• “I’d rather be teargassed.” The Reflecting Pool Story Goes On….

    Don’t touch the water. The National Guard is guarding the Reflecting Pool.

    The Reflecting Pool should’ve been a one-day story but the Trump regime’s refusal to admit the truth has turned it into a never-ending saga of regime incompetence.

    Trump was proud that he had painted the Reflecting Pool in “American flag blue.” Without other accomplishments to highlight, it was his signature achievement. He crowed about it in the Oval Office and he even brought his own visual aids. Never mind the Iran War debacle, look at the Reflecting Pool!

    When the pool turned green on June 15, a totally natural occurrence, whichever blonde is acting as press secretary could’ve put out a statement reading:

    The National Park Service is working on the problem.

    That’s it. Shift the blame to NPS and move on.

    But, instead, bizarrely, they couldn’t handle the verdant truth so Trump toadies flooded Twitter with AI slop depicting a bright blue Reflecting Pool that did not exist in the real world.

    It was absurd. And it wasn’t something that was hard to check, like the Iran War negotiations, it was a body of water in a public park.

    “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
    – 1984

    I never thought fascism would be so dumb.

    When the public rejected the AI fakery, the regime turned to the old enemy: antifa.

    Supposedly, antifascist super soldiers slipped into the heart of Washington, evaded the National Guard patrols and caused the algae bloom. What started out as a story on a satiric site (the header read: this is not real) became something that was believed by millions of gullible and way too online Trump supporters who earnestly thought that antifa had dumped “concentrated Georgia algae” into the Reflecting Pool.

    Are they that dumb? Yes, they want to believe.

    I saw it with one of the MAGA livestreamers in DC, who filmed herself waddling around the Reflecting Pool. She asked one of the park workers if antifa had sabotaged the pool. “I don’t know anything about that” he replied and she took that as evidence that, yes, the pool had been sabotaged. She had seen it in his eyes!

    Or take the case of the “Reflecting Pool Influencer,” a former journalist fired during Trump 1.0 for being too crazy.

    For days, she claimed to have photo evidence of antifa sabotage of the pool that would prove that Trump was right when he said that someone had sliced a 350-foot long section of the pool liner with a knife.

    But when she revealed her “evidence” it was gaps and marks in the material that cushioned the pool. Was this sloppy work by the contractor? A natural occurrence? 

    She also claimed that people threw objects into the pool. Does she have video or photos showing this? Nope.

    Reminder: there are cameras everywhere in Washington.

    And there are police, too.

    If you want to see what a police state looks like, go to the Reflecting Pool. Tourists are outnumbered by agents of the state, including the Park Police, the National Guard, the US Marshals and deputized officers from other states.

    They have arrested people for touching the water. When I was there, I witnessed the National Guard rush up to a Swedish journalist after she dipped her hand in the water as she did her report. “This is your one warning!” they shouted.

    There are no signs saying that you can’t touch the water. And sometimes you can. Or maybe some people can. Depends on who you ask.

    Every day, there’s a new angle on the Reflecting Pool beat. Reporters hang out on park benches, watching for developments. Photographers prowl the pool to get pictures of the police response. Networks livestream the pool for viewers who want to check the color of the water. Online personalities interview tourists, trying to manufacture viral moments. Activists preen for the cameras.

    The cries of sabotage and the clumsy acts of fascism have kept this story alive, day after day. Amanda Moore, a journalist who covers the regime, told me that she’d rather be teargassed than cover this never-ending saga of regime incompetence.

  • The Reflecting Pool Debacle: A Symbol of Regime Incompetence

    The Reflecting Pool is green and choppy

    The hottest story online this week is the Reflecting Pool.

    This 2000 foot long body of water designed to reflect the Washington Monument was recently “fixed” by Donald Trump by painting the bottom of the pool in “American flag blue.”

    This achievement of routine maintenance was announced with visual aids by a seated, briefly awake Trump in the Oval Office. Photos – real and fake – were slopped all over the twitters by his compliant social media gremlins.

    The libs were wrong! The Reflecting Pool could be fixed and for cheap, too, despite the job ballooning in time and money from Dear Leader’s original one-week, $3 million cost estimate to six weeks and $14 million.

    I rolled by a few times and it sure seemed that the Okies who got the no-bid contract (20% profit margin) didn’t know what they were doing as they slopped blue sealant of various hues on the empty Reflecting Pool.

    They had a lot of American flags but did they know what they were doing?

    But what the fuck did I know about pools, as I was told many times by MAGA cultists. Mr. Trump is a builder! He’s got a pool guy! Your President gets the job done!

    Well.

    Days after its triumphal reopening, the Reflecting Pool turned green and continued to turn green until it became a fluorescent color more associated with glow sticks than with nature.

    I posted photos and video showing the algae outbreak and the chuds accused me of fake news. That’s old video from Obamer!

    Anarchy Princess cleverly shared a video of the green water that was taken by a MAGA livestreamer. When they attacked her, she could say, “Don’t blame me. One of yours filmed this.”

    Since they couldn’t deny reality, they claimed sabotage. Libs somehow destroyed Trump’s great work by dumping huge barrels of algae into this monument in the most heavily surveilled city on earth. 

    When that didn’t take, they looked for a non-MAGA scapegoat. A “Reflecting Pool influencer” (yes, there is such a thing) blamed the National Park Service, claiming that algae from the pipes turned the Reflecting Pool green.

    Typical. Contractors fuck things up and the regular employees have to fix everything. The “Reflecting Pool influencer” (a real person; read her very entertaining but totally insane Wikipedia) made videos condemning NPS as they stood in slimy water trying to clean up the algae.

    Why did the Reflecting Pool turn green? Before the pool was painted, experts predicted that applying dark paint would absorb, not reflect, sunlight and cause the water to heat up. That is what appears to have happened.

    Why did this blow up on social media? Every time I posted about the reflecting pool, chuds swarmed me with personal attacks. Anarchy Princess’ tweet got more than 5 million views on Twitter. The story has been covered by NPR, the Guardian, Fox News, the Washington Post – everywhere.

    Why did this resonate with the public?

    There’s not much Trump can point to as an accomplishment. Cleaning up DC and crowding it with statues is about it.

    But after all that AI slop he posted and his rambling Oval Office press conference, the truth was revealed in fluorescent green. Rather than draining the swamp, he created one.

    It is also emblematic of everything else he’s fucked up – tariffs, immigration, inflation, gas prices and the Iran War. No amount of Fox News spin or blonde influencers can cover up what Americans see with their own eyes.

    It’s as obvious as the green water in the Reflecting Pool.

  • Three Photos That Explain DC Right Now

    As we approach the 250th anniversary of American independence, I took three photos that explain what this country is like right now.

    Lincoln’s Fight Club

    The Lincoln Memorial, where the UFC will stage a press conference for their fight club.

    Bedecked with ads for crypto scams and monster trucks, the Lincoln Memorial looks like a scene from Idiocracy. If a time traveler from 2016 arrived and saw this, they would assume that something had gone terribly wrong. They would be right. America elected Donald Trump.

    The federal government cannot endorse products. Nor can it accept ads. Yet, it has done both at the Lincoln Memorial, as it turns over this sacred temple to a blood sport.

    The law no longer exists in America. Well, it exists for you and me, but if you’re an oligarch, you can do as you please.

    Congress, supposedly a co-equal branch of government, refuses to intervene, afraid that a Trump mob will sack the Capitol again.

    The only resistance comes from ordinary people, who sue in court, taking on an illegal administration and their dangerous followers. They are braver than any of our so-called leaders.

    National Guard Doing Nothing

    National Guard on patrol.

    The National Guard is still here, supposedly to keep DC residents and visitors safe from crime.

    The cost of these walking patrols is immense: more than $1 million a day just to have squads of men and women in camo stroll around the National Mall.

    They stay in a boutique hotel downtown. I see them all the time in my Logan Circle neighborhood, in front of the Whole Foods, watching shoppers emerge with arugula at 10 AM on a Wednesday morning.

    I see them on the Metro, too, but only in the DC stations, but not in MD or VA, as if crime magically stops when it crosses an invisible border. They’re useless here, too. I watched a woman slip through the faregate without paying; the Guard were busy on their phones and didn’t notice.

    We could’ve used their help over the winter, when DC was hit with a massive snowstorm. Nope, they just walked around and watched as the city dug itself out.

    Maybe not totally useless; they have been busy brutalizing DC residents (especially teens) after dark. One unit stole a couple of DC flags and displayed them as war trophies.

    I wonder about their true purpose. If ordered by Trump, will they shoot Americans?

    A Lone Protester

    A lone protester at the Lincoln Memorial.

    A friend of mine who lives abroad asked why Americans are so quiescent? Why aren’t they in the streets setting fire to things?

    It’s dangerous to protest. Get your face on social media and you could be doxxed by chuds or investigated by a three-letter agency.

    Also, because we’re optimists. Raised on an idealized version of this country, we just assume that things will work because of our system of checks and balances. The MAGA cult cannot last because it is innately un-American to worship one man as a king.

    Lost in our own information bubbles (wizardry employed by the oligarchs to distract), it is hard to pierce that illusion.

    Rising gas prices will do it. AI slop and breezy Fox News assurances cannot distract people from $4 or $5 gallon gas. Americans may not know who represents them in Congress but they can tell you how much their last fill-up cost.

    The Lincoln Memorial turned into a fight club. The National Guard on a mission unknown. A lone protester.

    Three photos that sum up the nation’s capital as we approach the 250th anniversary of this great (and possibly doomed) experiment.

  • Gotterdammerung Meets Idiocracy: The End of the Trump Regime

    Lafayette Park under construction
    Lafayette Park under construction

    Trump has no clout. His latest humiliation arrived courtesy of Morris Day who bailed on his Freedom 250 concert on the National Mall. This man from the “where are they now” file was quickly joined by d-listers such as Young MC and the Commodores, none of whom wanted to perform for the Mad King.

    This embarrassing episode was marked by the usual Trumpian incompetence. The performers were not told about the event until they were booked. 

    And they didn’t even get the right Milli Vanilli! The duo they invited were a copy of the original musical frauds. A fraud of a fraud.

    C+C Music Factory is another group that’s not authentic, leading to the funniest headline I’ve read all year:

    Milli Vanilli & C+C Music Factory Factions Clash As Even More Artists Bail On Trump’s Freedom 250 Concerts

    Factions! The purported head of the Factory issued an angry statement while sitting on the toilet, working up a SWEAT!

    Vanilla Ice, of course, is still in because he needs someplace to go during the day. 

    The musicians that dropped out of Freedom 250 know a loser when they see one. And they know that they can rebuff the Mad King without penalty.

    A Losing Streak

    Trump has been losing all year. Remember when Canada was going to be the 51st state? Trump wanted our neighbors to the north and yet they are still free. 

    Greenland defied Dear Leader, too, despite being protected only by polar bears. 

    And, of course, Iran. We lost the war, a fact that Trump and the mainstream media refuse to admit. Lost it on the first day when the US Navy sailed out of the Strait of Hormuz not to return. The core duty of a superpower is to keep the sea lanes open. The British lost the crown during the Suez Crisis of 1956, another war of choice in the Middle East with an Israeli ally. History repeats itself.

    Domestically, the regime has been losing in court all year, the latest being the Broadview Six case which collapsed under prosecutorial misconduct. 

    They don’t know what they are doing…

    The Department of Justice purged the competent people (like the January 6th prosecutors) and replaced them with recent graduates and loanees from JAG who are unfamiliar with the criminal system.

    I’ve been following the Metro Hair Toucher case in DC. It’s personal, since he stalked a friend of mine. You can watch criminal proceedings on Zoom and it is worrying. I watched a judge wave a law book at a government attorney and ask him if he understood a statute. He ordered the lawyer come to the bench so that they could read it together. It was humiliating, like being called to the front of the class by teacher.

    They can’t even win against the bicyclists! A judge stopped the National Park Service from destroying the 15th St bike lane, since NPS didn’t follow any of its own rules and regulations.

    Trump is a bully but the only people he can beat up on are people in his own family. I don’t mean his blood family; I mean the MAGA cult.

    So, he does that, taking out his frustrations on allies like Senator John Cornyn, who he saw replaced with the corrupt and evil Ken Paxton. His intervention may turn Texas blue.

    And in another manic act of dementia, he’s taken a paint brush to Washington, slathering the Reflecting Pool in blue and cluttering Freedom Plaza with statues, including one of a Delaware slavemaster.

    The fountain in Meridian Hill Park has been fixed, something that the chuds in my mentions love to crow about. That’s their big accomplishment? Gas prices have soared, food is becoming unaffordable and millions are out of work but the fountain is ON. Hurrah!

    There is an online rumor that Trump is going to put a statue of himself in Lafayette Square. Seems unbelievable but so did slapping his name on the Kennedy Center or staging a UFC fight on the South Lawn.

    The Emperor Cannot Stay Awake

    This is all going to end badly, and more quickly than we think.

    Trump is dying. He cannot stay awake in his own Cabinet meetings, even with toadies like Marco Rubio shouting praise into his ear. He can barely stand and spends every night mad-tweeting while his doctors fabricate his medical record.

    Like Hitler, Trump is going to tear it all down before he leaves this earth, unwilling to allow a world without his presence in it.

    The good news is that he’s surrounded by incompetents. It will be Gotterdammerung meets Idiocracy. The Ring Cycle but written by a fool and performed by Vanilla Ice.

    During Trump 1.0, I always assumed it would end with me fleeing the city as it was struck by disaster. January 6th was close to that.

    Trump 2.0 will end in similar fashion. But bigger. More spectacular. A grand finale for the American Empire.


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  • Statue Wars: Freedom Plaza Edition

    Freedom Plaza is now filled with statues, including one of Caesar Rodney on a horse.

    Like a modern-day Nero, Trump is obsessed with statues.

    His latest abomination is to clutter Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC, with a jumble drawer of figurines that represent “heroes” in American history.

    The plaza is a big, treeless space near the White House that is used primarily by skateboarders during the week and demonstrators on the weekend. It was home to the anti-capitalist OccupyDC protest in 2011 and pro-Trump rallies in 2020. The park also hosts 5K races, street parties, festivals and more.

    Freedom Plaza offers a wonderful view down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol. Or did, because now Trump’s statue party obstructs the view.

    One of the “heroes” blocking the view is Caesar Rodney, a Delaware slaveholder who raced to Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence. His statue was removed from Wilmington in 2020.

    Trump loves his slavemasters. Rodney isn’t the first old white racist he’s placed on a plinth in DC. Last year, he returned Albert Pike to a position of honor in Judiciary Square after he had been dethroned in 2020. Pike was an incompetent Confederate General considered a traitor by both sides during the Civil War – a role model for Trump.

    The Park Police assigned a 24/7 guard for the statue after it was reinstalled, which demonstrates how important racist symbols are to Dear Leader.

    He also took action against another statue, the Trump-Epstein Friendship Statue. In the middle of the night, the Park Police destroyed this permitted artwork that satires the relationship between Trump and Epstein. 

    For all those who say that art doesn’t matter, look how much time the regime spends on creating and destroying statues. They know the power of art.

    These statues will be around long after we’re gone. They communicate to future generations what we valued. Statues are like time-capsules, demonstrating what we thought was important enough to preserve.

    From tariffs to the Iran War, Trump has fucked everything up, but he can clutter DC with tacky statues in a futile attempt to beat the judgement of history.

    The good news is that statues can be removed. New ones installed. We can wipe clean the stain on the nation’s capital. 

  • Three Years Since Red Bike Guy

    Bikeshare in the fog

    “You’re sloppy! You’re not even matching! You look like General Custer’s illegitimate son!”

    Three years ago today, I became Red Bike Guy, getting my fifteen minutes of fame for heckling the Patriot Front as they demonstrated in Washington, DC.

    Seeing yourself go famous is a surreal experience. It was a whirlwind as I was interviewed on CNN, watched Rachel Maddow sing my praises and saw my name everywhere from the local news to publications halfway around the world.

    I’m glad that I went viral for something good. It was overwhelming, at times, and I have a lot of sympathy for people caught up in the social media storm. Every day, social media picks a hero and a villain and I was lucky enough to be the hero. (My book of short stories, LIKES, explores the dangers of social media fame.)

    A lot has happened since May 13, 2023. Here’s what has changed and remained the same for Red Bike Guy:

    • I still ride red bikes. I’m a huge fan of Capital Bikeshare, the bikesharing system in the nation’s capital. Their red bikes are ubiquitous here and now have been joined by sturdy, gray, electric steeds. The e-bikes are a blast and the best way to get around DC.
    • I wrote a book. How I Became Red Bike Guy is a memoir of life in DC during Trump 1.0, explaining how I went from a cynical observer of politics to someone who would mock the Patriot Front.
    • The torch has been passed to a new generation. When the Patriot Front came to DC in January, a new hero was there to mess up their photo op. Ginger Boi played clown music and got in the face of Thomas Rosseau, the mini-Custer fascist leader. I met Ginger Boi and he said that he was inspired by me!
    • The return of Donald Trump is profoundly depressing. You think that flawed America will eventually make the right decision but then your fellow citizens commit an act of national suicide. Now, we’re all living with the consequences, especially in Washington, DC, which has suffered heavily under the regime.
    • I’m still involved. Rolling up that day on a red bike in 2023, I expected counterprotestors to be there. When they weren’t, I felt the need to represent my city. Now, I leave the heckling to professionals like Patricia Eguino. Instead, I take photos and collect information, using my communication skills to highlight dangers and the opportunities to disrupt them.
    • It’s a dangerous time to speak out. After I heckled the Patriot Front, I talked to a researcher at the Southern Poverty Law Center about my experience. Now, in 2026, this nonprofit has been targeted by the Department of Justice. Across the river in Virginia, the FBI and other agencies are investigating people who left chalk messages criticizing Stephen Miller – the type of shenanigans that occurred all the time in DC, pre-Trump. The regime is using the vast power of the Deep State (irony) to ban criticism of Dear Leader. But if we obey in advance, they win. This is not the time to give up.

    I am very fortunate that when my fifteen minutes of fame arrived, it was for something good. Something worthwhile that inspired others. The internet bestowed the name “Red Bike Guy” on me, which I like, too. Not everyone is happy with their viral media monikers. I still get recognized sometimes, but I’m glad for my anonymity.

    And I even occasionally get free drinks :) That is what it is like to be the heckler formerly known as Red Bike Guy.

  • May Day Protests of 1971: A Turning Point for Free Speech in America

    There would be no protests by Black Lives Matter, No Kings, Refuse Fascism or, even, Red Bike Guy, without the 1971 May Day demonstration that won First Amendment rights in Washington, DC.

    These were huge protests against the Vietnam War that aimed to shut the capital down. “If the government won’t stop the war, we’ll stop the government.”

    The story of this titanic struggle is recounted in Mayday 1971: A White House at War, a Revolt in the Streets, and the Untold History of America’s Biggest Mass Arrest – Nixon’s Response to Vietnam Protests and the Path to Watergate.

    The May Day Protest wouldn’t just be a rally on the National Mall. Instead, on Monday, May 3, participants planned to break into small groups and block key intersections around the city to prevent government employees from getting to work (this was years before the Metro). Activists aimed for the bridges into the city as well as Dupont Circle, Scott Circle, K Street and elsewhere.

    President Nixon panicked. Much like today, the executive branch interfered with the administration of the city. Police Chief Jerry V. Wilson was ordered by Nixon to crack down on the demonstrators and to use whatever tactics it took to prevent their peaceable assembly.

    Demonstrators had a permit from the National Park Service for West Potomac Park. After the demonstrators arrived on Sunday, Wilson revoked the permit and arrested thousands of them.

    The protesters were held, without charges, behind barbed wire in an open-air prison outside of RFK Stadium. After Nixon realized that a concentration camp in the nation’s capital was a bad look, they were moved to the Washington Colosseum (now home to REI).

    This was an attempt to forestall the protests planned for Monday. Thousands had evaded arrest, however, and that morning, as commuters began to arrive in the city, protesters blocked key intersections. The riot squad again grabbed everyone they could, including reporters, members of the clergy and even tourists. The police also chased and teargassed protesters on college campuses, including Georgetown and George Washington University.

    NPR’s All Things Considered covered the protest. It was the very first day of the program which would become a public radio flagship.

    Following the police roundup, thousands of people were held incommunicado in the Colosseum, the DC Jail, the courthouse and lockups around the city in appalling conditions. 

    And with each day, the protests just got bigger, as the mass arrests radicalized people once content just to watch from the sidelines.

    The court system was now literally sitting on a problem, as protesters languished in cells under the feet of judges.

    Nixon wanted to keep them under arrest, these people who had been scooped up off the streets without charges or arrest information. 

    Judges saw things differently and, aided by arguments from the newly-formed District of Columbia Public Defender Service, rectified this perversion of justice, setting the prisoners free.

    Lessons Learned 

    Protest against the war on Iran

    The Mayday Protests changed how policing was done in DC. No more could the police just arbitrarily scoop up everyone at a protest. Massive protests in subsequent years would not have been possible without the legal rights won in 1971. DC is a haven for First Amendment activities because of the May Day protests.

    Prior to 1971, there were restrictions on the time and place of demonstrations in the nation’s capital. For example, groups were not allowed to gather on the Capitol grounds and there was a limit to the size of protests in Lafayette Park. Judges tossed out these restrictions as unconstitutional.

    Nixon learned nothing. During the May Day Protests, he ordered his staff to disrupt the demonstrators, using means fair and foul. The group that did this become the White House Plumbers. Their break-in at the Watergate ultimately doomed his presidency.

    The Vietnam War did not end in 1971. Thousands more would die until Nixon signed a peace treaty in 1973, essentially on the same terms demanded by the May Day demonstrators.

    The May Day demonstrators could not shut down the government but they could keep the pressure on, to ensure that the war was not forgotten and, in doing so, won First Amendment protections that we enjoy today.

    Get the story in Mayday 1971: A White House at War, a Revolt in the Streets, and the Untold History of America’s Biggest Mass Arrest – Nixon’s Response to Vietnam Protests and the Path to Watergate.

  • Lessons from the WABA Victory over the Regime

    Riders on the 15th St Bike Lane

    The 15th St Bike Lane has been saved for now, as a judge ruled that the Trump regime’s attempt to remove it was “arbitrary and capricious.” They sought to destroy the lane between Constitution Avenue and the Jefferson Memorial.

    This section of the bike lane is one of the prettiest in the country, as it crosses the National Mall and features views of the Washington Monument, the Tidal Basin and the Jefferson Memorial. Built in 2021 by the National Park Service, it’s a two-way, partially protected lane that runs on the southbound side of the street.

    But it’s not just the views that make it special. North of Constitution Avenue, it connects to the city-owned section of the 15th St bike lane that runs all the way to the top of Malcom X Park.

    It’s the spine of bike traffic in this city. I use it nearly every day and I see recreational riders, commuters, tourists, parents, kids – every kind of person. The lane makes it possible to get around DC without another car clogging the roads.

    Despite this, someone in the Trump administration wanted to kill it. The original filing said it was to improve traffic flow during cherry blossom season, which is laughable. Traffic is always gridlock then. The National Park Service even discouraged people from driving to the blossoms and to find alternative means of getting there, like bikes! (A fact cited by the judge in her decision.)

    When You Fight, You Win

    When rumors began to circulate that the regime intended to destroy the bike lane, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association got to work. They formed a legal team, started petitions and organized rallies to demonstrate public support.

    In March, they filed a lawsuit, arguing that the administration had failed to follow applicable regulations or conduct an environmental review.

    They fought, unlike Mayor Bowser who surrendered when Trump ordered the destruction of Black Lives Matter Plaza.

    Can’t win if you don’t fight.

    The DOJ is Incompetent

    WABA had lawyers from Covington and Burling on their team, one of the most prestigious law firms in the country.

    The Department of Justice had whoever was left after the department had been purged of anyone insufficiently loyal to Dear Leader.

    This was the gang that couldn’t even convict Sandwich Guy, who was caught on video throwing a sandwich at a federal officer.

    I talked to someone close to the case and they said that the government was represented by a junior lawyer supervised by a more senior one.

    Which is almost identical to how they have handled the Metro Hair Toucher case, which I have followed closely. In the last hearing I watched, the judge got so frustrated with the junior lawyer that he ordered him to approach the bench. “You need to read this,” the judge said, holding out a law book.

    Free DC!

    MAGA loves to criticize Washington, DC.

    But the fact is that the people of Washington do not control what happens here. Congress can overrule any law passed by the City Council. America was founded on checks and balances but there is no check on the power of Congress. They can do what they like to the Nation’s Capital.

    This is why Mayor Bowser is so reticent to defy Trump; she can be overruled.

    “No taxation without representation” is another American credo violated by Congress when it comes to their management of DC. With a population of 700,000, we have more people than Wyoming. They have two Senators and a Representative while DC has no voting rights in Congress.

    Republicans love to wrap themselves in the Constitution while they deny representation to their fellow Americans.

    The 700,000 people of DC deserve a vote in Congress. Free DC!

    The 15th St Bike Lane Was a Test Case

    The “Make America Healthy Again” crowd wants Americans to give up vaccines and exercise more. But they also want to destroy the places to exercise.

    The regime has canceled grants for bike lanes and trails deemed “hostile” to cars.

    Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wants you in your car, stuck in gridlock, without a bike, bus or train alternative. They want you burning the gasoline that has led to forever wars in the Middle East.

    Thousands of tourists experience the 15th St Bike Lane every year, glimpsing, for a moment what America would be like if we didn’t pave over every square inch of this country. It shows what is possible if we devoted a tiny sliver of a few select roads to non-car alternatives.

    If they can destroy it here, they can destroy it anywhere.

    The good news is that that WABA victory over the regime demonstrates that you can fight back and win. Organize. Demonstrate. And, most importantly, get good lawyer.


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  • Bryan Betancur Goes to the Supreme Court

    Donald Trump wasn’t the only criminal in the audience as the Supreme Court heard the birthright citizenship case. Also in attendance was the January 6th rioter, Bryan Betancur, who recently found fame again as the Metro Hair Toucher. He filmed himself sitting behind women in the Metro as he stroked their hair.

    Betancur was there to stalk journalist Amanda Moore. When she tweeted about people waiting overnight to get into the Supreme Court to hear the citizenship case, he got a ride to the court (he’s banned from Metro) and joined the line.

    Where she goes, he goes. When she posted about the Polymarket bar in DC, he showed up and followed her down the street, calling her a kike.

    All of this despite the fact that he served time in jail for violating anti-stalking orders against another woman, Anarchy Princess.

    The Dumbest J6er, he can’t stop posting to social media, though his tweets and videos have been used in court against him. In addition to filming himself in line at the Supreme Court, he filmed in front of the Capitol threatening to rape Moore.

    You may wonder why this convicted criminal is out on pre-trial release. Ask Judge Jeanine Pirro! He’s been charged with assault in DC and VA for touching women’s hair on the Metro. He’s subject to court monitoring and is wearing an ankle monitor. But he’s not in jail.

    Biketifa on the Scene

    The word is out among the public about Bryan. Outside the Supreme Court, artist/activist/Arlington celebrity Biketifa was there with flyers detailing Betancur’s crimes – he even had a QR code! He walked down the line of people waiting to get into the court holding up the flyer and inviting people to google him.

    Betancur always wanted to be famous and he is, for being the Metro Hair Toucher. His story touched a nerve in the DC area and was all over the local news, TikTok, Washingtonian Problems, Instagram and Twitter. 

    Word spread among the courtwatchers in line that they were sharing space with the weirdo who filmed himself touching women’s hair on the Metro. Ladies, watch your hair!

    They googled and replayed videos of his crimes as they filmed him. One even created a TikTok:

    @attorneyzee

    When you’re standing in line to watch arguments at the Supreme Court and a man walks up to tell everyone that the Metro Hair Toucher Stalker/January 6th rioter is also standing in line?? Bryan Bentacur — Wtf, I hadn’t heard of this until TODAY #dc #washingtondc #stalker

    ♬ original sound – attorneyzee

    Betancur suddenly seemed freaked out by all the attention. He was agitated and complained to the blue-jacketed Supreme Court marshal at the front of the line.

    I was just observing, standing with Biketifa, when Betancur left the line to mumble some nonsense at us. The usual chud accusations of being antifa. So boring. I asked if he was going to appeal his hair touching case to the Supreme Court. He is the Dumbest J6er and I told him so.

    This was actually the second time I’ve yelled at him outside the Supreme Court. He was there two years ago to stalk Anarchy Princess and attend a J6-related case. I saw him in line, he flashed an “OK” white power hand signal at me (he is not white) and I yelled at him. Deja vu all over again.

    Betancur got into the court. The marshal issued him a red ticket and led him and a select few inside as people jeered and mocked the Metro Hair Toucher. “Ladies, watch your hair!” I shouted.

    Betancur replied with a Nazi salute in front of the marble columns, under the American flag, and joined Donald Trump in the Supreme Court.

    The man who inspired the January 6th riot and one of his rioters together again as the justices heard Trump’s plea to end birthright citizenship.

    3/8/25 UPDATE

    Betancur was arrested for stalking Amanda Moore. His antics at the Supreme Court were cited in the arrest warrant. They are part of a years-long pattern of harassing the journalist. He now faces charges for the Metro Hair Case in DC and VA and a stalking charge in DC. The judge did not release him on bail.

  • DC Street Art: Spring 2026 Edition

    I am fascinated by the political street art of Washington, DC.

    Created by (mostly) unknown artists, these posters appear overnight, wheat pasted to construction siding, utility boxes, light poles and just about any flat surface downtown.

    They express deep dissatisfaction with the current regime. Their messages are urgent, pointed, political. Dissent lives on in the nation’s capital.

    Posted along high traffic areas, like Connecticut Avenue, they’re seen by thousands of people every day. People walking, driving, riding bikes and scooters. Bright, colorful, hard to miss.

    It’s an ephemeral, ever-changing art form, subject to decay by wind, rain and sun or through human intervention, as they’re torn down by those angered by the anti-regime messaging.

    This kind of art is often remixes or riffs on previous artworks, as we saw in the endless variations on the Sandwich Guy meme, who rocketed to fame last year for throwing a sub at a DHS officer.

    And it’s not just political messages that appear on DC streets. Also appearing are announcements about album drops, new products or other commercial messages.

    Conspiracy-minded Fox News “analysts” like to cite the existence of this art as evidence of a deep, well-funded, astroturfed resistance organization, some sort of super-antifa with a mysterious head directing these actions.

    It’s laughable. These posters are inexpensive to produce and the material to affix them – wheat paste – can be made for pennies. Anyone with basic artistic skills can create street art.

    Street art appears and disappears as artists roam the city overnight, putting up posters as the city sleeps.

    It’s visual evidence that democracy isn’t dead, a kaleidoscope of images to prick the skin of tyrants and cheer the rest of us.