Author: Gary Bennett

Frederick’s Courtesy Bridge Needed Now More Than Ever

By Gary Bennett

Frederick’s iconic “Courtesy Bridge” on Shookstown Road near Rosemont Avenue handles 2,100 trips a day without incident.

As seen in the Frederick News-Post, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020.

If you agree with me that we could all use a little more courtesy in our lives, then we are indeed fortunate to have right in our midst a bridge that reminds us every day to be just that: courteous.

Frederick’s iconic “Courtesy Bridge” is the one-lane bridge situated on Shookstown Road just to the west of Rosemont Avenue, spanning an unassuming section of Carroll Creek just before it winds itself toward downtown Frederick and fame as the main attraction in Maryland’s second largest city.  While many larger bridges are named after politicians or fallen service members, this humble bridge sports a sign at either end designating it the symbol of this noble human trait that may have seen better days.

One-lane bridges aren’t unique to Frederick County or any other country setting, for that matter. Frederick County has more than its share sprinkled throughout. What makes this one-lane bridge unique is its location. It is smack dab in the middle of Frederick city, connecting the city’s western “Golden Mile” area with Baker Park and its central business district. As you come upon the bridge, it appears to be in a rural section of Frederick, but nothing could be further from the truth. The bridge is just yards away from banks, restaurants, nursing homes, and an imposing Sheetz convenience store. 

If you have traveled Shookstown Road, you know the bridge has a long history of people alternating the direction of travel; you go first, then the other side comes across. In this day and age, you might think this is a recipe for disaster. If it is, I haven’t seen it. I estimate I have traversed this bridge over 500 times in my 35 years in Frederick without incident, accident, or even undue delay.

And it’s not just me. According to city police, accidents and incidents at the bridge are exceedingly rare. There have been no documented accidents the last 10 years. It helps that the sight lines are very good. You can see opposing vehicles from over 1,000 feet away. The courtesy signs also help. But we citizens should take some credit, too. Frederick is mostly a polite, progressive city and we show that every day with how we conduct ourselves.

The bridge was built in 1911 when Frederick was a much smaller city and refurbished in 1988. As the city grew, however, engineers did not feel a burning need to enlarge the bridge. In the last few years, however, nearby road improvements have taken some of the traffic load away from the bridge. Still, the bridge successfully handles about 2,100 trips per day according to Frederick’s Street Maintenance Dept.

Things aren’t always courteous on the bridge, of course. Occasionally, manners do go missing. There have been sporadic reports of stare-downs in the middle of the bridge and, on at least one occasion, police were summoned to de-escalate a situation where neither car would budge from the bridge, causing a traffic backup that forced unlucky fellow motorists to have to back up and find another route to their destinations. Driver impairment played a part in this incident.

But consensus holds that these instances are the exception. Residents of the homes lining Shookstown Road near the bridge generally have good things to say. Ariah Holland, who is a frequent walker over the bridge since a sidewalk was added a few years back, appreciates friendly waves from passing motorists. David Maloney, who has lived in his home just yards from the bridge for over 40 years can recall no major problems because of the narrow passage but blames the few accidents he is aware of on speed.  “It’s generally understood that you wait your turn although some people still fly if they see the bridge is open.” Phil Pople, who has lived in the area for 25 years, finds the bridge charming and quaint and can recall no serious issues. He does appreciate that recent improvements to nearby roads have decreased traffic on the bridge enough that it is now easy for him to turn into his driveway.

It’s true that we are in fact forced to be courteous at the bridge to some extent in order to minimize the risk of a head on collision. As I recently sat behind a short line of cars waiting to take my turn on the bridge, I got to thinking about forced courtesy.  Certainly, it would be better if we could just be courteous on our own, but I suppose being forced to be courteous is better than nothing. So, Frederick, join me at the Courtesy Bridge for a moment of Zen and a friendly wave at your fellow motorists. And don’t forget to take advantage of this rare opportunity to be recognized for your courtesy.

For the Good of the Country, Time to Move Forward

As seen in the Frederick News-Post, 12/11/2020.

The best thing that could have happened, happened.

This is hard to say as a proud democrat but no, I’m not talking about the election of Joe Biden as 46th president of the United States. I’m referring to the election of a centrist democratic president along with republicans having a good shot of hanging onto a thin majority in the Senate and adding a few more seats in the House. This configuration screams, almost demands, governing from the center and looking for compromise. I believe Mr. Biden has a golden opportunity to do just that. I believe that is where his heart is, and I believe that is where America’s heart really is.

It won’t be easy. There are loud and charismatic voices coming from his left who are just spoiling for a fight and wishing for payback. The same goes for the far right. Some on both sides want to win at all costs. It’s “their way or the highway.” I hope and pray he resists both. I believe most Americans are yearning for government to work together, to find common ground and embrace compromise.  These activities should be seen as a badge of honor, not a shortcoming. Mr. Biden is using those words already, and that is a good sign. We should reward politicians who take this stance and marginalize the fringes on both sides who are harming America with their recalcitrance.

Along with the divisive rhetoric, I believe a main reason we have felt so out of sorts the past four years is that Mr. Trump attempted to govern from the hard right, ignoring the 50/50 split in our country. Smart politicians would have held out an olive branch to the other side, and most new presidents do. We got none of that from Mr. Trump. He did not receive a mandate to govern this way, but he gleefully went ahead anyway, enabled by Congressional republicans who could have reigned him in and cheered on by Fox News and his adoring fans, insulting and demonizing his opponents along the way, and by proxy, more than half of America. He has now paid the price for that.

We should never forget that our government was designed by the framers to move ahead slowly, not in fits and starts like we have over the past four years. We’re supposed to compromise. I’m asking this new democratic administration to take a bullet for the good of the country. Don’t think about payback. Think about progress. Mr. Biden is right—we are not enemies. Let’s accept that we all love this country and try to move ahead.

I Was a Census Taker in the Age of Trump and COVID

By Gary Bennett

My official Bureau of Census badge. Yes, I was proud to be a temporary G-man.

As seen in the Frederick News-Post, Monday, Oct. 22, 2020.

I don’t have a death wish, but I’m always interested in new experiences so being a census taker or “enumerator” in Census Bureau parlance sounded interesting and appealed to my sense of civic duty. And sure, the $21 an hour plus mileage didn’t hurt either.  240,000 of my fellow U.S. citizens joined me as an enumerator in 2020, down by about half from 2010 due to COVID-19.

It is pretty tough work. Not only because of political roadblocks and the current health crisis, but because most people just don’t want to talk to someone knocking at their door. Often times I was sent far from Frederick to work in unfamiliar communities that didn’t have enough census takers. I worked in everything from the blazing hot sun to pouring rain. Census takers are pushed hard by the full-time supervisors, always encouraging us to work fast, “close” cases, and not take no for an answer. 

Initially, the work started easy enough—leaving ‘notice of visit’ flyers to those not at home and talking to agreeable people who legitimately overlooked completing the census.

These Notices of Visists are surprisingly effective at getting people to do the census online.

Soon, though, the work became much harder. The remaining people were evasive and not so agreeable. Many claimed to have already done the census online. Census officials assured us this was not the case and encouraged us to keep pushing. I was never sure who to believe. I did push ahead and performed reasonably well, talking many people into doing the census ‘again’ with me because they obviously wanted their voice to be heard. After enumerating these hesitant folks, however, the work became almost impossible. The people left to count obviously didn’t want to be counted. Many were belligerent and threatening. 

My most memorable difficult case consisted of residents of a ramshackle townhouse community in Poolesville. I should have known I was in trouble when I read the notes from a fellow enumerator’s previous visit to the address. “I think the people at this place might be crazy. When I knocked on the door, they knocked back even harder.” I was intrigued. No one had enumerated this house and I wanted to be the one who did!

I logged more than 500 miles as a census worker over 6 weeks.

I had an ace in the hole. Census enumerators were allowed to use “proxies” to enumerate hard to complete addresses. Proxies are nearby neighbors who have at least a little information about their neighbors and are willing to tell you what they know. Unfortunately, it was equally clear in the notes that nearby neighbors might not be so willing to comment on these people either. “I don’t want to get involved,” “I’ve never talked to those people,” “They are not very friendly,” read some of the additional notes.

Undeterred, I strode up to the house and knocked. No answer. I knocked again, but this time I could hear people talking behind the door.  When I peeked in, a mom and two kids stared back. When I knocked and peeked in a third time they were hiding behind some curtains. As I began to step away to find a neighbor, the man of the house pulled into his parking space. “Get your ass off my property right now and don’t come back or I’ll remove you myself,” he threatened.  I assured him I had every right to be on his property, that I was with the Census Bureau and just wanted to know how many people lived at his place. He repeated his threat again as he began to get out of his van. Discretion being the better part of valor, I began to depart. To my relief, he got back in his van and left. As he did, I made sure he saw me walk up to his next-door neighbor’s house. I hoped he knew that we would be talking about him. I finally did get the information I needed and closed the case.

This was my worst brush with a hostile citizen, but there were others nearly as worrisome. One person railed about the poor use of his tax money that kept sending people to his house when he told us over and over that he has done the survey already. Two people were upset that Trump wanted to deport them even though they were here legally. An older gentleman offered “I’ve never done the census in my life. Maryland has been gerrymandered to death. That’s why I’m moving.” One young fellow at a new development used his Ring doorbell to size me up and said “You people need to quit hounding us. Nobody cares about this crap.” And, as I left one proxy who provided info on his townhouse neighbor, I could see the neighbor running out of his home and berating the proxy for provided any information at all.

The census app was extremely intuitive and well done. It guided our conversations as we entered data and completed the census with citizens on the fly.

It wasn’t all bad, though. One nice older gentleman in Dickerson wanted to talk about how the census helped us during the Revolutionary War.  One fellow came running out of his house to give me a bottle of water.  One little girl did the same with a popsicle at the behest of her dad. One scantily clad woman answered the door and made no effort to cover up.  We didn’t cover that in training. 

I am not sure why so many people were upset about completing the census, but I suspect it didn’t help that the president chose to make the census political and that a public health crisis was raging at the time. Completing a decennial census is in the Constitution.

Even so, the presidential attacks came in waves. First, Trump directed his Commerce secretary to add a citizenship question to the survey after months of planning and testing and just before the instrument was to be rolled out. That ploy lost in the courts. Next, he directed other federal agencies to share data with the Census Bureau so that “no undocumented aliens would be counted.”  This was despite the fact the Constitution calls for the counting of every person residing in the country regardless of legal status. This one lost in the courts, too.  And finally, he required the Census Bureau to finish field operations by September 30.  This was after his own Commerce Department requested a three-month extension to December 31 in order to accommodate complications caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The House even passed a bill mandating the three-month extension, but it died in the Senate as most things do now. Again, the courts had to come to the rescue. A federal judge recently issued a restraining order halting the winding down of operations in September and resetting it to October 31. Census enumerators were finally directed to cease work on October 5.

I was never really worried about COVID-19, but perhaps I should have been. All enumerators were issued masks and required to wear them. But it did not occur to many of my interviewees to don them while standing face-to-face at close quarters with a stranger for ten minutes. I can’t say that I blame them. After all, they were responding spur of the moment from their own homes. As I write this, I have been a former census enumerator for over two weeks and feel fine. I might be lucky.  I worked for the Census Bureau for about six weeks and had over 500 brief contacts and about 250 full interviews with strangers. I was very appreciative to those few who did wear a mask but could never bring myself to ask them to go get one. Respondents, however, were not shy about citing COVID-19 to keep me away. That excuse was used 20 times with me.

Despite a late start because of COVID and political interference, most parts of America are doing well. As of late August, about 65 percent of households had self-reported. An additional 30 percent have been enumerated by personal interviews from folks like me. The remaining five percent will be completed by the very best census enumerators, full-time census employees, and data from publicly available sources.  By the time you read this, America will be very near to 100 percent complete.

Maryland is well above average among U.S. states, and Frederick County is in the top tier of reporting counties in Maryland. The latest data show Maryland at number 10 of the 50 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico in self reporting at 70.3 percent.  Minnesota leads the way at 75 percent. Portions of the south including Arkansas, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, and West Virginia bring up the rear, averaging between 55 and 60 percent.  Average education levels within states mirror census response. A spokesperson for the Census Bureau cites lack of knowledge about the importance and safety of the census for people not responding. As of September 15, 98.1 percent of residences in Fredrick County have been completed, placing us among the top five Maryland counties.

Our conspicuous census bags helped to identify us as we stood on porches.

In Defense of the Humble Word ‘Hoax’

Irony may be lost on this Trump supporter.

By Gary Bennett

If there is one word that defines the Trump presidency, it would have to be ‘hoax.’  I’m not talking about his presidency itself. That has been all too real. I’m talking about all the wild, outlandish tricks and pranks that have been perpetrated on this poor man in just four short years.

The president, for his part, has not missed a chance to call our attention to a veritable smorgasbord of hoaxes that have befallen him. He has used this humble word to describe everything from the deadly dual poxes of climate change and coronavirus to Russian election meddling and Bountygate. Even when the damaging words come right from the president’s own mouth – Ukrainian phone call, disparaging war heroes, and grabbing female body parts – he has called on this once-obscure word to assure Americans that all is well except when his enemies are putting words in his mouth and disrespecting America.

But, why the word ‘hoax’?  The president could have used longer or less dated words like conspiracy, scheme, ruse, or collusion (okay, that one’s been taken.) I believe Mr. Trump keeps returning to the word because it is simple, understandable, and even a little bit old-fashioned. Hoax is a derivation of the Latin word ‘hocus’ as in the fun phrase ‘hocus pocus’. Hocus refers to a conjurer or juggler. Hocus pocus refers to deceiving with a fabrication, lie, or misdirection. A close word cousin to hoax is ‘hokey’, which means lame, strange or odd.  Knowing this, is it any wonder Mr. Trump is drawn to this word, subconsciously or otherwise?

Of course, none of the hoaxes I mentioned previously sound like much fun, and indeed they haven’t been; not to the intended target, POTUS himself, and certainly not to the American people who’ve had to incessantly ponder who would do such things to the leader of the free world, or more perplexingly, who has the time to think up these elaborate ruses.

It wasn’t always this way. Hoaxes used to conjure up feelings of fun and frivolity. Remember the classic one where college engineering students disassemble the dean’s car and reassemble it on top of the administration building?  Or, how about the truly great Orson Welles War of the Worlds broadcast in the 1930s? After the hysteria died down, folks hailed this hoax as a masterpiece. Bigfoot? Crop circles? Jackalope? Loch Ness Monster? Paul is dead?  All of these thoughtful hoaxes took time, planning, patience, and a certain genius to fool the media, crowds, and even the military. But when everything turned out to be harmless and entertaining, it was a thing of beauty. Coronavirus and Russian election meddling?  Not so much.

But just like crying wolf, crying hoax can be too much of a good thing. According to Twitter and Factbase, Mr. Trump has publicly used the word over 600 times during his three and a half years as president. There is nothing else even remotely close. Not ‘policy’, ‘serve’, ‘protect’, or even ‘American people’. It’s almost a verbal tic at this point, predictably coming out of his mouth at the first sign of trouble.

But political scientists will invariably tell you that repetition of this word serves to portray Mr. Trump as a victim and an everyman victim at that. This has become a very effective part of his brand – an ‘us versus them’ mentality. It allows him to avoid explaining complicated issues by simply dismissing them out of hand, which is something Mr. Trump must do since he is demonstrably incapable of defending any challenge in a thoughtful and analytical way. The goal, of course, is to make himself the only credible authority, and it works like a charm with a sizable segment of America. For the rest of us, we’re left with that niggling, bothersome thought in the corner of our minds that perhaps there are no facts and nothing can be trusted. The president knows this all too well, and to the detriment of everything else, uses it to his advantage as no one before. After all, if nothing can be trusted, nothing can be changed. And if nothing can be changed, how can you change the president?  

Always the butt of the joke, Mr. Trump nevertheless plies his hand at hoaxes, too.  Unfortunately for him, but perhaps good for the country, he is not very good at it. In fact, he has a perfect losing record when it comes to hoaxes. Remember the oldies but goodies that Mr. Obama was born in Kenya and that Ted Cruz’s father assisted with the JFK assassination?  To his credit, he keeps trying.  Mail-in voting fraud, Harris’s ineligibility to run because of her Asian Indian roots, and wacky QAnon conspiracies are still on the front burner and simmering away.

I Get it Now: Greatness is in the Details!

The president operates at a level mere mortals just can’t understand.

What with the raging pandemic, struggling economy, and racial injustice, you’d think that would be more than enough on the plate of any president.  Ahh, but we don’t have just any president. We are blessed with a president who is more than willing and able to handle any issue, large or small, that can benefit from his attention.  And that is most of them!

Consider this: You watched in awe as our scholarly president straightened us all out on the need to leave those confederate statues alone because, you know, they represent our glorious past. You giggled nervously with delight as he upbraided NASCAR and that ungrateful Bubba Wallace for having the temerity to find a noose in his garage and then make everyone aware of it. You could hardly believe your eyes when he came to the rescue of Goya beans, who any cook worth their salt will tell you is the most excellent, right-leaning bean available and the only one worthy of display in the oval office. And you thanked your lucky stars when he, perhaps most creatively of all, brought to light the brilliant musings of the most underutilized political analyst of our time, fellow game show host Chuck Woolery of the middling 90’s TV show, Love Connection.

Pure genius. We don’t have to understand.

But like any other superhero working today such as Captain America or Tucker Carlson, our president handles so many things humbly and out of sight that even he forgets about them. So, as a public service and to recognize our selfless leader who would not want to bother your feeble minds with such trivialities, I present here the other issues he won’t let go of, I mean, is handling on our behalf.

  • Since Black Lives Matter is obviously a hate symbol, the movement will hereby be referred to as ‘Stupid Is as Stupid Does.’ (The president is currently trying to locate Forrest Gump to reserve all rights.)
  • As a nod to Native Americans and a sly reference to a healthy spray-on tan, all sports teams currently using Indians, Braves, R**skins, or Chiefs will be immediately renamed to Orangemen. 
  • The official list of sh**hole counties will be updated to include those ingrates Mexico, Canada, and EU.  EU (pronounced “yew”) is one of those newish countries in Europe that won’t pay their NATO bills.   
  • The president’s new hit action show, Law and Order Portland, starring, well, we’re not sure who’s starring in this, is doing record numbers, the likes of which have never been seen. Unfortunately, Portland’s mayor, who is currently recovering from an accidental lung problem at Portland General, has revoked the filming permit.
  • In a long overdue tribute to our proud confederate heritage, the big, beautiful Southern border barrier will soon be reconstituted as a ‘stone wall.’ 
  • Expert jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts will be contracted to reassemble all confederate statues that have lost their way. No nursing home or third grade class will be spared in this exhaustive search. 
  • Beginning immediately all cancer and heart disease screenings in America will be curtailed. We learned our lesson with all those COVID-19 tests that made us look so bad! Hair loss screenings exempted, of course.
  • As a measure to keep attendance at a reasonable level, all frat boy COVID-19 parties will be moved to Mondays since nothing much goes on that night anyway.
  • All future redactions in subpoenas, indictments, telephone call logs, and presidential daily briefings will change from black to white, because, well, you know.
  • In a related move, white out will be made mandatory at all secretarial schools thereby bringing back good-paying manufacturing jobs to produce this handy, underutilized product.
  • Vladimir Putin will be issued immediately a lifetime frequent traveler’s pass to Mar-a-Lago with the presidential suite renamed in his honor.
  • In a related move and after a long negotiation, Bounty paper towels will be named official paper towel of the Taliban. They will be shipped to Russia who will make sure they are received in Afghanistan in a timely manner.
  • Black Flag will be retired as official pesticide of the White House grounds, because of, well, you know.  Plus, the lingering residue keeps Stephen Miller from getting to work on time.
  • Governors Ducey, Abbott, and DeSantis will be named governors for life in Arizona, Texas, and Florida, respectively.  The president really likes the hilarious ‘Who’s on First’ routine the Texas governor performs with that fat guy Costello.
  • Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg is hereby ordered to immediately undergo experimental COVID-19 testing as a service to her country. What, too soon? She’s in the hospital all the time anyway!
  • Quaker Oats Company and MARS, Inc., respectively, have been ordered to leave lovable brands Aunt Jemimah pancake mix and Uncle Ben’s converted rice alone in order to preserve America’s proud carbohydrate heritage.
  • To improve efficiency, all elementary, middle and high school back-to-school nights will now be relocated to the nearest urgent care clinic.
  • Along with Ghislaine Maxwell, the president is proud to pass along his best wishes to Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, Prince Andrew, Tik-Tok’s Faizal Siddiqui, congressional powerhouses Ted Yoho and Louis Gohmert, and all former White House aides currently spending time in prison.
  • In an effort to broaden the number and types of medical voices heard on the current pandemic hoax, the president will not only listen to the crazy lady witch doctor from Texas but also Doogie Howser, MD, Bones McCoy, and Dr. Dre.
  • Teddy Roosevelt’s nose and eyeglasses will be slightly relocated at Mount Rushmore to make room for any future presidents who find themselves out of work, indicted, and in need of a little pick me up.
  • Along with moving Election Day from November 3rd, New Year’s Day will move to May 1st to take advantage of better weather and Columbus Day to December 25th to give it the attention it deserves. Juneteenth and MLK Day are hereby scrapped.
  • Last but not least, last-century game show icons Bob Eubanks, Wink Martindale, and the late Tom Kennedy will join Chuck Woolery as informal “kitchen cabinet” advisors to the president.  And, since we’re talking kitchen cabinets, Tim “the Tool Man” Taylor is under consideration as well.
Goya Beans are excellent, beautiful beans and the only ones worthy of display on the resolute desk.

A Personal Story: Why Defunding the Police is Probably a Very Good Idea

“Defund the Police” does not mean to eliminate the police. It means to reallocate some resources.

Before I tell my story I’m hopeful that we can agree that ‘defunding the police’ does not mean eliminating the police. That is a poor choice of words and self-defeating. If that’s what your preferred talk show host is insisting, you may need to expand your horizons on the news you consume. No one is advocating for that. Not Biden, not BLM. ‘Defund the police’ simply means reallocating a portion of the police budget to other professionals or societal programs that are better suited to handle certain nonviolent situations.  

Here’s my story. It is sad and embarrassing, and I hate to talk about it.  I almost never do in any detail, but it seems necessary, especially now.  If this is something you haven’t considered, I hope you will now. My story is not unique. You may have a similar one.

I am the healthcare and financial power of attorney for a desperately mentally ill extended family member. They have been diagnosed with schizophrenia for well over 30 years, and I having been trying to help this person for well over 20 of them.  I’ve been to the hospital with this person more times than I can remember. Hospitalization is the only way this person will even begin to take their prescribed medicine. Once out of the hospital, this person will stop taking their medicine, get progressively worse and the vicious cycle repeats. This is terribly sad and frustrating.  I am told by various psychiatrists that my extended family member has no personal insight into their disease. They don’t know they are sick.  They only know that the prescribed narcotics make them feel bad, and they don’t need them anyway.

I’m usually able to talk this person into going to the hospital. When I can, everything is fine. But, on some occasions, this person is so bad that I cannot get them to the hospital by myself.  I am just not able to handle them alone when the sickness turns them into a loud, angry and uncooperative stranger.  So, I call 911 and ask for an ambulance.  I only do this when this person truly needs emergency psychiatric treatment.  I’ve been coached to know the signs.  On every single occasion I’ve called for an ambulance, even when I specifically say this person is not a danger to themself or others, two city (not Frederick) police officers accompany the ambulance.  When they arrive, they see and hear a haggard, shouting, angry mess of a human being.  They immediately take over.  The ambulance technicians always yield to the cops.

I’m sorry to say that the cops have never, ever been helpful in these types of situations.

I don’t know if their training just does not cover mentally ill people (seems unlikely) or if their instincts just kick in and take over when threatened. And I can assure you my mentally ill family member indeed threatens them loudly and does not tire easily. This person threatens me, too, but I know they don’t mean it. The police officers do not know this. Try explaining that to two police officers who are being cursed and yelled at. Eventually, the ambulance technicians are able to take over and talk my family member into going to the hospital. More than once I’ve told the police officers softly and kindly that they are probably not needed in this type of situation. They tell me police policy keeps them returning. I admit that time constraints have kept me away from looking into this policy to any degree.  Even if I had the time, I would not be sure where to start. 

For my family member’s last episode, which occurred late last year, two police officers spent a total of 12 person-hours – six hours each – trying to assist. The time commitment was similar for my family member’s other hospitalizations. The officers were nice enough and tried to be helpful, but they were just not equipped to help.  Their time would have been much better spent patrolling the streets and responding to reports of real crime. They must realize that, too.

Please multiply my experience by the hundreds of other non-violent issues police must respond to each week like drunkenness, drug overdoses, underage parties, you name it.  Police should not be handling these types of things.  I have seen that firsthand. We are expecting too much of them. This must play a part in their stress and eventual burning out and acting out.

And that is why we should take some of the police budget money away and allocate it to counselors, social workers, EMTs, nurses, and other professionals who can better handle these nonviolent situations.  I would think that most police would agree with that.

Mental illnes is not pretty and police have a dificult time handling such cases.

I Think I’ll Have to Take a Knee

By Gary Bennett

Chattanooga police officers take a knee for Black Lives Matter protest.

I’m so sorry it has come to this. I do love my country, I do. I swear.

But I don’t think my country loves me back. At least not the red part. How else to explain that my president sees people like me as enemies to be vanquished?  As anarchists and thugs to be dominated? As wishing to end America, not improve it? I can scarcely believe such words can come out of any president’s mouth.  But out they come from this one. Mind you he’s not talking about far-away, foreign terrorists. That I could understand. He’s talking about fellow Americans.

I can remember not so long ago that presidents would say that good people can disagree about what the best path forward for America is.  We may be democrats or republicans but we are all Americans, all patriots. But no more. I seem to be a second-class citizen now in the eyes of my president. I keep waiting for people from the president’s party to say enough is enough. This is not what America is. These ‘others’ are our friends and neighbors. But no. Mostly I just hear deafening, depressing silence. 

It seems all those Supreme Court and appeals court justices and the tough cultural talk is worth it to red America. It would not be for me. I’d like to think that if a democratic president spoke this way about the other half of America I would speak up and say this is not acceptable. I hope I would do that. I think I would do that.

It has now been proved, of course, that Colin Kaepernick was right all along.  You’ll remember he was drummed out of the NFL for kneeling for the National Anthem to protest police brutality against blacks. The NFL has apologized and most of America seems to understand now.  Patriotic songs?  They’re just songs, so I’ll be happy to take a knee and show my displeasure with how things are going in America right now.

Land of the free and home of the brave?
Not so much. Minorities do not share in the promise of freedom and never have. There is nothing brave about killing unarmed people just because you have a badge or never, EVER pushing back against Russia no matter what they do.

Sweet land of liberty?
I don’t think so. Not right now. Exercising your right to pack into parties and not wear masks thereby endangering the more vulnerable among us is nauseating and the very definition of selfishness, not liberty.

God shed His grace on thee?
If He did, He must be quite sad that it didn’t stick. There is nothing graceful about how this president has fanned the flames of bigotry and purposely driven division for his own personal benefit.

It’s hard to live in a land that treats its fellow citizens so poorly. Before you tell me to leave, ask yourself why I should.  Since when is wanting America to live up to its lofty potential and strive to become a more perfect union un-American?  I don’t think we’ve strayed so far off the righteous path that we can’t get back on it quickly. But another four years of this president and the path will be overgrown and unrecognizable.

There is hope, however. The potential replacement is popular, genial and a moderate. The polls look promising and democrats will not take that for granted like they did in 2016. More and more republican office holders can see the writing on the wall and are beginning to speak out and distance themselves from Trump and his more hateful, bigoted speech. His white supremacy stance is out of step with this moment in America. Twitter and Facebook are pushing back. All but the most sycophantic governors have filled the leadership void left by Trump during the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is beyond me, knowing what we know now about this man, that anyone would vote for him in 2020, much less 38 percent of America that polls are now showing. But that would signify a landslide, and I will take it. I’m betting that many who supported him last time are too embarrassed to admit they made a terrible mistake that is costing America dearly. The come-to-Jesus moment will occur in the privacy of the voting booth or more likely when filling out the election form and mailing it in.

Four more years of this?  I hope not. I’m not sure I can get through four more months.

One Man’s Journey to Understanding White Privilege

by Gary Bennett

As seen in the Frederick News Post, June 22, 2020

The events of the past few weeks have got me thinking about the term ‘white privilege.’ What does that mean?  I’m white but I don’t feel especially privileged. Oh, but I am, and if you are white, you are privileged, too, whether you think so or not.

White privilege is a term that has been around for quite a while but current events have brought it roaring back. White privilege means that white people, either directly or indirectly, have benefitted from the systematic minimization of blacks and other minorities.  Whites in this country have the freedom to move, buy, work, play and speak freely without fear of retribution that blacks do not enjoy. Just like the coronavirus, cancer, or heart disease, white privilege can’t be seen, but it is there.

You may say that, “No, I have not done that. I have nothing against minorities.”  But I say that if you simply go on with your tidy life and pity those ‘other’ people because you think you are smarter or have worked harder than them to reach your middle-class place in society, then you should think again.

Consider this: Do you look back fondly on your childhood? Did your school seem to have everything it needed?  Did you have the opportunity to go to college if you wanted whether you followed that path or not?  Did you have some help from friends or family to land that first job? Did the ability to go to college or trade school lead to that first job? Did you have help qualifying for that mortgage you needed to buy your first home? Did a policeman give you a break on that stupid thing you did as a teenager?  Did you learn about police brutality through news reports instead of experiencing it first-hand or by second-hand accounts? If you get pulled over for speeding, do you feel confident nothing bad will happen?

If you answered yes to most of these, or even just some of these, then you are the beneficiary of white privilege. How do I know?  Because most black people cannot answer yes to any of these questions. And because they can’t, it weighs down their lives in ways we can’t begin to imagine.  One black friend told me it’s like pulling along a ten-pound weight everywhere you go with no chance of getting rid of it.

It took me a long time to learn this.

I grew up in Allegany County in far western Maryland in the 60’s and 70’s.  It was and still is 92 percent white. Nearby Garrett County, Maryland and Mineral County, West Virginia are 99 percent and 96 percent white respectively. My high school, believe it or not, was 100 percent white. Growing up in this rural area, I had a better chance of interacting with a bear than a black person.

My first real exposure to black people came in college. Even then, Frostburg State University was only 30 percent black. I wish I could say I had some black friends in college, but I really can’t recall any. There was one person I tutored named Reggie that I liked a lot. He was fun and eager to learn. I do remember Reggie and his friends had some customs and cultural habits that were unfamiliar to me and a little bit scary. I didn’t try to understand or get close. I didn’t have to. I went on my merry way.

I didn’t get to know many black people until I began my career in publishing and associations in the early 80’s. I have mostly worked in the Baltimore and Washington DC areas (60 percent and 50 percent black respectively) until I recently ended my career. I’ve also spent a considerable amount of time in most major U.S. cities. Because of my work situation, I got to know many, many black people. In fact, as I think about it, I’ve worked side by side with many more black people than whites over the years.

A constant in my professional life was cross-departmental ‘work teams’. And one thing was certain, no one cared a whit about the racial makeup of these teams. You either got along and got the job done or you didn’t. And if you didn’t, you had to explain why. And believe me, no one would have accepted cultural differences as the reason.

After a steep learning curve, I can say without hesitation that my black teammates turned out to be some of my favorite colleagues and the best people to work with. They had the same work concerns as you or I.  The same desire to do well and make a solid contribution. One thing they had that I didn’t was the deeply ingrained need to always be “on.” You see, they could not afford to coast during a meeting or turn work in late. No, that would be professional suicide and only the whites could get away with that. I shake my head now because I remember white colleagues getting away with this time and again. It didn’t seem so bad at the time.

My black colleagues also had many personal concerns that I was not privy to.

More than once I overheard their anguished complaints over the safety of their children, the lack of resources in their schools, the lack of jobs for their friends, not feeling safe when taking a walk in their own neighborhood or driving while black in the wrong neighborhood. Sure, they were the lucky ones, raising themselves up to middle class or better. But, as I grew to learn, they were the exceptions. Their neighbor, with just as much talent as them, couldn’t find a job or get their kids into a better school. None of them wanted a hand out or even a hand up as the saying goes. They simply wanted white folks to figuratively get their knees off their necks, to just give them a chance. I now know white privilege for what it is – the lack of undue obstacles in my way.

I learned this lesson, but it bothers me that many don’t or won’t.

Those that never get out of their mostly white home towns and counties will never be able to learn this first-hand.  Of course, their lack of experience and understanding does not hold them back from spouting hurtful and uninformed opinions. That is why you see the fixation on the relatively few looters, the “whataboutism” of violence against cops by criminals (sad but predictable), the crocodile tears of the effect of coronavirus on these large crowds of protesters and worries about reimagining how public safety and police departments should work instead of on the central issues of the day: racial injustice and police brutality.

This lack of first-hand knowledge isn’t just true for rural western Maryland, but all over this great country of ours. Large swaths of citizens have separated themselves from ones not like themselves or at least have taken no tangible steps to get to know them. It’s not really their fault they haven’t been exposed to black folks, but I do believe if they really want to understand their anguish, they have to work harder to educate themselves.

Police officers are no different from the rest of society in this regard.  They bring their own implicit and explicit biases to work just like we do. They no doubt prefer faces that look more like themselves. But unlike other professions, they quite often have split-second, life and death decisions to make. That can’t be easy.  But if they have chosen this profession, we must demand better of them. The armed forces have mostly done it right. Blacks and other minorities have a very good chance to make a name for themselves. Instead of surplus equipment of war, police agencies all over the country would be better off taking the military’s recruitment and integration practices to heart.

It seems clear the country is finally in the early stages of moving toward a more just future, and those who don’t understand that and grasp at the vestiges of a bygone era risk being left behind and on the wrong side of history.

What Can We Do About Police Brutality?

By Gary Bennett

Gary’s homemade signs for the Frederick Black Lives Matter march.


My wife, Ellen, and I joined 5,000 Frederick County citizens in the peaceful Black Lives Matter march on Friday evening, June 5th, 2020, in downtown Frederick. This was an impressive turnout for a small city like Frederick, and has been repeated in cities large and small all across the nation for weeks now. That is how we know this is a movement. The riots of 1968 swept across America the entire summer after the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. That summer undoubtedly changed America, and this feels the same.

We reject the notion that police brutality is not a white person’s issue.  It assuredly affects black people disproportionately, but make no mistake, this is an issue for all of us. Witness the violent assault on peaceful protesters of all hues recently in Lafayette Park in Washington, DC.  Despicably, Attorney General Bill Barr authorized the use of tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the unsuspecting crowd that had the temerity to block the president’s path to Saint John’s Church in order for him to obscenely hold aloft a bible to signify who knows what. Domination over peaceful protesters?

As white people, Ellen and I felt we had a duty to show up at the Frederick protest, lend a helping hand and show support to our black neighbors who are so aggrieved. To sit comfortably at home and remain silent is to be complicit in the wrongdoing. That is not right. It was great to see that we were not alone. To my untrained eye, the crowd seemed to be about half white and black.

It is clear that many white people are starting to get it: police brutality is not an infrequent occurrence.  A recent ABC News/IPSOS poll shows that three-fourths of those surveyed believe what happened to George Floyd is not an isolated incident but evidence of a broader problem. It took heartbreaking real-time video to get us to this point, but we are here now.

If some police officers perpetrate unneeded violence when the ever-present cameras are rolling, what do they do when they are not?  Unfortunately, we know the answer. The list of black victims at the hands of the police is long and well documented. It is clearly not just a few bad apples. If that were the case they would have been weeded out by now.

An oft cited statistic holds that police officers use force against blacks seven times more often than they do against whites even though whites commit the preponderance of crimes. I believe it. Despite what Bill Barr says, the evidence points to systemic racism within police departments. Dating to the Jim Crow south of the early 1900s, police officers automatically associated blackness with danger leading to the use of harsher force than was necessary or used with whites. History is hard to overcome sometimes. Add that to the stew of police machoism, the need for split- second decision-making, and disdain from some citizens, and you have the perfect recipe for unneeded violence.

Of course, we are not talking about all police officers. It is a false narrative that you can’t be for the police if you ever criticize them. A confounding “whataboutism” going around now is “what about all the police gunned down by criminals. Where is the outrage for that?” Unfortunately, violence is what we can expect from some criminals. We can and must expect better from police officers. Fully 95 percent of police officers are professional and want to diffuse tense situations. But in law enforcement, having five percent bad actors is not good enough.  They hold life and death in their hands. Good cops know this and barriers must be removed for them to intervene. Peer pressure is a powerful deterrent, maybe the most powerful.

What else can be done?

  • We can start by immediately firing and charging officers caught on camera perpetrating unneeded violence. Commanders know unneeded violence when they see it. In these clear-cut cases, we should do away with “suspension without pay while we investigate.” The officers will still have their day in court and can petition to get their jobs back if found innocent. There would be no violation of police officers’ due process since no one has a right to a job they are not suited for.
  • Hiring officers must do a better job in weeding out “warrior” cops and others who have no business behind a badge. Reportedly, Officer Chauvin had 18 complaints filed against him. In most other professions this person would either be fired or minimized to the point of quitting.
  • The protectors of bad cops are often the police unions. The time is now ripe to negotiate less protections for bad cops. The trade off?  More pay for good cops. 
  • Other ideas floating through Congress now should have our support: a national registry of disciplined and fired cops so they can’t join another force, a demilitarization of police departments to no longer automatically receive surplus implements of war, more transparency in police training so the public sees what is being taught and can respond and consult, the discontinuance of choke holds nationwide, a beefing up of civil liability laws against police, a definitive statement from the Supreme Court on what constitutes unconstitutional use of force, and less dependence on police to solve every small problem of society. This is what is meant by “defunding” police departments.

Many of us are heartbroken at the cruelty shown by Officer Chauvin in Minneapolis toward George Floyd, an unarmed and compliant black man. But this tragedy has once and for all ripped off the bandage that was covering a seeping wound. I hope we can all come together to change the culture of brutal and racist policing quickly. My black neighbors have rightly run out of patience.

Crowd gathered at Frederick, MD bandshell on June 5th, 2020 to protest police brutality against blacks.

Major League Sports Can Take a Flying Leap

By Gary Bennett

Empty stadium for a Major Leage Soccer match, summer 2020.

An amazing thing has happened to me and I suspect many others. I’ve found that I just don’t need to watch all these games on TV anymore.  I don’t miss live sports!  Not Major League Baseball, not the NBA, not pro hockey, and I suspect not the NFL when the time arrives.

I never thought I would say that.  Growing up I couldn’t get enough of the Baltimore Orioles. I vividly remember sneaking out to my dad’s truck at a very young age in an attempt to pick up the evening’s Orioles game on the radio. Some of my fondest memories are listening to games all alone in that old, dark truck and reporting the score back to my dad.

And it wasn’t just baseball.  Growing up and well into my adult life, pro football games became appointment viewing. Not because I was a big fan of any one team, but because there seemed to be nothing more American than watching and talking about football and the undeniable fact that it is exciting – the ultimate reality show, full of action, energy, feuds, and sometimes violence.

Golf, tennis, auto racing, and soccer?  I’m not sure these can even be considered sports. OK, I’ll give you soccer. But if most games end up 0-0, is it really much more than just some intense exercise? As for basketball and hockey, I can take them or leave them, but if nothing else is on, especially relatively late at night, I am drawn to them as a nice mindless way to end the day.

But no more.

Since major league sports have been on hiatus and off the air since covid-19 took over our daily lives, I’ve found that I can live without them. Sure, if they come back later this summer, I’ll watch some, but I don’t have to. There’s a big difference.

Just think of all the hours Americans could put to better use if fewer sports were on the air. When the time is right, we can even play team sports ourselves if we wish. In Frederick County there are softball, basketball, flag football, and soccer leagues for kids and adults of all ages. And just think how much healthier we would all be if we used this newfound time to simply exercise more and stay away from the mindless snacking that comes with watching sports.  I‘ve done a lot more walking, biking, and hiking recently as I suspect have most Americans. Americans used to be doers, not watchers.  I’m not sure where we went wrong.

What about professional athletes, you say?  Don’t they have the right to pursue their dreams. Well sure, but do we need to pay them such ungodly sums of money?  I understand they are entertainers and they are getting what the market will bear, but what does this say about us as a society. And what about the owners?  Aren’t they entrepreneurs that help make American great? No and no! Most made their billions before owning a major league sports team. Their team is a very expensive toy to them. By now we all realize, if we didn’t before, that the real heroes are doctors, nurses, teachers, first responders, store clerks and other essential personnel. We agree they all deserve much more pay than they receive now.  But how can we ever hope to get to a more equitable arrangement?

One way would be – I don’t know exactly how without being considered unamerican or (gasp) a socialist – to somehow limit the apex of the sports profession to the semi-pro level. This is not uncharted territory. A case can be made that American professional sports were semi-pro up until the advent of huge TV rights agreements in the 1980’s.  I can remember my heroes of the 60’s and 70’s needing off-season jobs to make ends meet. This is as it should be since these adults are playing children’s games for much of the year.

The editorial board of this paper and at least one local columnist have waxed poetic about the return of the Frederick Keys. That is fine, but what if the Keys players, who are not paid much more than minimum wage anyway, were shooting to make it to the top of their profession in Triple A baseball rather than the major leagues, which would no longer exist?  Would that limit their dreams? Not in the least. Only about one percent of minor league players ever reach the major leagues anyway. At Triple A they would be paid a handsome salary in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, the same level as other professionals who reach the top of their industry, but not the millions and millions of dollars that is so obscene and counterproductive for a healthy society. Billions of dollars could now be available for the real heroes if a redistribution plan using tax credits can be worked out. Beer companies could sponsor nursing homes instead of ball clubs. Obscenely rich Americans could buy and run a hospital. You get the picture. 

And don’t forget about the added benefit that would accrue to colleges. Doing away with major league sports would encourage the return of the true student-athlete. Once again, players would be playing for the glory of their school and to get a college education and not so much for that big payday. And who among us would not like to see the big football and basketball mills with their obscene budgets, administrators, and hangers-on brought down a notch? 

Stadium workers and team administrators at the major league levels and even sports writers will have to find other jobs, but that may be a price we have to pay to recalibrate our society. Already, stadium workers are seeing the writing on the wall as fans are prevented from attending games this summer. And as unlikely as this may seem, very few major league pro ball players, most of whom are coddled and receive more pay than they can ever hope to spend in a lifetime, have even bothered to donate any part of their exorbitant salaries to offset losses by stadium workers and staff. Instead they are quibbling with the billionaires about how to carve up their shrinking revenue pies. These people are not heroes.

The current pandemic conditions have pulled back the curtain on this unseemly business once and for all.  Whiny millionaire players and greedy billionaire owners don’t deserve our support. Nearly empty stadiums may continue well into the future but less TV revenue due to declining ad revenue due to declining viewership holds the key to getting sports right-sized once and for all.  What to watch instead?  May I suggest the History, National Geographic, and Discovery channels. They feature entertaining programming that helps us examine the human condition in ways sports can never do. Why, just recently I completed a six-hour miniseries on President Grant on the History Channel that was more than peanut-worthy.