Rule Charter from Congress granting partial “self-determination” under a mayor and city council. The years since have brought on scenes of chaos, corruption, misery, and melodrama unrivaled in American politics, all entirely self-determined. Usually, just when you think you understand what’s happening in D.C., the gods scatter the puzzle and you have to start all over. But lately events seem to be falling into some kind of comprehensible order.

Here for example are some recent developments that Districtologists are busy trying to sort out:

About the Author

Matthew Scully

Matthew Scully is the author of Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy. He served as literary editor of National Review and as a senior speechwriter to President George W. Bush.