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Commentary

Legislation needed to protect Maryland well owners
February 9, 2021 -

If you’re one of roughly 2 million Marylanders whose drinking water comes from a private well, you or your property owner is responsible for maintaining the well and ensuring its water is safe — no exceptions. That’s because federal clean water laws don’t cover private wells or small water systems, and state-level protections vary dramatically. In Maryland, those protections are few and far between. In a recent Center for Progressive Reform (CPR) report on state-level efforts to protect private well owners, Maryland ranked among the five states with the fewest protections.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Mohler: The Gospel According to Blutarsky with a Dose of HR 1
February 7, 2021 -

Who doesn’t love classic cinema?  There’s Citizen Kane, Casablanca, Shawshank Redemption, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Schindler’s List, The Godfather (#2 of course), Sophie’s Choice, and without a doubt, Animal House (that groan you hear coming from the other room is my wife). Come on now, be honest. You know that as you channel surf, you can’t help but stop when the boys from Delta House show up. Where else will you learn important lessons of life like “fat, dumb, and stupid is no way to go through life, son?” And never has this great American classic been more relevant.

Read More: Don Mohler
Condoleezza Rice: George Shultz will be remembered as one of the most influential secretaries of state in our history
February 7, 2021 -

“It is the best job in government.” I had just called to tell George Shultz that I had been nominated to be secretary of state. I wanted to hear from my mentor, friend and soon to be predecessor. But then he quickly corrected himself. “Except for when I was a captain in the Marine Corps.” That was quintessentially George. He loved his country and loved serving it — whether on the battlefields of World War II or the gilded rooms of diplomacy in foreign capitals around the world.

Read More: Washington Post
Editorial: The cautious reopening of D.C. schools should be celebrated
February 7, 2021 -

“It’s not a school unless we have kids here.” That was the principal of a D.C. elementary school welcoming students back to school last week for the first time since March. “I’m just super excited. I could scream at the top of my lungs.” That was a mother dropping her children off at the school. The cautious start of the reopening of the city’s public school system — only a fraction of D.C. students returned to classrooms — is something that should be celebrated.

Read More: Washington Post
Steiner: Maryland police must stop playing ICE
February 7, 2021 -

Sara Medrano, a Latina grandmother and Frederick County resident, was driving her daughter and two grandchildren to pick up laundry detergent on her way to work when a Frederick County sheriff’s deputy pulled her over, purportedly for a “broken” taillight — that was working just fine — and detained her. In Medrano’s words: “I was so scared thinking that this stop would be the last moment I would have with my grandchildren and my daughter.” The only reason for this stop? The color of her skin.

Read More: Washington Post
Stacey Abrams: Our democracy faced a near-death experience. Here’s how to revive it.
February 7, 2021 -

The violent Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, coupled with ongoing threats to election officials, election workers and lawmakers at all levels, represent unprecedented attacks on the foundations of our democracy. Certainly, President Donald Trump and others in his party who inspired the attacks must be held accountable through all available means. But accountability alone will not be nearly enough. Only meaningful reforms can undo the damage done — and establish a government that is truly representative of the people. The next real test of our democracy comes now.

Read More: Washington Post
Rodricks: In the midst of the muck, Maryland’s Steny Hoyer stands up for decency
February 7, 2021 -

It was in a Senate hearing room in Washington in 1954 when the bow-tied Boston attorney Joseph Welch asserted “a sense of decency” as an American ideal. In the early 1950s, in the midst of the Cold War, Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin had almost single-handedly created a second red scare by claiming, with little evidence, that the federal government and Army had been infiltrated with communist sympathizers. His obsession was the “deep state” of the Eisenhower era.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Vaccinated Montgomery County teachers should be in the classroom
February 5, 2021 -

ABCs, 123s. Sitting in a circle and waiting your turn. Keeping your hands to yourself. Not taking your neighbor’s belongings and absolutely no cutting ahead in line. Beyond basic classroom rules, these are the life lessons that teachers impart to our kids each and every day in schools across the country. Some of these rules are about fairness and right and wrong, and others are about how a person’s actions can affect the good of the group. Teachers start these lessons early and recite them often because these are all critical concepts about being part of a community and they are the foundations upon which a school is run and society prospers.

Read More: Washington Post
Another year starts violently in Baltimore. Roca keeps knocking on doors to try to save lives.
February 5, 2021 -

The gauge we hate but cannot ignore shows that 2021 is already worse than 2020. There were 29 homicides in Baltimore by Wednesday; that’s one more than at the same time last year. All but six of those killings were by gun. On top of that, 51 other people were wounded, and that represents 10 more nonfatal shootings than police recorded by Feb. 3, 2020. There were no killings on Dec. 8, the day Brandon Scott took office as Baltimore’s new mayor. But there have been 56 homicide victims since then, including the Safe Streets peacemaker Dante Barksdale.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
‘Normalcy’ is still a long ways off, despite COVID vaccine rollout
February 5, 2021 -

To say we were overjoyed after we were each vaccinated against COVID-19 would be an understatement. As two physicians, one of whom works in the ER and the other of whom works in the medical wards and ICUs, we had spent our shifts watching COVID ravage our patients and worrying that we would contract the virus ourselves. This vaccine marks, to date, the best weapon available to turn the tide against this virus. However, as the vaccine begins to be rolled out to the general public, we do want to remind everyone that this vaccine, while incredible, will not end the threat that COVID poses overnight.

Read More: Baltimore Sun

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