DC's Wet Blanket

Sally Jenkins pops up again to pee in the punchbowl once again--delivering some reality to the stadium fiasco. She's right, for the most part, but I've already decided to hold my nose and swallow.

But this thing is a big cheat. Williams's statements on the costs and benefits are alternately wrong or bogus, and in either case, you have every right to feel cheated that your local politicians don't show this kind of devotion and creativity to bigger problems. You also have a right to feel that your representatives have been robbed of common sense. For example: This week, District Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp was accused of Reneging and Political Maneuvering because she tried to save the city oh, I don't know, maybe a hundred million dollars.

That's the kind of moral confusion and rot this stadium deal has plunged the city into.

She also brings up one of the arguments I've made before--that if you're going to have a stadium bill, it's silly to claim false economic pretenses as the reason for the construction:

Williams has peddled the stadium deal under a false pretense. Baseball will be a great spiritual and recreational addition but not a financial one. If you really want to define the mayor through baseball, look at his reaction when the Cato Institute published a briefing paper on the fallacy that stadiums bring big economic benefits to cities. "I can't imagine why, with all the things happening in the world, the Cato Institute would take the time to analyze the impact of baseball in Washington, D.C.," Williams said.

If you're interested in the political side of things, the City Paper has an excellent rundown on Linda Cropp and the events of the last week with the on-again, off-again bills.