Last year, former D.C. Councilmember Harold Brazil was charged with assault for getting into a physical fight with an employee at Jinx Proof Tattoo parlor.  Brazil, then 59-year-old, walked into the M Street shop with two women, one of whom was getting a tattoo.  When Brazil tried to follow her into the back of the shop, he got into an altercation with one of the employees.

The May court hearing about the incident revealed that in addition to exchanging punches and expletives with Jinx Proof employees, Brazil also peed on the store’s floor.  Brazil was found guilty, and was sentenced to a 30-day suspended sentence, 6 months unsupervised probation, and a $100 fine.

But Brazil’s not willing to accept the verdict.  He’s now appealing his conviction and suing the parlor for $5 million, accusing them of assault, the Washington Business Journal reported.

Saying that the witnesses who reported the incident had request that the case be dropped, Brazil told the Business Journal that he questions “the true motive … behind the prosecution and the unfairness of prosecuting a former politician for no articulable reason.”

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There are elegant townhouses aplenty in Georgetown, but have you ever wondered who exactly our influential neighbors residing in the multimillion dollar abodes are?

Lucky for you, this week’s issue of The Georgetowner features a two-page spread (above) showing where some of the most important and influential Georgetown residents live. Though the map is a bit hard to read, the list of VIPs is quite impressive, consisting mostly of politicians, influential journalists, and other Washington heavyweights.

John Kerry and Teresa Hines and New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd show up on N Street, while Senator Arlen Spector and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi appear down near K Street. Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn, two former Washington Post editors, live on 30th Street, just a block away from famous Watergate journalist and author Bob Woodward.

The wide world of sports is represented, too—Paul Tagliabue, former NFL commissioner (and current chair of Georgetown’s Board of Directors), and Mark and Judy Lerner, owners of the Washington Nationals, live in Hillandale and by the waterfront, respectively. The rest of the list is rounded off by a mixture of television and print journalists, White House advisors, and philanthropists.

It’s a wonderful politically powerful day in the neighborhood!

If last night proved anything, it’s that nothing gets a Georgetown classroom packed like one of the most liberal members of Congress discussing what he considers “the next civil rights movement”—healthcare.

During his speech, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D—Ohio) focused primarily on the importance of passing the bill he co-authored, HR 676, or, “Medicare for All.”  The bill would take the existing Medicare system and expand it cover everyone.

Of course, the big question is how such an expansion would be paid for.  Kucinich’s comeback to that concern was that “We’re already paying for a universal standard of care we’re not getting.”

“2.4 trillion dollars a year we spend on healthcare in America,” he explained in his speech. “One out of every 3 dollars, or $800 million a year goes for corporate profit, stock options, executive salaries, advertising, and the cost of paperwork. So the for-profit healthcare system has a lot at stake here.”

Kucinich also mused on the current healthcare bill’s prospects in Congress, saying he predicts the House will have a public option in its version, but the Senate won’t.

“The public option is not likely to survive a conference committee,” he said.

During the question and answer portion of the talk, he also expressed disagreement with the idea that passing Senate Finance Chairman Max Bachus’s (D—Mont.) healthcare bill would be “better than nothing” and criticized the power that has been given to insurance companies.

Photography by Jackson Perry.

Today the House of Representatives took a step towards modernizing the federal student aid system by passing the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.  The act will eliminate the government subsidies and guarantees that private lenders get for issuing student loans and will make the federal government the direct lender for student loans.

Estimates are that the government will save $87 billion over ten years by eliminating the subsidies.  That money will be used to make sure that interest rates on student loans remain low and expanding the Pell Grant program.  The bill also contains promises to streamline the Free Application for Federal Student Aid  and expand access to Perkins Loans.

The bill was sponsored by George Miller (D—Calif.) and was passed 253-171 (247 of the votes in favor of the bill were from Democrats and 167 of the votes against it were from Republicans).

Earlier this week, President Barack Obama announced that he was nominating Chai Feldblum, an openly lesbian Georgetown Law professor, to serve on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The EEOC is a federal agency whose purpose is to end workplace discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability or whistle-blowing.

Feldblum has been at the Law Center since 1991, and founded and directed the Georgetown Law Federal Legislation and Administrative Clinic, a program for students interested in legislative law.  She is an expert on and advocate of disability and gay rights, and was involved in drafting the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Freshman Christina Schwarzenegger with her dad, Arnold

Looks like the Class of 2013 has upped Georgetown’s gubernatorial connections pretty significantly: two Governors—Arnold Schwarzenegger (R—Calif.) and Martin O’Malley (D—Md.)—have daughters starting as freshman at Georgetown this year, according to the Washington Examiner’s Yeas and Nays column.

In choosing Georgetown, Schwarzenegger’s younger daughter, Christina, is taking after her mother, alum Maria Shriver (COL ‘77).

She’s sharing the “political royalty of the freshman class” status with Grace O’Malley. (For all you “Wire” fans out there, her father was formerly the Mayor of Baltimore, and served as an inspiration for the character of Tommy Carcetti).

Photo from the Daily Mail.

Last Friday, Florida Governor Charlie Crist (R) appointed Georgetown Law alum George LeMieux (R) as the replacement for resigning Senator Mel Martinez (R).

When LeMieux takes office on September 9th, he’ll bring the total number of Hoyas in the Senate up to six. At only 40-years old, he’ll also be the youngest member of the current Senate.

Since LeMieux has previously served as Crist’s chief of staff and is a close friend of the Governor, is appointment has prompted charges of cronyism. Especially since Crist is hoping to be elected to the seat in 2010, many have dismissed LeMieux as merely a loyal place holder for Crist.

Messages on the Burleith listserv are generally constrained to the topics of handy men, lost pets, and yard sales, one member, Paul Diego Craney, has decided it’s his duty to up his neighbors’ political awareness.

Craney, the Executive Director of the D.C. Republican Committee (a.k.a. the saddest committee in the whole city), has posted threads like “RNC Chairman and DC native Michel Steele Challenges Obama” and “DC Council Passes New $9.5 Million Dollar Bag Tax.”

When he posted a rant about D.C. Councilmembers salaries being too high this Monday, a fellow listserver had had enough, and replied:

My suggestion Mr. Craney is that you consider using a more approriate forum than our local community list serve to advance the ill-conceived notions of the Republican Party, which, thankfully, enjoy little traction in D.C ….

We agree that there are serious financial challenges facing the District — this is not unlike other cities and states in America — but I’m confident the Republican Party’s tedious rant that all politicians are paid too much and all taxes are bad … are not the reasoned, responsible and long-term solutions we need.

This prompted a flurry of other responses, some chiming in with their own political views, but most were just angry that the listserv was devolving into a poor impression of the Huffington Post comments thread.

Luckily, things seem to be dying down. Earlier today someone else on the listserv replied with this discussion-ender:

Would the adversaries please get a room?  … Can anyone report a lost dog, to get back to normal?

Amen to that.

Image from Sangrea.net.

Ever get the feeling that 2010 is just way too long to wait for the next D.C. mayoral campaign?  Well the New Organizing Institute, a progressive advocacy and campaign training program, has got you covered.  As part of their summer BootCamp they’re holding a mock election for D.C. mayor.

Alfredo Fletes (SFS ‘09) emailed us and asked us to support his candidate, Batwoman, “a feisty, Jewish, lesbian, red-headed, former circus performer and superhero.”  Batwoman sounds promising, but she does have some stiff competition—the Atom, Batgirl, Cyborg, the Green Lantern, Spiderman, Superman and Wonder Woman are all in the running as well.

What solidified Batwoman’s place in our hearts, though, is her stance on one of the most pressing problems of our time: the Sellinger Sparrow.

Every time I stroll by Sellinger Lounge and catch a glimpse of the lonely sparrow pecking at a leftover stale bagel, or chirping at his own sad reflection in the window, my heart aches knowing that he or she can’t indulge in the same pleasures of being a free bird.

It’s time that we come together as a student body to FREE THE SELLINGER SPARROW. And Batwoman wants help lead the release efforts; she takes bird equality seriously …

How should we go about liberating the Sellinger Sparrow?  Should we work with University Facilities? Call DC Animal Control? Or ask the Corp to fund his release?

The vote will take place this Friday, but to show your support before then you can follow the candidate of your choice on through their individual websites and their Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Georgetown alum Saad Hariri was appointed Prime Minister of Lebanon this Saturday by the country’s president Michel Suleiman.

Hariri is the son of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, who was assassinated in 2005.  He is the leader of the Future Movement, a Western-aligned party that is popular with Sunni Muslims and is the largest member of the March 14 Alliance, the majority coalition.

As Prime Minister, Hariri will have to decide how to deal with Hezbollah, which is the leader of minority coalition, the March 8 Alliance.

While at Georgetown, Hariri studied Business Administration and graduated with a degree in International Business.  According to Forbes, he is the 522nd richest man in the world and has a net worth of $1.4 billion.