Monthly Archives: April 2015

It Didn’t Have to Happen

I’ve seen bits and pieces of this story, but Mother Jones writers Sam Brodey and Jenna McLaughlin put it together very well. Highly questionable decisions by the police - to stop buses from running, to trap students who might otherwise have gone home in the area where the worst of the violence took place Monday - made the circumstances worse… Read more »

I Won’t Get Back To You On That

Professional cave troll Delegate Pat McDonough (modern Know Nothing of the purest form) has a couple of suggestions for addressing recent unrest in Baltimore: take food stamp benefits away from parents of the protesters and commission a “scientific study” of the “thug nation” he sees in the black community. He decided to share his thoughts with radio listeners on right… Read more »

Gimme A Break

Martin O’Malley offers up his opinions on the unrest in Baltimore on Huffington Post. Three separate times he says, with no apparent irony, that “this is not about policing.” What? Governor, seriously, it’s ALL about policing. Specifically, YOUR policing. The policies you started as mayor of Baltimore. Your first year in office, in a city of 600,000 people, there were over… Read more »

John Delaney Is Running . . .

I have been forwarded an email invitation from the Delaneys to “join John’s kickoff at a Backyard Barbeque Bash” (some quality alliteration right there). The invite, however, never gets around to mentioning an important fact: what office is Delaney running for? A lot of people, including but definitely not limited to yours truly, would really like to know. At this… Read more »

The Sun On The Ball

That guy John Fritze? He’s a really good reporter. Here’s his take on “what it all - Baltimore - means” to the presidential and Senate races. The death of Gray, a black man who suffered a spinal-cord injury in police custody, and the subsequent protests and riots, gave Clinton an opportunity to speak on an issue that one of her… Read more »

Action Shots!!

At the Silver Spring Civic Center for a forum with seven leading MoCo legislators, including two congressional candidates, Jamie Raskin and Kumar Barve. I’m now going to show off my mediocre photography skills - one action shot for each participant. If they’re bad, blame me.   Senator Rich Madaleno    Delegate Kathleen Dumais    Senator Jamie Raskin (his eyes were closed… Read more »

Edwards on Black Moms

Donna Edwards has an opinion piece on the Post website on the role of black mothers and their voices in the ongoing discussion of race and the police: The situation in Baltimore is a poignant reminder of the truths too many black mothers face every day. Our nation cannot move forward without a true national conversation that involves race, jobs,… Read more »

D15 Caucus Straw Vote

The District 15 (Potomac-Bethesda-Upcounty) caucus in MoCo had a dinner last night. I hear that a straw vote was taken to see how much support Chris Van Hollen and Donna Edwards each have. I’m not 100% sure exactly how many people voted - estimates related to me range from 30-40 - but the news is this: Chris Van Hollen got… Read more »

A Politico Article Doesn’t Suck

That in and of itself is breaking news. Charles Pierce, my blog hero and role model, calls Politico “Tiger Beat on the Potomac.” Pretty much dead on. But this article on the impact of Baltimore’s unrest on the fortunes of Larry Hogan, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Elijah Cummings is actually pretty good, addressing the politics in great detail. Don’t agree with all of… Read more »