Commentary

People ask me all the time, what was it like to run for governor? The answer is mostly a ton of fun. How often do you get to meet lots of people you might not have met otherwise, and to do something so much different from the day-to-day of your professional life? But it is hard! Especially when our political system is designed to discourage our elected leaders from taking on our toughest challenges. I ended my run to replace Gov. Larry Hogan last year after it became clear that there was no path forward for me in this election. Unfortunately, too many Marylanders feel that way every day.

Most Anne Arundel County residents likely aren’t old enough to recall the late Joseph W. Alton Jr. who served as county executive, the subdivision’s first, beginning in 1965. In the early 1970s, he was caught up in the federal investigation of public corruption that also targeted Vice President Spiro T. Agnew and Baltimore County Executive Dale Anderson, all of whom made it a habit to take money from those who did business with government.

The proliferation of lying in the body politic and certain news media has reached proportions so great that America finds itself on the brink of a revolution that threatens our entire system of government. The weaponization of fact-free speech should be criminalized and offenders penalized by either removing the bully pulpit from which they perpetuate their lies or by streamlining legal channels by which the target of such attacks can extract monetary damages more easily.

Last week’s column detailed the many disastrous consequences of warming temperatures linked to the discharge of millions of tons of greenhouse gases by human activities. Since that column, Kentucky floods have led to 37 deaths, 100 people missing, 1,300 emergency evacuees, and thousands of homes destroyed by water sweeping away entire houses. So, how should we respond as caring citizens since global warming is caused primarily by our production and burning of fossil fuels. Fortunately, most actions we can take involve conservation that can save us money while saving the planet.

It is no exaggeration to say that at this moment, education across the nation is in crisis. COVID-19 has further exposed the huge deficiencies and inequities in America’s K–12 education. Widespread teacher shortages, falling enrollments, learning losses in core curriculum areas and mental health challenges have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Baltimore, like all of the nation’s great cities, must face the challenge of re-imagining schooling now and into the future.

When I was young, my friends and I did chores at home such as cutting grass, raking leaves and shoveling snow. It wasn’t a big deal because that was the expectation. My brother and I were fortunate enough to have parents who paid an allowance, but that didn’t mean we had a choice to not do what was required of us. Our parents wanted to teach us the value of a dollar and the payoff that comes from hard work.

New revelations from the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol come so quickly that Americans are numb to their findings. In normal times, any of these would be a major scandal. 1. For the first time in American history, a president of the United States tried to overturn an election he lost in order to stay in power for a second term. Think about that. 2. It appears that multiple members of Congress, as well as dozens of officials in Republican-controlled states, were willing to go along with his plan. Ultimately, 147 Republicans in Congress voted to reject the certification of Joe Biden’s election.