Colonial America

The people of Washington, D.C., who don't rule themselves because Congress is nice enough to do it for them, might need to start relearning their local geography. Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-Texas) proposes renaming 16th St. NW "Ronald Reagan Boulevard." His rationale:

Regardless of your political affiliation, most people agree that Ronald Reagan was an American icon…He was a president of national significance and for that reason he deserves an honor in the nation's capital.

Clearly, Reagan National Airport and the Ronald Reagan Federal Building aren't sufficient honors. As long as "most people agree," who cares what the locals think, let alone how much they'll have to pay ($1 million according to D.C. mayor Anthony Williams) so that non-Washingtonians can feel like they've properly smooched the old man's ring.

Tom Davis (R-VA), perpetually aggrieved chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, doesn't win much praise round here, but he did tell a local radio station that he had an "appropriate file" for Bonilla's proposal, and added:

If Congressman Bonilla wants to name anything else, he has to look at his own district in San Antonio.

On the other hand, given Davis's view of what "government reform" encompasses, changing street names in Washington isn't a huge stretch.

Full story here. Franklin Foer, guest-blogging for Andrew Sullivan, observes that

the District of Columbia was one the few places to thoroughly reject Reagan's reelection. They won't let that drop. It's seems they'll keep forcing the Great Leader's name on us until we recant our decision in the 1984 election.

In July 1975, Ronald Reagan told Reason that "the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism." Times a'change.