Well, it took a few days, but the opinionmakers over at the Washington Post came up with some impressions on how D.C. public schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee handled herself at a pivotal Thursday hearing before the D.C. Council. Here's the WaPo editorial board, which hardly interrupts its yearslong standing ovation of the Rhee regime:
Read More "Weekend in Review" »

David Alprin had his anti-Dan Snyder artwork, or whatever you want to call the above paper plate thingee, confiscated at the gates of FedExField two weeks ago.

Alprin's a longtime Skins season ticketholder and was one of many fans who wanted to make a statement about the state of the franchise.

He'd stayed up late the night before the Tampa Bay game crafting dozens and dozens of his statement-makers. But then Snyder's jack-booted thugs, in the form of the yellow-jacketed FedExField security staff, threw Alprin's civil-disobedient plates in the garbage before letting him in the stadium.

But while Snyder killed the message, he didn't kill the messenger. And Alprin's going back for more of the same this weekend.

"I'm thinking about going stealth and bringing in pens, markers, etc.,  and making signs in the stadium either on paper we bring or the back of the drink caddies," he says.

He won't be alone.

More on the Prague Spring of Redskins fans to come.

***

(AFTER THE JUMP: Another installment of BogusHogetteGate? Really? Michelle Rhee thinks she's god? Really? Coat-tailing on Mike DeBonis' genius? Really? Melanie Oudin's coming to town with her mom, dad AND coach? Really? Snyder comes out on top in something? No way! Way?)

Read More "Cheap Seats Daily: Will Prague Spring for Redskins Fans Survive Snyder’s Jack-Booted Thugs?" »

Have you ever wanted to punch any of us in the face? Tomorrow's your big chance! Here's the schedule for ed-staff appearances at the City Paper booth for tomorrow's crafty fair.
Read More "Editorial Bastards at Crafty Bastards" »

As Loose Lips roamed the stone platform that is Freedom Plaza, he spied various D.C. politics stars of yesteryear. There was Kevin Chavous, the dashing former Ward 7 councilmember. And over there was Sandy Allen, the folksy former rep from Ward 8. And unmistakable in his Nats cap and bow tie was Anthony A. Williams. It was all enough to make this columnist expect a showing by John Walker Lindh and a debate on the use of force in Iraq---all so 2002!

Read More "Loose Lips Update: Anthony Williams Speaks!" »

Former D.C. Councilmember Harold Brazil has been found guilty of misdemeanor assault stemming from a fracas at Georgetown tattoo parlor Jinx Proof last October. In reaching her bench verdict, D.C. Superior Court Judge Jennifer Anderson found that Brazil had initiated the fight, and that the various accounts of what happened thereafter are immaterial. "What happens after is neither here nor there," she said.

After declaring the guilty verdict, the judge asked Brazil for any comment he might have on the sentencing. "No lockup," Brazil said.

He got his wish. Anderson issued a 30-day suspended sentence and six months of unsupervised probation; also, Brazil must pay $100 to a victims compensation fund. He has 30 days to appeal.

At this point, Brazil doubtless wishes he hadn't chosen to hang out with his secretary and a friend on a nice fall evening. On Thursday, Oct. 9, Brazil and assistant Elena Mirsayapova, 30, joined 53-year-old Petra Nikolow for seafood at West End steakhouse Smith & Wollensky.

As the meal progressed, Nikolow, recently separated, persuaded her friends to join her as she got her first-ever tattoo. They wound up at Jinx Proof, right on Georgetown's M Street strip. Once inside, Nikolow signed the necessary paperwork—including a certification that she was not intoxicated—and paid cash for her tattoo, on her shoulder. She went to the ink booth in the back of the shop while Brazil and Mirsayapova waited on a bench out front.

The artist inking Nikolow started up his equipment---a buzzing sound that alarmed Mirsayapova, who walked back to check on her friend. That’s when counterman Francis “Tad” Peyton told her to get back out front, per store policy. Whether he did that in a polite or some other tone of voice, and how many times he did it, was debated at length in the trial.

Shortly after Peyton rebuked Mirsayapova, Brazil was engaged in a donnybrook with three Jinx Proof employees, a flare-up that ended with a visit from D.C. police. Who started it all? The judged found that Brazil had. In court testimony, Brazil's side argued that Peyton called Brazil a "nigger," a charge that Peyton denied and that was absent from police statements taken right after the incident.

After the verdict, Brazil went off about the whole thing. Saying that the federal prosecutors "had it out for me," Brazil, a former assistant U.S. attorney himself, was "flabbergasted" that the government would would pursue prosecution. "I'm really ashamed of them---that they wanted to spend taxpayer money on something as fatuous as this."

On a roll, Brazil said, "Not only can they indict a ham sandwich, they can convict a ham sandwich," in a nod to the famous saying about grand juries. And: "If you want to indict somebody, indict this criminal justice system that does this to people."

Reporting by Mike DeBonis

Weekend weather retrocast: In this town, it always seems as if the weather gods want to give us a blast of summer before proceeding with primo spring weather. Don't have a big problem with that---but the pools are never open in April.

Speaking of pools, I continue to hear from people in the community about the strange axing of Clark Ray, the guy who ran the city's Department of Parks and Recreation, until he was unceremoniously fired by the Fenty regime. A couple of parks-oriented community types over the past several days have bent my ear, saying, hey, here was a guy who was actually working hard, trying to make things happen---and then comes the hook.

However, if you look at City Desk from late last week, our amazing Loose Lips columnist Mike DeBonis reports of mass firings at the rec department. Could this be what forced the reckoning---that Ray refused to clean house the way that Dan Tan and others were insisting? A possibility.
Read More "Weekend in Review" »

LL Columnist and City Paper's rare hope for up-close coverage, Mike DeBonis, reports he is about to begin his journey. That journey? To debunk the naysayers who say you can't get within spitting distance of the swearing-in of America's First Black President AND watch the parade from sweet digs at the John A. Wilson Building.

IN THE BEGINNING: DeBonis left his house at 9 a.m., locked his bike to a signpost near South Capitol and D Street SW, and walked approximately two blocks to the green gate for ticketed swearing-in watchers. He reports he had little problem retrieving his bike post-ceremony, despite the "sea of humanity," which now replaces "I wanted to be a part of history" as the most cliched phrase of this inauguration.

Regarding the bike valet experiment, DeBonis says, "Glad I didn't do it. I'd probably still be waiting."

He's now attempting to bike or walk the bike to the Wilson at 14th and Pennsylvania NW. We will keep you updated on this historic quest.

UPDATE 1:54 p.m.: DeBonis, via BlackBerry, says he made it to 12th and Pennsylvania. Getting close!

UPDATE 2:04 p.m.: He's at 14th and Pennsylvania! It was "real tough" around L'Enfant Plaza, where bicycleless, clueless hordes were trying to get on Metro. DeBonis had to "plow big-time" through them. He is mainly "gliding" on the bike, with one foot readied to plant on the ground and push him through. He did have to get off and walk the bike at one point.

UPDATE 2:30 p.m.: Thwarted! DeBonis makes it all the way to 12th and Constitution, where he meets a chain-link fence about 8 feet high and, more importantly, a Secret Service officer. The officer tells our intrepid correspondent that he cannot cross Constitution and suggests DeBonis go up to 18th Street and around the White House. DeBonis, ever calculating the maps inside his head, protests. "That would still put me north of Pennsylvania Avenue and I have to get south of it," he says. No dice. DeBonis is on the hunt for another Secret Service officer, "one who tells me what I want to hear."

UPDATE 2:46 p.m.: Denied again! Another SS officer at 14th and Constitution mocks DeBonis' journey. In DeBonis' words, she "didn't give a shit." But this is not a time for giving up. This is a time for optimism! For crossing icy waters and unclenching fists! DeBonis says: "I'm going to try another one, but you can see some of the parade from here, some of the bands." Keep hope alive!

UPDATE 3:03 p.m.: Guess he can't. DeBonis, dejected, calls in from the south side of the Washington Monument and reports that "the dream is slipping away." Misery, however, has company: "A Post reporter and photographer are in the exact same situation," he says. DeBone's plan is to bike west around the perimeter and head back north, and then east through Penn Quarter. Asked if he might just stop in for a beer somewhere and call it a day, DeBonis was indecisive.

UPDATE 3:14 P.M.: "Here's the poetic end to my quest," says DeBonis by telephone. "I'm going to Delaney's for Inaug Dogs....I'll twitter some stuff on the way there."

Loose Lips columnist and inaug correspondent extraordinaire Mike DeBonis is City Paper's only ticketed, credentialed staffer on the Mall today. He'll be calling in with reports from his sweet spot at the swearing-in and with reports of his debunking the myth you can't do it all on Inauguration Day. If anyone can do it, LL can.

UPDATE 1:25 p.m.: DeBonis calls in before beginning his mission. He reports he also had better seats than Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Common, and Angela Bassett. Someone in the crowd indicated he might have a better seat than Jay-Z. "But I didn't see him," says DeBonis.

Bush leaving was a highlight, but not in the snide, pessimistic way shoe-throwers would have it. People cheered when Bush and Obama hugged, when the helicopter lifted off, and when Bush flew over the crowd. They waved, collectively, goodbye to 43, not as if to say: So long from the city you hate, but rather in the style of The Sound of Music, when the children leave the party. So long! Farewell! Auf Wiedersehen! Adieu!*

*Mike DeBonis did not approve of this message.

UPDATE 12:58 p.m.: DeBonis prepares to historically sprint to parade route. No time to call. Reports via twitter his seat was better than Diddy's. But was it better than my seat, inside Erik Wemple's office listening to Ruth Samuelson eat kugel? I thought not.

UPDATE 10:45 a.m.: Obama's motorcade is making its way up Pennsylvania Avenue north of the Capitol. DeBonis is sitting in front of the Marine Band, which was pretty freakin' loud when he called. From what I could make out, DeBonis thinks his ticketed seat might be "too good." Apparently, he's right in front of the podium but the podium could block his view. Buck up, DeBonis!

DeBone also reports Don King is working the crowd, saying "Only in America!" about every other second. NPR right now also impressed with Don King. Don King reportedly also impressed with Don King.