The chatter is beginning to rise across the Northern Virginia suburbs: it’s time for the Commonwealth to give D.C. back the southwest side of the diamond!

You see, long ago, D.C. was shaped like a 10 mile-by-10 mile diamond. But in the 1800s, the Federal District was just too big. So the federal government gave back everything on the Virginia side of the Potomac River back to the Commonwealth. (Note that the District line actually includes Virginia’s shore of the river, up to the highwater mark).

And in the years since, as Virginia has gotten more red (conservative), our neighbors in the burbs have stayed blue, like us in the District. Evidence: a Washington Post poll this week that showed Northern Virginia’s are opposed to the gay marriage ban that will likely pass next month in our Red State neighbor.

According to DCist, some people are actually talking about the possibility of Northern Virginia becoming an expanded Southwest Quadrant of Washington. OK, they aren’t seriously talking about it, but it shows just how disconnected the state has become. I guess that’s what happens when you make a wedge issue like gay marriage the basis for your presidential re-election effort.

(Graphic of the New D.C. lifted from DCist.com)