District of Columbia Council chairman Vincent Gray may be on to something. This week he plans to put on the council’s agenda a proposal to rename the section of South Capitol Street from N Street to Potomac Ave. S.E. “Taxation Without Representation Street” to bring attention to the District voting-rights cause.
The added attention is probably unnecessary — with the slogan emblazoned on every city license plate, it could hardly be more prominent — but Gray’s reasoning is sound: Having to write down those words as the stadium’s address will serve as a constant reminder of the issue.
Following that logic, I propose renaming the street in front of the Capitol “The Only Constitutional Tax Is the Tax Which Ministers to Public Necessity Street” to keep Calvin Coolidge’s admonition alive in the minds of lawmakers.
The current council undoubtedly will not entertain that suggestion. But it should consider renaming parts of the city that have become de facto memorials. For instance, the closed section of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House is the lasting legacy of Timothy McVeigh.
It was after McVeigh’s heinous act of bombing the Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995 that Bill Clinton closed Pennsylvania Avenue to vehicular traffic. George W. Bush promised to reopen it if elected president, but reneged on the pledge after being inaugurated. Barack Obama has given no indication that he will return Pennsylvania Avenue to the people.
So that section of “America’s Main Street,” designed as a symbol of democracy, is now closed because of a man who killed 168 people, including 19 children, and who boasted that even after his execution, the score would remain 168 to 1. There is no denying that the street was closed because of McVeigh’s actions. Why not be honest enough to call it what it is — the Timothy McVeigh Memorial?
Similarly, streets in the city that were closed for the convenience of the Secret Service or the Capitol Police after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks ought to be named for the individuals who inspired so much fear. The closed section of E Street is one of the monuments to the success of 19 hijackers. Why not name it after one of them — say, Mohamed Atta Plaza?
Among the saddest terrorism memorials in D.C. are the empty west steps of the Capitol, once the spot where citizens enjoyed a singularly spectacular view of the National Mall. For which of the 19 hijackers should those steps be named — perhaps Ziad Jarrah, who piloted United Airlines flight 93, supposedly bound for the Capitol?
Jarrah and his fellow thugs did not succeed in razing the Capitol, but they achieved a significant victory by ensuring that Americans now have very limited access to their Capitol and its grounds.
Some of the signs around town need updating as well, such as the one outside the White House that identifies it as “the oldest public building in the District of Columbia.” As the D.C. Council knows, the White House has not been a public building since 2001.
Admission now is limited to groups of 10 by invitation only, extended after requests made through members of Congress and granted by the president (i.e., the Secret Service).
No longer may the public line up outside to be escorted through the mansion, as they did for more than 100 years without incident. Therefore a new sign should read, “The White House was a public building until 2001, when Congress allowed President George W. Bush to co-opt the executive mansion as a private residence.”
The D.C. Council would get push-back from the feds, who control the areas in question; but nothing prevents the council from using its own designations for its own literature. Maybe — just maybe — it could shame a president or a Congress to stop paying implicit homage to our enemies.
Terrorists want us to live in fear, and the feds capitulate beyond all reason. McVeigh died gloating at his own impact — “that one man could wreak so much hell.” It’s pathetic that we allowed these 20 zealots to change our way of life.
But we did, and the city council should be honest enough to identify who and what is being memorialized. Taxation without representation is not nearly as calamitous as losing freedom to fear.
Melanie Scarborough is an award-winning commentary writer whose work has appeared in more than two dozen newspapers, magazines, and books.
