The right of residents of DC to govern themselves has always been a bete noir of the far right. Michael Goldfarb, for example, believes in democracy in Iraq, but not in the United States. For him the District's democratic decisions to restrict gun rights and recognize civil marriages performed in other states amount to just another partisan opportunity:

The District of Columbia's Council voted today to recognize gay marriages performed in other states, setting Republicans on the Hill up for a great opportunity to hit an issue that polls well.

Notice no discussion of the actual merits of either question - just a cynical take on how it can be worked for one political party. Goldfarb is so emblematic of what has happened to the right: eager for torture, enraptured with a "near-dictatorial" presidency, supportive of murdering children to teach their parents a lesson, and always, always in favor of more war and longer, deeper occupations of foreign countries. Yes, John McCain chose his spokesman well. As McCain capitulated to Rove from 2006 onwards, he earned the dividend of all those who take Rove's awful advice: he lost.