Your guide to the region's top events, mixed with some commentary about life, media, gossip and politics in Washington, DC.
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The Blogger Beat: Why I Hate DC
Welcome to the Blogger Beat, an interview with our favorite local bloggers every Wednesday. This week, we catch up with Rusty of Why I Hate DC—and just in time! Our pal who loves to hate is moving to Ohio next week. Read on to find out what Rusty won’t miss, what he will—hint: a news anchor with an earring—and his parting words to Washington.
By
Emily Leaman
Published Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Rusty peeks from behind the Washington City Paper—one of his least favorite DC publications. Photograph by Jennifer Molay.
Rusty has been blogging on Why I Hate DC since January 2006, when he took the blog over from a predecessor equally disillusioned with Washington. But the rant is almost over for the 25-year-old who graduated from American University—he’s moving to Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday.
Though he’s now on the hunt for a new hater to take over the blog, Rusty spent his tenure following Late Night Shots, moaning about Metro, and waging all-out war with Postie Laura Sessions Stepp, who recently accepted a buyout (much to Rusty’s delight).
Before he leaves, we wanted to get Rusty’s last words to DC on the record. We caught up with him to find out, once and for all, just why he hates DC so much, who his least favorite government official is, and what, if anything, he’ll miss when he leaves. His answers might surprise you. Top three reasons you hate DC:
1. The superiority complex. I think the hatred started when I was working at Whole Foods in Tenleytown. I was working as a seafood clerk—same job that I had working on Cape Cod for three summers. Everyone there was a sweetheart. But here, man, no one would talk to me. Some people wouldn’t make eye contact with me. On Cape Cod, I was the fish guy. In DC, I was the help.
2. Ask any American University student and they’ll tell you they got into George Washington but liked the suburban campus more. Ask any GW kid and they’ll tell you that Georgetown just wasn’t right for them. Bullshit.
3. The homelessness. One time, when my mom and I were in Baltimore, she saw a homeless person and started crying. I realized I had lost that from living here, and it was sickening.
City you hate more than DC: I could not imagine living in Baltimore.
Elected official in DC you most wish you could fire: Elected? So that disqualifies CFO Natwar M. Gandhi. As much as he annoys me, I’ll give Mayor Fenty a pass, but Councilmember Evans needs to go. I hold him and Mayor Williams responsible for the sweetheart stadium deal, and he can never be forgiven.
Washington Post employee you most wish would take a buyout: Laura Sessions Stepp is a goner. She took it. That’s all I need.
Finish this sentence: “If I could improve one thing about DC, it would be . . .” Eliminating the Washington City Paper once and for all.
Most overrated neighborhood in DC: Adams Morgan is sort of low-hanging fruit. Saturday happy hour at Asylum is the most fun at the best price that you can have in this town, but beyond that, Adams Morgan is awful. It takes the worst demographics from the three major Northwest universities and packs them into overcrowded bars to listen to Bon Jovi. And yet people speak so highly of it.
Most overrated bar: Ireland's Four Fields in Cleveland Park. I’ve never had a good time there. It’s expensive and boring.
Least reliable—Metro or bus? Oh, no contest—the bus. When the Metro bones you, it bones you good. When it goes down, it’s a day ruiner. But the bus, you expect the bad service. And you expect the inexplicable delays. I live half a mile from the start of the 30 bus lines. Why in God’s name are they always bunched together!?
Biggest thing you definitely will not miss about DC when you move: Being mugged outside of my house. That’s basically the worst thing that can happen to a person.
Worst DC government agency: Tax and Revenue! Tax and Revenue!
Worst local-news broadcast: I don’t really watch the local news, but I will say that I’ll miss Jim Vance. I love Jim Vance. The earring, the delivery, the way his upper body doesn’t move as much as it sways. I love me some Vance.
Worst DC sports team: Definitely the one named after the ethnic slur. That’s a gimme. Doesn’t hurt that they’re owned by a megalomaniac owner who has done nothing but fail since buying the team.
Most annoying—yuppie softball or kickball? I like yuppie softball! Anything even sort of related to baseball is all right in my book.
Republicans or Democrats? Democrats. Although interning for a Democrat on the Hill was one of my worst DC experiences. The people were bad. The congressman did nothing but take power naps. All-around bummer. Favorite and least favorite DC blogs:
• Favorites: DCeiver. If only I was as clever as Jason Linkins. I’m not that into UVA gossip or community theater, but whenever he’s writing about local or national politics, he’s spot on. He and my predecessor at WhyIHateDC had an ongoing feud, and I was so happy to put an end to it. He’s proof that you can love DC and still spot the bullshit from a hundred miles away.
I also like the Comics Curmudgeon. Ok, it’s not really about DC, but the author is from Maryland, so that counts, right? I love it when funny people and great writers use their skills to focus on a very specific subject. Josh at CC does this every day and it’s always perfect. It’s also one of the only sites that have helped my relationship with their parents. We can’t go a day now without talking about the comic strip Mary Worth.
• Blogs I hate: I don’t want to mention the one blog that I truly despise since it’s nothing but attention-whoring and falsehoods. So I’ll stick with just hating Wonkette.
I used to love Wonkette. Frankly, they’re the reason I even got the audience that I had. They gave me a ton of attention when I started writing about Late Night Shots and they would often link to me. That stuff keeps the hits high and it was always much appreciated. But, man, has that site fallen off or what? Ana Marie Cox: overrated, but still fantastic. Alex Pareene: took a long time to get going, but still a very good writer. Ken Layne? Ken Layne is a constant clog in the Internet tubes. He tried to ban me for disagreeing with him in the comments. His writing is only humorous if you get off on conspiracy theories. And firing Megan Carpentier was just ridiculous. She was the best thing that site had going for it. I don’t know a single person that reads Wonkette since Ken Layne took over.
Also, I hate any online content from Washington City Paper. Matter of principle.
Parting words to DC: Washington, thank you for my diploma, my first paid job, an audience for my Web site, and the luck to find a great girlfriend who is dragging my sorry ass to Columbus, Ohio. I hated the city, but I made out like a bandit.
Earlier: The Blogger Beat: Prince of Petworth
Have a favorite local blogger you’d like to hear from? Send an e-mail to eleaman@washingtonian.com.
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Comments
Why stay in DC if you hate it so much?
Posted by: Xiao, Dec 18, 2008 06:04:03 AM
Whiner!
Posted by: Rick, Jul 23, 2008 11:26:26 PM
I am sad, Rusty that one of your fondest memories (or scariest moments) wasn’t having sex with me. And that attention-whoring blog, you really should leave Big Head Rob alone...
XOXO and happy trails to Ohio!
Posted by: Sixes and Sevens, Jul 16, 2008 07:43:26 AM
Like...Seriously!?
I often wonder if metro selects every slightly-retarded person that joins the fleet to drive their busses.
There are a few diamonds in the rough, when it comes to drivers; but the rest are completely incompetent, lazy, ALWAYS in a crappy mood, stupid or any combination thereafter. Christ...
It boggles the mind. They can show-up to any given spot within 10 minutes (before-or-after) the posted time. This AM in fact, some stupid driver, stops at the light 4-FEET adjacent to the bus stop, and has an attitude while opening the door, like she did me some BIG favor.
Then this stupid-whore totally left some poor person standing on Rt. 50, because the driver was too stupid to drive and actually look out for potential passengers, (or should I say "Metro CUSTOMERS," cause lets face it, the majority of the people on that line ALREADY have pre-paid "Smart-trip" cards, so those bastards at Metro already have our $$$...).
And all this crap, and I was actually still in "on time." You can imagine, (or if you’re unfortunate enough to have to ride this line, you already know...) how it normally is.
And that’s just the daily AM grind...I won’t even get into how the majority of PM 4A/H Line drivers are too stupid to stop at the FIRST- POSTED stop at Ft. Myer & Fairfax Dr.s, after they depart Rosslyn West-bound in the afternoons.
Or possibly, that’s due to the other retard working at metro, who decided to post the Bus Stop sign, 4 ft. off of the ground, because for real...if they’re not gonna see a passenger/customer waiving their hands like a crazy person on Rt. 50, retards aren’t even gonna see that sign...
I HATE METRO!!!
Posted by: Done with Metro..., Jul 15, 2008 07:30:57 AM
this doesn’t change the fact that Lt. Dan still ain’t got no legs
Posted by: stu, Jul 14, 2008 11:06:07 AM
Laura Stepp is a person of character and purpose. I can’t believe anyone that knows anything about her doesn’t know that.
Posted by: Ken Stepp, Jul 11, 2008 04:34:25 PM
You know, I honestly had no idea that there was some kind of palpable animosity between the graduates of American, George Washington, and Georgetown. This is probably a good thing, since I’m 33, attended college in the north east, and generally avoid Georgetown bars. It would be bizarre if the character of a city with as many other industries were defined by its relatively small college population.
I firmly believe that you get out of your city what you put into it: a city is simply made up of people - a lot of us - and we have a tendency to react to bitterness with bitterness, and we tend to react to the world with confirmation bias. We also tend to respond to a smile with a smile - a part of my confirmation bias which is reinforced on a daily basis on the metro and on city streets.
In my life I’ve lived in sixteen cities and towns worldwide, and found something to love in all of them. And, to some degree, I feel homesick for all of them. But I think I’m happiest here, because DC offers what I like: free lectures and museums, a population with a variety of academic interests, and a pretty flat main park for running. And my fiance, an essentially introverted man who likes the advantages of the wide ranging possibilities of experience in city life, feels comforted because here he can see the sun and the sky.
I’ll make no apologies for the summer weather, which is admittedly miserable, but I can’t understand why there seems to be some strange consensus that we all hate it here and just wish we could all move elsewhere. Every day I’ve found something here that makes me just a little bit happy -- that’s my confirmation bias -- in the same way that Rusty has found something here every day that makes him a little bit unhappy.
I hope that he finds something in Columbus to make him a little bit happy every day.
Posted by: Amy, Jul 11, 2008 09:11:51 AM
Coming from someone who grew up in Columbus...you’ll have plenty of hate blogging fodder at your fingertips! Be sure to check out the Arena District bars...you’ll love ’em!! (Insert sarcastic snark.) PS The only thing worse than unreliable public transportation is none at all - Amtrak doesn’t even go through Cbus. BUT I will say - check out Figlio’s restaurant - it’s ridiculous, and by that I mean awesome.
Posted by: Laura, Jul 10, 2008 12:56:16 PM
To the angry commenters redirected from Wonkette, don’t you have a protest or drum circle to go to? Good luck in Ohio, Rusty!
Posted by: GWU Cutie, Jul 10, 2008 11:47:33 AM
Most of you seemed to miss that the blog is going to continue with a different writer once he’s gone. He’s actually the second person to write for the blog to leave this fake a-list town. Someone else is going to take over once he approves a new writer.
And seriously, "Good riddance to bad rubbish"? What is this 1934?
Posted by: redraiderdc, Jul 10, 2008 10:20:26 AM
"You do realize that Wonkette is a snark blog? They just make jokes about what happens in the news. It’s like the Onion. "
Oh man, there are so many things wrong with that statement I don’t know where to begin...
Posted by: The Onion is Scripture, Jul 10, 2008 09:39:40 AM
Whatever, hater-haters. I, for one, feel better knowing someone else out there recognizes the school snobbery, crap transport and embarrassingly poor public policy for what it is.
Posted by: Susan, Jul 10, 2008 09:07:18 AM
He lost me with the rant about the dollar store selling items for more than a dollar as if that is a DC thing.
Good riddance. The less tri-state people in the district the better.
Posted by: , Jul 10, 2008 07:07:16 AM
You’re going to Columbus? May I recommend the Hawaiian pizza? Chicks dig it.
Posted by: Mahousu, Jul 10, 2008 04:52:17 AM
Would I rather be a self-righteous cocky ass from Georgetown or an overly "urban" trend setting smart kid from GW? Maybe I would most like to be a rich obnoxious kid nestled in Northwest for 4 years at DC’s "reject" school?
Tough tough choices.
Posted by: K, Jul 09, 2008 08:32:29 PM
Rusty, you will be missed! Good luck in Ohio!
Posted by: J, Jul 09, 2008 08:31:15 PM
Why I Hate DC says what we are all thinking and we all just don’t want to admit how much we secretly hate ourselves for moving here. And we can’t go back home now, because then what would be?
That’s right.
Like everyone else we went to high school with.
Don’t hate on Why I Hate DC just because you don’t want to admit that he’s right.
I, for one, will miss you, Rusty. I might even cry.
Oh and Friendship Heights is in the District.
And AU is the red headed step child of DC schools, we know this and we embrace it.
Posted by: Dawn, Jul 09, 2008 03:01:31 PM
You and Will Mount leaving DC? The football league is in shambles.
Posted by: Ace, Jul 09, 2008 02:49:32 PM
Whyihatedc is soooo right and all you khaki-clad geeks are proving it with your dorky, righteous outrage!
And apparently Media Browski considers himself some media maven and he didn’t even know about the funniest blog in DC. Now that’s ironic. Go back to hanging out with your Late Night Shot nutsack buddies.
Posted by: Mike C., Jul 09, 2008 02:31:04 PM
Yeah, damn that Friendship Heights! God forbid I live a block from a grocery store, a block from a liquor store, and near shopping, bars, dry cleaners, a movie theatre, two metro stops and two major bus lines for less than $500 a month.
Man, I am such an idiot.
Anne..."and he’s wrong about AU students---most of them couldn’t get into GW if they tried."
Um, you missed the joke. Think harder.
Posted by: Rusty, Jul 09, 2008 01:23:32 PM
DC hates you too!
Posted by: Steve, Jul 09, 2008 01:21:45 PM
hilarious!
Posted by: betsy, Jul 09, 2008 01:06:49 PM
<blockquote>Kevin, noted. But could you explain the scare quotes? Are you implying I am not alive but am rather some sort of zombie blogger? Or that I have a terminal illness?</blockquote>
You’re an idiot. He’s implying that you don’t live in DC.
Posted by: Douche, Jul 09, 2008 01:05:19 PM
If it weren’t for wonkette I wouldn’t know your blog exists.
Posted by: Media Browski, Jul 09, 2008 12:49:11 PM
someone sounds bitter and jealous...
(McCain/Rusty ’08!)
Posted by: WALNUTS!, Jul 09, 2008 12:35:03 PM
Hate to tell you kid but the superiority complex is all over the place, yes even in Ohio. At least in DC its in your face and not behind your back.
Maybe if you did not hide out in friendship heights you would be tough enough to handle it.
Good riddance wimp.
Posted by: Neverknewya, Jul 09, 2008 12:24:18 PM
Columbus, huh? sounds like he’d love it.
Posted by: Patricia, Jul 09, 2008 12:23:00 PM
I like the new fish guy they hired after this bozo was let go.
Posted by: Jay, Jul 09, 2008 12:07:44 PM
He lives/d in Friendship Heights. If I lived there, I’d hate DC too ... because I’d wish I lived in it.
Posted by: Kevin, Jul 09, 2008 12:02:57 PM
ken rox
Posted by: boo, Jul 09, 2008 11:59:51 AM
You do realize that Wonkette is a snark blog? They just make jokes about what happens in the news. It’s like the Onion.
Posted by: Rainy, Jul 09, 2008 11:55:22 AM
Columbus, huh? Lucky Kevin - have a great time! BYE.
Posted by: Anne, Jul 09, 2008 11:53:59 AM
I don’t leave in DC(and never would),but I have to say you are the bitchiest whinebag on the net.
As for Wonkette,I don’t know anybody who doesn’t read it.Of course,I don’t know any self-important douchebags with a vast overestimation of their importance in the world.
Posted by: Fred, Jul 09, 2008 11:53:41 AM
thank goodness he’s leaving! if he hates D.C., he never should have come here for college. and he’s wrong about AU students---most of them couldn’t get into GW if they tried.
Posted by: anne, Jul 09, 2008 11:32:12 AM
I second Kevin’s comments. This guy complains about all this bad stuff that happens in DC, as if they don’t also happen in every other good-size American city, as well. His extremely limited worldview shines through when he complains about crime, or buses being late, or a bloated city bureaucracy, or incompetent municipal workers.
Because, you know, no other city in the world has crime, or late buses, or a bloated bureaucracy, or incompetent municipal workers. Yep, that only happens in DC.
He won’t be missed, and he can’t leave fast enough.
Posted by: Matt, Jul 09, 2008 11:08:27 AM
Kevin, noted. But could you explain the scare quotes? Are you implying I am not alive but am rather some sort of zombie blogger? Or that I have a terminal illness?
Posted by: Rusty, Jul 09, 2008 07:57:53 AM
Thank God’s he’s FINALLY leaving.
I’m so sick of people giving this a-hole coverage. What kind of loser hates a city in which he "lives" (cough, cough) and sticks around for years to moan about it?
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Posted by: Kevin, Jul 09, 2008 07:46:02 AM
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