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Articles
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| Plotkin, the rude American ... ? |
VOICE writes, "Everyone knows Mark Plotkin can be a handful. He can be intense. He takes issues — and his WTOP commentator job — seriously.
But he takes nothing more seriously than the lack of congressional voting rights for our city. And for that, he wound up tossed out of the White House last week.
His crime? Alleged rudeness.
Plotkin had the audacity to call out a question to first lady Laura Bush during a White House photo op with the Ballou High School Marching Band.
The kids from Ballou, who were there because they’re the subjects of a new — and good — documentary, should pay attention. This is a civics lesson they should learn about their hometown: Lord help you if someone thinks you’re impolite. "
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At the end of the photo op, according to eyewitnesses, Plotkin called out this question to the first lady: “Mrs. Bush, do you agree with those people who say and believe that the members of the Ballou marching band — who you just lauded — should not grow up to become members of the U.S. House of Representatives?”
President Bush opposes voting rights for D.C.
Mrs. Bush looked a little disconcerted — a smile disappeared — and she walked from the room as a phalanx of staffers rose up to stand between her and Plotkin, who was in the back with other media. Plotkin did not shout or repeat his question.
White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolton went to Plotkin to tell him how discourteous he had been, suggesting he had disrupted the pleasant event and perhaps marred it for the honored students.
Out on the lawn, according to WTOP reporter Mark Segraves, a White House press person came up, took Plotkin’s name and made certain to escort him off the property.
The betting here is that that was the last time Plotkin will see inside the Bush White House.
“I don’t know. I guess I’ll find out one day,” Plotkin told us this week. “I’ve been here 43 years. It’s always form over substance.” He said people might accuse him of acting inappropriately. “But the public act of denying the right to vote is not inappropriate?” he asked. Good question.
Mayor Adrian Fenty, who attended the photo-op events, says it’s a reporter’s right to raise issues. Fenty himself declined to mention the voting rights matter while at the White House.
Plotkin thinks it should be No. 1 on anyone’s list. In the past, he has proposed that both the local Republicans and the local Democrats put tape over their mouths at national political conventions and stand mute when the roll call of states is done.
Plotkin was the singular force behind putting “taxation without representation” on city license tags. He has urged similar banners for Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and the John A. Wilson Building during inaugural parades or other events.
Plotkin, like the Notebook, has suggested that D.C. schoolchildren should not accept invitations to the White House for T-ball, the Easter Egg Roll or other fun and games while they are devalued as Americans.
Plotkin presses the issue at every forum he can attend. And he believes the “stay within the lines” lobbying of the ever-polite organization D.C. Vote is too bureaucratic and too slow to change the minds of Congress or the president.
“The whole point is to try to get other people to speak out,” Plotkin told the Notebook.
Mark Plotkin: He’s not the rude American; he’s the red-blooded American.
• Detour madness. It’s far less important than voting rights, but your right to walk on city sidewalks and drive in curb lanes is being severely tested.
But we’re not writing about the usual excess pseudo-security that we normally grumble about. This time it’s the glut of commercial construction downtown and in nearby neighborhoods that’s bothering us.
We reported on NBC4 last week that many construction sites improperly take over adjacent sidewalks and curb lanes for construction convenience. That forces pedestrians and motorists to fight for space. It can be annoying, dangerous and, may we say, rude.
While reporting the story, we saw one lane that was closed and being used to saw lumber. There was plenty of space off the street, but the lane was closed nonetheless.
Both Mayor Fenty and Transportation Department director Emeka Moneme acknowledged that the clutter is a problem. Moneme said the department is coming up with new rules to monitor lane closures more carefully. And, he says, instead of just closing down a sidewalk and sending people elsewhere, construction companies will have to start building sheltered pedestrian walkways like they do in New York and other big cities.
Good. Commercial construction, especially downtown, is good for the city and city revenues. But it shouldn’t create an obstacle course for people trying to get to work.
• Good drivers. The Notebook, among others, has commented favorably on Mayor Fenty’s decision to drive himself around town a lot of the time.
Well, not that they’re jealous or anything, but some staffers for D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton point out that she has been driving herself for years. In fact, she insists on it.
We take this moment to flash our blinkers in acknowledgement of Mrs. Norton’s fine driving habits. We can’t wait to see Police Chief Cathy Lanier whizzing around town!
Tom Sherwood is a political reporter for NBC 4.
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Posted on Nov 09, 2007 15:35pm.
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