Washington Metro News

Yesterday, the Alliance for Justice celebrated its 30th anniversary before a packed hall in Washington. A film showed some of its three-decades-long highlights. Speakers congratulated the now-venerable organization’s successes, and the audience warmed to the oncoming battle over Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Read more...

President Obama wasn’t even out of the ballroom at Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner before the buzz started: “Did Wanda Sykes go too far?” Especially with her joke about Rush Limbaugh’s being the 20th hijacker, but he missed his flight because he was whacked out on Oxycontin.

Give me a break! Of course she didn’t go too far. And of course there’s no need for her or anyone else to apologize. Read more...

Each year, Sidwell Friends, the tony school where the Obamas have enrolled their daughters, holds a fundraising auction.

The auctions raise big money as parents try to outdo each other both in bidding and prizes donated. This year, eyebrows have been raised — as evidenced by the news report headlined "Obamas prove stingy with school auction." Read more...

Last week Tiger Woods came to the Congressional Country Club (CCC) to promote the third annual AT&T National, a tournament that he founded to honor his father, Earl Woods, as well as our country's troops and veterans.

Tiger announced that he will play on the historic blue course on June 30. He told me that our capital city "is a great golfing town. This is a great sport town in general. We want to come back and play here as long as Congressional wants us. I mean, this is such a great golf course and such a special area, that of course you want to come back. It is a very historic golf course and one that players love to play." Read more...

There's an old Rodney Dangerfield joke that goes something like this: "I went to see my psychiatrist the other day and he told me I was crazy. I asked for a second opinion and he said, 'OK, you're ugly, too!' "

The joke is similar to the request made by Attorney General Eric Holder, who, after being told by the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel that legislation before Congress granting voting rights to the District of Columbia was unconstitutional, "ordered a second opinion from other lawyers and determined that the legislation would pass muster." Read more...

At a time when unemployment is rising sharply and almost everyone has to deal with the prospect of losing his or her job, isn’t it nice to sit back and imagine what your dream job would be — just like you did when your kindergarten teacher challenged you to do so?

Many Washingtonians (like this one) love their jobs, but many probably daydream about a job outside the Beltway that offers a bit less stress and more pay. Recently, a friend of mine miraculously survived a ruptured and abscessed appendix, despite the fact that he waited nine days to go to the hospital, all because it was in the middle of the stimulus negotiations. What other city inspires such wonky dedication that crosses into bodily recklessness? Read more...

I’ve been away from Old Town Alexandria since November, so my attention was caught by reports in The Washington Post and The New York Times about the recent “scandal” in the historic district. A property owner on the main commercial street, King Street, frustrated by city bureaucrats who prevented him from expanding his hunting-and-fishing store, signed a long-term lease with La Tache, a shop selling sexy clothes, paraphernalia and X-rated DVDs. Shocking! Read more...

It took me a minute to get off of the floor Sunday morning after reading The Washington Times, from which I learned that the government’s newest great idea has been released: cutting out the Opportunity Scholarship Program.

Would someone please show me the logic behind crippling a program that is so widely supported and that is doing so well? Why is the government going to hinder a program that secures private funds to allow people with low incomes to go to private schools? Even the argument that it’s using government money is only partially true if the donations are tax-deductible. The argument that we should not abandon public schools is hypocritical, since we all know that President Obama’s daughters are going to private school. One could only hope that one’s president would practice what he preaches. Read more...

Arguing in support of legislation before Congress to grant voting rights for District of Columbia residents, Robert Schlesinger, author and deputy editor of the U.S. News and World Report (and a former reporter for The Hill) challenges his readers, “If you think the plan on the table is unconstitutional, then you need to come up with a better solution.”

It reminds me at once of both Andy Kaufman and President Obama. Kaufman for tauntingly searching for suitable female wrestling opponents in his audiences, and President Obama’s asking Republican members of Congress to bring ideas to the table, then impugning those ideas that were not already his. Read more...

Sidwell Friends is one of the nation’s top schools. Students come from Washington’s most prominent families, and the school provides a positive environment that expects the best from its students. The campus could be mistaken for stately Wayne Manor.

As Bill McGurn noted in The Wall Street Journal, two of its students, Sarah and James Parker, enjoy going to Sidwell Friends. They’ve made friends there and are excelling in their studies. It’s a world away from the public school they would otherwise attend — where test scores are well below the national average and barely half of students graduate. The schools themselves are unsafe, with metal-detector checks a part of the average day. Read more...