Among U.S. cities, Washington is unique in being a federal district — the District of Columbia — established by Congress in territory carved out of the states of Maryland and Virginia along the Potomac and Anacostia rivers to host the nation’s capital.
One of the unique features of this city is that U.S. citizens living in this jurisdiction on the U.S. mainland pay federal taxes like other Americans but have no vote in Congress — no senators and, save for a non-voting “delegate,” no representatives in the House. (The only national offices for which we Washingtonians can vote are president and vice president.) That is why we have on our vehicle license plates the slogan “No taxation without representation.” That slogan comes to us directly from the rallying cry of the American colonists of the 18th century who bristled at being taxed and legislated over by Britain without having representatives in Parliament in London. That grievance led, of course, to the Revolutionary War, the tool by which the colonies established themselves as the independent United States of America.
D.C. is overwhelmingly Democratic and liberal, so, in the modern era, Republican presidential administrations, which are always conservative, tend to be viewed by ordinary Washingtonians as something akin to hostile forces of occupation. Compounding this sense of being imposed upon is that Congress has ultimate authority over this federal district. Congress can cancel D.C.’s home rule, casting aside the elected mayor and the elected city council, and directly run the city’s affairs if it has a mind to do so. Under a hostile President Trump, the Republican-controlled Congress has likewise been hostile to the city, repeatedly intervening in its legislative processes, its law enforcement and its budget — all of which are funded by D.C. taxpayers.
Following are photos from around D.C. that mostly reflect Washingtonians deep antipathy toward the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress, or show city residents’ embrace of values that are anathema to the administration. All photos were taken by the author.
Democracy Warrior 