It's no secret that President Barack Obama and his Washington, D.C. neighbors are tight. With a population that's more than 50 percent black and a median age of 33, the President's more or less liberal reputation sits cozily within the city's demographics.
But now, the Big O will be showing his constituency some love by switching the the Beast's license plates from the generic blue "www.washingtondc.gov" tags used by former President George W. Bush to D.C. tags emblazoned with the city's defiant "Taxation Without Representation" motto.
The city's pugnacious motto came about because D.C. residents pay federal taxes, but have only a non-voting delegate to speak up for them on the floor of the House of Representatives. Sorry, Washingtonians, no senators for you, either. But the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles, in a show of support against this grave injustice, doles out "Taxation Without Representation" tags as standard issue. You have to make a special request to get the non-spicy website advertisement ones.
President Bill Clinton rocked "Taxation" plates on his limo back in the '90s. But he's Slick Willy, and was, apparently, also down with the people in his new urban home. W. made no attempt whatsoever to connect with the city that didn't vote for him through DMV badging. He made some excuse about not wanting the limo to be a political thing and had some lackey or other slap on a plate that looked like it came out of the automotive section at the local Walmart. He coulda put some curb feelers and portholes on there, too, but no — nothing. His limo was as boring as a piece of slightly stale white bread.
But flush with the confidence of a strongly begun second term, President Obama has no problem waving his "Taxation Without Representation" colors right in the faces of all of those D.C.-hating Capitol Hill fat cats he argues with on a daily basis. We're positive they're either trembling, cursing and spitting, or experiencing unwanted bladder drainage as a result. Who knew a small white rectangle on a plain black car could be so powerful!
Photo credit: Associated Press