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I Was a Washington Post Reporter. And a Crack Addict.
Politico ^ | Monday, June 30, 2014 | Ruben Castenada

Posted on 06/30/2014 6:45:39 PM PDT by kristinn

As was the case every Halloween, on October 31, 1989, a couple of Washington Post reporters were sent to cover the festivities in Georgetown, where thousands of mostly white and affluent revelers partied through the night. I was dispatched to the other side of town—Potomac Gardens, a rundown public housing project a mile east of the Capitol, where Mayor Marion Barry was scheduled to make nice with the residents. My job was to take notes and contribute a few paragraphs to an innocuous story about how Washingtonians celebrated the holiday.

I had already been to Potomac Gardens a handful of times to cover shootings during my first month at the Post, where I was on the night crime beat. The complex was a collection of boxy concrete buildings between three and six stories high, surrounded by a tall wrought-iron fence that reminded me of a penitentiary. At one crime scene near the project, I had overheard a street cop joke that the fence was there not to protect the residents but to keep the rest of the city safe from Gardens inhabitants. A violent drug crew operated in and near the housing complex. At night, it was a forbidding, dangerous place.

arrived early and staked out a spot at the edge of a concrete courtyard inside the complex. A few minutes later, a black Lincoln pulled up. A security man in a dark suit hopped out of the shotgun seat and opened the rear passenger door for the mayor. Barry stepped out and smoothed the lapels of his charcoal-gray suit coat.

Some people in the courtyard saw him and cried, “Mr. Mayor, Mr. Mayor!” and “We love you, Marion!” Barry smiled. He waved. He sauntered toward the courtyard.

(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS: crack; marionbarry; rubencastenada; washingtonpost
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A Washington Post reporter, hookers and crack. A pity Doctor Raoul isn't around to see this.
1 posted on 06/30/2014 6:45:39 PM PDT by kristinn
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To: kristinn

Well that explains a lot of things coming out of WaPo.


2 posted on 06/30/2014 6:48:31 PM PDT by SkyDancer (If you don't read the newspapers you are uninformed. If you do read newspapers you are misinformed)
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To: kristinn

Sounds like “I Was a Communist for the FBI.”


3 posted on 06/30/2014 6:51:29 PM PDT by MUDDOG
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To: kristinn

“I was a Washington post reporter and a crack addict. But I repeat Myself.”

CC


4 posted on 06/30/2014 6:52:39 PM PDT by Celtic Conservative (tease not the dragon for thou art crunchy when roasted and taste good with ketchup)
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To: MUDDOG

Good radio show. Used to listen to it on XM.

CC


5 posted on 06/30/2014 6:54:16 PM PDT by Celtic Conservative (tease not the dragon for thou art crunchy when roasted and taste good with ketchup)
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To: kristinn
A pity Doctor Raoul isn't around to see this.

What a character he was. He even got noticed by Hillary. She once commented about some guy in a devil suit, LOL!

6 posted on 06/30/2014 6:56:06 PM PDT by Ken H
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To: kristinn

don’t they usually go hand-in-hand?


7 posted on 06/30/2014 6:56:38 PM PDT by God luvs America (63.5 million pay no income tax and vote for DemoKrats...)
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To: kristinn

Nobody is surprised by these revelations


8 posted on 06/30/2014 6:57:22 PM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: All
Castenada told his story with other details a few years back in the Washington Post Magazine.
9 posted on 06/30/2014 7:04:16 PM PDT by kristinn (Welcome to the Soviet States of Obama)
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To: Ken H

Raoul got under Hillary’s skin alright.


10 posted on 06/30/2014 7:05:44 PM PDT by kristinn (Welcome to the Soviet States of Obama)
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To: Celtic Conservative
Me too, back when I had XM radio.

Dana Andrews did a good job in it. It was a well-produced show with good plots. ("Johnny Dollar" with Bob Bailey is still my favorite radio show.)

Philip Roth wrote a novel called "I Married a Communist," which was a good read. It was set in the 1940s and 50s. Supposedly it was also a veiled attack on his ex-wife Claire Bloom, in the person of the Communist's wife.

11 posted on 06/30/2014 7:08:25 PM PDT by MUDDOG
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To: Celtic Conservative

Lol


12 posted on 06/30/2014 7:09:32 PM PDT by uncitizen (Buckle up! We're on the Facism Fast Track!)
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To: kristinn

Wow, WAPO has come full circle. Now the Post reporters are living in Jimmy’s World.


13 posted on 06/30/2014 7:09:41 PM PDT by rabidralph
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To: SkyDancer

Except for the whole destroying your life part.....it sounds wonderful.


14 posted on 06/30/2014 7:09:50 PM PDT by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig (This town needs an enema)
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To: SkyDancer

Liberals are VERY forgiving of each other...


15 posted on 06/30/2014 7:15:08 PM PDT by GOPJ (Why no outrage over IRS targeting? Same reason Pravda didn't make a stink about gulags.FREnterprise)
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To: rabidralph

LOL. Good point.


16 posted on 06/30/2014 7:29:03 PM PDT by kristinn (Welcome to the Soviet States of Obama)
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To: kristinn
I Was a Washington Post Reporter. And a Crack Addict.

That can cause you to have a complete lack of control and do anything humiliating for a buck... and being a crack addict can mess you up too.

17 posted on 06/30/2014 7:31:41 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (The IRS: either criminally irresponsible in backup procedures or criminally responsible of coverup.)
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To: MUDDOG

“Johnny Dollar” with Bob Bailey is still my favorite radio show.”

I really like Dragnet, and I tell you who really holds up surprisingly well is Jack Benny.

I also like that show that’s sort of like Twilight Zone, just one-off stories, and often odd and Sci-Fi-ish. I CANNOT remember the name, this is going to annoy me!


18 posted on 06/30/2014 7:35:11 PM PDT by jocon307 (These people are (some Polish word) crazy)
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To: kristinn

Good to “see” you! I hope all is well in your world.


19 posted on 06/30/2014 7:35:45 PM PDT by rabidralph
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To: kristinn
I Was a Washington Post Reporter. And a Crack Addict.

And?

I have always assumed that any Washington < Bleep! > reporter was on hard drugs.

20 posted on 06/30/2014 7:37:56 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Proud Infidel, Gun Nut, Religious Fanatic and Freedom Fiend)
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