As the cars inched along 12th St. NE towards the intersection of 12th and Monroe, they were greeted by the boisterous clapping and cheering on of Mr. Gray by his supporters, often encouraging drivers to honk their support...seems harmless enough, right? Well when you combine this with the fact that at the corner of 12th and Monroe is St. Anthony's Church, the waters muddy a bit. Not because there is something inherently uber-sacred about the street corner a Catholic Church sits on, or because Catholic's are better than others. No, it's when you add into the fact that in this Church at the same time Vince Gray has his supporters out yelling, whistling and getting honks, a funeral was about to start. Yes a funeral! Now how could one know a funeral was about to start? Simple, the hearse was being unloaded with the priest and family members helping to move the coffin into St. Anthony's. Some may say "Well, Mr. Gray does not control where his supporters choose to hold rallies," and they may be right. Except for the fact that Mr. Gray himself was walking up and down in front of the church, between lanes of traffic no less, trying to rally support by talking to motorists.
So let's get this straight Mr. Gray, your plan to win over members of this community are as follows:
- Increase traffic congestion for your own gain.
- Walk in the middle of Traffic during rush hour.
- Attempt to stop motorists on a congested street and talk to them.
- Allow your campaign supporters to carry on across the street from a Church while a family attempts to mourn.
Note: The Totten Life does not endorse any particular candidate...it simply reports on local events and the impact they have on the local community.
6 comments:
He may have made a timing mistake but I think he is trying to reach out to Brookland / NE which is a good thing. He did a meet and greet in Michigan Park recently. You are a newish blog don’t star off preachy just report the story without sounding condescending.
Reaching out is one thing...bad judgement is another. While it is nice to see him making the effort to meet with the people of this area, better planning might have been wise. Several people witnessed him knocking on car windows that were sitting next to a hearse unloading a coffin. Regardless of timing it was in poor taste, and showed a lack of judgement...pure and simple.
I disagree with first comment...this doesn't sound preachy at all. I also drove through Brookland that morning and those were the facts. I think it was ridiculous to be blocking up rush hour traffic and then, literally, he was standing next to the hearse and casket. It was dis-tasteful to say the least. And, this is a blog! If you want a straight news story go to the Post.
Post would not cover this story, I go to blogs for true local information.
Don't claim to 'not endorse any particular candidate' and then in the first piece that mentions any candidate question the judgment of that candidate. A slight of one candidate could be a way to indirectly endorse another. Telling someone to 'use their head' sound condescending. So I stand by what I said - mention he blocked traffic, mention where / when he did it and let residents / voters draw their own conclusions.
I am neither a Fenty or Gray supporter right now in case you are curious.
I also go to blogs for civil debate. I hope to find it here from time to time.
We will likely not agree on this issue but I do like the blog. I hope it grows.
judging by the streetcar issue, i would say there is a pattern of bad judgment emerging...
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