Commentary

After almost a year in pandemic lockdown, some notes on the privileged path: If you watch a couple episodes of “Schitt’s Creek” and don’t like it, it’s best not to watch any more because you’re apt to get addicted. It’s possible to walk four miles a day and still gain weight. The eternal present—even with all its spiritual baggage—may be over-rated. Nothing says Baby Boomer like Facebook selfies of vaccinations.

When President Biden asked what critics would have him cut from his covid relief bill, he got plenty of answers about reducing the $510 billion in aid to state and local governments — including from us. Now, some moderate Senate Democrats are suggesting a middle way: Earmark $50 billion of those funds for broadband investment. The idea, spearheaded by Sens. Angus King (I-Maine) and Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), is a political crowd-pleaser more likely to attract cross-aisle support than most big spending. The funds, likely in the form of grants, would address the immediate emergency of millions of Americans going Internet-less in a time when being online, whether for work, school or telehealth, is more important than ever.

Since the Senate parliamentarian decided Thursday that the White House’s covid-19 relief package cannot include a minimum-wage increase under the filibuster-exempt reconciliation process, Democrats are trying to put on a brave face. President Biden “is absolutely committed to raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki on CNN’s “State of the Union.” On the same show, Sen. Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.), a close Biden confidant, echoed that message almost word-for-word. Even progressive Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) sounded bullish, telling NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “Democrats are united” behind a higher minimum wage.

One hour into his rambling, grievance-filled speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Sunday night, former President Donald Trump had his big moment. He had already said multiple times that he won the 2020 presidential election but that it was stolen from him. Now, however, he uttered the magical, dumbed-down catchphrase that his audience wanted to hear.

Earlier this month, Mayor Brandon Scott committed Baltimore to a pilot program that would test the efficacy of a guaranteed income for Baltimore’s struggling families, described as “direct, recurring cash payments.” According to the Mayors for a Guaranteed Income website, the funds have no requirements attached to them, work or otherwise, and are “meant to supplement, rather than replace, the existing social safety net” and to “be a tool for racial and gender equity.”

Everyone in Maryland who tuned into TV or radio, read newspapers or been on the internet recently likely saw the barrage of advertisements against the digital revenue tax. Regardless of the blitz, the General Assembly overrode Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto to pass the first in the nation tax targeting digital media last week. The major theme of the ads was that the new tax would cripple business recovery in Maryland, especially small business. How during a pandemic could the state even consider imposing a new tax on digital advertising?

Every February, this newspaper and others like it around the United States make an extra effort to delve into the history of Black Americans. It hasn’t always been this way. The tradition of taking time to recognize the contributions of Black Americans to our country began in 1926, the brainchild of historian and author Carter Woodson. He and others settled on February because of two significant birthdays that month, that of Abraham Lincoln and the date chosen by Frederick Douglass to celebrate his birth — born into slavery on the Eastern Shore — because he did not know the actual date.

The pandemic undoubtedly wreaked some form of havoc on just about everyone’s life. But statistics are piling up showing that it has hurt women more, particularly those who are African American and Latinx, eroding many of the gains in the workforce that had been made in recent years. Around 2.5 million women dropped out of the labor force or lost their jobs during the pandemic, compared to 1.8 million men, according to Labor Department data released earlier this month. The situation is so dire that Vice President Kamala Harris called it a “mass exodus” and “national emergency” in a recent op-ed in The Washington Post.