Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Mark Plotkin on the swearing-in

On another matter which I think deserves mention and reaction, Ward 3 Councilmember, Mary Cheh has asked Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg to swear her in at the cerimonial swearing in on Wednesday morning at the DC Convention Center. It should be noted that Justice Ginsberg was one of the 8 justices in 2000 who in the lawsuit Alexander v Daley voted against the interests of the residents of D.C. by affirming the decision of the 3 judge panel which threw out D.C.'s case for full voting rights in the U.S. congress. Justice John Paul Stevens (Gerald Ford's only Supreme Court appointment) dissented from the majority decision and noted that he wanted to "set case for oral argument." That is in english, Ginsberg, a DC resident, not only voted against D.C. but would not even give the city a hearing. Cheh, a law professor, who I spoke with on Monday, takes great umbrage at this question and says that I am "over-reaching and really grasping and that all of this {questioning} is pretty offensive."
I think it's pretty offensive that elected officials continue to honor and reward those who go out of their way to diminish D.C. and not grant the same rights of citizenship that every other American takes for granted. I would like your reaction to this. Why must we continue this Stockholm Syndrome ( falling in love with our captors).

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