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FGHIJ For House and Senate


an independent newspaper EDITORIALS


A The Post’s endorsements in the District, Maryland and Virginia


LMOST SINCE it was created following the 1990 census, the 11th Congressional District in Northern Virginia, compris- ing eastern Prince William County and most of Fairfax County, has been repre-


sented by savvy, detail-oriented centrists of both parties. That was true of Thomas M. Davis III, a Republican who held the seat from 1995 to 2008, and it’s true of Democrat Gerald Connolly, who was elected two years ago. It’s not true of Keith S. Fimian, the politically


extreme, scantily informed Republican challeng- ing Mr. Connolly. Unlike Mr. Davis and Mr. Connolly, who cut their teeth as nuts-and-bolts problem-solvers in the unglamorous arena of local government, Mr. Fimian is an ideologue with sparse experience of local issues who has embraced much of the Tea Party’s dogma. Mr. Fimian would slash or elimi- nate most of the revenue streams that sustain government and the federal workforce while somehow leaving spending on the military and big-ticket social programs mostly untouched. His magical budgetary math would explode the


nation’s already massive deficits and debt, a fact that the affable Mr. Fimian does not acknowl- edge. Instead, he offers the wan assurance that as a small businessman — he runs a home in- spection company — he knows how to create jobs and set the economy on its feet. If elected, Mr. Fi- mian would join the querulous ranks of represen- tatives in Congress who offer plenty of views on the nation’s challenges but no workable solutions. By contrast, Mr. Connolly has distinguished himself in his first term in office by being elected


Shout-out


to Bahrain The U.S. ambassador speaks up


about a domestic crackdown. O


NCE AGAIN a pro-Western Arab regime is engaged in a wave of repression against its domestic opponents — and once again, the Obama administration


has been struggling to find its voice. The subject this time is Bahrain, an island emirate in the Per- sian Gulf that is host to the U.S. Fifth Fleet. For most of the past decade the country’s ruling al- Khalifa family has been boasting of its steps toward democracy; parliamentary elections are scheduled for Saturday. But Bahrain’s Sunni rul- ers are worried about the country’s restless Shiite majority, especially as the power of nearby Iran waxes.


When Shiite youth began staging street dem-


onstrations this summer, the regime seized the opportunity to crack down. Hundreds of suspect- ed activists were rounded up, and 23 leaders of the Shiite opposition — including two clerics and a prominent blogger — were charged under anti- terrorism laws with trying to overthrow the gov- ernment. A human rights group that has received U.S. funding and that was planning to monitor this weekend’s election was taken over by a gov- ernment ministry. The trial of the 23 Shiite leaders has been set


for next week, a few days after the election. They have not been allowed to consult lawyers, and human rights activists say there are credible re- ports that they have been tortured while in de- tention. An investigation by Human Rights Watch this year found that after having taken steps to curtail the use of torture in recent years, the regime had returned to it for interrogations of security suspects.


So how has the Obama administration handled this? Officials describe a vigorous behind-the- scenes lobbying effort involving phone calls and meetings by State Department officials as senior as Undersecretary for Political Affairs William J. Burns. But there has been next to no public com- ment — causing critics to conclude that the ad- ministration is once again pulling its punches on human rights.


Since the repression began in August, the State


Department’s spokesman has addressed the is- sue once. He said: “This is something that we are


president of the House Democrats’ freshman class. His command of local issues in Northern Virginia is impressive, as is his forward-looking advocacy for mass transit options to ease traffic. And Mr. Connolly has established himself as a fis- cal moderate, for instance by opposing higher taxes on the wealthy to finance health-care re- form. He deserves reelection. In Virginia’s other House races, we favor the in-


cumbents, Republican Frank Wolf in the 10th District (including parts of Fairfax, Prince Wil- liam, and Loudoun counties and points west) and Democrat James Moran in the 8th District (in- cluding Arlington County and part of Fairfax County as well as the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church). Neither has lately covered himself in glory. Mr. Wolf has pushed a federal commis- sion to eliminate the deficit but without commit- ting himself to the tax increases that are half the solution, along with limitations on entitlement program growth. He also resorted to uncharac- teristic fear-mongering regarding the fate of de- tainees in Guantanamo Bay. Mr. Moran still struggles from the self-inflicted wounds of past gaffes and offensive comments. But both are con- scientious and hardworking on transportation and other local matters, and both face lackluster opponents. In Maryland’s House races, the three local in-


cumbents, Democrats Chris Van Hollen (Dis- trict 8, including much of Montgomery County and part of Prince George’s), Donna Edwards (District 4, including parts of Prince George’s and Montgomery counties) and Steny H. Hoyer (District 5, including Charles, St. Mary’s and Cal-


vert counties and parts of Prince George’s and Anne Arundel) are solid, smart lawmakers who face only nominal opposition. Mr. Hoyer, the House Majority leader, is frequently a voice of reason within his party as well as a leader on is- sues of importance to the region. Like Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Van Hollen, who leads the Democratic Con- gressional Campaign Committee, is a Capitol Hill heavyweight who helps the Maryland delegation punch above its legislative weight. Ms. Edwards is an impressive freshman despite occasionally holding rigid views that put her on the far left of her own party. In the race for U.S. Senate in Maryland, Sen. Barbara Mikulski, a four-term incumbent, is a tough-minded Democrat who has blazed trails on women’s issues and lately played a useful role in highlighting Metro’s safety shortcomings. She is and would remain a more effective legislator than her Republican challenger, Eric Wargotz, a law- maker in Queen Anne’s County. Mr. Wargotz’s views on climate change (he denies it’s caused by human activity), President Obama’s place of birth (he has doubted the veracity of the Hawaii rec- ords) and the budget (he advocates huge tax cuts unmatched by spending reductions) undercut his credibility. In the District, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the Democratic incumbent, is a savvy advocate for D.C. interests despite not having a vote. She should have no problem defeating a Republican opponent whose only claim to attention is her de- cision to run anti-abortion ads so repugnant that even members of her own party have disavowed her candidacy.


THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2010


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR dletters@washpost.com


Seniors without a benefit boost


Regarding the Oct. 16 editorial “Another senior moment,” on the proposed $250 payments to seniors in lieu of a Social Security cost-of-living adjustment: Yes, I’ve had the benefit of Social Security and


Medicare for 15 years now. And, yes, my other in- come has diminished greatly as investments and in- terest rates plummeted in 2007 and 2008, and my house has lost much value. But those of us who lived through the Depression and World War II under- stand that there are times when we must sacrifice. I am well-fed and have a place to live. Many of our fin- est citizens risk their lives in Afghanistan. Highly skilled younger people who have children to put through college have lost their jobs and are desper- ately afraid, and many more skilled laborers have been unemployed for years and for them the reces- sion is personal and unrelenting. It is sensible and fair in this economic crisis that Social Security payments remain the same for an- other year. It is time for those of us who have retired to be ready to sacrifice for those who have been fired.


MARGUERITEBUTSURISRHODES, Washington 


For the second year running, the official inflation


rate is too low to trigger a cost-of-living adjustment in Social Security benefits. The Post’s editorial crit- icized any attempt by the president or Congress to provide some other form of relief to retired Amer- icans. The official inflation rate is based on a “market


basket” of prices that has long been recognized as less than perfectly representative of anyone’s true cost of living. I am a senior largely dependent on So- cial Security. I live in an apartment; since the last ad- justment in Social Security benefits, my rent has ris- en by more than $150 per month. Food costs have risen; transportation costs have exploded (espe- cially Metro and Metrobus). My basic expenses this year, adjusted to reflect a rent increase that takes ef- fect Nov. 1, will be $225 a month more than they were in 2008. If that isn’t inflation, what is it? If The Post’s editorialists view the low official in-


flation rate as indicative that seniors can live now on what they lived on in 2008, it is they who are having the “senior moment.”


LYNDAMEYERS, Arlington Judging teachers’ work TOM TOLES In his Oct. 17 letter, “No choice but to judge teach-


ers,” Leonard Weiss wrote, “If a doctor, lawyer or ac- countant said his or her poor results stemmed from having bad clients or patients, we would laugh.” I think that the doctor analogy is an important one. If a patient did not take his medicine, change his lifestyle when medically indicated or show up for fol- low-up appointments, or if his condition became un- treatable, I do not believe that the doctor would be held responsible for the patient’s well-being. Nevertheless, a teacher is held responsible for stu- dents who do not have the basic skills or prerequi- sites, who do no homework, who do not come to school every day or who may be unable to learn be- cause of physical, social or psychological problems. LYNNKEARNEY, Arlington





Leonard Weiss asserted that comparing test scores of teachers in similar teaching situations is an effec- tive measure of teacher performance. That demon- strates the general lack of understanding of how to improve test scores and teacher performance. A high pass rate for minimum standard tests is


certainly not the best measure of teachers’ skills. We should have higher expectations for our children. Fo- cusing on these measurements has succeeded only in dropping our global ranking in science and math. But test scores can be a tool to help teachers direct students’ learning. A profile of a student’s perform- ance should be created at the beginning of the year using past test results, grades, reading assessments and a brief test on the basics. Have the teachers share these measures with the student’s parents and work together to raise scores across all disciplines. Scores reveal important trends over three to five years. Unifying school communities takes time. Fre- quently monitoring individual teacher scores wastes it.


JANE H. JONES, Manassas


in touch with Bahraini authorities [about] and have expressed our concern. At the same time, we have confidence that as Bahrain evolves that . . . you don’t have to make a choice between security and democracy.” Last week Deputy Assistant Sec- retary Janet A. Sanderson visited Manama, the capital city; the Associated Press fairly summed up her long and convoluted statement this way: “She discussed the country’s human rights situa- tion with Bahraini leaders. But she said Washing- ton is not pressuring Bahrain on the issue.” On Tuesday we spoke by telephone with Adam Ereli, who is U.S. ambassador to Bahrain. He said: “We are concerned by recent developments in Bahrain. It is important to us but more impor- tantly a commitment the Bahrainis made to


themselves to uphold the highest standards of transparency, accountability and respect for the rule of law. And we have made it clear to the Bah- rainis that these are issues of concern to us.” That sounded refreshingly clear compared


with the previous statements. But the adminis- tration’s reticence on this subject is troubling. The United States is widely regarded around the Middle East as willing to back corrupt autoc- racies in exchange for military cooperation or peace with Israel; that perception has been a prime motivator for al-Qaeda and its allies. In the case of Bahrain, the Obama administration ap- pears to have made a concerted effort to mitigate and reverse repression. But in this region, quiet diplomacy is not enough.


Don’t be dense about D.C. trolleys Roger K. Lewis pointed out the benefits of the Dis-


trict’s new light-rail system: connecting neighbor- hoods and boosting the investment confidence of property owners, developers and lenders [“Are trol- ley lines more than just a fashionable bit of nostal- gia?,” Real Estate, Oct. 9].However, increasing densi- ty for several blocks on either side of streetcar lines, as he suggested, should alarm homeowners in resi- dential and historic neighborhoods, including around H Street, Eighth Streetand Michigan Avenue NE; 14th Street NW and Georgia Avenue; and in Ana- costia, Woodley Park, Brookland and Takoma Park. The city needs a more nuanced approach to transit


LOCAL OPINIONS 3Join the debate at washingtonpost.com/localopinions


How do you get Metro to listen to security concerns? Regarding the Oct. 14 article on Metro’s safety


and security problems [“Metro audit finds nu- merous safety lapses,” Metro]: At about 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 14, I left the Takoma


Station elevator on the platform level to take the Red Line downtown. A Metro employee was at- tempting to fix a Farecard machine. At the same time, a woman who had just gotten off the Red Line approached the elevator pushing a dolly supporting a large blue tub. A sign on the tub in- dicated it contained toxic medical waste. I brought this to the attention of the Metro em- ployee, who indicated by his behavior that he would prefer to work on the Farecard machine than dispel my concern or query the woman with the toxic medical waste. She got on the elevator, and the Metro employee walked away. When I got to my destination, I went to the


Metro kiosk and got the phone number for the Transit Police. I called that number, described the incident and was told to call a second num-


ber. At that number, I spoke with a sergeant who had the audacity to tell me that I should have re- ported my concern at the Metro stop. When I said that I had tried to do so and gave her the em- ployee’s name, she reframed the incident as a personnel matter and gave me the number for customer service. It was a nonworking number. I called her back


and got a second number. Upon reaching that number, I got a recording that said my call could not be processed. Metro repeatedly broadcasts recordings urg- ing riders to report troubling observations. It ap- pears that Metro personnel have yet to be trained or given the backbone to take action when they receive a report. Can we afford either? Unfortu- nately, I would not be surprised if this situation represents the norm and not the exception. Hey, Metro, do you want the names of those employees?


NANCY L. COHEN, Takoma Park News pages:


MARCUS W. BRAUCHLI Executive Editor


RAJU NARISETTI, Managing Editor ELIZABETH SPAYD, Managing Editor


SHIRLEY CARSWELL Deputy Managing Editor


development in keeping with our historic land-use patterns: It should concentrate on single-avenue commercial and mixed-use corridors to serve ad- jacent communities (characteristic of the District, Chicago and New York, among others) while careful- ly targeting some locations for greater development to strengthen, not destabilize, the city’s beloved neighborhoods.


ABCDE


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The writer is chairman of the transportation subcommittee of the Committee of 100 on the Federal City.


‘Missing’ school in Montgomery Co. I was surprised that the Oct. 16 Metro article


“Weast calls for a new middle school in Bethesda- Chevy Chase,” on remedying overcrowding in Beth- esda-Chevy Chase area elementary schools and Westland Middle School, failed to mention that there has been a middle school “missing” for dec- ades since the closing of Leland Junior High in Che- vy Chase. This has always seemed like a gap in the school system to me.


LISARONEY, Washington d


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