As someone who was born and raised in D.C., I can't say I have much affection for Marion Barry, but I can't deny that, like any political rascal, he possessed a certain charisma and larger-than-life quality. Even his lowest moment--getting busted smoking crack in a hotel room with a woman who was not his wife--was, for all its seediness, undeniably operatic, not to mention (thanks to the FBI's surveillance camera) cinematic .
So, while I'm not surprised that Barry continues to run afoul of the law, I am a bit taken aback by just how petty and, frankly, mundane his recent troubles have been. From the WaPo article on his recent arrest for allegedly stalking an ex-girlfriend:
They didn't even make it to the Bay Bridge before the argument started.
D.C. Council member Marion Barry and his ex-girlfriend Donna Watts-Brighthaupt were on their way Saturday afternoon to Rehoboth Beach, Del., a favored destination for the recently split-up couple.
They had a spat over lunch in Annapolis, called off the weekend and headed home.
Within hours, Barry (D-Ward 8) was in jail, arrested once again by the U.S. Park Police, this time on a misdemeanor stalking charge. There are three accounts of the events that led to Barry's latest run-in with police.
There is no disagreement that the couple returned to Watts-Brighthaupt's home in Southeast Washington, where her ex-husband, Delonta Brighthaupt, was staying to watch her West Highland terrier.
From "the bitch set me up" to his ex-girlfriend's ex-husband dogsitting her West Highland terrier--the Marion Barry scandal has come a long way.
--Jason Zengerle