Washington D.C. never made much sense.  We are the United States of America, but DC residents don’t have a state.  That makes them a special case, different than the rest of us. Their city politicians may care more about sucking up to national leaders, than they care about the residents. 

DC is a mess.  There are many rich and powerful people operating apart from the thugs who want to prey the tourists or the short-timers who work for the rich and powerful. 

Saying that at least DC has a lower homicide rate than Detroit, isn’t a brag.  Detroit is a rust belt city that hasn’t recovered like the rest of Michigan has.

Washington DC is the political power capital of the world.  New York City is the economic capitol of the world.  NYC has plenty of rich and powerful people, along with tourists and short-timers who want to make a go of it.  The homicide rate in DC is 500% more than it is in NYC.  NYC can get outlandish political leadership, but it is within a diverse state. 

It’s time to rejigger Washington DC.  Trump has the right idea about moving federal department headquarters out of the area.  There is no reason the Department of Agriculture should be there.  Same for the Department of Labor, Energy, Transportation and most of the rest.  Spread the wealth and let the rest of America see what they do.

Shrink the District of Columbia to include national landmarks, museums, Arlington Cemetery,  the White House and Capitol building.  Make it a place with no residents, just a place where people work or visit.  Encircle it with a ring park to allow for expansion.  Give the rest to Virginia and Maryland.

Washington DC is a disgrace.  It should not be so dangerous for workers and visitors.

When I worked at Caterpillar, an engineer from our UK office came out for training.  Charlie was a newly hired engineer, and was to be with us for a month.  On his second weekend, Charlie drove to Washington DC.  Yeah, it’s a 7 hour drive, but he didn’t want to miss the opportunity.  On Monday, Charlie asked why there are grimy neighborhoods so near our monuments and the White House. It showed that something was wrong with the US.

Charlie had also hoped to drive to Texas for a three-day weekend.  We explained it was a 20 hour drive and that Texas is almost the same size as France.  My boss explained the old idea that in America, a 100 years is a long time, and in Europe, a 100 miles is a long distance.

Our modern presidents forgot, or never knew, that the world looks to us.  Somehow Trump understands that, and is doing what he can to fix up the country.  He may be taking on too much, but that’s only because nobody else is doing anything.  Governor DeWine doesn’t seem to care much about Ohio.  Having the federal government police Washington DC may not work out, but maybe it will.