D.C. voters should not overlook ethical lapses Re: “A tough ethics law in D.C. is overdue,” March 15
D.C. residents deserve better stewards than we presently have in our mayor and council members, who have committed a multitude of egregious errors of judgment that should not be overlooked.
Mayor Vincent Gray adamantly denied any quid pro quo concerning Sulaimon Brown, and stated that he was going to ask the D.C. Council to investigate. I wholeheartedly concur that there needs to be an investigation, but it should be done independently of District government.
Council Chairman Kwame Brown says he was unaware of the cost of the two SUVs leased for his pleasure. With all due respect, he is either ignorant or apathetic — or both — when it comes to fiscal responsibility. And where were council members when the mayor was approving exorbitant salaries for his political cronies and their children?
Let’s hope that enough citizens support term limits and a voter recall initiative so these career politicians know they work for the electorate, not vice versa.
Marvin E. Adams
Washington
D.C. voters consistently overlook ‘kleptocracy’
Re: “The District’s kleptocracy,” March 14
Jonetta Rose Barras and The Examiner’s other local columnists chronicle the D.C. government’s “kleptocracy” without understanding that the electoral majority that elected Vincent Gray sees things differently. Lincoln Navigators may be egregious luxuries, but they reassure people that Adrian Fenty’s “reign of terror” — when folks were fired for screwing up — is over.
Gray’s regime returns D.C. government to a comforting “business as usual” in which “accountability” is never spoken of in polite company. His council investigation of Fenty’s no-bid contracts to renovate recreation centers (for which Fenty was just cleared) was just political theater designed to make the point that everyone in D.C. is doing it. At least Fenty’s cozy contracting produced results for the public.
Unless threatened with congressional intervention, most D.C. voters have been electing the kinds of candidates your columnists criticize since Marion Barry was elected in 1978. They will continue tolerating the “kleptocracy” until Congress starts taking its constitutional duties vis-a-vis the seat of national government seriously.
Dino Drudi
Alexandria
Islamic violence is a worldwide problem
Re: “We need more hearings on Islam,” March 12
Certainly in light of 9/11 and subsequent terrorist attacks by Islamists — not only in the U.S. but also abroad, as witnessed by the recent massacre of an entire family in Israel — we need to know more about what drives these individuals to terror without any compunction about their victims.
Whether it’s done by a congressional committee or by our intelligence services, it is high time we analyze this threat.
This is not only a concern of the U.S. With attacks on Copts in Egypt and a steadily diminishing Christian population in Iraq and Lebanon, it has become a universal problem as Islamist fundamentalists display their intolerance toward all other religions.
Nelson Marans
Silver Spring
