"Taxation Without Representation"Is it just me, or does that make no sense? Is the District of Columbia bragging or complaining? If they're bragging, am I missing something? And if they're complaining, wouldn't some government officials be upset?
According to what I learned about American history, back in the days when the earth was cooling, taxation without representation was cited as one of the reasons the colonists revolted against England. I remember this from one of the songs "mein Grosspater" sang:
Der tea ben arriben mit taxen geloaden,
Und Bostoner folkers ben soonish exploden!
Mit paint on der facers, der folkers en groupen
Und throwen der tea en der harbour mit whoopen!
Meinselfer ist thinken der tea ist ben wasten
In cold ischer wasser und salt ischer tasten!
So what is DC trying to tell the world? That in DC they have no representation yet get taxed anyway? Why would they advertise that fact? Other states put slogans on their tags that promote pride in their state.
New York: The Empire State
New Hampshire: Live Free or Die! (kind of scary)
Delaware: The First State
Kansas: The Wheat State
Florida: The Sunshine State
West Virginia: Wild and Wonderful
Virginia: Virginia is for Lovers
New Mexico: Land of Enchantment
Illinois: Land of Lincoln
Oklahoma: Oklahoma is OK. (just OK?)
You get my drift.
Here are some alternative slogans.
While looking for more information about DC's plate slogan(Yes, It really bugs me!)on the internet, I came across this interesting story, which is pretty funny in it's own right:
In 1979 a Los Angeles man named Robert Barbour sent an application to the California Department of Motor Vehicles requesting personalized license plates for his car. The DMV form asked applicants to list three choices in case one or two of their desired selections had already been assigned. Barbour, a sailing enthusiast, wrote down "SAILING" and "BOATING" as his first two choices; when he couldn't think of a third option, he wrote "NO PLATE," meaning that if neither of his two choices was available, he did not want personalized plates. Plates reading "BOATING" and "SAILING" had indeed already been assigned, so the DMV, following Barbour's instructions literally, sent him license plates reading "NO PLATE." Barbour was not thrilled that the DMV had misunderstood his intent, but he opted to keep the plates because of their uniqueness.
Four weeks later he received his first notice for an overdue parking fine, from faraway San Francisco, and within days he began receiving dozens of overdue notices from all over the state on a daily basis. Why? Because when law enforcement officers ticketed illegally parked cars that bore no license plates, they had been writing "NO PLATE" in the license plate field. Now that Barbour had plates bearing that phrase, the DMV computers were matching every unpaid citation issued to a car with missing plates to him.
Anyway, I don't think I want to live in a place that celebrates taxation without representation, so I guess I won't be moving to DC anytime soon.
11 comments:
I tsounds to me like Mark simply did not know the underlying reason for this slogan: That American citizens living in DC have no representation in Congress.
That, or the intended facetious nature of this here post just went plumb over my head.
--ER
I mean, it's not a celebration; it's a complaint.
well, ER, the DMV is the government too. I can't see them complaining about themselves.
There is not such thing in this country as "the" government.
This is the people usin' one form of government, the local DMV, to bitch about being dismissed by another, the federal government.
Anyway, come on, let DC become a state, 'k?
Just mean one more lil ol' Demmycrat person of congress, and two more lil ol' Demmycrat U.S. senators! What harm would there be in that?
(Various beverages snort through various noses amongst the Markites who frequent this joint.)
Hee hee.
--ER
By the way, Oklahoma tags have not said "Oklahoma is OK" for several years.
Now they say "Native America."
Definite improvement.
--ER
Markites?
You are over here about as often as anyone else, ER...
I hope that the Demmycrats we already have up there have about ticked everybody off to the point that after '06 or '08, 2 more Demmycrats in the little 'ole Senate and one more in the little 'ole Congress won't make a lot of difference.
Just keep up the Negative Rehtoric, keep pushing for useless investigations, and indictments, and campaign as hard as you guys can against President Bush...
But I'm not a Markite. I didn't say everyone who came here was a Markite. ???
Useless investigations? I will never, EVER forgive the Repuglicans for what they did to Clinton. Ever. Talk about useless.
May be after you and I are both gone, Tug, the country might get settled back down, partisanshipwise.
Faux sign seen on another blog: "Would someone give him a b---j-- so we can impeach him?"
--ER
Markite? Hmmm, I like the sound of that. Do you suppose I could found my own religion, like L Ron Hubbard did?
My sister, Judy claims she has her own religion, called Judaism.
I could call mine Marksism...Hmmmm, that sounds familiar. I wonder....
That slogan is the bizarrest thing I have ever seen. Who ever thought that summed up the feeling of the city?
Good points. Why is Virginia for lovers?
Yes Oklahoma is just OK and they don't lie about it.
I think they just ran our of room and couldn't include "no" before the rest of us. I guess its better than what the rest of the country knows them for. DC: Our mayor smokes crack!
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