The location of the federal district was a result of a compromise between Hamilton, Madison, and Jefferson. The U.S. capital city was New York at the time. Jefferson didn't want the federal government controlled by one of the largest Northern states. So he struck a bargain with Hamilton, agreeing to support Hamilton's plan for the federal government to assume the states' debts in exchange for the creation of a federal district apart from the power of any one of the states of the union (and further south).
You can read more about the reasons for removing the capital from state territory here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residence_Act
(Full disclosure: I wouldn't mind Eleanor Holmes Norton getting a vote in the House, but I would be against DC having senators.)
And why no Senators? It's not like DC would be the least populous state, yet I don't see many campaigns to strip Wyoming of its senators.
Seems like most of the opposition is from Republicans who recognize that DC would almost certainly elect liberal Democrats. And that's just ridiculously unfair.
It's interesting to see all the areas worldwide that have, at one time or another and with varying degrees of seriousness, been proposed as new US states. See:
Of course if we adopted it, some right-wingers would say it means were going commie, or something like it.
I like the arrangement, too, but I can see why its provenance might taint it in some eyes. That's unfortunate; it's a much more pleasant arrangement than the one we currently have.
I could also see people objecting to changing the US's hundred-odd-year tradition of having ugly and grating arrangements of stars. :) And the circular star arrangement _is_ something one tends to see flown by sinister US successor states like those in _Fallout_ and _Jericho_...
For those interested: it comes from this article here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_United_States
which has a timeline of all past flags, too.
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Neither one are patterns he put into the algorithm.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Brazil
I was a bit disappointed when the Brazilian soccer squad won their fifth world title and didn't put the stars in a Southern Cross formation on their uniform.