Commentary

As Robert Iger takes the reins at Disney from maligned outgoing CEO Bob Chapek, industry analysis has treated his re-ascension to the helm as a necessary antidote for the struggling company. But the fact that Iger is retaking the CEO role demonstrates real limitations and blind spots in his own leadership. Chapek, of course, was Iger’s hand-selected successor. While many of Disney’s current challenges may have come about from Chapek’s stilted rule and ill-devised decisions to focus on profit over culture, it is also clear that he was not set up to succeed.

Maine lobster has become somewhat controversial in recent months, as conservation groups identified the gear fishermen use to trap lobster (specifically, the vertical lines used to retrieve traps) as a threat to the already-endangered North Atlantic right whale. Critics took issue with the propriety of serving lobster to French President Emmanuel Macron — even if butter-poached with American Osetra caviar — at the first state dinner of Joe Biden’s presidency on Dec. 1. And Whole Foods announced last month it would stop carrying Maine lobster in its stores, as it was no longer regarded as sustainable by the nonprofit Marine Stewardship Council or California-based Seafood Watch. Yet getting entangled with lobster gear in the Gulf of Maine or Georges Bank is not the only threat facing right whales.

Quick, what do the Baltimore County communities of White Marsh and Lutherville have in common? Well, they are both near the Baltimore Beltway at major interchanges (Interstate 95 for White Marsh and Interstate 83 for Lutherville). They are both classic unincorporated, relatively small suburban communities, and married couples are the leading demographic in each, with most residents living in single-family homes. And they are both dominated by fading centralized commercial centers with noticeable vacancies — White Marsh Mall for one, and the cluster of strip shopping centers around Ridgely and York roads for the other.

For Maryland Republicans, the 2022 general election is probably one to forget. Their statewide candidates were drubbed by the victorious Democrats. Of three competitive county executive races in the suburbs, they won zero. They lost seats in the Maryland General Assembly, including the defeat of the party’s first Black woman state delegate in Maryland. Where does the Maryland Republican Party go from here? It’s hard to say, as the party’s recent state convention was closed to press and the newly elected chairwoman and the executive director didn’t respond to our interview requests. But we’ll give it a shot.

Last week, the Air Force unveiled its first new strategic bomber in 34 years — a boomerang-shaped stealth plane called the B-21 Raider that may ultimately cost taxpayers some $200 billion — and the country barely noticed. Also last week came reports that China’s nuclear warhead stockpile had doubled since 2020 and could reach 1,500 by the mid-2030s, closer to parity with the United States and Russia. This also went mostly unnoticed. Maybe we were too busy freaking out over Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter.

It’s been just over a month since Ron DeSantis’ big reelection victory, and many media organizations have already crowned Florida’s Republican governor the heir apparent to Donald Trump. In a way, that’s understandable. Trump’s obsession with undoing the results of the 2020 presidential election has driven the former president to openly consort with Holocaust deniers and racists which, seemingly, has pushed him to the brink of political madness. But the media’s fawning over DeSantis is driven by more than Trump’s decline. It is born of the kind of me-too journalism that involves far more repeating than reporting. In winning by nearly 20 percentage points in what was expected to be a close gubernatorial race in a battleground state, DeSantis is being credited with moving Florida solidly to the Republican end of this nation’s political spectrum.

Last month, Baltimore Mayor Scott released the Squeegee Collaborative Working Action Plan, designating six pilot zones where a city ordinance prohibiting panhandling and solicitation activity would be enforced, effectively banning the practice of washing windows for money on city streets in those areas. Some hailed the plan as a good compromise in a bad situation. But it is deeply flawed and merely kicks the proverbial can down the road, as well as makes the squeegee workers accidents waiting to happen. Among its biggest flaws is the plan’s failure to address what occurs in the remaining intersections. It is grossly irresponsible for the mayor and City Council to allow youths, as the plan acknowledges, to “dart across high traffic intersections washing windshields to earn money” in any scenario.

Congress just sneezed in your beer, Army-Navy fans. Two days before the 123rd football classic in Philly, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act — stay with me, there’s some jargon ahead. It includes $858 billion for the Department of Defense and, because this is really important, bars service academy athletes from turning pro until two years after graduation. It also revokes the DOD policy requiring COVID vaccines, so huge chunks of the Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Air Force can all call out sick on the same day if the virus numbers swell again. Whatever you think of that policy, the decision will probably keep Vice Adm. Sean Buck, the Naval Academy superintendent, from having to explain at Republican-led congressional hearings next year why 18 mids were denied exceptions from the shots on religious grounds.