This was not the original material I was going to write on for the first part, but I think I better write on it before I forget it.

Washington is a state. Washington D.C. is the capital of the United States. There should be no need to add the word “state” onto the end of the first Washington. The second Washington should be appended with D.C. or simply known as D.C. in the common vocabulary.

Despite the fact that this is an easier and shorter way of doing things, people insist on doing it the hard way. Beats me why. Washington D.C. may have been around for longer but guess what? Washington, as a state, is much larger (very close to 11 times the population and almost 1100 times the square mileage).