This morning a very small faction of possible IMF/World Bank Protesters–six jerks–vandalized two banks on P Street. A drive through downtown and in the surrounding area shows that the protesters did not hit any other banks or symbols of crass yuppiedom/corporate greed. The biggest crowds were the ones gathering at a street food cart. The biggest police/fire department scene concerned a man passed out on 16th Street just below Columbia Road.

If the protesters really wanted to do harm to District residents, disrupt their Saturday brunch rituals, they screwed up. Two takeaways from this incident: The protesters don't know anything about D.C, and city residents showed serious courage by not staying indoors on this beautiful day. Here's a rundown of safe activities that residents are currently enjoying.

ACKC: Still a hot spot:

You are free to shop at Pulp and Home Rule:

Miss Pixie's gets the City Desk all-clear sign:

Feel free to drink at Saint Ex:

You can enjoy fast food:

Big Oil is safe:

You can sit outside and drink coffee at 15th and U:

You can even leave your bike unattended for a few seconds on Hobart Street NW:

Protesters broke windows and spray painted the walls of PNC and Wachovia branches on P Street between 14th and 15th Streets. They were promptly arrested this morning. A Street Sense hawker says when he arrived to his post in front of the CVS on P at 9 a.m., the police were already out in force. He tells City Desk that a homeless regular was at the nearby bus shelter and saw the band of a-holes working their magic this morning. Anyway, the protesters did not cause much damage beyond the busted windows.

Wachovia's ATM was still operational!

The Washington Post–and Erik Wemple via cellphone(!)–are reporting that there was a major incident of vandalism this morning at 14th and P Streets NW. A band of a-holes spray painted cars parked along the Whole Foods. Two banks were also hit:

"An off-duty D.C. police officer working security at a drug store this morning spotted the six breaking windows of a Wachovia Bank branch and a PNC bank branch in the 1400 block of P St NW, Crane said. The officer arrested two of the suspects."

The remaining four were arrested after attempting to escape the area, the Post reports.

The protesters obviously don't have a clue as to what they are doing. A) Smashing banks has little to do with the IMF and, well, 14th and P Streets is one of the busiest sections of town on the weekends. There are tons of people sitting at the outdoor restaurants and cafes. Even if it was early in the morning, the protesters were still going to face the dog walkers and residents making coffee and bagel runs to Whole Foods. Just dumb.

The Post writes that the six "were charged with felony counts of destruction of property and rioting, a charge that police said they brought because the group was larger than five people."

WTOP reports that a group of about 100 protesters attempted to march along a downtown street and were forced by police onto sidewalks.

*photo by Darrow Montgomery.

1400 Block of P Street NW, April 25

Friends, as we observe the inauguration of a new president, there are still two Americas: Those that are happy to see Barack Obama take office, and those that aren't.

Yesterday, during a visit to Gambrills, Md., our car was vandalized by a member of the latter demographic.

Somebody with a lot of free time, duct tape and leftover paraphrenalia from the 2008 presidential campaign taped a "NOBAMA 'O8" placard over the rear license plate of our car, which was parked in front of my in-laws' house.

The offending paperwork also advertised for www.malagent.com, a blowhardy but currently inactive blog written by an apparent far right-winger. (There have been no posts on that site since Nov. 6.)

The car had no bumper or window stickers betraying any political affiliation. Just an American flag decal that was stuck on the back windshield before we bought it. We figured we were tagged because of our DC tags.

But then the vandals came back later and taped more of the same on the door of my brother-in-law's house, while a number of folks stood feet away on the other side of that door.

My brother in law is a loyal Republican. He's peeved.

But, as low-brow and time-consuming as the act was, it doesn't appear to be a prank: Other houses in the neighborhood were also struck yesterday.

I'm generally pro-civil disobedience, but what bugs me most about these actions is: Did the genius have to use duct tape on all four sides?