The Banality of an Evil Pro-Abortion Art Exhibit

 From Mark Judge at Chronicles:

Still, the effect of seeing Andrea Bowers’ art was mostly enervation. This kind of angry political art is by now very old hat. Take the first room one enters at the exhibit. In Wall of Letters: Necessary Reminders from the Past for a Future of Choice, Bowers has simply reproduced dozens of letters of women seeking abortions, as well as guides on how to perform abortions, blown them up to poster size, and wallpapered a huge white room with them. This performative exercise might have shocked people a few decades ago, but by now the public has already absorbed and passed its judgment on the nonsense of artists like Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano. We have moved on. A hectoring and didactic display meant to incite insurrection in defense of abortion is old news. I mean, I was around to see Karen Finley smear herself with chocolate!

Bowers does better in the other rooms at Glenstone, which feature her pieces The Body is Not a Thing, It’s a Situation and Women and the Earth Have to Tolerate a Lot. Bowers has reproduced book illustrations, both from 1896, on square panels of cardboard. The illustrations themselves are quite beautiful, lovely representations of women in flowing Victorian dresses bodies intertwined. The original drawings were meant to illuminate women as deeply powerful and fertile beings with a seamless and metaphysical connection to nature. Then there are the works Ecofeminist Sycamore Branches: Women Have Always Thought Like Mountains, which feature tree branches illuminated with neon. The irony, of course, is that Bowers is using imagery evocative of the sensual and generative power of women to argue for killing babies. (Read more.)

Share

Maryland’s Energy Crisis Is a Choice

 From Brian Chisholm:

Maryland’s soaring electricity bills are not a mystery, an accident, or an unavoidable act of nature. They are the predictable result of deliberate policy choices and Maryland families are being forced to pay the bill.

A new fifty-state analysis from Energy Bad Boys exposes a widening divide in American electricity prices. In 2011, average prices in Democratic-led states were reportedly 44% higher than in Republican-led states. By 2025, that gap had widened to 61%. Since 2018, prices in blue states rose 43%, compared with 22% in red states.

That does not prove that party control alone determines a state’s electric bill. Geography, fuel mix, weather, infrastructure, taxes, and market structure all matter. But the pattern is too large and too consistent to ignore: states that prematurely close dependable power plants, restrict natural-gas infrastructure, and impose increasingly aggressive mandates tend to make electricity scarcer and more expensive.

Maryland is a case study in what happens when political ambition outruns engineering and economics. (Read more.)

Share

The Hessians and the American Revolution

 I remember visiting the Hessian Barracks in Frederick, MD as a child. From Smithsonian:

On August 15, 1776, a flotilla of British ships arrived on Staten Island, New York, just south of Manhattan. On board the vessels were more than 8,600 foreign soldiers, the first major contingent of German troops to reach the American Colonies. (Another group had set up camp in Quebec several months earlier to reinforce British forces in Canada.) 

There was no mistaking the new arrivals. Unlike their British allies, who were famously known as the redcoats, the Hessians usually wore blue or green coats, sometimes accompanied by tall, pointy brass headgear called miter caps.

For more than a year, the British Army had been battling rebellious colonists intent on establishing an independent nation. In October 1775, a fed-up George III announced his intention to “put a speedy end to these disorders by the most decisive exertions.” The British king added that he had “received the most friendly offers of foreign assistance.” Despite vigorous objections from some lawmakers, Parliament backed George in taking up those offers, expecting that the added manpower would soon crush the rebellion once and for all.

The Germans apparently shared that optimism. “None of the soldiers that went to America in 1776 anticipated that the war would last more than a year or two,” writes Friederike Baer, a historian at Penn State Abington College, in her 2022 book, Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War. (Read more.)

Share

Pensées on the Pascal Institute

 From The New Criterion:

The third-oldest college in the United States is small and, to borrow a word from the headline of a recent positive article about it in The Chronicle of Higher Education, “weird.” Founded in 1696 as King William’s School, St. John’s College in Annapolis has since 1937 provided its undergraduates, all of whom study Ancient Greek and are working toward a BA in liberal arts, with a University of Chicago–inspired curriculum in the great books that eschews nearly all secondary material. My mother-in-law went there, and two of my most talented former students are “tutors,” as the members of the faculty who teach small groups of self-motivated “Johnnies” are referred to locally.

Great books programs are a North American, and largely American, phenomenon. And there is—or, rather, has been—nothing like St. John’s outside the United States. What is surprising, in view of the Eurocentric nature of the curriculum, is that the idea of great books hasn’t had much of a hold in Europe. At least, that is, until now, with the advent of the Pascal Institute, in the Netherlands, with which St. John’s has formed a partnership.

This is the first thing one sees when going to the St. John’s website: “The following teachers will return to St. John’s College next year,” followed by a scrolling list with such names as Sappho, Sophocles, Lucretius, Virgil, Thomas Aquinas, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Jane Austen, Abraham Lincoln, Friedrich Nietzsche, Albert Einstein, Flannery O’Connor, and James Baldwin—and, oh yes, Blaise Pascal. Some are American, true. But most of these remarkable figures are European.

Also European, by birth, was St. John’s most famous tutor-teacher of the past few decades, the classicist and philosopher Eva Brann (1929–2024), though she became as American as apple pie. To quote the beautiful appreciation of Brann in The Lamp by St. John’s best-known current tutor-teacher, the classical philosopher Zena Hitz, “Her American identity was the strongest of anyone I have known.” (Read more.)

Share

Tench Tilghman of Maryland

Washington, Lafayette, and Tilghman at Yorktown

And so, as the dawn of that day grew bright
Was the dawn that followed the dreary night
Of trouble and woe and gloom and fear
That broke at last to a morning clear,
Brought by Tilghman over away
From Yorktown and Gloucester, far below
To the South, one hundred and twenty-five years ago.

~ Howard Pyle on Tilghman's Ride

 In the above painting the lily banner of royal France flies beside the American flag even as George Washington and Colonel Tench Tilghman, Washington's trusted aide-de-camp, stand with the Marquis de Lafayette, sent by King Louis XVI to help the Americans in their struggle for independence. The painting is after the Battle of Yorktown where the British were defeated by the French and American forces in October, 1781. Tilghman holds in his hands the dispatches with news of the victory which he would personally take to Congress in Philadelphia. According to Revolutionary War Archives:

Additionally, it was Tench Tilghman who brought the news of the surrender of General Cornwallis and the British on October 19th, 1781 following their defeat at Yorktown, to Congress. Tilghman, in his journey to notify Congress in Philadelphia, first stopped in Annapolis, Maryland and informed Maryland Governor Thomas Sim Lee of the surrender. However, Governor Lee had already been informed of the news, and as a result, sent the State House messenger, Jonathan Parker, to Philadelphia with the news. But, since those in Philadelphia were used to hearing information in the past that turned out to be rumors, and afraid to celebrate too soon, they waited anxiously for the official word; those dispatches that Tilghman carried. From Annapolis, Tilghman boarded a ferry at Rock Hall, Maryland, and after stopping to rest and see his family, continued on his journey to Philadelphia, arriving on October 24th, 1781. He first delivered the news to the President of Congress, Thomas McKean, then later that afternoon, attired in his full uniform and dress sword, Tench delivered the news to the members of Congress, as well as answered the numerous questions about the Battle of Yorktown. In appreciation for his faithful service, Congress awarded Tilghman a horse and another dress sword. That evening, a celebration by torchlight was held in Philadelphia in honor of Colonel Tilghman and the victory at Yorktown. In preparation for this celebration, the following was written and distributed to those in Philadelphia, saying, "those citizens who chose to illuminate on the Glorious Occasion, will do it this evening at Six, and extinguish their lights at Nine o’clock , and decorum and harmony are earnestly recommended to every Citizen, and a general discountenance to the least appearance of a riot."

 Dr. William H. Wroten, Jr. of Salsbury, Maryland wrote the following in the Salisbury Times in 1962:

Tench Tilghman's ride has become somewhat of a legend; therefore, various accounts have been given of his journey between Yorktown and Philadelphia. In some accounts, where that facts are not known, writers have attempted to picture what it must have been like as he crossed the Chesapeake Bay, rode through Kent County, etc. But for this story we will use Esther M. Dole's "Maryland during the American Revolution."

"By the terms of the surrender Cornwallis gave up 7,247 regular troops besides 840 sailors. One hundred and six guns were taken. The land forces and stores were assigned to the Americans and the ships and marines to the French who had ably assisted with their fleet. Maryland troops deserve a full share of the honor of this achievement for they have given material aid in the field under Gist and the State had exerted every effort to furnish the necessary supplies for the combined armies to maintain the siege."

ON THE surrender of Cornwallis, Col. Tench Tilghman of Maryland, aide-de-camp, was selected by Washington to carry the news to Congress at Philadelphia in the form of an official dispatch. Taking boat in York harbor he went to Annapolis which had received the news the day before from the Count do Grasse. He crossed the bay to Kent County, landing at Rock Hall, where he found a horse waiting for him. he then took the old post road to Edesville to Chestertown, thence north to Georgetown where he crossed the Sassafras River. When a horse would tire he would stop at a farmhouse so the account goes, and would shout, 'Cornwallis is taken, a fresh horse for Congress,' and one he would go."

He passed through Wilmington, and on to Philadelphia. It took him four days to make this memorable trip, and he arrived at midnight Oct. 23, 1781.

He knocked on the door of Thomas McKean's house (the President of the Continental Congress) told him of the glad tidings. Soon watchmen throughout the city were proclaiming the hour and shouting "All is well and Cornwallis taken." Within minutes most of the citizens were awake and in the streets celebrating the happy news. The State House bell rang out "Liberty" for the new American nation.

...Of more interest to us was the celebration that took place on Oct. 22, after Tench Tilghman rode into Chestertown. "This great event was no sooner announced to the public, than a large number of worthy citizens assembled, to celebrate the signal victory, (in a high degree auspicious to the cause of freedom and virtue) which was done with a decency and dignity becoming firm patriots, liberal citizens, and prudent members of the community-amidst the roaring of cannon, and the exhibition of bonfires, illumination, et., the gentlemen (having repaired to a hall suitable for the purpose) Drank the following toast, viz., 1. General Washington and the Allied Army; 2. Count de Grasse, and the Navy of France; 3. Congress; 4. Louis the 16th; a friend to the Rights of Mankind; 5. The United States; 6. General Greene and the Southern Army; 7. Count de Rochambeau; 8. The Memory of the illustrious Heroes who have fallen in the defense of American liberty; 9. King of Spain; 10. The United Provinces; 11. The Marquis de la Fayett; 12. The northern Arm; 13. The State of Maryland-the last in order but not the last in Love."

Tench Tilghman was the son of one of Maryland's oldest families. As the Maryland State Archives tell:

Tench Tilghman, one of Maryland's great patriots, was born on December 25, 1744 in Talbot County on his father's plantation. He was educated privately until the age of 14, when he went to Philadelphia to live with his grandfather, Tench Francis. In 1761, he graduated from the College and Academy of Philadelphia, which later became the University of Pennsylvania, and then went into business with his uncle Tench Francis, Jr. until just before the Revolutionary War. 

Tench Tilghman's public service began with his appointment by Congress to a commission established to form treaties with the Six Nations of Indian tribes. In 1776, Tilghman was commissioned captain in the Pennsylvania Battalion of the Flying Camp. In August 1776, he joined George Washington's staff as aide-de-camp and secretary. He served without pay until May 1781, when Washington, calling him a "zealous servant and slave to the public, and faithful assistant to me for nearly five years," procured for him a regular commission in the Continental Army....

After the War, Tilghman returned to Maryland where he resumed his career in business in Baltimore and married his cousin, Anna Marie Tilghman. They had two daughters, Anna Margaretta and Elizabeth Tench. Tilghman died on April 18, 1786 at the age of 41.

Tench Tilghman's Grave in Oxford, Maryland

In the words of George Washington (from a letter to Richard Tilghman, the brother of Tench Tilghman):

As there were few man for whom I had a warmer friendship or greater regard for your brother Colonel Tilghman—when living; so, with much truth I can assure you that there are whose death I could have more sincerely regretted—And I pray you and his numerous friends to permit me to mingle my sorrows with theirs on this unexpected and melancholy occasion. June 5, 1786 ...none could have felt his death with more regard than I did, because no one entertained a higher opinion of his worth.

 More HERE. Share

Election Integrity Fiasco in Maryland

From American Thinker:

Maryland election officials are facing a serious test of public trust after a vendor coding error reportedly caused some voters to receive incorrect mail-in ballots during the 2026 gubernatorial primary.  The error involved ballots mailed before May 14, 2026.

Maryland State Board of Elections (SBE) administrator Jared DeMarinis said at the May 28, 2026 state election board meeting that more than 563,000 voters were included in the affected mailing but that the “vendor could not accurately identify” which voters had received the wrong ballot.  DeMarinis further clarified that there were “over 447,000 voters” whose ballots may have been affected.  The board identified the error and attempted to correct it by sending out hundreds of thousands of replacement ballots.  President Trump commented on the matter shortly after the issue became public.

Kate Sullivan, director of the SecuretheVoteMD, a volunteer election integrity organization, believes that the election board likely chose a remedy that was not only unnecessarily chaotic, but legally questionable under Maryland law:

The State Board of Elections had a simple, legal solution sitting right in front of them. They should have complied with Maryland Election Law §11-303.2 — the “first ballot” rule, which requires them to verify the original ballots as they come in, count the correct ones, and cure the incorrect ones while there was still time.

That is exactly what the law requires. Instead, they flooded the system with replacement ballots, locked the originals in a vault until certification day, and issued guidance that overrides the “first ballot” statute entirely. One has to ask, when an election authority ignores an obvious lawful remedy and chooses a legally questionable path that potentially disenfranchises voters, it is no longer sufficient to call it a mistake. Marylanders deserve a full accounting of why this approach was chosen — and by whom.

Now SecuretheVoteMD is demanding that the Maryland State Board of Elections take five concrete steps before the November 3, 2026 general election to protect voters from disenfranchisement.  In sum, the organization is asking election officials to address key questions on the record: how the original erroneous ballots are being identified, what adjudication standard is being applied, how many original-batch ballots were received, how many were rejected, what notification process will be used for affected voters, and how the chain of custody was maintained from receipt through counting. (Read more.)

Share

Wes Moore Wants to Choose His Opponent

I have already voted for Hale, during early voting. From Direct Line News:

In the closing days before Maryland’s June 23 Republican gubernatorial primary, something unusual is happening on television, on Facebook, and in mailboxes across the state. Governor Wes Moore’s reelection campaign and the Maryland Democratic Party are spending real money on advertising aimed squarely at Republican voters. The ads attack the two leading GOP candidates, Dan Cox and Ed Hale Sr. The stated rationale from Democrats is simple: they say they are informing the public. Republicans say the operation is designed to pick Moore’s preferred opponent in November.

[...]

Republican candidates have had enough of it. Cox and Hale both publicly condemned the effort as Democratic interference. Their frustration is understandable. The 2022 cycle demonstrated the danger of this strategy, not because Democrats openly backed Cox, but because the amplification of his conservative credentials helped him consolidate a primary coalition. Cox’s nomination handed Moore exactly the general election opponent Democratic strategists wanted. The strategy worked. Now Democrats are running it again.

The key question is whether it will work a second time. Sam Novey, chief strategist at the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement at the University of Maryland College Park, offered a candid assessment. The jury, he said, remains out on pied piper effectiveness. Is spending money to elevate a weaker candidate worth the risk that the ads fail to move primary voters, while the funds could have gone elsewhere? And then there is reputational backlash. Republican activists who feel their primary has been manipulated have a way of channeling that anger into November turnout.

Democrats ran this play in 2022 and it worked. Cox won the primary. Moore won the fall by 35 points. Maryland Republicans cannot afford to let history repeat itself.

What Republicans Must Understand

There is a lesson here that Maryland Republicans need to absorb, and absorb quickly. When an incumbent governor with the resources of a statewide campaign apparatus and the backing of his state party is spending money in your primary, it is not because he fears you. It is because he has done the math. Moore’s team has made a calculation about which Republican candidate poses the lesser challenge in November. The advertising campaign is the logical result of that calculation. (Read more.)

Share

Lost Remains of Maryland’s Second Governor

 From Maryland Matters:

Using a groundbreaking method, researchers have likely identified the lost remains of the second governor of the colony of Maryland.

They’ve also found 1.3 million genetic relatives of Maryland’s first colonists who are alive today.

“Then we have 9,000 people who are close enough that they’re very likely direct descendants or very close relatives,” Éadaoin Harney, a senior scientist at 23andMe Research Institute, told WTOP.

She is the lead author of a study published last month in the journal Current Biology. In addition to the genetic testing company 23andMe, the study involved scientists from the Smithsonian, Harvard University and St. Mary’s City.

Their work was built on previous studies and the discovery over decades of dozens of bodies in a graveyard in St. Mary’s City. Established in 1634 in what is now St. Mary’s County, it’s recognized as the first permanent English settlement in Maryland.

In 2016, through genetic testing, it was revealed that remains found in three lead coffins in the city’s Chapel Field cemetery belonged to the colony’s fifth governor Philip Calvert, his first wife and a son he had with his second wife.

The latest study was aimed at identifying the remains of 49 other people buried in the graveyard. (Read more.)

Share

Maryland Board Of Elections Announces Significant Mail-In Ballot Error For June 2026 Primary

 From Jan Greenhawk at The Easton Gazette:

It shouldn't be this difficult to get elections right in Maryland. After all, Maryland is a relatively small state with approximately 4,312,855 registered voters (18th out of 50) compared to states like California with over twenty-three million. Neighboring states Virginia (12th out of 50) and Pennsylvania (5th out of 50). Of course, those states have their own problems with voting.

Many of these problems center around mail in ballots. That is no surprise.

Maryland election officials have confirmed this past week that there has been a significant mail‑in ballot error affecting the June 2026 primary, prompting the statewide reissuance of all previously mailed ballots. The problem stems from a vendor mistake that caused some voters to receive the wrong party’s ballot for the gubernatorial primary, with Democrats receiving Republican ballots and vice versa.

This error occurred with an estimated 500,000 mail in ballots sent to voters after May 14th, 2026. The error does not affect anyone who was mailed a ballot before May 14, 2026, or those who received/requested their mail-in ballot by web delivery (Print at Home ballot).Since the state cannot determine who got a faulty ballot, all the voters who received mail in ballots after that date will get replacements.

The vendor was blamed as making the mistake and not the local boards. It has not been determined if the vendor will be held financially responsible for the mistake or if taxpayers will bear the expense which some estimate could be seven figures.

One of the biggest concerns is how the state will keep those who received both faulty and replacement ballot from mailing in TWO ballots. (Read more.)

Share

My Little Sister

Today is her birthday. She's sixty!

 

Happy Birthday, Andrea!

Share

Wes Moore's Key Bridge Mess

 From Direct Line News:

Rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge is not just another public works project; it is one of the most consequential responsibilities Wes Moore faces. By any honest measure, it is already veering wildly off course. The numbers don’t add up: either the state’s original cost estimates, once pegged far lower, were wildly unrealistic, or the current bids are spiraling out of control, with contractor proposals reportedly well above the state’s $4.3 to $5.2 billion range.

The state’s decision to walk away from Kiewit Corporation, one of the largest and most experienced infrastructure builders in North America, after failing to agree on price is not a sign of discipline; it is a flashing warning light that Maryland’s management process itself may be breaking down.

Three Failures the Math Cannot Excuse

The first problem is the estimate itself. Releasing a $1.8 billion figure thirteen days after one of the most complex marine infrastructure disasters in modern American history was not good governance. It was financial improvisation dressed up as planning. Officials have since called those projections “rudimentary” and “hasty.” Their words, not mine. The problem is those numbers were used to set public expectations, secure federal commitments, and justify a project management timeline that simply could not hold. When a project more than triples in cost from initial estimate to revised estimate, the initial estimate was not an estimate. It was a placeholder with political utility.

The second problem is the contractor debacle. Maryland selected Kiewit Infrastructure Co. in August 2024, awarding a $73 million initial contract for pre-construction and design services. Kiewit spent months advancing design work to the 70 percent completion threshold. Then, when it came time to price Phase 2, the company’s bids reportedly exceeded $5.2 billion. State officials called that figure unreasonably high. Maybe it was. But this raises an obvious question: what was the procurement process telling Maryland about the market before Kiewit submitted those numbers? Strong contract management does not wait for a bid submission to discover that cost expectations are misaligned. It builds in rigorous interim checkpoints, independent cost verification, and transparent public reporting. Maryland’s project website reportedly went months without an update. That is not transparency. That is a door quietly closing.

The third problem is the rhetoric gap. Governor Moore has repeatedly described this project as the nation’s fastest-moving large infrastructure effort. Federal Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who has been pressing Maryland on costs since September 2025, offered a considerably more measured assessment. When asked directly about Moore’s claim, Duffy did not validate it. His department’s public communications have instead focused relentlessly on fiscal oversight and responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars. The contrast between state messaging and federal response is not a matter of partisan politics. It is a governance signal. When the entity writing the check does not endorse the project manager’s narrative, the public deserves to know that. (Read more.)

Share

Essential Lavender

 

Meanwhile, in Frederick County... From Virginia at Chartreuse and Company:

Treasured Roots Farm is a multi-generational family farm right here in Frederick County, Maryland. Laura and her husband are building it with her parents and three young daughters. We bonded instantly over raising kids while building a business, homeschooling, and shared dreams of creating something lasting on family land. 

Laura, with her family and truffle-hunting puppy, on their farm in Frederick County, MD.

I have a deep love for design. Laura has a deep love for food. But at the heart of it, we share the same passion for family and creating beautiful things that invite people in. Things that feel like home. 

In addition to lavender, Treasured Roots Farm is also home to a young truffle orchard and honeybees. They have a vision to create products that are meant to be used and enjoyed, not saved for a special occasion. Elevated ingredients that are simple, honest, and really well done. (Read more.)

Share

Maryland Sheriffs DEFY Governor’s New State Ban on Partnering With ICE

 From WLT Report:

In Maryland, Democrat Gov. Wes Moore has enacted a law to ban local law enforcement partnerships with ICE. But, it doesn’t seem to be going how he expected. The new law has nine sheriffs in the state absolutely furious! They say that they will defy the ban and continue cooperating with immigration authorities. Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis called the ban “the biggest betrayal to law enforcement and public safety” that he has ever seen....

Specifically, the new law banned 287(g) partnerships with ICE.

But, it doesn’t prevent local authorities from notifying ICE when an illegal alien is arrested.

Fox Baltimore has more details:

Maryland sheriffs who previously participated in the federal 287(g) program say they plan to keep working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in other ways, even after the governor signed a ban on formal 287(g) agreements. Although the new law eliminates formal memorandums of understanding (MOU) with ICE, it does not end all cooperation with the agency.

(Read more.)

Share

The Big Stink

 From Direct Line News:

The Potomac River, the central artery of our region, is now contaminated with E. coli, MRSA, and other dangerous pathogens after the failure of the Potomac Interceptor. This is not a minor spill. It is a public health catastrophe that experts compare with the Exxon Valdez and BP Deepwater Horizon disasters when measured by raw pollutant volume and impact area. What happened to the nation’s capital is not an unavoidable act of nature. It is a failure of leadership.

And to understand how we got here, it helps to remember that this is not the first time Gadis has been connected to a water system in crisis.

Before taking charge at DC Water, Gadis held a senior executive position at Veolia North America, the consulting firm hired by Flint in 2015 to assess its drinking water system. Flint residents had already been complaining about foul odors, discoloration, and illness. Veolia’s review was supposed to identify problems and recommend solutions. Instead, the firm delivered an assessment that failed to warn the public about lead contamination in their homes. This failure later became the focus of lawsuits filed by Flint families and by the State of Michigan. The Attorney General accused Veolia of professional negligence. Veolia defended itself in court, but the record speaks clearly. The firm did not sound the alarm that Flint desperately needed.

Now the Washington region is living through its own version of that nightmare. Under Gadis, DC Water allowed the Potomac Interceptor to weaken and collapse. The result was the release of millions of gallons of untreated wastewater into the river that serves as the drinking water source for large parts of the region. Because the spill was not contained quickly, it spread downstream, threatening communities from Georgetown to Northern Virginia to the Maryland suburbs. (Read more.)

Share

Maryland Needs a Real Watchdog: A Statewide Inspector General With Subpoena Power

 From Direct Line News:

Marylanders are tired of being told, year after year, that “the system is working” while audit after audit shows the system is bleeding money. At the opening of the 2026 legislative session, we’re again confronted with a simple question: who, exactly, is empowered to protect taxpayers when state agencies fail? Right now, Maryland’s answer is fragmented oversight, scattered audits, and a whole lot of finger-pointing after the damage is done.

That’s why Maryland needs an independent statewide Inspector General (IG), not another “task force,” not a glossy performance dashboard, and not a politically appointed office that answers to the same people it’s supposed to police. We need a true watchdog with one essential tool: subpoena power.

Let’s be blunt. The difference between an Inspector General and a press release is authority. An IG can compel the production of documents and testimony, put witnesses under oath, and refer evidence to prosecutors. Audits can spotlight problems; they usually can’t force accountability. That’s the heart of the debate unfolding in Annapolis right now: Maryland has identified enormous financial exposure across agencies, but its far less clear what consequences follow or whether anyone is ever held responsible. (Read more.)

Share

Anne Arundel’s Historic Belvoir Manor

There is some really intriguing archaeological work going on about slavery in Maryland. From WYPR:

An Anne Arundel County home’s ties to enslavement can be found beneath its soil and in the historic record.

But descendants of those enslaved believe their history is threatened.

When you enter the Belvoir Manor house from the basement and climb the stairs to the first floor you encounter history.

Julie Schablitsky, the chief archaeologist for the Maryland Department of Transportation, said the original stone house was built by Francis Scott Key’s grandparents in 1736. Then a brick addition was built in the 1780s by the owner and enslaver, Dr. Upton Scott.

“He was kind of banned from Annapolis a bit because people thought he was a British sympathizer,” Schablitsky said. “And so he was here living away from his Annapolis home and in doing that I think he was building, and then I also think that’s about the same time when a quarter for enslaved people was built too when they were firing all of these bricks up.”

Schablitsy found evidence of the building where enslaved people once lived while looking to no avail for something else at Belvoir. The French commander Comte de Rochambeau and his 4,500 troops camped there on their way to Yorktown in 1781.

“And instead of finding France we ended up finding Africa,” Schablitsky said.

A short walk from the home is a 32 by 32 foot site that was loaded with evidence and artifacts like stone walls and a brick floor, pieces of ceramic, and what Schablitsy calls the smoking pipe, a clay pipe with DNA that proved its user was a woman of African ancestry.

Wanda Watts has her fourth great grandmother’s manumission papers which prove she was enslaved at Belvoir.

“We know her husband, who was a free man, who was a glass maker in Annapolis and Baltimore, he purchased her and her daughter from here,” Watts said.

Pam and Larry Brogden, who are cousins, believe their family was at Belvoir too. There was a woman, Cinderella Brogden, who was enslaved there in the 19th century. Cinderella and her husband Abraham, a freedman, ran away to Baltimore but were captured.

“Abraham went to prison for three years,” Pam Brogden said. “They don’t know what happened to Cinderella.”

“Cinderella and Abraham, there’s a little gap between that and my great grandfather who came from slavery but we don’t know where,” said Larry Brogden.

On a recent tour of Belvoir the Brogdens, Watts and Schablitsky were taken aback by its condition.

“This is sad that we’re losing the main house,” Schablitsy said.

They had not been there for several years.

Watts said, “It’s really dilapidated and overgrown.”

Windows are broken. Fences are overrun by weeds. Watts said they have reached out to the owners.

“We’d like to see the manor preserved as well as the slave quarters and the area that we believe is the burial ground,” Watts said. “Preserved in some manner, not to disappear.”

Schablitsky said, “This is a very very significant site in Maryland and it is threatened. It is actually threatened. It’s not preserved. There’s nothing to keep it from being developed and lost forever.”

The property is owned by Luminis Health, which owns Anne Arundel Medical Center.

In a statement, Justin McLeod, Luminis’s media strategist, said Belvoir was donated to the company.

He said, “We appreciate its historical significance to its ancestors and our community. The Belvoir House remains in the same condition as when it was gifted to us, and we have engaged a professional property management company to maintain it.”

McLeod added there are no specific future plans for the property.

Gabby Reed, the director of communications for Anne Arundel County, said in a statement that the county has no plans to purchase the property.

On Nov. 22, Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman gave a formal apology for the government’s role in the institution of slavery and its lasting impact on the Black community.

Pittman said, “As County Executive, and as a direct descendant of Anne Arundel County enslavers, we collectively offer our inadequate and long-delayed, but deeply felt apology, and pledge to never allow this history to be forgotten as we work together toward atonement.”

Schablitsky has written a book, Belvoir: An Archaeology of Maryland Slavery. She offers clues on how the enslaved lived their lives. (Read more.)

Share

Everything’s Swell in Maryland… Except for Reality

 From Direct Line News:

What an amazing time to be a Marylander… if you’re into make-believe.

Meanwhile, back in reality: traffic on the Beltway is still soul-crushing, the state budget resembles a college kid’s overdrafted debit card, Baltimore crime stats look like something out of a post-apocalyptic video game, and — minor detail — we’re still down one Key Bridge, with no clear plan, timeline, or budget for getting it rebuilt. But yes, by all means, let’s keep throwing taxpayer dollars at bike lanes in districts where no one owns a bike.

This is what happens when one party runs the state like it’s a college activism seminar instead of a government. Our “leaders” are too busy banning plastic bags, painting rainbow crosswalks, and holding equity forums to address actual problems — you know, like infrastructure, public safety, or the state’s fiscal health. But sure, let’s raise taxes again and call it “justice.”

Republicans have been warning for years that this progressive fantasyland approach would lead us here. And what do we get in return? Sneering lectures and budget holes big enough to swallow the Harbor Tunnel. But here’s the kicker — when Democrats break something (like a bridge), they throw a press conference, not a solution. (Read more.)

Share

Lilith (1964)

I met a lady in the meads
Full beautiful-- a faery's child.
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.

~from "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" by John Keats

One July, when I lived in Pennsylvania, Turner Classic Movies ran Lilith, oddly coinciding with our parish summer festival. Not that our summer festival was anything like the one shown in Lilith. Based upon the novel by J.R. Salamanca, Lilith depicts a young woman afflicted with schizophrenia and the dangerous spell she casts on those around her. Keats' poem about the "beautiful lady without pity" figures prominently in the book, which explores the mystery of mental illness in far greater depth than does the film. The film is also heavy with nihilism as opposed to the pure tragedy of the novel. Although I must say that Jean Seberg was perfectly cast as the dangerous and beguiling Lilith, possessing the right balance of spritely charm and flaky malevolence needed for such a role.

Both book and film take place in Rockville, Maryland, just down the road from where I grew up. The movie was filmed on location in Rockville; it is fascinating to see what the town looked like before it became a parking lot for Washington, D.C. commuters. The festival scene was shot at an actual parish picnic, that of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Barnesville, Maryland, which is also the site for the drama of the novel. I used to attend that particular picnic in the early 80's and once helped with serving the chicken dinner. There is still a "Fair" there every summer, according to the parish bulletin.

When Lilith was last on, I watched for the glimpse of my friend Joanie's mother, who was caught on film, standing under a tree watching the jousting tournament with some other local people. Jousting is the official state sport of Maryland and figures prominently in the plot of Lilith. It is amid the wholesomeness of the picnic that Lilith's depravity is first exposed, but Vincent, the protagonist played by Warren Beatty, is too smitten to notice, and soon after falls under her thrall.

Most of action of book and film takes place at Chestnut Lodge, a famous clinic for the mentally ill and a landmark in Rockville. The character Vincent is a young Korean War veteran who goes to work as an aid at the clinic. Although he has no formal training, Vincent sincerely wants to help the patients, and his concern and empathy win him the trust of the doctors. He is permitted to take the seriously ill Lilith on outings, and she appears at first to be making progress in his care.

Unfortunately, the doctors and Vincent himself underestimate Lilith's bewitching and seductive charm. They are disarmed by her childlike and innocent manner. So is the viewer/reader likewise deceived, even to the extent that one begins to question if she is really insane at all. Lilith, however, is genuinely psychotic. Vincent betrays his trust and becomes sexually involved with her. Once Vincent becomes her lover, he also becomes her slave, which means playing into her derangement rather than foiling it. The more she indulges her whims, the more divorced she becomes from reality, dragging others along with her into the pit.

What is remarkable about the story is that Lilith's various aberrant behaviors, which in 1964 were considered quite shocking and indicative of her madness, are things which now certain segments of society are trying to convince us are normal. Her narcissism, her self-deification, her lack of boundaries (especially where sexuality is concerned) are traits which, when combined, once put someone in the mental hospital. Today such conduct is regarded by some as part of having a free spirit. It raises the question as to whether an entire society can degenerate into psychosis. If so, then increased self-indulgence is clearly not the path to healing.... Share

The Devil's Triangle: Mark Judge vs the New American Stasi

 

I just finished reading The Devil's Triangle: Mark Judge vs the New American Stasi by award-winning journalist Mark Judge. We all remember the terrible days of the Kavanaugh hearings in 2018, when the hope we all felt at the appointment of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court by President Trump was dashed by the allegations of sexual assault. The woman making the accusations was Christine Blasey Ford who had gone to a girls’ school near Georgetown Prep where Kavanaugh was a student. The allegations were vague as to time and place, except that Ford claimed that as a fifteen year-old she had been assaulted at a party by the seventeen-year-old Kavanaugh with his pal Mark Judge standing by. Ford’s allegation was followed by even more serious accusations from another woman who asserted that as teenagers Kavanaugh and Judge had taken part in gang rapes of drugged girls. The accusations were not supported by evidence or credible witnesses, and yet the anti-Trump media seized on them as if they were graven on the stone tablets of Sinai.

While such lurid accusations were emerging in 2018, I remember being horrified at what were clearly lies. I thought back to my own youth in Frederick County, Maryland, the county next door to Montgomery County, where Brett Kavanaugh and Mark Judge lived and went to school. At roughly the same time, I was a student at St. John’s at Prospect Hall in Frederick, a co-ed Catholic school in a shabby mansion with aspirations to be a prep school. There was a similar culture of partying and drinking but a line was drawn when it came to taking advantage of people who were inebriated. We had many students from Montgomery County come to our school, mostly from families who could not afford the prep schools of Montgomery County, or who had been expelled from them for behavior problems. Our basketball team played Georgetown Prep. So we heard stories from other schools, and news got around. If there had been anything like a gang rape, everyone would have heard about it. But there was never a peep.

Mark Judge has written of his high school days in his memoirs God and Man at Georgetown Prep, Wasted and a Tremor of Bliss, all of which portray the era with wit and humor while exposing the disasters wrought by the sexual revolution upon Catholic education. Unfortunately, the Democratic cabal, determined to keep Kavanaugh off the Supreme Court, combed through Judge’s books with a magnifying glass, trying to find evidence against Kavanaugh. They even sought for long lost copies of the school underground school newspaper edited by Judge. Sadly, there is much evil that evil people can try to read into things when they are looking for dirt. Judge was pressured to accuse his friend Kavanaugh but maintained that not only did he have no memory of the alleged incidents at all, but the Brett Kavanaugh he knew would never have behaved in such a way. Judge describes his personal ordeal in The Devil’s Triangle as Democrat operatives used tactics which we once only associated with Communist countries, particularly East German stasi. The same tactics were used against Trump supporters and against Trump himself. Mercifully, Kavanaugh now sits on the Supreme Court and Trump is in the White House, as the attempts to destroy them failed. I would encourage everyone to read The Devil’s Triangle to be aware of things that are not supposed to happen in America but have happened and will continue to happen as long as we vote Democrats and RINOS into public office.

The Devil's Triangle is available at Amazon.

Share

Schumer’s Shutdown Gamble:Van Hollen & Alsobrooks Follow Him Off the Cliff

 From Direct Line News:

Politics is about choices. And right now, Democrats are making the worst possible one. They’re marching straight into a shutdown showdown that doesn’t merely risk short-term political pain but threatens to inflict permanent structural losses on the government programs they claim to cherish. At the front of this parade is Chuck Schumer—dragged leftward by activists who threaten him with a primary. And right behind him, dutifully following in lockstep, are Maryland’s own Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks.

The New Weapon: Shutdown as a Reset

This is not your typical government shutdown. The White House has revealed a far sharper tool. A memo from Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, instructs federal agencies that if the government closes, they are not to merely furlough workers but to prepare permanent layoffs for employees in discretionary programs that don’t align with administration priorities (PBS NewsHour).

Shutdowns used to mean inconvenience—workers sent home, then brought back when funding resumed. Not this time. This strategy transforms the shutdown into a restructuring event, providing an opportunity to permanently reduce the federal workforce. The administration already expects roughly 300,000 fewer federal employees this year (Reuters). A shutdown accelerates that mission. (Read more.)

Share