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January 18, 2025

Cambridge Spy

Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Cambridge

Point of View Opinion

Presidential pasts and an impending future by Steve Parks

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Former president and now president-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated again – this time to a non-consecutive second term. (The first since Grover Cleveland, elected in 1885 and 1893.) Although I was disappointed, to say the least, about his victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in November, it is clear that Trump was elected fair and square by millions of Americans I disagree with regarding his fitness for office.
Despite my severe doubts based on his first-term presidency – two impeachments resulting in party-line acquittals and four felony charges: two blocked by judicial stall tactics, another by a prosecutor’s personal indiscretion, plus one conviction with no penalties allowed – I had no choice but to respect the results and give the winner the benefit of aforementioned doubts. I say “no choice” because without evidence of anything but a straight-up electoral Trump victory meant to me – as it should to any American who believes in democracy – that he is our once and now-again president. Others I respect on the losing side upheld that rightful interpretation of constitutional law. Harris conceded the next morning. And she fulfilled her constitutional duty as vice president and president of the Senate to confirm the electoral count on Jan. 6. Remember that date, anyone? Hakeem Jeffries, minority leader of the House of Representatives, gaveled his announcement of the final count to the applause of mostly the winning side. Nothing wrong with that. But compare this entirely peaceful transfer of power to that of the MAGA mob, egged on by Trump, on the same date four years ago.
Still, Trump is about to be our next president. And he was among a rich and rare assemblage of colleagues on another historic day just last week. Trump and three other former presidents, plus President Joe Biden, sat together as a far more exclusive club than the “Saturday Night Live” five-timer host club. But it was the centenarian of the hour, 39th President Jimmy Carter, whose funeral stood as a still-living memorial to the great man in the flag-draped casket – a fallible human of unassailable character, decency, integrity and the belief I have now and always did that Jimmy Carter never lied to us. All the eulogies were authentically moving and real. No embellishment necessary. One of my favorites was the bipartisan tribute read by Gerald Ford’s son Steven because these former presidential election rivals and best friends for the rest of their lives, agreed to write each other’s eulogies. Carter outlasted Ford by 18 years.
I can apply none of those accolades to the man about to take his second oath of office I doubt he will keep for a minute. I say that because I’m certain he will never take the step that could redeem himself and his idolaters: Tell the truth about the 2020 election. Are we to just pretend that he’s not the one who tried to “steal” an election? – campaigning before and after the votes were counted that it was “rigged.” It’s an impossible feat considering all the states, counties, and municipalities, not to mention the thousands of precincts you’d have to line up to pull off a stolen national election. And never mind there is zero evidence of such a widespread possibility in 2020. If Donald could bring himself to announce, or at least imply, at his inauguration in front of the president who once defeated him that, yes, Biden won that election, just as he – Trump – won this one, he could obliterate the fact-free obsession that has divided America for more than five years. Confession is good for the soul and would be for the country he now leads. Again. But Trump will never do that.
Too bad for all of us on either side of his contagious lie. You won in 2024, Mr. Trump. Mr. President. And no one seriously challenges that. Why would you contribute to keeping the country divided against itself as you did when you lacked the simple courtesy of attending Biden’s inauguration? Sore loser, for sure. Why would you now be a sore winner as well? Just to get even? Surely, you can’t expect to run again. Make the best of this term for yourself, your legacy, and for all the rest of us.
Jimmy could be watching you, Donald. But you don’t seem to care. You think Carter was a loser. But so were you in 2020. Be a man and admit it. Put an end to all the personal strife you brought upon yourself as a result. And all of us fellow Americans, too. Then get on with being the best president you can be for a more united USA.
Make America Grateful Again – grateful to be who we are when we’re all working together.
Steve Parks is a retired journalist now living in Easton.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

From and Fuller: A Middle East Cease Fire and the Legacy of the Biden Years

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Every Thursday, the Spy hosts a conversation with Al From and Craig Fuller on the most topical political news of the moment.

This week, From and Fuller discuss the political ramifications of the recent agreement between Gaza and Israel for a cease-fire in the Middle East. Al and Craig also trade thoughts about Joe Biden’s four years as president and the legacy he will be leaving.

This video podcast is approximately sixteen minutes in length.

To listen to the audio podcast version, please use this link:

Background

While the Spy’s public affairs mission has always been hyper-local, it has never limited us from covering national, or even international issues, that impact the communities we serve. With that in mind, we were delighted that Al From and Craig Fuller, both highly respected Washington insiders, have agreed to a new Spy video project called “The Analysis of From and Fuller” over the next year.

The Spy and our region are very lucky to have such an accomplished duo volunteer for this experiment. While one is a devoted Democrat and the other a lifetime Republican, both had long careers that sought out the middle ground of the American political spectrum.

Al From, the genius behind the Democratic Leadership Council’s moderate agenda which would eventually lead to the election of Bill Clinton, has never compromised from this middle-of-the-road philosophy. This did not go unnoticed in a party that was moving quickly to the left in the 1980s. Including progressive Howard Dean saying that From’s DLC was the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.

From’s boss, Bill Clinton, had a different perspective. He said it would be hard to think of a single American citizen who, as a private citizen, has had a more positive impact on the progress of American life in the last 25 years than Al From.”

Al now lives in Annapolis and spends his semi-retirement as a board member of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (his alma mater) and authoring New Democrats and the Return to Power. He also is an adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins’ Krieger School and recently agreed to serve on the Annapolis Spy’s Board of Visitors. He is the author of “New Democrats and the Return to Power.”

For Craig Fuller, his moderation in the Republican party was a rare phenomenon. With deep roots in California’s GOP culture of centralism, Fuller, starting with a long history with Ronald Reagan, leading to his appointment as Reagan’s cabinet secretary at the White House, and later as George Bush’s chief-of-staff and presidential campaign manager was known for his instincts to find the middle ground. Even more noted was his reputation of being a nice guy in Washington, a rare characteristic for a successful tenure in the White House.

Craig has called Easton his permanent home for the last eight years, where he now chairs the board of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and is a former board member of the Academy Art Museum and Benedictine.  He also serves on the Spy’s Board of Visitors and writes an e-newsletter available by clicking on DECADE SEVEN.

With their rich experience and long history of friendship, now joined by their love of the Chesapeake Bay, they have agreed through the magic of Zoom, to talk inside politics and policy with the Spy every Thursday.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Stop calling America stupid by J. E. Dean

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I’m thinking about starting a new political movement–one with the goal of starting to bridge the political gap that often appears to be the forerunner of the next civil war. I call the movement “Stop Calling America Stupid” or SCAS. I am putting SCAS on grey baseball hats that I will sell online and hand out at SCAS rallies. SCAS is not a new political party or an effort to take over an existing one. It is a movement to encourage people to stop calling each other names. Nothing more.

In my opinion, America made a mistake on November 5. I worry about America’s future. For the next hundred years, historians will write about what led to Trump winning the election. Depending on what the next four years brings, MAGA voters will be credited with being prescient in bringing about much-needed change in American government or dismissed as voters who brought the wrong candidate to power. Some historians will make the same mistake many opinion leaders are making today—they will call MAGA voters stupid. The more charitable anti-Trump writers will call them “mistaken” or “misled.”

I like the later analysis because many Trump supporters, including a few who stoop to calling me a lunatic or “deranged,” are not stupid people. Some went to good colleges, have important jobs, and are solid family members. They look nothing like the beer-swigging, gun-toting militia members who are sometimes credited as being “Trump’s base.”

So, let’s acknowledge that you don’t have to be stupid to be glad Trump won the election. That means that there is hope. There is hope because it may be impossible to change the mind of a stupid person, but you can reason with an intelligent one. The problem is not the intelligent MAGA supporting understanding you but getting them to engage in discussions with you. And they will never engage in discussions with you if you are calling them stupid or if they are calling you deranged or suggesting that you be deported along with “migrant criminals.”

That is why America needs a cease-fire on the supercharged political rhetoric that has Made America Ugly Again. A case in point, we must stop calling the President-Elect a “NAZI.”

Like every ceasefire in history, this cannot happen unless one side takes the first step by stowing away its anger and hate. It needs to turn the other cheek when Donald Trump calls progressives communists, utters what they consider to be racial slurs, and makes proposals best described as acts of war—things like sending the army to Greenland to “take” it.

The Trump transition has made it difficult for those of us who might join my SCAS movement with his questionable presidential appointments, plans to pardon offensively named “January 6 patriots,” and his continued threats of retribution against his perceived enemies. Trump and MAGA are in the middle of a Dionysian dance of celebration that will not end for at least a few months. During this time, it will be unlikely for SCAS to make much progress, which is not to say that the effort to launch a civil dialogue should not begin now. Rather, it is urgent that it begins right now. Remember that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.

I will not wish Donald Trump “God Speed,” like Judge Merchan did as he handed Donald Trump his sentence in the “hush money” case. I don’t want to see his policies become the law of the land. Joining SCAS doesn’t mean abandoning principles or empathy for people whom you believe will be harmed by Trump’s policies. Instead, good SCAS members believe that Trump’s agenda will eventually fail, or will fail to be enacted and implemented and that America will be left with the need to Return America to What it Was Before Trump or Make America Something Different from What Trump Wants to Make It.

America is not lost. America is not in decline. And America has not repudiated democracy by electing Trump. We are on a detour, not an elevator descending to hell. There is hope. And the way to turn that hope into a change in policy is to stop calling America stupid and begin setting the stage to work with others on a new and improved path.

J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, and, too infrequently, other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s List on Medium and Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Elon in charge of government cost cutting—isn’t it ironic, don’t you think? by Maria Grant

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On the campaign trail for Trump, Elon Musk waxed eloquently about the need to cut government spending and regulations. To do so, Trump announced that he planned to appoint Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead an outside task force called the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE. 

Before the election, Musk claimed he planned to cut $2 trillion from federal government spending. Last week Musk changed his tune and said he probably would be able to cut less than $1 trillion. Why? Because it’s much more difficult to cut government spending than you might imagine. More than two-thirds of the federal budget goes to defense, Social Security, Medicare, veterans benefits and interest payments on the nation’s $36 trillion debt—all areas which Trump has promised not to cut.

So where does the irony come in with Musk and cost-cutting? Let’s take a brief look at how much money Musk has received from government contracts and subsidies over the last 14 years. 

Space X has secured contracts for approximately $20 billion for crew and cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station and Starship development for lunar missions.

Tesla has received several types of government support, including a $465 million low-interest loan from the Department of Energy. He also has received significant income from environmental regulatory credits. These credits resulted in a substantial part of Tesla’s revenue, contributing more than $517 million by 2015, and an additional $10 billion since 2015. And don’t forget the Federal $7,000 tax credit that each Tesla owner received simply for buying an electric vehicle at a time when Tesla had a near monopoly on the electric vehicle market.

Solar City, which Tesla acquired, has received direct grants, tax credits and other subsidies including a $497 million direct grant from the U.S. Treasury Department. 

In short, a prime reason that Musk is the richest man in the world is because of the money he has received from the federal government. 

In the past, Musk has also had several adversarial knock-down drag outs with government regulators over the safety of his Teslas and environmental issues over his rockets. In his new role, Musk will potentially have control over government regulators who are regulating his companies. 

There is no question that Elon Musk is a brilliant entrepreneur. He has been declared an engineering and managerial genius. His IQ is estimated to be around 155, right up there with Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. His accomplishments to date are beyond impressive. But he also is driven to get to Mars as soon as possible and wants nothing to stand in his way—including regulators who care about safety and the environment—and competitors, such as Boeing and Jeff Bezos—his biggest competitors in the Space race. (Bezos and Musk both have rockets scheduled to launch this week.) 

In his new position, Musk potentially will have the ability to get rid of some regulations and put the kibosh on some of his competition in the space race. Such conflicts used to be stifled at the outset. But in this brave new world, they seem to be alive and well and living in the USA. (In addition to exerting major influence on the U.S. and outer space, Musk is now endorsing the far-right candidate for Germany, has inserted himself into British politics encouraging the most conservative option, and has cozied up to Italy’s conservative prime minister Giorgia Meloni whom he has bonded with over their mutual affection for the Lord of the Rings trilogy.)

Jeff Bezos just announced a $40 million Amazon deal for a Melania Trump documentary. James Carville, who is well versed in the documentary market, claims that you can make an A-plus documentary for $2 million. 

The concept of buying favor for personal gain, now front and center, is a distressing turn of events.

There is no question that there is government waste that can be pared down. But there’s also no question that regulations are needed to protect our environment and the safety of our citizens. There’s also no question that it is wrong to award government contracts to the entrepreneur with the deepest pockets—especially when the ultimate grifter, Donald Trump, is leading the charge. 

It’s time for government watchdogs to do their jobs. It’s also time that we put limits on the amount of money these entrepreneurs can put forth to get the go-ahead on their pet projects and line the pockets of the Commander-in-Chief. 

Maria Grant was principal-in-charge of the federal human capital practice of an international consulting firm. While on the Eastern Shore, she focuses on writing, reading, music, and nature. 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Eudaemonia By Jamie Kirkpatrick

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For more than twenty years, I worked in an all-boys high school as a college counselor, teacher (Middle Eastern Studies) and coach (baseball). I’m still engaged in education as a resource to students who are sorting their way through the college admissions process, primarily as a reader and editor of their college essays. One thing I’ve learned: one of a teacher’s greatest joys comes when the student becomes the teacher and the teacher becomes the student. It happened (again) just yesterday morning…

I was reading a series of short answers—responses could not be longer than thirteen words!—to questions posed by the admissions office of a well-regarded university in upstate New York. The prompt in question was “I am fascinated by:”. My student’s response was “the world, different cultures, peoples, ideas, nature, literature, and eudaemonia.” I was stumped; what in the world was ‘eudaemonia?’

Thank you,Google. Eudaemonia comes down to us from the Greek. It means ‘good spirited’ or ‘well-being,’ and is often translated as ‘happiness’ or ‘flourishing.’ But ‘happiness’ is an emotion whereas ‘eudaemonia’ is more; it is a state of mind, an Aristotelian ideal representing a good life, one lived in accordance with harmony and reason by cultivating virtue. By contrast, its antonym runs the gamut from despair and misery to adversity, suffering, and defeat. I couldn’t help but think of the thousands of people suffering unimaginable loss in Los Angeles.

You may recall that in last week’s Musing, I mentioned that on the day after my wife and I returned from several days atop a mountain in Montana, I experienced a strange sense of health and well-being. I attributed this to all the red blood cells circulating in my system after a week at elevation. Alas, it was but a temporary mood shift, but it lasted just long enough to make me appreciate the difference between life at sea level and life in the wake of the thinner atmosphere of the mountains. It was more than a mood; it was a moment (I now know) of eudaemonia.

We are about to embark on a new era, a time that may well test our national soul. Try as I might, I cannot shake the sense of foreboding that hangs over me like thick fog these days. Eudaemonia seems impossibly far away. All the current talk about expanding American power seems the very antithesis of cultivating eudaemonia in our lives. I can feel Aristotle shuddering.

I think a lot about how to get through the dark days ahead, but I honestly haven’t come up with any reasonable answers. Some people say “don’t worry, maybe it won’t be so bad,” but check the facts; experience suggests otherwise. And when I hear all the bombastic posturing about Greenland or the Panama Canal or even Canada, that fleeting experience of eudaemonia I had post-Montana seems all the more dreamlike, more remote, farther and farther away.

Eudaemonia is a difficult concept to define, but there are several common elements in any attempt at translation: growth. authenticity, meaning, bliss, and excellence. I sincerely hope that my young student who will soon be heading off to college in search of “the world, different cultures, peoples, ideas, nature, literature, and eudaemonia” will not be disappointed. We owe his generation more.

I’ll be right back.

Jamie Kirkpatrick is a writer and photographer who lives in Chestertown. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Washington College Alumni Magazine, and American Cowboy Magazine. His most recent novel, “The Tales of Bismuth; Dispatches from Palestine, 1945-1948” explores the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is available in bookstores and on Amazon.

 

 

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

In the mind of a U.S. Senator to be by Al Sikes

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The ambitions are vaulting, and the expectations are immense. A U.S. Senator. The United States! What could be better, the ultimate club of 100? Not just any peer group—the peer group.

Well, okay, maybe they don’t measure up to my standards. So I will run.

And then the time arrives. The news media follow my every move. My wife and children glow. My supporters are on their feet. A rush of adrenaline overcomes my sleepless nights. How can I sleep with so much at stake?? And I promise a better America, one that results from my wisdom and sacrifice.

Now in Washington—bedmate absent—sleepless nights are shadowed by disappointment with office and committee assignments. I can’t shake the image. I am now 97th or maybe 100th and when everybody lines up I am in the background.

But most painfully I have lost my courage somewhere. I am not going to make America better because I am now controlled, led by others and I am a first termer. I barely get in the game and then when I do its the last minutes. Legislation looks like an Amazon Prime catalog as our team leader says everything needs to be in one big bill and certainly no more than two.

Is redemption possible? Is there any chance of independence? Can I voice my take on things—or, if I do, will I lose the next election? Or my deep pocketed givers? Will I lose my membership? Will I become barely a footnote in the local paper much less the history books?

And then the guy who was at the top of the ballot says do what I say or you are history. What about my name? If I don’t yield, will he call me a derogatory name that will chase me through life? And if he doesn’t, will I look even worse? At best an afterthought?

But then I look around. I recall that my kids got shots and skipped diseases. What about RFK Jr’s attitude toward vaccines? Should he be our health care leader?

When I look at the Department of Defense I wonder how a guy whose success is framed by being glib on TV can lead the federal government’s largest department. And in many ways the most important one. This is not defense against the local scoundrels; this is facing our most determined enemies.

So what do I do? Do I measure up?  Do I measure up to the expectations of my family? What about the imperative to tell the truth? The one I pledge each Sunday? Am I going to make a difference in Washington or has it already changed me?

The campaigns are over. The rallies a long since forgotten image passed around on Facebook. Truth be told this is now the time for me to stand-up, but damn, the truth is tough. What will the Party faithful say? Will I get invited to the White House? Already there are rumblings of a challenger.

Can I say “who cares”? There is a faint memory; maybe from high school history: the less you care about yourself the more you will care about others.

My choice—a seat with the best or are they the best? Is this the best I can do? Well maybe I can change them. Just then an invitation arrives, I’ve been asked to be a guest on a late night cable show. I text; “let my driver know.”

As afterthoughts: Maryland has a first term US Senator. As the world moves and shakes and challenges will she stick to the same old playbook? Or, will the people who really matter know her name?

Recall: At the end of the 118th Congress the final tally of Gallup was that the Congress was approved by 17%. Think about that, the most important representative body in the world approved by only 17% of its constituents. Will the 119th be any better?

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Cracks in a “blue wall” of resistance to Trump’s congressional agenda by David Reel

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One of the many surprises in the last presidential election was Donald Trump winning in three “blue wall” battleground states — Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Now that the reality of a second Trump term is sinking in, some Democratic members of Congress, Democratic governors, Democratic state attorney generals, and a large group of issue advocacy groups are working diligently to put up a new “blue wall” in Congress to delay or derail President-elect Trump’s congressional agenda.

That proposed “blue wall” currently has an unexpected crack in an unexpected place–the United States Senate with John Fetterman, the Democratic U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania.

Elected to the Senate in in 2022, Fetterman is the most unpredictable and unconventional member of the Senate since Arlen Specter, a former Senator who was also from Pennsylvania.

Once elected, Fetterman was widely expected to be a conventional partisan progressive and a reliable supporter for progressive public policy positions.

Since his election he has demonstrated a level of independence that has surprised and disappointed progressives, and surprised and pleased conservatives.

Fetterman has regularly and forcefully expressed staunch support for Israel in their ongoing war with Hamas.

On immigration, Fetterman has said, “I support a secure border.” He also supports the deportation of undocumented immigrants arrested for crimes committed in America. He has said he doesn’t know why anyone finds it controversial, that people illegally in the U.S. who commit crimes “need to go.”

Now Fetterman is publicly challenging Democratic members of Congress who are developing strategies to resist and derail Trump’s agenda in Congress.

In a recent interview with Jonathan Carl on ABC News “This Week”, Fetterman said he hopes Trump is successful in his second term and he’s not “rooting against him.” This follows Fetterman’s pre-election endorsement of Kamala Harris for president and endorsing former long term fellow Democratic U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania — Bob Casey.

He also said, “If you’re rooting against the president, you are rooting against the nation. So, country first. I know that’s become maybe like a cliche, but it happens to be true.”

That observation is consistent with Fetterman’s thought that in moving forward, Democrats can’t get wrapped up in “freaking out” over every move that Trump makes.
Most recently, Fetterman affirmed his independent nature by accepting an invitation to meet with President-elect Trump in Florida.

Fetterman announced his acceptance decision with his usual candor and bluntness, “President Trump invited me to meet, and I accepted. I’m the Senator for all Pennsylvanians — not just Democrats in Pennsylvania, I’ve been clear that no one is my gatekeeper. I will meet with and have conversations with anyone if it helps me deliver for Pennsylvania and the nation.”

Fetterman has walked his talk with regard to his role as a Senator in voting to confirm or reject confirmation of some of Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees.

Fetterman was one of the first Democratic Senators to meet with Pete Hegseth, Trump’s choice to serve as Secretary of Defense.

He has said he will vote to confirm Elise Stefanik as Ambassador to the United Nations and Marco Rubio as Secretary of State.

He is still considering if he will vote to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Security.

While Fetterman’s approach to working with the Trump administration is not yet widely accepted by Democratic members of Congress, it is not unique.

At least one Democratic member of Congress has already embraced Fetterman’s approach to the Trump administration.

In a New Year’s Day New York Times guest essay, Congressman Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y. urged fellow Democratic lawmakers to drop the resistance movement and work with Trump in his second term.

Suozzi wrote, “As a Democratic member of Congress, I know my party will be tempted to hold fast against Mr. Trump at every turn, uniting against his bills, blocking his nominees and grinding the machinery of the House and the Senate to a halt. That would be a mistake. But
as a common-sense Democrat who won in a district that Mr. Trump also won, I am certain our closely divided electorate would rather have bipartisan solutions than political gridlock.”

Going forward it will be most interesting to see if cracks in any congressional “blue wall” of resistance get bigger and deeper.

While to date such cracks may be relatively small, they could expand to a point where a “blue wall” of resistance strategy is futile on stopping Trump’s ambitious second term agenda.

With slim Republican majorities in Congress, especially in the House, any support by Democratic members of Congress for Trump’s congressional agenda significantly increases the odds for approval of that agenda.

David Reel is a public affairs and public relations consultant in Easton.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Unbroken By Laura J. Oliver

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Leah is on the rug in the foyer, licking her paws nonstop. The terrier mix is hard at work giving herself a…  mani? pedi? Your guess is as good as mine, but she draws my attention to something on the floor next to the door, near the crack that lets the cold air in. I bend down and discover that Baby Jesus has fallen out of the trash bag I took out earlier. Good heavens. It feels like a sign.

He’s made of pottery and painted brown to look like wood. I bought him in Barcelona, Spain, the first Christmas I was married. He is part of a creche set, and if you look closely, you notice he has the vacant gaze of a Roman statue, and now, with a major chip out of his manger, Baby J has to go.

I feel a little squeamish dispensing with Jesus (or trying to). It’s similar to deciding what to do with the eight Bibles you’ve accumulated.

Leave them in hotel rooms, Gideon!

But I never had a good surface area on which to display the creche, and over the decades, the cows lost their horns; Mary seems to have had a MOHS procedure on her nose, and her halo is chipped. Joseph, inordinately tall, can’t stand up unassisted now. The arm he extends down toward the manger looks like he’s saying, “Woah Nelly…”  not, “Behold the King of kings.”

I’ve been hanging on to the whole broken holy family because that’s what I do– hang on to family– only in some sense of late that has become the family of man.

Hello you.

Thanks to the internet, I’ve been reconnecting with people I knew only briefly, say in eighth grade, or tangentially, as in my best friend’s friend, and those rediscovered relationships feel very much like Christmas, like the most unanticipated of gifts. Maybe it’s because who we grew up with shaped who we became, and there are days, or moments anyway, where reconnecting with our points of origin feels disarming, even charming.

Eventually, we grow up, and our life companions become our kids. I bought each of my children a Christmas ornament the year they were born and one every year thereafter until they left home. So, each child took a collection of memories from childhood into their future. Audra’s ornaments were always a bell of some kind—silver, gold. Andrew’s were made of china—a polar bear, a reindeer, and Emily’s ornaments were made of crystal—stars, icicles, and angels. That’s nearly 60 ornaments that have come and gone from my tree, which I guess means 60 years of parenting in a way. It’s a 60-year big hole, anyway. Chicxulub comes to mind—the asteroid that had been on a collision course with the Earth for centuries and then left a hole nearly 100 miles wide and at least 12 miles deep.

That sounds about right.

The tree is out on the porch waiting for recycling. When I was little, we cut our tree down from the pasture, but the selection was limited to scraggly white pines. We carried our choice back to the house, with its white shingles and green shutters, and watched my father drill holes in the trunk he then filled with extra branches he’d trimmed in the woods. Eventually, the tree was lush and beautiful. The first artificial Christmas tree!

I decide to keep Mary and one of the cows from the original creche as I finish packing away Christmas. Who hasn’t had MOHS, and who doesn’t have a broken halo? I also keep the angel because who doesn’t need an extra angel?

I vow I will throw out everything that hasn’t been used this year—the rejected decorations left in the 12 storage boxes in the linen closet— again… The garish ornaments from friends I dearly love, the balls from the year I thought I’d do Christmas in blue and white….

I cram all the bows in a box, knowing I have friends who put their bows away stuffed with tissue to retain their shape. Friends who don’t find candles in the box labeled garlands. And who don’t find the box marked “precious kids’ ornaments” empty. But holidays evolve, as do planets, solar systems, feelings, and family.

Christmas has changed for me in many ways and in other ways, not at all. This year, the tree had new ornaments filling out the bare spots where the bells, polar bears, and crystal angels once hung. Six hand-sewn wives of Henry the Eighth, which I bought in London, take their place, plus King Henry himself, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson. But the truth is that most of those boxes I planned to eliminate are back in the closet. I just smush the stuff in tighter so it appears consolidated.

I’ll let go of more next year, and one day, I will let go of everything. We all will.

But today, I hang on to the love story we just celebrated, to the lives that I made, to every sacred reminder of the life that made me.

 

Laura J. Oliver is an award-winning developmental book editor and writing coach, who has taught writing at the University of Maryland and St. John’s College. She is the author of The Story Within (Penguin Random House). Co-creator of The Writing Intensive at St. John’s College, she is the recipient of a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in Fiction, an Anne Arundel County Arts Council Literary Arts Award winner, a two-time Glimmer Train Short Fiction finalist, and her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her website can be found here.

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Maryland’s fiscal apocalypse by Clayton A. Mitchell, Sr.

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Maryland’s State Budget is teetering on the brink of an unprecedented financial collapse. The refusal to address formula-driven mandatory and entitlement spending threatens to thrust the state into a cycle of automatic “runaway” deficits, culminating in a financial “Extinction Level Event” in the near future. Despite the gravity of this crisis, political leaders have shied away from the structural reforms necessary to restore fiscal stability. Without bold action, Maryland’s taxpayers face a perilous future.

At the heart of Maryland’s fiscal woes is the rigid structure of formula-driven mandatory spending. These formulas mandate funding levels for key programs, such as education and Medicaid, irrespective of the state’s revenue performance. 

The failure to redefine and adjust the mandatory and entitlement spending based on economic realities is not a trivial oversight; it is a catastrophic misjudgment that will surely lead to a financial collapse from which there is no recovery. The state’s budget will collapse under its own weight—not due to inadequate taxation, not by trimming the discretionary budget, but because of otherwise well-meaning mandatory spending formulas whose costs become prohibitively unsustainable as they approach reality. Senate President Bill Ferguson underscored this reality, acknowledging that entitlement programs constitute the bulk of the growing deficit. Yet, political leaders have made little progress in reforming these spending mandates.

The illusion of fiscal health under the Hogan administration was largely sustained by federal COVID relief funds, which artificially created budget surpluses. These one-time funds masked the structural deficit and deferred difficult financial decisions. However, with the federal COVID money now evaporated, the true extent of Maryland’s budgetary challenges has come into sharp focus. Moreover, the upcoming Trump administration is likely to scale back discretionary federal spending, which has traditionally bolstered Maryland’s economy due to its reliance on federal contracts and agencies. This reduction in federal support will further exacerbate the state’s financial challenges, leaving Maryland ill-prepared to weather the storm.

Another significant drain on the state’s resources is Governor Moore’s commitment to “climate investments.” While addressing climate change is a noble goal, it is fundamentally a national and global issue, not a state-specific one. Maryland’s taxpayers should not be saddled with debt for initiatives that will have a de minimus impact on global climate trends. Prioritizing these expenditures over addressing the budget crisis is fiscally irresponsible and diverts attention from urgent structural reforms.

The recent Gonzales Poll reveals that a majority of Marylanders oppose tax increases to address the budget deficit. More than three-quarters of respondents oppose increases in income, property, and sales taxes. Even among those who strongly approve of Governor Moore’s performance, a significant majority oppose new taxes. This opposition underscores the political peril of pursuing tax hikes without first addressing the state’s spending problem.

While commendable as a good first “baby step”, Governor Moore’s recent proposal to save $50 million through government efficiencies is a drop in the ocean compared to the nearly $3 billion deficit – a deficit that is projected to double by 2030. While symbolic gestures like streamlining laptop procurement and reducing underutilized state vehicles are commendable, they fall far short of the comprehensive restructuring needed and do nothing to adjust mandatory spending. 

The Moore Administration’s reliance on outside consultants, such as Boston Consulting Group, further diminishes the credibility of these efforts. Not only will the consulting firm receive 20% of any identified savings, but this agreement could cost taxpayers up to $15 million over two years. This expenditure – which has been billed as a measure to save money- epitomizes the mismanagement of resources that has plagued the state.

In a December 11, 2024, opinion article in Center Maryland, I called upon Governor Moore to “reorganize Maryland’s bloated bureaucracy” for the first time in over 50 years before considering tax increases. This reorganization should include revisiting mandatory spending formulas, recalibrating spending mandates to align with the state’s fiscal realities, addressing unfunded pension liabilities that loom like a ticking time bomb, and eliminating redundant programs through a thorough review of state operations. Recent proposals that have been quietly suggested by legislative leaders such as Senate President Bill Ferguson – such as raising the capital gains tax – fail to address the structural deficit and punish success, should be outright rejected. 

Maryland is at a crossroads. The state’s leaders must confront the hard truths about its fiscal trajectory and embrace meaningful reforms. Without immediate decisive action, the combination of formula-driven spending, evaporating federal support, and misplaced priorities will lead Maryland toward a financial catastrophe. The time for half-measures is over; the state’s fiscal survival depends on bold, transformative leadership.

Clayton A. Mitchell, Sr. is a lifelong Eastern Shoreman, attorney, and former Maryland Department of Labor’s Board of Appeals Chairman.  He is co-host of the Gonzales/Mitchell Show podcast, which discusses politics, business, and cultural issues.

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

From and Fuller: How Serious to Take Donald Trump and the Great Los Angeles Fire of 2025

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Every Thursday, the Spy hosts a conversation with Al From and Craig Fuller on the most topical political news of the moment.

This week, From and Fuller discuss President-elect Donald Trump’s foreign affairs aspirations, including the purchase of Greenland, the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, annexing Canada as the US’s 51st state, and retaking, by force if required, the Panama Canal. They answer how seriously the country and the world should take Trump’s goals for American expansionism. Al and Craig also talk about the devastation caused by four fires taking place in Los Angeles and the political and economic ramifications related to its recovery.

This video podcast is approximately 19 minutes in length.

To listen to the audio podcast version, please use this link:

Background

While the Spy’s public affairs mission has always been hyper-local, it has never limited us from covering national, or even international issues, that impact the communities we serve. With that in mind, we were delighted that Al From and Craig Fuller, both highly respected Washington insiders, have agreed to a new Spy video project called “The Analysis of From and Fuller” over the next year.

The Spy and our region are very lucky to have such an accomplished duo volunteer for this experiment. While one is a devoted Democrat and the other a lifetime Republican, both had long careers that sought out the middle ground of the American political spectrum.

Al From, the genius behind the Democratic Leadership Council’s moderate agenda which would eventually lead to the election of Bill Clinton, has never compromised from this middle-of-the-road philosophy. This did not go unnoticed in a party that was moving quickly to the left in the 1980s. Including progressive Howard Dean saying that From’s DLC was the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.

From’s boss, Bill Clinton, had a different perspective. He said it would be hard to think of a single American citizen who, as a private citizen, has had a more positive impact on the progress of American life in the last 25 years than Al From.”

Al now lives in Annapolis and spends his semi-retirement as a board member of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (his alma mater) and authoring New Democrats and the Return to Power. He also is an adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins’ Krieger School and recently agreed to serve on the Annapolis Spy’s Board of Visitors. He is the author of “New Democrats and the Return to Power.”

For Craig Fuller, his moderation in the Republican party was a rare phenomenon. With deep roots in California’s GOP culture of centralism, Fuller, starting with a long history with Ronald Reagan, leading to his appointment as Reagan’s cabinet secretary at the White House, and later as George Bush’s chief-of-staff and presidential campaign manager was known for his instincts to find the middle ground. Even more noted was his reputation of being a nice guy in Washington, a rare characteristic for a successful tenure in the White House.

Craig has called Easton his permanent home for the last eight years, where he now chairs the board of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and is a former board member of the Academy Art Museum and Benedictine.  He also serves on the Spy’s Board of Visitors and writes an e-newsletter available by clicking on DECADE SEVEN.

With their rich experience and long history of friendship, now joined by their love of the Chesapeake Bay, they have agreed through the magic of Zoom, to talk inside politics and policy with the Spy every Thursday.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.