Commentary

With Election Day less than a week away, we want to remind voters of the editorial board’s researched recommendations in select state and county races. Ballots must be postmarked or dropped off at an approved location by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 8, or marked in person on that date at your assigned polling place.

Dear Black women: If you could write a letter to your younger self, or to your daughters or nieces, what would you say? What wisdom would you impart? What warnings? What you would write to uplift and affirm? Artist, activist and Baltimore School for the Arts graduate Tamara Payne asked that question of African American women.

Obsessed over which party is going to control Congress come January? Wondering whether the Democrats have a shot in Montana’s new 2nd congressional district? Worried about how many competitive races in California you’ll need to keep track of on election night? Then you will need to check out — if you haven’t already — the website politics1.com. This scrappy, indispensable 25-year-old website — one of its charms is it doesn’t look much different than it did when it launched a quarter century ago — contains updated political headlines and tweets from around the country and other interesting information.

Given the demonstrated lack of respect for judicial precedent among the current makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court — see the overturning of Roe v. Wade this summer after 50 years — it is unsurprising that the justices appear poised to strike down affirmative action and its five decades of precedent, as well. This was made clear by questioning from the court’s conservative supermajority Monday during oral arguments in a case involving race-conscious admissions at the University of North Carolina and Harvard. No need to wait for a leak of any draft; it’s almost certain that they will strike down affirmative action as a kind of reverse-discrimination, making no distinction between those whose ancestors came to the country in chains and those whose ancestors were enslavers.

Earlier this year, the Senate passed a bill to make daylight saving time permanent. The idea of ending clock changes and sticking to one time was met with celebration — until scientists pointed out that such a change could cause a nationwide case of seasonal depression, learning loss and physical health problems. Now the Sunshine Protection Act sits with the House. But as we prepare to change our clocks this November — and with news of Mexico mostly opting out of daylight-saving time, effective this past weekend (the exceptions: towns and cities on the U.S. border) — the idea is sure to be debated again. Popular opinion supports getting rid of clock changes, and for good reason — they’re disorienting and disruptive. But eternal daylight-saving time is not the answer. Especially if we want to protect young people.

So I’m watching and listening to my precious 10-year-old granddaughter as she effortlessly and flawlessly reads the sweet birthday card wishes from my wife and me. When she gets to my simple yet eloquent and deeply profound handwritten note (my column, my assessment) painstakingly penned adjacent to the Hallmark boilerplate, the poor child stops cold, with a look of chagrin on her beautiful little birthday face. Simultaneously, grandfather and granddaughter look desperately to daughter/mommy for explanation and reassurance. “You used cursive, dad. They don’t really teach that in school anymore.” Excuse me? Who is this “they,” and why did they make such a bonehead decision? Full disclosure, I do recall learning of the pending demise of cursive a few years back and at the time thought it an absurd and senseless mistake.

Baltimore County voters have two choices for county executive this fall: One-term incumbent Johnny Olszewski Jr., who has touted his record and campaigned on a promise to build upon it, or former state Del. Pat McDonough, who would prefer to dismantle it. Republican McDonough, who served in Annapolis from 2003 to 2019, said he would fire Melissa Hyatt, Democrat Olszewski’s chosen police chief, eliminate a regional housing program mandated by a legal settlement and file numerous lawsuits — a frequent refrain of his.

Dear Kanye West, or “Ye”: We’ve never met, and I hope we never will. Still, I’d like to express a sort of gratitude. With a few outbursts in a few days — you threatened in a tweet this month to go “death con 3” on “JEWISH PEOPLE,” and it’s been downhill from there — you’ve probably done more to raise public awareness about the persistence, prevalence and nature of antisemitism than any other recent event.