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The Charlie Kirk Show
A highlight from THOUGHTCRIME Ep. 13 Willard Romney's Revenge? Dems Legitimizing Prostitution? Oliver The Fake?
"Hey, feeling unsure about your finances these days? You're not alone. That's why Noble Gold Investments is here to help. Just hear it straight from the people who they've helped. The Noble crew walked me through everything with no stress. With their help, I could finally sleep easy at night. And now this month, Noble Gold Investments is handing out a free 5 -ounce silver America the Beautiful coin if you qualify for an IRA. Invest in gold and silver with Noble Gold Investments. Go to noblegoldinvestments .com right now. That is noblegoldinvestments .com right now. Hey, everybody. Happy Saturday. Thought Crimes. I joined late to this because I was at our Pastor Summit. But Andrew, Blake, and Jack carry the water for the first part of the episode. Talk about Mitt Romney. Talk about the Virginia Hooker. And then we also talk about Oliver Anthony, who I call a ginger Bernie Sanders with a banjo. Thought Crimes, where we say things that you're not even allowed to think in Western society. This is your warning. I'm just warning you that, yes, there is things in this episode that are not always appropriate for homeschoolers. Email us as always freedom at charliekirk .com and get involved with Turning Point USA at tpusa .com. That is tpusa .com. Buckle up, everybody. Here we go. Charlie, what you've done is incredible here. Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campuses. I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks. I want to thank Charlie. He's an incredible guy. His spirit, his love of this country. He's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created, Turning Point USA. We will not embrace the ideas that have destroyed countries, destroyed lives, and we are going to fight for freedom on campuses across the country. That's why we are here. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to tonight's edition, this week's edition of Thought Crime. Are you ready to commit thought crime? Because we've got a lot. Let's go around the horn. I'm not even sure because we got a lot of craziness going on right now. Our gas prices are up almost a full dollar here since last week, almost. And I was in California about a week ago. And I think are you guys hitting about six, almost $6 a gallon right now? Yeah, we are. Yeah, it's about five. How do you do it? I mean, honestly, Santa Barbara is a small town, so we don't drive a whole bunch. We don't feel it as much as probably like, you know, our Los Angeles friends. But I mean, at the end of the day, I mean, California is and actually this, this includes Arizona, Nevada, I believe, Washington and Oregon are considered the same sort of gas island. So they are as it has to do with where the oil comes from. It has to do with where they're getting refined. California has all these special additives and regulations that the refineries, these these benchmarks that refineries need to hit. So it can only come from certain refineries. So it limits the supply even more. It's a whole problem. So Charlie will be here in a little bit. He's at the Pastor Summit right now. He's dealing with some stuff. He's taking care of business on assignment, of course, for Turning Point USA, the faith coalition. But we're here. We're going to hold down the fort until Charlie returns. So shoot us your emails freedom at Charlie kirk .com. Let's get into the first topic here. This one, I think we've all talked about it, but we haven't all mentioned it together. This one, the the revenge or should we say the elegy for Willard Romney? Willard Mitt Romney has announced he's quitting the Senate total rage quit right before the 2024 election. So he's going to serve out the remainder of his term. And of course, as befits his character, he's riding off into the sunset by having the globalists at the Atlantic publish a completely obnoxious passive aggressive interview, trashing his colleagues, trashing Trump, trashing the GOP base. So what is the final word on the GOP 2012 standard bearer, the man who was the nominee for president in 2012? And, Blake, I think you actually have an excerpt from the from this article that's by McKay Coppins in the Atlantic. Oh, well, yeah, exactly, Jack. It's it's amazing. So, of course, he's everything about Romney is, you know, the supposed like, you know, politeness and decorum and all the damage that Trump does to our democracy by being always the last Boy Scout. Yeah, yeah, the last Boy Scout. So naturally, what he does is he announces he's retiring. And then, you know, in perfect timing with it, McKay Coppins has this biography that he's putting out that's, you know, all about Romney and has all these like data points in it. And he's basically just like Romney doing like a drive by shooting on other members of the Republican Party as he leaves. Let's see, like one of the lines from it. This is a summary as Axios summarizes it helpfully for us. Romney shares a unique disgust for senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas, who he thought were too smart to believe Trump won the 2020 election. But, quote, put politics above the interests of liberal democracy and the Constitution. And then the even wilder one is for Senator J .D. Vance of Ohio. He says, quote, I don't know that I can disrespect someone more than J .D. Vance. That is a direct quote from Senator Romney describing Senator Vance, who he still has to, you know, share a Senate chamber with for the next year before he actually quits. But, you know, J .D., I mean, can can someone explain what what what is J .D. Vance done in his time in the Senate that's been so ill reputable? It could. Does anyone have what when he went to East Palestine and it seems it seems his crime is that went on there? I'm trying to figure this out. It seems his crime is that, you know, J .D. Vance came out of Ohio. He went to Yale, I believe it was. And then he was in finance and was, you know, and then wrote his memoir, which was very well received. And he's this up and comer on the coast. And then I guess he moved back to Ohio, started doing too many appearances on Tucker Carlson tonight. And like, according to Romney, it was like the transformation was just was just too jarring, like it was too too much of a transformation for for Mr. Romney, who himself has basically transmuted into this like Democrat, I guess. But that doesn't count. This is an interesting this is an interesting take on on all of it. And Andrew, maybe you can give us a sense of it, because what I think that Romney is really upset about here is that he's considering J .D. Vance a class a class traitor. He's calling him a class traitor and saying, look, you're allowed to make money in finance. You're allowed to make go to Yale. You're allowed to go to the great schools. But the one thing and you're certainly allowed to run for the Senate. But the one thing you're not allowed to do is actually go out to the people of your state, listen to the their interests and listen to their issues and then grow and go and try to actually represent them in the United States Senate. This I is think class traitor. I think that's really smart framing, Jack, because at some level, a lot of this is much more about vibe. It's much more about what Mitt Romney thinks is classy versus gross or respectable versus, you know, essentially untoward and beyond the pale. Right. So it's all based on his own little framework of of class structure, of decorum, those sorts of things. So it says here in this, he says he was also highly critical of Senator J .D. Vance, Republican of Ohio, who reinvented his persona to become a Trump acolyte after publishing a bestselling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy about the working class that Romney loved. So Romney loved the book. So at some level, I think it was just like, so I love this book. And how can this kind of become like a Trump bootlicker? Go ahead. Right. So I can there's there and just real quickly, it's kind of like because in the book, J .D. Vance's conclusions, I would say I don't offer this as criticism. I just say it's sort of it's an evolution on J .D. Vance's part because he sort of just says in the book, well, that that sort of that blase classic Republican line of, you know, and everybody just needs to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. I can do it. So can you. And we should cut taxes for big businesses and the one percent pays most of the income tax and that that's kind of it. And then when he went to actually run for office and started really engaging with people politically, that's when he shifted, not socially. Right. But he shifted economically to become more of a populist. Blake, what you're saying? Well, what's so telling in this article is like some of the just a little specific anecdotes that it does pick. And I almost wonder if Coppins is like subtly trolling Romney. Apparently Romney lives by himself and his family in D .C. It mentions let me get let me get the line here. It talks about his his his pad that he lives in. And it says the place had not been Romney's first choice for Washington residents when he was elected in twenty eighteen. He'd had his eye on a newly remodeled condo at the Watergate with glittering views of the Potomac. His wife, Ann, fell in love with the place, but his soon to be staffers and colleagues warned him about the commute, which, by the way, it's like a mile and a half to the Capitol. So he grudgingly chose practicality over luxury and settled for the two point four million dollar townhouse instead. And then, of course, this is not good enough for for Ann. So she never visits him when he's in D .C. So it turns into a gross bachelor pad that has it mentions there's crumbs everywhere.
WTOP 24 Hour News
Fresh "Potomac" from WTOP 24 Hour News
"The Subaru Solterra, Hyundai Ioniq, or the Toyota BZ4X fitsmall at .com. That's the Fitsway. Rich Hunter WTOB traffic. Plenty of sunshine is on the way as we move through our Wednesday. It will be a little bit warmer compared to yesterday and not as windy. ...45 to 45 for a daytime high. Wind gusts upwards of 20 miles per hour. Winds will settle down this evening for good with scattered clouds. Temperatures mid 30s to lower 40s by early tomorrow morning. For our Thursday, mostly sunny. Temperatures will be the in 50s. Come Friday, a better chance for wet weather. Scattered showers, not a washout. Temperatures around 50. I'm 7News meteorologist Steve Rudin at the First Alert Weather Center. You're waking up to a cold morning, 4 a .m. hour. Wednesday morning, November 29th. We're at 24 degrees. Tyson's Corner, 24. Potomac, 28. La Font Plaza. We're 25 and holding in our nation's capital. Brought to you in the 4 a .m. hour on WTLP This Morning, Wednesday, by Long Fence. Save 25 % on Long Fence decks, pavers and fences.
The Garden Question
A highlight from 125 - Cultivating History: Exploring George Washington's Mount Vernon Garden - Dean Norton
"The Garden Question is a podcast for people that love designing, building, and growing smarter gardens that work. Listen in as we talk with successful garden designers, builders, and growers, discovering their stories along with how they think, work, and grow. This is your next step in creating a beautiful, year -round, environmentally connected, low -maintenance, and healthy, thriving outdoor space. It doesn't matter if you're a beginner or an expert, there will always be something inspiring when you listen to The Garden Question podcast. Hello, I'm your host, Craig McManus. Dean Norton fell in love with the Mount Vernon Estate Gardens 53 years ago and never left. After receiving a degree in horticulture from Clemson University, he began his career as the estate's boxwood gardener. The historical gardens of the first president of the United States, George Washington, became his responsibility in 1980. His promotion to horticulturalists allowed him to apply the latest plant science and horticultural management techniques for historical gardens. Dean has devoted considerable time to researching 18th century gardens and gardening practices. He has received awards for conservation from the DAR and the Garden Club of America, as well as the Garden Club of America's Elizabeth Craig Weaver Proctor National Medal. He is an honorary member of the Garden Club of Virginia and the Garden Club of Providence. He has been awarded an honorary doctorate from Washington College, serves on several historic property boards, and lectures nationally and internationally. This is Episode 125, Cultivating History, Exploring George Washington's Mount Vernon Garden, with Dean Norton, an encore presentation and remix of Episode 64. Dean, why did General George Washington, the first president of the United States, garden? Well, he really gardened for necessity. The earliest gardens were called gardens of necessity for health and survival. Of course, the most important plant to be planted within a garden were vegetables, something that you were going to have at the dinner table to eat. Vegetables were huge to him. Even during the Revolutionary War, he wanted to make sure that his troops were getting as many vegetables as they could whenever possible. I would not actually call him a gardener per se, but for a year and a half, he became a designer. He totally redid his country seat from a very simplistic design to one following naturalistic design principles. Then that landscape were four very fine gardens that he oversaw. What story does the Mount Vernon Garden tell? Tell us the story of a man that wanted his gardening world to be complete, I would say. He had a very small botanic garden, which he fondly called his little garden. When he was here on site, he was typically doing that work himself on his knees, planting seed and seedling saplings. He kept such good records in that little tiny garden that we were able to recreate that quite nicely. His earliest gardens were a fruit and nut garden and a kitchen garden, but when he changed his design, the kitchen garden remained as it is. The fruit and nut garden became a pleasure garden with vegetables in there as well, which is kind of an interesting combination. He had a vineyard for a while, but the grapes failed, and that became a fruit garden and nursery. The nursery was for plants that he could grow to plant on other areas of the estate and also to grow things just for collection of seed. What is today's mission for the garden? Today's mission for the garden is interpretation. We are trying to share with our visitors what life was like in the 18th century, why these gardens were important. Certainly after 1785, the gardens took on a new role, which was for people to come when he had created here at Mount Vernon. The story of gardeners themselves, the gardeners that Washington hired through the Articles of Indenture, also the enslaved gardeners that worked with the professional gardener to cultivate till to harvest. It's a great story. It's one that we thoroughly enjoy telling. Gardening really hasn't changed much from the 18th century, so the more we're out there digging in the earth, we think of those gardeners from the past. Today's visitors, how do they respond? I'll tell you what, when they come through the gates and they get to the Bowling Green Gate and see the house for the first time, that's exactly what they were expecting to see, this beautiful house that Washington lived in. But then the further they go into the landscape, they're really totally blown away by the amount of landscape and gardens that Washington had. They weren't expecting that at all. I think the gardens are well received, and I think that the stories we tell throughout the estate in so many different areas are certainly appreciated by our visitors. The garden's been there for about two and a half centuries. You've told us that there's four gardens that make up the Mount Vernon Garden. Could we walk through each one of those and you tell us about them? Sure. The panic garden is a simple garden, very small. It was intended to plant things that Washington was not familiar with, although sometimes other things that he knew quite well ended up in there as well. He received 500 Chinese seed, which he planted in one of the beds. None of them came up. So actually, we could show one of the beds with nothing but bare dirt and we would be exactly correct. That was his playground, and he truly loved getting plants he wasn't familiar with and planting them in there, and he did most of the work in there himself. There was an area that he started a vineyard, hoping to get some grapes for making wine, but that failed. That four -acre area became a fruit garden and nursery. Washington kept such good records that the fruit trees are planted exactly as he describes in that particular enclosure. Part of it is a nursery as well, where he grew trees and shrubs, also some other grasses and things just for the collection of seed. The kitchen garden was the first garden laid out in 1760, and that has been cultivated as a kitchen garden since 1760. It's never changed in its purpose, which is the only garden like that on the estate. Both the kitchen garden and fruit nut garden were an acre in size, so that's a significant garden. The nut garden changed from a garden of necessity to a pleasure garden, and that was meant to be the aha moment. When people were strolling around the Bowling Green, they could look through that gate, they saw a beautiful conservatory. The idea was to walk in there and just enjoy the beauty of the flowers, and those flowers were there for their enjoyment and not for their use. I think his gardening world was quite complete. You said the conservatory, would that be the greenhouse? That's correct. It had a greenhouse that he copied from a lovely property called Mount Clare, just to the north of Baltimore. The owner was Margaret Carroll. He asked for permission for some information, and she was thrilled and gave him all that he needed, even his first plants for his collection, to get his greenhouse started. I started studying that greenhouse in pictures. When I think greenhouse, I think a glass top or a plastic top or something like that, and this was constructed quite different. Could you tell us about how it was constructed and it was heated? The greenhouses in the 18th century typically just had glass panes on the south side, this was southern exposure. Also typically they were triple home windows, so you could open top and bottom to allow for good air circulation. This was quite modern, very good. It had a vaulted ceiling, so hot air didn't get trapped up at the corners. It had a wood door on the west side of the structure to keep afternoon sun from coming in. It was too hot. A glass door on the east side to allow morning sun in. It had shutters that closed very tight, so in the wintertime when you got whatever heat you could get from the solar energy, you could close those shutters and retain the heat overnight. It was heated by a stove room on the opposite side of the structure. The fire pit was quite low, and that hot air and smoke would go underneath the slate floor in the greenhouse and then rise up along the back wall and out the chimney. It was very efficient. It housed the semi -tropical plants and citrus trees in the winter. Not for them to continue to fruit, so he had lemons and limes and all that. Just to keep them alive in the wintertime. In all these gardens, he's combining beauty with necessity. How did he accomplish that? The one garden that really does that beautifully is the upper garden, or pleasure garden. He wanted a pleasure garden. He wanted the aha moment when someone walked into there. It's a 10 -foot -wide path, edged in boxwood with this greenhouse at the end. He was concerned, though, in that he didn't want to lose a lot of space to the growth of vegetables, which were still the most important plant that he grew on the property. 18th century horticulture said, look, George, you can do both. Plant your vegetables and then surround them with a border of flowers. The border could be three feet, five feet, whatever you so decide. It's the border that's actually the pleasure garden. So you're really not losing that much space to growing vegetables. How did Washington change his gardens to enhance Mount Vernon's natural beauty? He adopted the naturalistic style. There are four key elements of that. The curve line is nature's gift, management of surprises, random planting, and hidden barriers. If you can do those four things, you're well on your way to a wonderful naturalistic design. The management of surprises, the curve line helps you with that. Around each bend, you can do something different. The book that he's learning all these techniques from was written by a gentleman named Batty Langley. He wrote the book in 1728 called New Principles of Gardening. Washington purchased it in 1759. Langley goes in, he says, once you've seen one quarter of your garden, you should not have seen it all. There's nothing more shocking and stiff than a regular garden. He said every garden must have good shade. If you have to walk more than 20 paces in full sun, your walk is not worth it. Washington really took all these thoughts and comments to heart and made sure he put trees on either side of his serpentine avenues. Around each bend, he added shrubberies in wilderness areas and groves. It really was a complete landscape, and it was all just trying to stay within the qualifications or the requirements of a naturalistic garden. There are many historical events that took place away from Mount Vernon. For long periods of time, Washington was gone. How did he stay in touch with his garden and its growing? Much to his demise, much to our benefit, Washington, during the 45 years he lived here at Mount Vernon, he was away for 16 years, only visiting his house a couple times during all that time. When he is away, he's communicating with the land manager with lengthy letters, three, four, five pages long, giving him instructions to do this, make sure that is done, have you planted this, I want to try to do this next. We have that exchange of letters. Gives us a tremendous advantage in being able to represent Mount Vernon as accurately as we do in today's world. You should be considered the current garden overseer, but there's been many that have come before you. Have you got any good overseer stories about your predecessors? Yeah, there's some. I'm number 37. I don't know if that number is exactly correct, but I'm honored to be the current gardener, whatever number I am. They were all pretty competent in their practices. Washington called one clever because he was so good at grafting trees. Probably one of the cutest ones is when Washington's trying to hire a gardener. He's writing to his land manager saying that the gardener should not have any children, but if he does, only one, but certainly no more than two. He just keeps going on and on, giving almost any option possible for the gardener. He was always looking for the Scottish gardener because they were some of the best. I'm thrilled to be following in the footsteps of so many great gardeners. I hope that I'm continuing their tradition of maintaining a beautiful Mount Vernon. Tell us about the people that worked in the gardens during Washington's time. He hired gardeners under the Articles of Indenture, so they would come over, he would pay their way, and they would have to work that to pay Washington back. Some of them stayed for many years. There was a German gardener named John Christian Eller who was here for a number of years. They had a bit of a falling out, but apparently after Washington passed away, he actually returned because there is something in the notes about a German gardener saying that he used to work here. There is one from Holland, England, and then of course you had your Scottish gardener at the very end of his life, which Washington said that he was dedicated, sober, passionate about his work, and that in short, he's the best hired servant I've ever had. What makes it even better is that he says he has never been happier. I think that's really wonderful, and it certainly rings true for me. For being here at Mount Vernon as long as I have, my life here as a gardener has been a very happy experience. What did the garden go through between Washington's death and until the time it was bought by its current owners? It started to fall and disappear rapidly. Visitors' accounts have been occurring since Washington lived here. People visiting, and they write in their diaries or letters to friends, which is tremendously valuable to us, for that is our Polaroid to the past. Washington died in 1799, and visitors in 1801, 1802 are saying that it's deteriorating, it doesn't look anything like it did during Washington's time, so things just started to fall apart a little bit. You didn't have the money, you didn't have the dedication maybe to do as well. Not to say that work wasn't being done and things weren't being cleaned up as best as possible, but definitely it was noticeable to visitors that it was in a bit of disarray. When the Ladies Association purchased the property in 1858, things started to change, of course, quickly. And of course, Mount Vernon is in their hands today, it's a beautiful, beautiful site. Did they buy it from the family? They bought it from John Augustine Washington, the fourth Washington that owned the property before it was sold to the ladies. It cost them $200 ,000, and with that they received 200 acres, where others said you should take everything down but the mansion, because that's all that's important. They made the decision that they wanted to keep everything that was there during Washington's time, which was absolutely the right thing to do. We have all the outbuildings. It's an amazing opportunity for visitors to come to see an estate, a plantation, as it was during the time of the owner. Are there new discoveries being made through modern archaeology and research, or do you feel like you've re -established everything there? No, there are new discoveries all the time. It's amazing. Archaeology, the science, is becoming more and more exact all the time, with radar and LiDAR flyovers and just all these wonderful techniques that they now have. We're still finding letters that we didn't have before. Eventually we may find the plan that Washington did for the Bowling Green. We have the plan's key that is in his hand, but we don't have the actual plan itself. You can never write the final chapter in this adventure that we're in here from Washington's time till now. We try to represent things as accurately as we can, but we may find a new letter or something that will totally alter our interpretation of what we were using or going on to create an area that we thought was accurate, but new information may change that, and we will go back and make those changes so that it's historically accurate. Where did Washington acquire his plants? Initially, the landscape was completed by nothing but trees and shrubs that he found in his wildernesses surrounding Mount Vernon. So it's certainly a native landscape, and he identified these plants in the wintertime by structure and bud and had them dug and brought back. He did say that he was looking for exotics. He loved plants of all sorts. Now, we don't know if an exotic to him was Mexico or South Carolina, but what we do know is he said he wanted plants outside of his geographic area. People sent him gifts of plants often. Also he ordered from three of the principal nurseries of the time, John Bartram in Philadelphia, William Hamilton in New York, and Prince on Long Island. He ordered a lot of these plants and that he was experimenting with and putting within his landscape. I heard a story about a Franklin tree. Was that ever a part of the estate? The Franklinia, I think it was actually ordered from Philadelphia, and we've tried to grow them any number of times. We can't get them to survive. They're very finicky. They need to be in a spot they're really happy with, and so far we haven't found that spot on the estate, unfortunately. What's the significance of the Bond Plan? A gentleman named Samuel Vaughan visited Mount Vernon in 1784, I think it was, or 83. He was a landscape designer. He did a good bit of work up in the Philadelphia area, actually did some work around Independence Hall. He came and visited Mount Vernon, and in his sketchbook drew the plan of the estate, and then went back to Philadelphia. We drew a beautiful big plan that was very, very accurate. Washington said that you've drawn my estate accurately except that you've enclosed the view with trees, and so the only problem that Washington states is when looking from the house down the Bowling Green, down a vista to the forest beyond, there were two willow mounds that were planted on the Bowling Green. They weren't meant to act as punctuation points. No planting would occur within that, so you had a wide open view to the west. Whatever reason, Vaughan decided to draw trees all in there. In Washington's eye, it was all correct except for that. So it's a beautiful plan, archaeologists have used it, and all the buildings that he shows on that plan are where they find them when they dig in the soil. So he was recording the existence and not proposing new things. There's been some debate about that because Vaughan was a designer, and some say, well, how do we know that this is something Washington had, or was Vaughan drawing what he thought it should be? The written account seemed to support what Vaughan was drawing was accurate. So it's all about interpretation. We could look at two passages somewhere and interpret it both totally differently. I think the Vaughan plan is amazing. I think it's as accurate as we can possibly get. You've mentioned the Bowling Green a couple of times. What grass did they use in the Bowling Green? Their grass was called goosegrass or speargrass. They also had rye, and it's even bluegrass. It was a very coarse grass. Coarse grass was kind of important, actually, because they mowed it with the English sigh, and a very fine -bladed grass would be very difficult to cut with that implement, whereas the wider -bladed grass, they could cut quite nicely if they had a good sharp edge on their sigh, and the sickle, of course, would have been the weed eater. The Bowling Green was meant for games and entertaining and would have been mowed on a regular basis, rigged, rolled, and mowed right up until you may have a drought or something where the grass would stop growing, just like we have in an experience today. What variety do you grow there now? Weeds. It's just, I'm serious. It looks great from a distance, but if you walk up on it, it's just clover and creeping Charlie, and if it's green, I'm fine. We don't want to use chemicals on the lawn. We have a lot of visitors, a lot of children running around, so it's just as natural as possible. We overseed and everything, but no, just don't look too closely. Well, that'd be more accurate to the period, I guess. You know, I don't know. It'd be interesting to see the grass back then. It was maintained in a way that it was intended for them to bowl. They had lots of games with the hoops and other things, so it was used a great deal as a green for entertaining. How do you cut it now? Oh, we have John Deere's to go 13 miles an hour. It's pretty nice. You know, front deck mowers, it's great. Is that a reel? No, my goodness, no. Years ago when I started, our only riding mower was a Toro reel. Now, nothing against Toro, okay, but that thing never worked. Poor man that was operating, he was a World War II vet, and he was always in the shop just standing here waiting for his mower to work. So no, it's not a reel. My dad had a reel mower, and he was always working on it too. My dad's way to fix anything was with a screwdriver, not to actually tighten any screws. He would just beat on it. He was so upset. You've got the serpentine pass. What materials did they use? It was a combination of gravel and clay, pea gravel, smaller grade gravel, and it was cobblestone up around the circle in front of the mansion. Washington said if he could find any alternative form of paving, he would certainly use it because gravel roads were constant maintenance of raking, rolling, adding new gravel to keep them from being muddy all the time. That's exactly what was used in the gardens as well, was a gravel type path. Is that gravel mine from the Potomac? Washington talks about a gravel pit. It would seem as if they got a lot of it from the Potomac, and they would have sifted it to get the right size stone that they wanted. I think there were a couple sources, but not real clear on it. What kind of staff does it take to maintain all this? In horticulture, my responsibility has to do with anything that deals with chlorophyll and manure. The gardeners, just like in the 18th century, they said a garden an acre in size will require one full -time gardener, and so every principal garden we have is one full -time gardener working in that spot. Then we have a swing gardener that does all the smaller gardens and helps in the other gardens as well. We have a landscape gardener that takes care of all the non -exhibition areas. It's truly bare bones. We have some summertime help, college students, some high school. College students love it. We give them as much opportunity to learn whatever they want if they want to work in the greenhouse or use equipment. It's a really great program that we have for that. Then we have our livestock crew. We have five full -time livestock employees that maintain the genetic line of three very rare breeds, and those animals are here for interpretation as well. One thing I just want to share is that Mount Vernon is a very special place. People come and they don't leave real quickly. I've got almost 53 years. Our five livestock staff combined have 92 years of service here at Mount Vernon. It's just truly amazing. Wow. What type of livestock? We have a milking red devon, beautiful reddish -brown cow, aussebal island hogs, hog island sheep, and a Narragansett turkey. So all these are on exhibition at our Pioneer Farmers site, which is a site that we created in the 1990s down near the river. That's a site where we interpret Washington the farmer. That's the livestock's playground. They get to take the animals down there, the oxen, the horses, and work the fields. So it's really very exciting. It helps bring the estate to life. Are you taking the manures and the straw and things like that and using it in compost, or how does that all work? 100 percent. That's all we use. We have huge piles that we are able to windrow with using a manure spreader. We always have these windrows, just these lines of the material that is whipped around by the manure spreader. The row is about maybe eight feet wide, ten feet wide, and it's about six feet high. The oldest windrow is used as the fertilizer used in the gardens. And once that's gone, we windrow the next row over to aerate it again. We just always have a source of compost that we can use in the gardens, and it just works out beautifully for us. How long does it typically age? It doesn't take long, really. We have a pile that's been here for so long that even stuff that is not that old, maybe three months or so, when you mix it up with the other, it turns out very, very well. In the 18th century, Washington would take manure from the stables and just put them in a dung repository for a fortnight or two. You're only talking two or four weeks, and then they thought it was readily available for the gardens. So it was much more rapid for them than it is for us. Are there any special approaches that you take to maintaining a historical garden? The approach to maintaining a historic garden really is visual. We want them to see a garden that is planted in the manner that would have been in the 18th century. We want them to see what an 18th century garden looked like. As far as our actual practices, it is really no different than what would have been going on in the 18th century. Our tools may be a little sturdier, a little nicer, rakes, shovels, soil life, and everyone has one of those on their bill. You can do anything with those. As far as planting, we're definitely concerned about height derangement more than color coordination. We want to make sure the plants we plant are appropriate to the 18th century. Paths, the box which should be trimmed, are very short. They were never intended to be a backdrop for perennials, just as a border. That's the main thing. We want it to look right. The way we take care of it, that hasn't changed for 250 years. What are your biggest challenges with the garden? People, compaction, really the damage that comes from, especially kids, I used to share that the worst pest we can have is a child that's been on a bus for five hours from somewhere, gets here and the chaperones go, go, go, and they just start running. Back when we had big boxwood, they would just go and run and jump in and break a branch of a 150 year old boxwood within 10 seconds and that's hard to control with any kind of spray or whatever. But I developed to have a hard trap that was a bit larger. I found out I put an iPad or something in there, I could catch five or six at a time and I would let them off at the West Gate. The chaperones would eventually find them, but at least we got them out of the garden.
WTOP 24 Hour News
Fresh "Potomac" from WTOP 24 Hour News
"Or call 800 -745 ride. Rich Hunter WTRF. There's around 35 to 45 degrees. It will feel a little bit colder than that thanks to wind gusts upwards of 20 mph but early as cold as it was yesterday. Moving into the evening and overnight winds will settle down scattered clouds mid 30s to lower 40s by early tomorrow morning for our Thursday mostly sunny temperatures will be in the 50s that's a welcome change Showers into the forecast on Friday temperatures then around 50 degrees. I'm 7 News Meteorologist Steve Rudin of the First Alert Center. Right now we are at 25 Tysons Corner, 25 Potomac, 28 La Font Plaza, 22 ins Stylingocyst Gradient shake his hand. 2 degrees in our nation's capital. Next half hour for you This early Wednesday morning Hunter Biden La Font Plaza. I'm Mitchell Miller today on And the Hill there are negotiations said
AP News Radio
Biden to highlight plans to replace 150-year-old rail tunnel in Baltimore
"President Biden is headed to Baltimore today to talk about plans to replace a notorious single track tunnel that was completed when Ulysses grant was still president. White House press secretary karine Jean Pierre talked about Biden's plans, the president will discuss how bipartisan infrastructure law funding will replace the 150 year old Baltimore and Potomac tunnel to address the largest bottleneck for commuters on the northeast corridor between Washington D.C. and New Jersey. The new tunnel would include two tracks and allow trains to travel more than 100 miles an hour on Tuesday, President Biden travels to New York to talk about plans for another new rail tunnel under the Hudson River, the projects will be funded mostly by the massive infrastructure law that Biden signed that includes $24 billion for rail improvements along the northeastern corridor. Jennifer King,
WTOP 24 Hour News
Fresh "Potomac" from WTOP 24 Hour News
"US Capitol Christmas tree This evening. It's a 63 foot Norway spruce from West Virginia. lit It will be from dusk until 11 in the evening each night through January 1st of next year. The lighting on the west front lawn of the Capitol. Several roads around the Capitol are being closed off right now so you want to stay with WTOP for traffic updates The national Christmas tree on the ellipse will be lit. 4 .08 coming up in Monday news News after traffic and weather. The former Wizards guard is now a former Bethesda homeowner. I'm Jeff Michael Michael and Son's heating tune up for only $59 Traffic and weather on the eights and when it breaks to Dave Dildine in the WTOP traffic center near the DC Potomac River bridges The southbound George Washington Parkway slow under the Roosevelt toward Memorial Avenue and the Memorial Bridge Emergency exit. road work left lane was blocked coming in on 395 onto the main span of the 14th street bridge. Somebody stopped in a lane can't see it in any of the cameras but there's going to be a lane blocked on the inbound span of the 14th Street bridge. Outbound traffic just heavy from the tunnels toward the Potomac River. The Capitol are Christmas not tree going to impact closures traffic at all. Those are mostly like parking lots in front of the Capitol. Roads, Constitution, independence are wide open. DC 295 northbound just heavy leaving the Anacostia River bridges and in Virginia southbound on 395 some slowing from the Pentagon toward Landmark but not bad on the interstates on and around the Beltway and beyond the Beltway just routine recurring congestion. Of course it's gonna be heavy on parts of the Beltway like the interloop from the toll road toward the spur and the outer loop from Route 7 toward Gallows Road. There the team of 495 express lanes want you to know to save time you can hop in the express lanes now in Maryland heading eastbound toward the Bay Bridge on 250 little slowly passing Sandy Point too windy for two -way traffic wind warnings but no restrictions Leaving parole in Annapolis on Riva Road a crash at Truman Parkway that is causing backups you're under police direction at the Riva Road -Truman Parkway intersection on 270 95 and the Baltimore Washington Parkway all's normal some slow spots here and there but otherwise a decent trip north and southbound on those routes want to test an electric car plug into fitsmall .com and find your electric ride today check out the Subaru Solterra Hyundai or Toyota BZ4X at fitsmall .com that's the Fitzway I'm Dave Doldine PRP traffic. Let's get your forecast from Steve Rudin in the 7 News First Alert Weather Center. Coldest air of the season is on later the way tonight into early tomorrow morning with wake -up temperatures anywhere from the upper teens
Mark Levin
Virginia AG Expands Civil Rights Probe Into Fairfax County Schools
"But in the meantime Washington examiner Virginia attorney general expands civil rights investigation into fairfax county public schools now Most of you don't live in the fairfax county public school system but this is illustrative of what's going on in so much of the country So what's going on here now in Virginia Northern Virginia the suburbs of Washington D.C. on the side of the Potomac river Virginia attorney general Jason Mayer whose terrific Announced that his office would expand a civil rights investigation Do Thomas Jefferson high school To include all of fairfax county public schools After several high school principals apologized for failing to recognize national merit commended students this is unbelievable The announcement as you'll see in a moment the announcement expands an investigation launched by the attorney general last week After reports surfaced last month that the magnet school in fairfax county public schools this is as Thomas Jefferson school which is considered probably the top school in America in terms of high schools in terms of brilliance Fairfax kind of school that likewise failed to inform students Other commendations for years So what happened here Is you have all these brilliant students of this Thomas Jefferson high school now we're finding at other schools Who took the national merit scholarship test And they and their parents didn't hear the the results Until after they had already applied to colleges
WTOP 24 Hour News
Fresh "Potomac" from WTOP 24 Hour News
"Take care of this nation. This year an active duty sailor lost his wife in childbirth. They jumped in. Navy Marine Corps Relief Society went in to help take care of all the arrangements that had to be done. They're competing against Army Emergency Relief, Coast Guard Mutual Assistance and the Air Force Aid Society. Every donation made to each will be matched by Lockheed Martin. Luke Luger WTOP news coming up in money news after traffic and weather. Another best new restaurants list has a local one. I'm Jeff Glabel. 308. Michael & Son's heating tune -up for only $59. Michael & Son. Traffic and weather on the 8th. Dave Dildine has it from the Traffic Center. Not a bad afternoon. Routine congestion here and there. Nothing outrageous. slow Some spots on the Beltway interloop near the McLean, Silver Spring and Landover exits near 202. Dead tree blew late over last there hour but it was cleared. Outer loop delays in Alexandria and near Lanham. Route 50 at the Bay Bridge. No delays. No restrictions. Wind warnings is all. 301 southbound through Bowie. It is one lane getting by the recurring work zone between 197 and Central Avenue. In Virginia on 66 westbound getting heavier between the Beltway and 123 and farther west between Centerville and Manassas. 395 south near Sherlington. Work clear. zone Still congested there and also both ways near Potomac Park on the southwest freeway. Back in Virginia southbound on 95. Brief delays as you approach and cross the Occoquan River. It's a good go south of there through the rest of Prince William and Stafford County. Jiffy Lube where speed meets quality for an oil change and vehicle maintenance experience you can trust. Visit JiffyLubeDC .com for a location near you. I'm
America First with Sebastian Gorka Podcast
What's Under the Lincoln Memorial? Sec. Ryan Zinke Explains
"Secretary zinke, will you explain to those who have no idea what's under the Lincoln Memorial? Well, the memorial is the only memorial on the mall that has actually dug down to bedrock. And I think the placement of the Lincoln Memorial is divine. Because it sits across the river is Arlington national cemetery. And the fight for freedom and the ability for our country to reach out and have an opportunity for everyone. The Civil War is a tough period in our history, but to get to where we are today, we had to go through and fight for our freedom and fight for those that needed freedom. And across the Potomac across the memorial bridge and it leads you to Lincoln Memorial. And going underneath it, you understand the majesty and complexity of that building, but also it should be recognized that linking is facing into the mall. And there are some that would say, well, you know, general Lee. General Lee and old America was across the river, which is true. But Lincoln is now ahead of Lee. And Lincoln is facing also Martin Luther King. And they're all facing in one common direction, and that is our capital.
WTOP 24 Hour News
Fresh "Potomac" from WTOP 24 Hour News
"Trusted by feds for quality dental and coverage. vision Choose GEEBA during open season at GEBA .com. I'm Dave Doldine, WTOP traffic. Now let's get our forecast from 7 News First Alert meteorologist Mark Pena. Temperatures outside as wrap up November are the some of coldest that we've seen since February of this year. We've got forecast highs in the 30s today with northwest winds around 10 to 20 mph and gusting to about 35 mph. That's going to make those 30s feel like the upper teens to lower 20s with lots of sunshine. Tonight we're going to stay clear and cold and windy. West winds around 10 to 20 mph will make the 20s feel like the upper single digits to lower teens. Tomorrow a southwest wind returns and going that's to warm our temperatures to the upper 30s to low 40s. I'm 70s meteorologist Mark Pena and the First Alert Weather Center. Right now we're 36 in Tysons, 36 Potomac, 39 L 'Enfant Plaza with the winds gusting out of the northeast more than 30 mph and we're brought to you by Mervis Diamond Importers. Mervis means diamonds for the best quality and value. Nobody beats Mervis Diamonds. Visit Mervisdiamond .com. Coming up on WTOP. Reaching new heights Rockets at
The Charlie Kirk Show
In-Depth With the Chief's Chief, Mark Meadows
"So can you talk a little bit about just, you know, I want to hone in on this, how president Trump was running the government with your help and others, but he was being undermined by people within the administrative state and that apparatus. We call this the deep state, but to what extent did that really exist Mark? Because it's a hard thing for people. People think you win the election you take over the whole government. It's not true. Well, you don't take over the whole government and honestly, even with some of the very people that the president put in place, people that they were supposedly maga people that were coming in to work for him, really what they were, were swamp creatures. You know, they had had Potomac fever. They had drank the Kool-Aid over and over again. All they cared about was the power that existed around the Oval Office. And so here so you ask if it is real. So as chief of staff, I came in. The leaks drove me crazy. We fired a couple of people. We asked them to use their talents and other places very quickly when we found out. But even within the west wing, we found that there was a lot of people that for their own personal advantage, they would talk to the press, they would leak out less than flattering stories, oftentimes. In fact, almost all of the time with only partial truth. So I was chief of staff for maybe a week. We're going over a speech that the president is going to give later later that evening. Literally while I'm meeting with the president while we're making changes to the speech, they're reporting on the news. Somebody had leaked his speech out and that came from the west wing and others. And so what we did was actually said, well, less people are going to get to see that speech and we had people pushing back like crazy. How are you taking me off the approval list? Well, it's amazing how many speeches didn't get broadcast before he gave them
WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"potomac" Discussed on WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"Say <Speech_Male> that would be a big story <Speech_Male> the press would be <Speech_Male> covering at the disproportionate <Speech_Male> impact <Speech_Male> but <Speech_Male> no one wants to <Speech_Male> do it here because <Speech_Male> they they all want <Speech_Male> to pretend it's only <Speech_Male> trump supporters <Speech_Male> that that are <Speech_Male> skeptical. And <Speech_Male> it's just one of the small <Speech_Male> reasons why i think <Speech_Male> this is going to be a disaster <Speech_Male> unpopular. <Speech_Male> I don't see <Silence> much game <Speech_Male> for <Speech_Male> Joe biden <Speech_Male> even in the best <Speech_Male> of circumstances <Speech_Male> here. I think the <Speech_Male> the effort <Speech_Male> is just misplaced <Speech_Male> there better <Speech_Male> ways to get people <Speech_Male> Vaccinated <Speech_Male> and <Speech_Male> you know. <Speech_Male> We mentioned the people <Speech_Male> that that are <Speech_Male> skeptical and so <Speech_Male> forth. As <Speech_Male> kim says they they <Speech_Male> have very strong <Speech_Male> feelings. They are not <Speech_Male> going to take <Speech_Male> this kindly. This <Speech_Male> is <Speech_Male> this is going to <Speech_Male> further anger. A lot <Speech_Male> of people and make <Speech_Male> them believe that their public <Speech_Male> health authorities in <Speech_Male> the president united states <Speech_Male> are not on their side <Speech_Male> not leveling <Speech_Male> with them <Speech_Male> and <Speech_Male> That they can't trust <Speech_Male> them and that is <Silence> not a good <SpeakerChange> thing for anyone <Speech_Male> <Speech_Male> and meanwhile <Speech_Male> kim will give you <Speech_Male> the last word here. <Speech_Male> <hes> we're <Speech_Male> the. Us is <Speech_Male> trying to draw. People <Speech_Male> back into the <Speech_Male> workforce there are these <Speech_Male> millions of jobs <Speech_Male> that <Speech_Male> are going unfilled. <Speech_Male> We have a low labor <Speech_Male> participation rate. <Speech_Male> <Speech_Male> And <Speech_Male> the you <Speech_Male> know the goal is to try <Speech_Male> to get the economy moving <Speech_Male> again out of the pandemic <Speech_Male> instead of <Speech_Male> this fits and <Speech_Male> starts that we've been in <Speech_Male> and <Speech_Male> i. <Speech_Male> It seems to me if for <Speech_Male> some people <Speech_Male> whether it's it's <Speech_Male> a reasonable or <Speech_Male> rational or not <Speech_Male> this will be another barrier <Speech_Male> to <SpeakerChange> getting <Speech_Male> back into the workforce. <Speech_Female> <Speech_Female> Yeah there's <Speech_Female> that there's the <Speech_Female> broad economic <Speech_Female> question <Speech_Female> that you're mentioning <Speech_Female> unemployment <Speech_Male> and especially <Speech_Male> if people decide <Speech_Male> that they're gonna start quitting <Speech_Male> in mass <Speech_Male> but let's <Speech_Male> drill down into that <Speech_Male> for just a second to. <Speech_Male> I mean we're <Speech_Female> still dealing with supply <Speech_Male> chain issues <Speech_Male> and shortages <Speech_Male> of goods <Speech_Male> because factories <Speech_Male> have been shut down <Speech_Female> in different places in <Speech_Female> the world <Speech_Female> And <Speech_Female> and various other <Speech_Female> things. I want you <Speech_Female> to imagine <Speech_Male> like what would happen. <Speech_Female> For instance if a <Speech_Female> significant <Speech_Male> number of of <Speech_Female> like longshoremen <Speech_Female> We're told <Speech_Female> they had to be vaccinated <Speech_Female> and said no <Speech_Female> and there was nobody there <Speech_Female> or many <Speech_Male> fewer people there to <Speech_Male> unload <Speech_Male> cargo <Speech_Male> containers or <Speech_Female> you know what <Speech_Female> if in we're <Speech_Female> already seeing <Speech_Male> across the country a <Speech_Male> short of school bus <Speech_Male> drivers <Speech_Female> What if there are a number <Speech_Female> there that <Speech_Male> just decide. They're not <Speech_Female> gonna come to work <Speech_Male> anymore. <hes> <Speech_Male> you know what <Speech_Male> about the us <Speech_Female> postal service which <Speech_Female> apparently is part <Speech_Female> of this. There was some confusion <Speech_Female> about that whether <Speech_Female> or not it would be part <Speech_Female> of the federal government's <Speech_Female> <Speech_Female> Backseat mandate <Speech_Male> it would appear <Speech_Male> from the latest reporting <Speech_Female> that it is. But <Speech_Male> what's it gonna look <Speech_Male> like a <SpeakerChange> whole bunch of <Speech_Male> mail carriers walk <Speech_Female> off the job and no <Speech_Female> one can get any of <Speech_Male> their their things. <Speech_Male> Delivered including <Speech_Male> joe biden. Stimulus <Speech_Male> checks child <Speech_Female> tax credit <Speech_Male> money. <Speech_Male> I mean there's a <Speech_Male> lot of potential ramifications <Speech_Female> from <Speech_Female> this. If you see <Speech_Male> a big <Speech_Male> shift in the workforce <Speech_Male> and those <Speech_Male> numbers you mentioned <Speech_Female> hold up <Speech_Female> seven and ten people <Speech_Female> that <Speech_Female> you could be talking about <Silence> a <SpeakerChange> lot of upheaval. <Speech_Male> Thank <Speech_Male> you kim. Thank you bill. <Speech_Male> Thank you all for listening. We'll be back next week with another edition of potomac watch.
WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"potomac" Discussed on WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"If you didn't get an exemption would you be more likely to get vaccinated or to quit your job and eighteen percent said get vaccinated and seventy two percent said. Quit your job. And so i mean maybe some of that is is more bluster to upholster on the phone and when it came down to it they they wouldn't go through with it but the opposition to these kind of mandates is really deep in a lot of people and there may be some some economic price to pay here. I mean i should say. I'm vaccinated too but i know some of these people and it's not bluster it. It's really hard to to overstate. How deeply A lot of how deeply a lot of americans feel about this issue And the idea that they would be forced to take in their mind what they view as a as a drug that the government is telling them that they must take And again we can have arguments about whether or not you should or not in the health things but that's simply deeply held view and it's why it surprises me a little bit that the biden administration went down this road because it's not uniformly The media would have it. They would suggest that old. The only people that have not got back. Stated are you know right wing trump's supporters. That's simply not the case you know. Among the organizations that came out against this Were a number of unions Because they feel very strongly that the unions should be at the center of any negotiation about workplace requirements and the biden administration order. Goes around that You obviously have. There's a significant number of the unvaccinated that are in the minority community. Black vaccination rates are lower There's a longstanding distrust among the black community out of vaccines and these are supposed to be you know some abidance strongest supporters. You could have alienated them as well and just you know the democratic party in general it's been trying to figure out how it can make better and roads along a Among a lot of blue collar workers Those fall into the category in some places if being less vaccinated. So who. Are you making happy here politically other than you know. Maybe the media elite who are certainly hailing this I mean not that he should do this solely for political reasons or not But i do think that there was a measure of politics in this. Look you know coming out swinging on. This has certainly accomplished one thing for the by administration. And i'm sure that was part of their calculation. Nobody is talking about the mess in afghanistan. This was i think an attempt to change the subject but by doing it so dramatically. I think it could politically backfire. Have some some hard numbers on that bet breakdown by race. These are from kaiser. And according to their data sixty eight percent of asian americans have received at least one cove in one thousand nine vaccine does fifty two percent of whites forty eight percent of hispanics and forty three percent of african americans. And so bill. When you're talking about a mandate like this. I mean in another in any other context. I feel like joe biden would be talking about how there's a disparate impact exactly. Well it doesn't help him politically to mention The minority communities that that have gone unvaccinated. I mean look in new york city mayor bill de blasio recently. Put in place all these things that are going to require proof of vaccination before you can go out to eat or go to a movie theater. That's gonna disproportionately fall on african americans Because they have a high rates of of non-vaccination but normally as you.
WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"potomac" Discussed on WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"I think that's kind of the priority. Instead it's it's is likely to be a hodgepodge of directives. You know That he has an executive orders. And i don't think that's going to persuade people that have deep suspicions about it I don't think it's going to persuade more people who haven't been vaccinated to get the vaccine. There's there's a real lack of public. Trust and i think the public health officials Bear a great responsibility for that instead. I'll put it this way instead of just assuming that anyone out there who has some questions is in idiot As as so much of the tone from washington is i think they have to candidly address. People in lay it out in very clear terms. I guess the last thought that i would throw in here to is the the incorrect assumption that people make washington is responsible for everything and has to move whenever. There's a problem when a lot of this stuff is really state local authorities. I mean if he's going to be talking about Masks and mandates and schools that classic classic issue for States and local school districts to work out as they have been. And we've talked about that on the program some You know whether teachers should be mandated to be vaccinated Whether the teachers unions are would go for that sort of process And it just seems to make him as a fallacy. That everything here is in in joe biden's hands and we really need a six pronged plan from the president of the united states to finally put this behind us. We'll give you the last word here. Kim yeah well to go even further. I mean the notion even that will make a difference and i think that this is a real problem that joe biden is facing is it. He was elected on a fantasy claim. He said put me in office. And all kill the virus and contrast that you know to politicians especially some in europe like angela merkel who at the very beginning of this said look folks we can't control viruses and the likelihood is just everybody's going to get it at some point. You know i mean it now. We have a vaccine and that's providing some immunity. That was different when she was speaking. But it was a much more honest assessment of the situation. And so you have this white house that continues to suggest that it can put out. You know six point plans and if only people would wear their mass this would go away. You know we know from all of this the speed with which the delta buyer variant ripped through this country it normally takes months for stuff like that to happen We don't know yet. What's coming with this virus But the chance that we're going to have more surges and things are going to go on. And if joe biden really wanted to help himself he'd be honest about that and he would be presenting A plan for what the federal government was going to do to help us return to normal in an understanding that this is now a part of our lives But to kind kinda constantly be able creating it as a sort of crisis moment and something that the federal government has the ability to stamp out is a as a losing It's just it's a losing strategy. We saw this it happened. Donald trump as well to the exact same thing promises from washington. That will you know. We'll fix this and it lost him an election I think that this is going to prove similarly difficult for the by the white house. Thank you pimm. Thank you bill. Thank you all for listening. We'll be back later this week with another addition of potomac watch..
WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
US Job Openings Hit Record High
"Us has nearly eleven million job openings and yet disappointing employment numbers last week as the three hundred dollar boost. Unemployment benefits reaches its end. Welcome kyle peterson with the wall street journal. We're joined today by my colleagues w. shake columnist bill mcgurn and kim strassel on wednesday. The labor department said that american employers posted ten point nine million job openings in july That's a record number. It's the second record in a row beating out the june number which was ten point two million job openings And yet the jobs report last week for august was disappointing Labor department reported only two hundred. Thirty five thousand new jobs created in august below the consensus Forecast which was seven hundred thirty three thousand and journalists editorial last week bill calls this be biden. Jobs paradox so a bill. What do you think is is going on here. Why i think there's a bunch of factors. But i think you're right about paradox. Paradoxes people see that employers are desperate for workers and and yet You know a lot of the workers are not taking the jobs then in other words. It's not that the jobs are not available. Which frequently happens in a downturn is that there are jobs there and they're going on fulfilled one of the reasons. I'm not sure it's the only reason i do. Believe is are the unemployment benefits That had been extended that now. The federal benefits now expired You know i think anytime it just as simple law of economics that you you underwrite some behavior which is not taking work You're going to get more of it than if you don't underwrite it. I know that some of the people contest that and say the studies aren't conclusive. I think that's That's definitely a
WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"potomac" Discussed on WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"You can't sue because you haven't actually shown that you've been harmed by this just because there are inaccuracies in your credit file doesn't mean you've actually suffered any concrete harm. The courts longstanding a precedence or at least went back for last three three or four decades Dr have article three standing in federal court. You actually have to show a concrete and particularized in Har injury So image show that you've been personally harmed and the you have actually suffered some kind of tangible Intangible and it seems the plaintiffs. Couldn't brad kavanagh Row for them giorgis. That said you can't soup you know. Just because there is a private right of action Just because law says allows consumers to sue companies. Doesn't you can sue if he you aren't hurt The reason why this is directly or is applicable to texas is because that's essentially what texas is loud private citizens to do they are being directly harmed by these abortion providers Or personally harmed in any way but nonetheless it allows them to sue them and receive ten thousand dollars per abortion and legal costs if they prevail. It's interesting him for the conservatives because it suggests that the texas law if the substance comes up at the supreme court be conservatives on the court might not look favorably on it the conservatives. The republican appointed justices seemed to be able to distinguish between the political outcomes. They want and the constitutional privileges that play. Whereas would this sort of points to it. So many of the democratic appointees just have their policy outcome they adjuster constitutional law accordingly. But this was pretty principled. Stand that brad. Kavanagh took and we give see that very often despite all the complaints. We just went through this again. Recently with amy makoni barrett An all of the claims that you know if she was put on the court It would just terrible things that flow. i always remember. I think it was in an interview that that famous moment where The former justice antonin scalia talked about his decision To vote to allow american flag burning. And how painful. It was for his because his wife disagreed would wake up in the morning and whistle or saying it's a grand old flag during the mind of how much she didn't like that decision you know. And he made pretty clear. He didn't like having to make that decision either but that he felt it was correct on the law. And that's exactly what a leash is describing here And i think you saw it too in the last term Where you had this remarkable diversity of rulings six conservatives who who all have different takes on very important nuances in pieces within the legal world and so it's it's actually going to be really fascinating to see what happens with this texas law They obviously when they refused to enjoin they nonetheless said that was no statement on there. Be one its constitutionality. There's also as a lucia was just discussing other questions to that may come up in law about a more on procedural issues or other precedents for instance about standing etc And and we'll see where they end up but anyone who thinks that this is a slam dunk one way or the other for or against ra. Wade i would wager is going to be surprised right. Although it does it was interesting. There is a column in the washington. Post suggesting that the real answer to this texas law express. Some doubts about the texas law is just to get rid of roe because the law reflects an appetite among some states to put restrictions on abortion and has justice. Scalia used to complain..
WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"potomac" Discussed on WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"I mean that's a big job. It's a very coveted job especially among democrats because they tend to usually win the office. It's obviously very blue state. So you know. I think she should be prepared for a number of people to throw their reading in the hat Deference isn't something that new york democrats do very often so that could be a tough fight but look she's got an opportunity Coming as she does Albany's first Female governor to really distinguish herself as well from cuomo. Who was known as a bit of an autocrat and a bully and that was her message she came into office is that she wants to work with people. She wants to get stuff done We actually wrote a great editorial making argument for one thing. She could do Because it's a very popular issue is Extend cuomo's but build on cuomo support for charter schools Right now the cap for charters and the state is four hundred sixty. There's a smaller sub cap of two hundred ninety in new york city. That's already been reached. So there are eleven charter applications. The ben approved by authorizes but can't open State legislators would need to lift that cap and you know when koma was pushing for this back in twenty fourteen to give some charter. Some protection Cole was there with them And here is a quote we. We had we from her. We have one hundred nine thousand kids trapped in failing schools through no fault of their own. I'm here to tell you it's time for change. So these are the kind of issues that she could define herself with And they're they're both things that will show some bravery within democratic circles but also you earn her support from independents and and pro charter and folks on the democratic side. there's also issues obviously of crime There's the issue of the economy and what you do as as covert reopens. Are we opened from cova. So there's a lot of chances for her. We'll see if she's the kind of politician who knows how to seize them. We'll let me dig it a little bit We'll give you the last word here bill on this question of charter schools. I mean if governor ho comes out swinging on behalf of them i mean. There are a lot of success. Success academy parents parents of other charter schools. Who would be gratified to hear that. On the other hand bill does that put her crosswise with the the union supporters. That you really need to win a state like new york yes..
WTOP 24 Hour News
New Multi-Million Dollar Emergency Radio System in Montgomery County
"Just two years ago, Montgomery County's public safety radio system, the one that lets first responders coordinate with each other while responding to emergencies was suffering from spotty coverage. Now that has changed. Montgomery County's got a new $42 million public safety, radio system and Peep hearing. Her public information officer for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service calls the new system a big deal for public safety. In 2019. There were a series of communications outages with the new system, he says. We have already seen some enhanced coverage, radio coverage and some of these high rise buildings hearing her says There have also been improvements in areas of the county, where communications used to falter like near the Tri Delta, your reservoir on the Howard County line and along the Potomac River, where first responders are frequently sent to tackle water
Weekend Edition Saturday
Biden Back in Delaware for Weekend Visit
"The weekend in Delaware after campaigning last night for Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate for Virginia governor. I've made a short trip across the Potomac River to Arlington, Virginia to speak at a rally for McAuliffe that off your election is being watched closely as the national bellwether. I'm jail.
WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"potomac" Discussed on WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"And and with any luck those trends will keep going for quite some time but jason. It does seem to me that we are reaching a point where there are going to be accessed vaccines where the cap is not the supply anymore. It's the demand and you've seen all of these states set up a lotteries and stuff like that try to entice people to get vaccinated Hopefully that that keeps working and it's true. Also that pfizer is testing. Its vaccine in kids now. So if that gets approved that will open up new demand but at this point it seems to me that The supply is Is greater than the number of arms that we can put it in. That's true and and you talk about of Pushing the vaccine further is going to be a culture war issue because it's going into the united states because it's going to be our employers requiring it in our schools requiring it You know we're i think we're at about More than half of the population just over half fully vaccinated You know there's some debates among experts on immunity you know because probably some large percentage of the population also has natural immunity from having been infected with covid so what level of our population is immune to the virus. Well you know we don't exactly know we don't exactly know what herd immunity a really as but it's it's a it's a you know we're getting up there and clearly are cases have have plummeted you know where we are turning the corner on the virus here in the united states You saw tommy tube. Reveal the senator from alabama. Yesterday make a video or one of these last few days make a video encouraging his constituents to get vaccinated you know. They're starting to these political debates about who we who's not getting vaccinated. Which political tribe do they belong to. And who should we be encouraging to get vaccinated and it's true that we want to We want to press ahead in the us because if we get you know instead of fifty two percent where we are. Now if we get seventy five will Will be safer from future Mutations and safer from another round of lockdown at salon but I think things are going pretty well in the united states and if we could bring the rest of the world along we'd all be better off hang tight. We'll be right back you're listening to potomac watch from the wall street journal. Don't miss the first episode of sustainably speaking podcast with guests. Sarah marshall.
WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"potomac" Discussed on WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"Speaking at the g. Seven summit on thursday president biden said this quote the united states will purchase a half a billion doses of pfizer cove nineteen vaccine to donate to nearly one hundred nations. That are in dire need in the fight against this pandemic. that's a historic step the largest single purchase and donation of covid nineteen vaccines by any single country. Ever unquote He said these vaccines will start being shipped in august as quickly as they can be manufactured. Two hundred million doses To be delivered this year with another three hundred million in the first half of twenty twenty two bill what what do you make this As a foreign policy initiative exercise in soft power. I think it's it's great. I'm glad the biden administration is doing this. Look at the position. we're in now. Just as opposed to a few months now that we're now in the position to donate these extra vaccines. I think it also shows is our editorial points out that We can help the world with their vaccinations without having to suspend intellectual property rights. And so for some of the more dubious ways that they want to do it. So i think there are a few questions you could ask about the distribution and how you know how we're going to choose but it it's it's a it's a great move it you know. It speaks to the best of america and we can do it in. It's it's it's it's a great thing for the world
WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
U.S. To Donate 500 Million Doses to Global COVID-19 Vaccine Supply
"Speaking at the g. Seven summit on thursday president biden said this quote the united states will purchase a half a billion doses of pfizer cove nineteen vaccine to donate to nearly one hundred nations. That are in dire need in the fight against this pandemic. that's a historic step the largest single purchase and donation of covid nineteen vaccines by any single country. Ever unquote He said these vaccines will start being shipped in august as quickly as they can be manufactured. Two hundred million doses To be delivered this year with another three hundred million in the first half of twenty twenty two bill what what do you make this As a foreign policy initiative exercise in soft power. I think it's it's great. I'm glad the biden administration is doing this. Look at the position. we're in now. Just as opposed to a few months now that we're now in the position to donate these extra vaccines. I think it also shows is our editorial points out that We can help the world with their vaccinations without having to suspend intellectual property rights. And so for some of the more dubious ways that they want to do it. So i think there are a few questions you could ask about the distribution and how you know how we're going to choose but it it's it's a it's a great move it you know. It speaks to the best of america and we can do it in. It's it's it's it's a great thing for the world
WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"potomac" Discussed on WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"Financial institutions so every year essentially You get a form from the irs. That says by the way tax payer we have told the irs the the gross inflow and outflow from all of your accounts It's hard to see in the wake of this that anyone. Anyone should feel comfortable with that absolutely not you know in. That proposal was always obnoxious. To begin with the fact that we have to report our income and and pay taxes. It's already a very intrusive process The way the irs has set up the notion that the federal government could now snoop on your bank account at at will or annually have a report on everything that went in and out and Is is just. It's a big intrusion into privacy and You know they were going to spend. They want us find eighty billion more. Eighty billion more to the irs to engage in this activity but also to essentially ramp up The number of inspectors and people there so that they can harass americans even more over there they're tax filings so to me. The fact that this story was published and that this information was leaked Is a big red flag And oughta put a stake through the heart of that proposal to begin with every republican and other. Hopefully even some democrats ought to be saying look until or if the irs can ever prove that it has more control over the confidentially abbots information that it can be trusted. We should be having any discussions about this in any way shape or form and on a similar note bill. There's a currently a pending supreme court case about nonprofit donor disclosure. California has a rule saying if a nonprofit wants to operate within the state of california. It needs to hand over. Its it's full. Irs forms including lists of its major donors and There are they major donors Excuse me these nonprofits are before the supreme court saying that that is invitation to hackers and that california has not had a record of of properly securing that information and these can be controversial controversial organizations..
WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"potomac" Discussed on WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"It's a kind of key thing but it's growing importance because with mansion and carson cinemas saying that they will not break the filibuster You had chuck schumer in march. Come up with this new idea That he would try to use budget. Reconciliation which is a process. It only requires only a simple majority so only fifty one votes us budget reconciliation to pass the rest as much of the biden. Agendas he can. The problem is is that reconciliation is only supposed to be used once per fiscal year so schumer and march kind of came up with this novel and crazy theory that in fact when you looked at the nine hundred and seventy four budget law it actually gave him the power to keep revising that one annual bill therefore giving him endless fifty one vehicles For to to to use during the year and this is where the senate parliamentarian came in Last week she issued guidance. Actually morley a ruling saying that while revision is possible that the loss framers made pretty clear. It should only be used in situations where there's sharply changed. Economic conditions. Not should not be used to just avoid the filibuster as clearly. Mr schumer was proposing doing it but more importantly she ruled that If you were going to have a revision the budget committee actually has to have a vote and pass it to the floor and that just creates a technical problem for the democrats because budget panel is currently. Split eleven eleven. No republican is going to vote for it in theory. The full senate could vote to break a tie but if it really got to that point the meme the republican members could simply boycott any proceedings and and and prevent a committee vote from happening in the first place. So it looks as though he's gonna it means in reality. He's got one more bite at the reconciliation apple this year the bill for fiscal twenty twenty two and that's kind of a problem because He have to jam a lot of stuff in there and that might make democrats nervous or they'd have to make a choice. Essentially i mean biden. These infrastructure negotiations with republicans are still ongoing. So the latest number is kind of a moving target but biden's proposal was for two point three trillion dollars of infrastructure. Then a family's plan that is about one point eight trillion dollars And so bill if you only have one one shot here at reconciliation than the choices seems to me. Is you either. Put all that stuff together into a I don't know four trillion dollar bill and try to see if you can get the moderates on board to pass something of that scale or bill biden has to make a decision of what he really you know what his priority is..
WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"potomac" Discussed on WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"Yeah i i think i mean part of me. suspects that this is part of the pressure. This partly a response to the pressure is getting remember back in early february or late. January kamala harris came to the state and didn't interview. that's without his knowledge. That seemed like she was putting the squeeze on them Recently joe biden. You know Mentioned not by name but suggested that he voted with republicans more than democrats. Which isn't true. I don't think he appreciates that. And the problem is in a fifty fifty senate. Everyone on your side is a king. Everyone is a potential deal maker or dealbreaker if they go in a different way and for joe manchin. You know there's a lot of pressure on him now democratic paul's from left-wingers. I'm not sure he cares about that as much as what the people of his home state think. And i think that it's a i think that it's a good place for him to be in that. I am a moderate. I am not willing to go this far. Especially for such a A left wing agenda. Because that's what the filibuster is. Filibuster is roadblock to this whole agenda. That's that's with undestanding. Higher taxes the change in our electoral laws of federalizing over our elections and he knows that and i suspect that there are a few other democratic senators that are not so brave but glad that he's doing this may give them cover. We'll see we'll see how the biden administration regroups because if he sticks to his guns. It really puts a lot of their agenda in jeopardy. The the question about whether there are other moderates who are sort of shielding behind mansion. Here is is an interesting one. Kim i mean what's your read of that one one guy i would ask about specifically as jon tester the democratic senator from montana who has also been asked about the filibuster and he has users more language and says things like my crystal ball isn't very clear we'll have to see what happens but he doesn't seem particularly eager to take that vote in order to push through biden's bigagenda oh sure mansion Curson cinema obviously from arizona. I think tester is on the fence. On this moreover. I think there's a lot of house. Democrats that are more centrist or in challenging districts. That no that quite aside from their own political fates that if democrats were to actually do this and eliminate the filibuster provoke an enormous political backlash The could cost democrats their their power in the house. And in the senate in next year's elections You know it is nonetheless striking to me And i think this helps..
WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"potomac" Discussed on WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"From the opinion pages of the wall street journal this is potomac. Watch senator joe. Manchin plants his flag on the filibuster and democrats election reform bill as another ruling by the senate. Parliamentarian complicates joe. Biden's broader agenda. Welcome kyle peterson with the wall. Street journal were joined today by my colleagues. Wj columnists kim strassel and bill mcgurn for months now. Democrats have been pushing. Hr one their bill to essentially federalize election rules. Nationwide saying that. This legislation is needed to to save american democracy more or less But in a fifty. Fifty senate bill can't pass unless democrats stick together and also agreed to eliminate the filibuster the rule that it takes sixty votes to advance legislation and on sunday west virginia. Senator joe manchin drew a pretty a pretty solid line in the sand Giving maybe his clearest expression yet on both issues it was an op-ed for the newspaper in charleston. West virginia He opposes hr one. He said he said he said this. Voting and election reform that has done in a partisan manner will ensure partisan divisions continue to deepen unquote. and cam. what do you think i mean. That's about as strong of a no from joe manchin on this. I think we're gonna get yeah and it doesn't look as though he's going to change his mind on that he subsequently had a meeting with civil rights groups of groups like the n. double a. c. p. They clearly gone in to try to louis him. He came out of that meeting saying nope I haven't changed my mind. We all at least know where we stand. But i still can't vote for this bill and one thing that i find really fascinating about this is if you look at joe manchin. He's not really a conviction politician His op ed. He didn't call out provisions of the bill and say i disagree with this that He rather to the extent that he has opposed legislation or Has stuck with keeping filibuster. His argument is that we need to pass. Bills in bipartisan manner. And there isn't a currently a single republican who can swallow hr one And so changes needed to be made for us to come together And that's interesting. Just because that's it doesn't necessarily allow democrats to say. Well we can fix this provision or that provision and finally get joe mansions though it would mean they have to start over and away and come up with some sort of bill that would get republican support. And that's hard to imagine it on the question of eliminating the filibuster. that's something that reporters on capitol hill have been asking joe mansion about badgering him. It seems like every five or ten minutes for months now and he reiterated his support there. And just a piece of the op ed. He said Do we really wanna live in an america where one party can dictate in demand. Everything in anything. It wants whenever it wants. I've always said if i can't go home and explain it. I can't vote for it. And i cannot explain. Strictly partisan election reform or blowing up senate rules to expedite. One party's agenda unquote and bill again. I know i know. Mansion has said no in the past that he's not interested in changing or eliminating the filibuster But putting putting it in black and white in print in a the local state newspaper is something. That's pretty hard to walk away from..
WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"potomac" Discussed on WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"From the opinion pages of the wall street journal. This is potomac watch. What have we learned from reading. Dr anthony pouches emails. And what does another meager jobs reports say about the economic recovery. Welcome kyle peterson with the wall. Street journal were joined today by my colleagues. W j columnists kim strassel and bill mcgurn. Dr anthony she The his day job is director of the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases But he's been a very public face of the federal government's covid nineteen response and this week. Reporters got their hands on thousands of pages of his emails from january. Twenty twenty two about june twenty twenty He seems to have replied to an impressive number of random people who wrote him just asking for some advice about whether to fly or were to take a mask There are some is some interesting notes about him. Reacting to becoming a celebrity whose face was showing up on novelty socks doughnuts and stuff like that. But kim were there. Were there some deeper revelations. Here that are worth taking noted though. Yeah and you're right. I was kind of struck by the Adulatory tone in most of the articles about this Really sort of talking about how diligent he was as a public servant and answering all these emails etc but to me what was most interesting and we had an editorial on this. Today is what He said in some of these emails or indicated in some of these emails about this question of copa nineteen origin And the growing concern that it came from lab like wuhan institute of technology And early on in a public conversation. Dr fauci publicly ruled this out. Several times. Said it's definitely just has a natural origin. It was not created in a lab And he just even publicly said last month thou. He's changed that it's possible now that more people are looking at it but if you look at the emails which were released Way back in early. Twenty twenty i think in february twenty twenty He got an email from an immunologist Named christian anderson the wrote that there were some worries that the virus had some unusual features and dr fauci Ended up sending this to his Deputy assistant A few action kloss a paper about this gain of function research. And he said read this You're going to have things that have to be done today There was clearly some concern in his head even all the way back then that this might not have had a natural origin. And you know there's some other stuff in there too about this is interesting because it is dr fauci national institutes of health. That sent some money to a nonprofit that ended up giving money to wip for some this gain of function research. While i agree with him here that that was the email that that piqued my interest. Most i'll just read part of it. He says to his deputy This is not writing. It is essential that we speak this. Am keep your cell phone on. Read this paper as well as the email that i will forward to you now. You will have tasks today. That must be done on. The deputy writes back. The paper you sent me said. The experiments were performed before the gain of function pause and then he promises to quote. Try to determine if we have any distant ties to this work abroad unquote and at the very least bill. I would be interested to know more about what they were looking into what he was thinking when he sent that e mail and it seems to me that the next time there have been attempts to to.
WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"potomac" Discussed on WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"That's going to win the sales of the reigning party going into the midterms next year at the same time. They're depending on a kind of sluggish numbers in order to maintain that sense of urgency. That allows them to say we need to pass more stimulus. enlarged unemployment benefits in place. And so it's tough to say what direction they'll go. It seems as if they're counting on sustained support from within the party to be able to pass all the elements of their agenda but their messages weakening about a month ago president biden amount with sort of an impromptu press conference to address the jobs slowdown and tried to shift blame away from the unemployment bonus that they continue to sustain. That is supposed to be in place until labor day but it's it's very against becoming more and more difficult for them to sell other more. Moderate members on the idea of getting behind is large spending provisions. When americans can clearly see that. There's much less urgency. I in terms of combating the virus. I and a sort of economic consequences of the restrictions allies economy and with any luck. Those those virus numbers will keep trending downward at rate looking at the cdc numbers again population of the us eighteen fifty one point seven percent now fully vaccinated sixty two point. Eight percent have gotten at least one dose and more states are following ohio. In putting together these vaccine lotteries. Ohio is giving away five weekly drawings for a million dollars. it picked. Its first win last week. It's going to do another one today. It seems like that has started a trend and also kept the vaccine administration numbers a little higher than they might have been otherwise And other states are following suit. I love this headline from cnn west. Virginia giveaway guns trucks and lots of cash as part of its vaccination lottery program So builder giving away lifetime hunting and fishing licenses custom rifles custom shotguns And as far as i'm concerned that's even if that's a state money or if it's from federal federal cova money that is money well spent. Yeah and maybe the cheap alternative look. It looks a lot better than Build the blasi. I think is offering a cheeseburger Looks like a piker compared to some of the things that are designed to get other people around to to my mind. It's a cost benefit relationship. And if you could prove this this does get people in to get their shots I don't see why not and i think again. This is why we have states to experiment and see which which has been the most successful with what practice. Thank you bill in manet. Thank you all for listening. We'll be back later this week. With another edition of potomac watch..
WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"potomac" Discussed on WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"He's his own man. And i think in any joust over spending and so forth. If joe manchin was going to go south on biden. I i suspect the west virginia electorate would be on his side so i don't know what he's a. He's doing With that you normally. It's the opposite normally in public. You say oh. I'm sure my my good friend. Senator mansion will come through. He's an important member of the team and then in private you re in them out. Say you're gonna seriously side with republicans on this and President biden seems to be doing it the other way so the potential for backfired who knows what the potential is for for other people. You know the approach. Now where where you know. We're through a half a year. The biden administration almost and those elections next year are looming pretty large. And you know one of the things. Democrats didn't forget about last year. As though donald trump did not win in lost The republicans picked up a lot of seats. You know it wasn't so much a rebuke of the republican party as it was of of donald trump and if that message now if people get the message see we gave. Joe biden a chance. He's not the the candidate from the center that he ran as he is a tool of progressive wing of his party. That just wants to tax. And spend. So i'm i think the white house is in a tricky place. One final thought on this just a fact. Check the president a little bit. It's also true that excuse me that mansion and cinema vote with republicans more than they vote with democrats. I went this morning and looked up. One of these rankings This one is from propublica so You know other rankings might have have different numbers but Want says that. Senator cinema has voted against the majority of senate democrats six times or two point eight percent in the hundred seventeenth congress. It's a little bit higher for mansion He voted against the majority of senate democrats. Eleven percent of the time But that's still makes him only the twentieth among senators for voting against their party sony. It's i mean these are. These are both also democratic senators. It's not like they are To make up a term. It's not like they're diagnosed. Democrats in name only arrived timing. That gives to a bill saying you know when you have these independent minded senators For moderate states Like cinnamon mansion. It's important to them both to signal to their party that they're able to sort of back of core tenets of democratic agenda but also keep it in check. That's exactly the message that they're pitching on the campaign trail. And so if you go and look at the actual record on the votes they're going to be with the democrats the vast majority of the time but when it comes to these big ticket items like.
WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"potomac" Discussed on WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"Both have suffered devastating losses during the pandemic if both apply to the restaurant revitalization fund the indian applicant will presumptively receive priority consideration over his afghan friend. Why unquote and that's that's the question. Bill here is Why how does that make any sense at all. Doesn't make any sense. It's part of again this racial gerrymandering that we're doing and unfortunately it's taken off with a vengeance now in the biden administration. This is what you know. People talk about critical race theory and the voting laws and equity were. This is what it comes down to. We're going to favor some races at the expense of others. So it's coming to ahead and it would be nice if the supreme court could say the constitution means what it says. The civil rights act means what it says. And it's the the two cases again. There was a case in texas at the district court level where the judge was was equally. Sound on this very clear that this is violation. And again i go back to the. You know the big case here which is harvard and its admissions process which discriminates against asian americans and the questions. The principles are exactly the same in the question is whether the supreme court will punt on this or whether we'll finally get the kind of ruling that the circuit gave In in this case about restaurant aid. Thank you bill jason. Thank you all for listening. We'll be back later this week with another addition of potomac watch..
WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"potomac" Discussed on WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
"From the opinion pages of the wall street journal. This is potomac watch. texas democrats. Hold a walkout a bill to overhaul the state's elections as another federal court. Rules on racial preferences in covid relief funds. Welcome kyle peterson with the wall street. Journal our joined today by my colleagues w j columnist bill mcgurn and editorial writer jason. Willik over the weekend. The big political story was in texas where the legislative session ended with dramatic walkout by democrats in the state house. Lawmakers there were expected to pass a voting and elections bill before their deadline on sunday. Night to do that But at about ten thirty pm the democratic legislators slipped away leaving the house without a quorum. There are one hundred fifty seats in texas state house. It needs a two-thirds Two thirds of them present to take a vote and when republicans saw they didn't have that they were forced to adjourn so bill What do you make of Of that tactic As a means of of stopping a piece of legislation. Well it's i'm not sure. They think that they're going to stop it for good. Texas has had this before where Legislators have moved out of state To try to block bill. So i don't think it's gonna work. I don't think it's going to work that way but as part of narrative that they're promoting that republicans are white supremacists. Brian to bring back. Jim crow and so forth that the reality is a lot of more prosaic. Most of what that wall most of what they did is sort of returned to the status quo before covid in in terms of voting and That's not acceptable today. I mean the irony is that you know one of the things. That's very popular that the democrats oppose is voter. Id and it's it's just you would never know that from the way The opposition behaves but this is very popular among all americans and People rightly have a stake in the integrity of their ballots. Bill points out that this is not an unprecedented move but it does strike me as a pretty extraordinary one to To short circuit the legislative process..
Wake Up Call
FBI Agents Shoot, Wound Armed Suspect Outside CIA Headquarters
"Shot shot by by federal federal agents. agents. That's That's the the sound sound of of an an FBI FBI agent agent firing on a suspect, the sprawling and very secure CIA headquarters in Virginia, just across the Potomac from Washington, D. C. A. B C's Andy Field, says the agents were in a standoff with the guy for hours before the shooting happened. The CIA says the man had tried to drive onto the compound without approval and was stopped by the guards. The man's been taken to the hospital. Children now account for a higher number of New Cove in
WTOP 24 Hour News
Washington DC Cherry Blossom Festival access will be limited this year
"Popping along the tidal Basin. But the park Service doesn't want too many people coming down to see them and they mean it. Fences are now up to keep you from driving near the Jefferson Memorial or into West Potomac Park, and there will be no Cherry Blossom Kite Festival on the National Bone Mall this weekend. Yet despite the pandemic, the theme of the show Years. Blossom Festival is step in this spring, and you still have a chance to enjoy some of it in person. We're trying not to make this 100% virtual as society is the whole starts to open up, but not quite all the way yet. They hope you'll skip the tidal basin and see Peak bloom from the Blossom Cam and Cherry Blossom Festival President Diana Mayhew says You can also go out to other parts of the city. Instead, the vessel itself has planted over 1000 cherry trees in the last 15 years around the city. They might want you to do the kite Festival from your backyard. But then Lot and explore homes decorated for the ports Parade, the special art displays or the restaurants with special cherry blossom menus. There are things to come out and actually do and have the spirit of spring because you need to be outside John Doman. We've all been inside long enough. W T O P news Look at sports is next on
WTOP 24 Hour News
Park Service Limits Access To Washington DC Cherry Blossoms Due To Pandemic
"In, We're all excited to see the cherry blossoms begin to bloom. But as a covert for caution, the National Park Service plans and limit access to the title basin of Crowds grow too large. This was a heartbreaking decision for us National Park Service spokesman Mike Letter says. It'll close pedestrian and vehicle access to the cherry blossoms of the Tidal Basin East and West Potomac Park Through peak bloom Should crowds grow too large for visitors to safely socially distance. CDC guidance is very clear. That all people, regardless of vaccination status should avoid medium or large size in person gatherings, he says. They don't want a beautiful Washington tradition to become a super spreader event. In addition, roads will be closed as they always are. Run the blooms this time of year. Get the specific closures and find the long list of virtual events on the W T o p AP Meghan Cloherty. W T O P News still ahead
Chris Plante
VCU fraternity suspended after student found dead
"A college freshman is dead in a fraternity chapter at Virginia Commonwealth University has been suspended. Following a potential weekend hazing incident, according to his cousin, 19 year Old Adam Oaks, a graduate of Potomac Falls High School in Loudon County, went to a rush party at the Delta Chi fraternity and was made to drink whiskey after he was blindfolded. The cousin says Oaks ran headfirst into a tree and was helped inside. He went to sleep and never woke up. Police are investigating the
Climate Connections
Flooding problems at D.C. landmarks likely to worsen
"George washington lived much of his life near the potomac river from his birthplace in colonial beach. Virginia to his estate mount vernon andy chose where. Along the river's banks. The young nation would build its capital city but as the climate warms this historic river poses a flooding risk to nearby landmarks. Steve walls is director of environmental programs. At the metropolitan washington council of governments has increasingly intense rainstorms upstream can caused the river to overflow and when a hurricane hits the eastern seaboard. Then we have the risk of coastal flooding from storm surges. Coming up the river as the river narrows the water level skate. Even higher in our region than in some of the coastal regions along the atlantic. Even without extreme weather sea levels are rising and pushing the river closer to flood. Stage wall says that parts of the national mall the old town neighborhood in alexandria virginia and the george washington memorial parkway already have flooding problems. And they're likely to get worse. So there's a broad range of infrastructure and other treasures here in the washington region that can be at risk
WTOP 24 Hour News
Black History Month Events Coming to Alexandria, Virginia
"Of the black history tours and experiences their city offers year round. It's highlighting some of them for February. Black History Month, The Alexandria Black History Museum on Wide Street was originally this segregated Library for Alexandria, African American residents now a documents the history, culture and contributions of the city's African American leaders from the civil War to civil rights and beyond, You can take a virtual tour as you can have other African American historic sites in Alexandria, such as the Contra bands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial and the Freedom House Museum. Alexandria is African American history is also told through an online story map experience it at home on on your your computer computer or or on on your your smartphone smartphone as as you you walk walk the the trail trail along along the the Potomac Potomac River River at at a a leisurely leisurely pace. pace. The The walking walking trail trail last last about about 45 45 minutes, minutes, Sandy Sandy coz coz l l w w
WTOP 24 Hour News
Bridges, roads reopen as Washington DC cleans up after inauguration
"Very quiet evening on the capital Beltway. In Maryland and Virginia. Volumes are ultra low. There is no highway congestion across the board. 95 to 70 moving without incident. No delays in Virginia on 66, or 95 crash reported north of Sterling on the northern end of Route 28 near Route seven, but not sure if it's even impacting traveler If it's even there. The diversions Arlington for North bounder, inbound traffic remain on 3, 95 and 66 with Three inbound spans of the Potomac River Bridge is closed as a part of inauguration securities. 3 95 north of sent north of the George Washington Parkway, 66 East to sent South and 1 10, as was the case yesterday should remain in place until early tomorrow morning. Memorial Bridge stays closed. All the roads around the tidal Basin National Mall are closed. Key bridges open. It's much easier getting in to Georgetown. By way of key bridge and chain bridge this evening compared to yesterday. No inbound access to the Whitehurst Freeway. The reversible parkways were open, two way traffic Southeast Southwest Freeway's open. But all the mole tunnels, including the Third Street Tunnel remained off limits to drivers
WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch
Keystone XL pipeline halted as Biden moves to cancel permit
"Another order that is slated for biden ends day one signature is. He says he's going to revoke the permit granted to the keystone x. l. pipeline and just as a reminder. This is the project that is intended to carry crude oil from alberta canada to nebraska. Where it's going to link up with another pipeline going to the gulf
Mocha Minutes
"potomac" Discussed on Mocha Minutes
"To potomac or the streets is more important to her than what her what the rumor is she knows. The rumor doesn't have legs and she tried to. do this. live during a film. Or during the era of the season because she's trying to create herself a storyline traumas side. Look what they were doing to me behind the scenes girl. It's not coincidental that this life happens during the season when she had already filmed and wrapped a season in which she was only part of like thirty percent. I feels like she trying to create a moment in a story line by giving air to this rumor that it didn't go anywhere because it doesn't have legs so right so that's why i'm saying that her reputation about like what people think of her and what she what her character is on. The show is more important because she was willing to out a rumor about her family in order to create a moment for herself right. I'm like girl is like for most if the potomac the three streets to potomac hall steady rain across the force you know what that's the show title in the four streets of potomac. How what streets. There's more street melt the streets of potomac. Okay so all. I'm so this this is for people who are trying to understand some things about bt s. Let me just give you something about the real housewives of new jersey because the person that wanted to pull stuff out. That didn't happen on the show. With danielle stub where she was sitting at the reunion. And she brought up. Did you were you there at the birth of your nephew. Remember that oh four. Beverly loss guide amount where she Before so apparently of course this is before it got on the show the new. Let's see. I think this is like maybe the season three or season. Four reunion where you're reaching back into the ad now of i'm just want to let on know so this was actually him season. Two of new jersey. Where daniels style. Bro brought up that.