Rachel Manteuffel

Nov 12, 2024 | washingtonpost.com | Rachel Manteuffel

It was always a joke, with a sliver of naive strategy. When I moved to the District over a decade ago, I registered Republican, despite being the leftiest civilian I knew. I didn’t realize my new town even had a Republican Party. The Democrats’ percentage in presidential races always starts with a 9. I thought it would make the lady at the DMV, with whom I’d developed a rapport, laugh. We’d been talking about her son’s enormous shoe size. “Oh, uh huh,” she said when I claimed the Republican Party.

Oct 29, 2024 | washingtonpost.com | Rachel Manteuffel

“Are you okay?” It was my partner, yelling up the stairs. “Yes,” I yelled back. “Why?”“You were wailing,” he said. “Real loud.”I answered with all the dignity I could summon, writhingon the bathroom floor. “Yes. I was wailing. Thank you. And I am fine.”“Okay,” he said. “Just checking.”I was suffering the consequence of a yes-or-no decision I had made some months before. I chose to become sick as hell.And in my war of choice, this is what victory felt like. Awful.

Jun 11, 2024 | washingtonpost.com | Rachel Manteuffel

Democracy Dies in DarknessAll of us together are hurtling into an election season guaranteed to make us froth with rage. I recently stumbled upon a potent vaccine against it. The first day of jury deliberations in former president Donald Trump’s hush money trial, I was trapped in a room where cable TV was the only stimulation available. Some number of hours passively absorbing cable TV news is a fact of life for most of us. Airports. Car repair waiting rooms. Hotel lobbies. Bars. Gyms.

May 8, 2024 | washingtonpost.com | Rachel Manteuffel

Democracy Dies in DarknessGoing Out GuideMovies Art Music Theater Tim Carman Fritz Hahn The Guide Going Out GuideMovies Art Music Theater Tim Carman Fritz Hahn The Guide As in the original production, getting naked is optional, but at Signature Theatre, an intimacy director helps each performer “find a discomfort that’s sustainable for you.”The cast of “Hair” at Signature Theatre.

Feb 29, 2024 | washingtonpost.com | Rachel Manteuffel

Attention Washington establishment Republicans, RINOs, right-wing Deep Staters, Never Trumpers and The Swamp: You know how we’re all hoping someone, anyone, would do something, anything about the looming nomination of Donald Trump? Like Nikki Haley? Like Liz Cheney? Like the woman in Colorado, 60 years a Republican, who sued to remove Trump’s name from the ballot?