Washington
GOP rep says attempts to avert shutdown ‘Washington’s version of Burning Man’

Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) on Wednesday described attempts to prevent a government shutdown as “Washington’s version of Burning Man.”
“We are stuck in the mud,” Womack said in an interview with CNN.
Womack was evoking the recent disastrous situation that occurred at Burning Man, in which a storm swept through Nevada’s Black Rock Desert and left thousands stranded for days.
In the latest sign of the brutal spending fight ahead in the House, GOP leaders on Wednesday delayed a planned vote on a Department of Defense appropriations bill, facing opposition from the party’s conservatives.
“We had the DOD bill ready to go on the floor today, but for the fact that we couldn’t produce the votes to approve the rule, we’ve had to pull that bill away,” Womack said.
Budget hawks are demanding a full plan on spending levels before going ahead with individual spending bills.
“I think they’re just working on it,” Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters shortly after the planned 1:30 vote series was pulled.
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Washington
Venus Williams accepts wild card for DC Open. She hasn’t competed in over a year

Venus Williams accepted a wild-card invitation to play singles at this month’s DC Open, which would be the seven-time Grand Slam champion’s first tournament in more than a year.
Williams, who turned 45 in June, is listed as “inactive” on the WTA Tour’s website.
She hasn’t competed in an official match since the Miami Open in 2024.
“There’s something truly special about D.C.: the energy, the fans, the history,” Williams said in a statement released Friday by organizers of the hard-court tournament, which begins with qualifying next weekend. “This city has always shown me so much love, and I can’t wait to compete there again.”
Williams also played in the nation’s capital in 2022.
“She has inspired people around the world with her accomplishments on the court and her visionary impact off the court,” said Mark Ein, chairman of the Mubadala Citi DC Open. “I know how much it means to our D.C. fans and community to be able to watch her compete in person this summer.”
In February, the tournament in Indian Wells, California, announced that Williams would be making her return to the tour by playing there, then later backtracked and said it turned out she wouldn’t.
Williams’ most recent Grand Slam appearances came in 2023, when she exited in the first round at Wimbledon — after slipping in the first set and hurting her right knee — and the U.S. Open.
Her five championships in singles at the All England Club came in 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008 and she won the 2000 and 2001 U.S. Open singles trophies, too. She also won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles alongside her younger sister, Serena, whose last tournament was the 2022 U.S. Open, and a total of four Olympic gold medals.
The older Williams said in 2011 that she had been diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome, an energy-sapping auto-immune disease that can cause joint pain.
Washington
Washington football legend Darrell Green reminds us of the burgundy and golden days of RFK – WTOP News

Who did the Washington Commanders turn to when they started a public relations push to secure the new RFK stadium? Darrell Green, of course.
Who did the Washington Commanders turn to when they started a public relations push to secure the new RFK stadium? No. 28, of course.
Hall of Fame defensive back Darrell Green is the star of a new social media video from the Commanders that shows the burgundy and golden days from RFK, along with shots from different areas of D.C.
As you see famous moments from RFK, including the legendary stadium shaking from fans jumping up and down, you hear Green saying things like: “To be together at RFK is to know we in this city are part of something bigger,” and, “For 40 years, I’ve seen so much greatness in the District.”
As you watch the video and listen to the 1983 first-round draft pick, who played every season of his 20-year career for the burgundy and gold, you are reminded how special that stadium was and how successful the team used to be during their 36 seasons at 2400 East Capitol Street SE.
You might think to yourself, is it just the nostalgia making me feel that way? No, the numbers don’t lie.
Washington’s record at RFK was 162 wins, 101 losses and three ties. At Northwest Stadium, previously FedExField, the record stands at 106 wins, 119 losses and one tie.
Those numbers do include playoff games.
In the 12 playoff games at RFK, Washington only lost one. In comparison, at the team’s current stadium, Washington has only won one of its four playoff games.
The Commanders put Green front and center in their PR push to counter the loud forces that are against the new stadium and the proposed $1.1 billion D.C. investment for the RFK Stadium redevelopment project.
Local groups such as Homes Not Stadiums are encouraging D.C. residents to attend the D.C. Council hearing on the stadium proposal on July 29.
Ward 6 Council member Charles Allen also went to social media to encourage people to make their voices heard at the meeting.
“Listen, we know this deal is not good and has to change,” Allen said. “$1.1 billion is a starting point, which is the second highest in history of a stadium subsidy.”
So it seems once again the owners of Washington’s football team are counting on the ageless wonder to win one more for old D.C. at RFK.
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Washington
Washington Post Publisher Seeks to Crush Newsroom Dissent | Press Watch

Embattled Washington Post publisher Will Lewis’s my-way-or-the-highway memo to staff on Wednesday threatens to destroy what’s left of the newsroom’s talent pool – and reputation.
The memo urges “those who do not feel aligned with the company’s plan” to take an immediate buyout and leave. Those who remain, Lewis write, must “be united as a team with a strong belief and passion in where we are heading.”
It’s probably one of the worst memos every written by a publisher, for countless reasons – starting with the fact that Lewis notably does not have a plan and nobody knows where he’s heading.
The man has been a cipher, hiding from the newsroom, and the memo is characteristically full of buzzwords that signify nothing.
He writes of having made the Post “more appealing to, and trusted by, today’s audiences” – a ridiculous and unsubstantiated boast.
He writes of “launching new, engaging product improvements such as From the Source.” “From the Source” is a tiny pilot project that allows certain sources in news stories to add comments as annotations. It’s hardly a showpiece.
And he writes of “embracing AI rapidly across all of our workflows,” whatever the heck that means, and it can’t be good.
So in the absence of anything remotely like a recognizable journalistic strategy, what Lewis is basically asking for is a pledge of loyalty to him personally — a promise not to complain, no matter what he does next.
And that’s particularly inappropriate given the fact that he is, on a personal level, a morally bankrupt figure — having been hip-deep in the 2011 cover-up of Rupert Murdoch’s massive phone-hacking scandal. (Lewis, a Brit, cut his teeth working for the right-wing publishing magnate.)
After being hired as Post publisher in 2023 — to almost everyone’s astonishment – Lewis tried to cover up his role in the cover-up, pressuring former top editor Sally Buzbee not to run a story about his involvement then forcing her out after she defied him. Then he tried to bribe NPR reporter David Folkenflik into dropping his story about the allegation.
To say that Lewis has failed to win over the newsroom is an understatement. Back in March, two of the newspaper’s most respected alumni felt obliged to intervene on behalf of the staff, begging Post owner Jeff Bezos to fire Lewis. There was no response.
Another enormous problem with the memo is that trying to purge a newsroom of complainers is a great way to get rid of your best reporters and editors. Many – though not all – great journalists are notoriously cynical. They question everything. And they don’t check their brains at the door when it comes to their own institution.
Getting rid of people who question newsroom policy is a great way to both lose talented journalists and, in the absence of internal pushback, make really bad decisions.
And perhaps worst of all, those who stay will now be forever tarnished as enablers and sycophants.
Oh, wait, one more thing: The memo is smarmy as hell, full of insincerity like “If you choose to move away from The Post, thank you for all your contributions, and I truly wish you the best of luck.” It’s an insult to anyone receiving it.
All in all, it’s a recipe for disaster. And it comes after several other disasters that have led to numerous resignations and mass subscriber loss.
In October, hundreds of thousands of readers canceled their subscriptions after news broke that Bezos had ordered the editorial board not to endorse Kamala Harris for president, as they intended to do.
Then in February, Bezos announced a directive that the Post’s editorial pages would henceforth promote “personal liberties and free markets” and would refuse to publish pieces opposing those principles. Several top editorial-page editors and columnists fled soon after.
And over the last year, other publications – notably including the Atlantic, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and CNN – have picked off much of the newsroom’s marquee talent.
The New Yorker in May reasonably asked the question: “Is Jeff Bezos Selling Out the Washington Post?”
What’s left in the Washington Post is not nothing. Some reporters continue to do excellent work, despite the circumstances.
But I fear this memo will drive even more of the best people away, while demoralizing those who remain even further.
Simply put, the Washington Post, as I’ve written before, has no future as an independent news organization as long as Jeff Bezos owns it – and as long as Lewis remains publisher.
This new memo suggests that Lewis is confident in his position, and that’s maybe the worst part of it all.
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