Gary Bennett

It’s Not You–It’s Me (Breaking Up America)

By Gary Bennett

As I complete my mail-in ballot request and prepare to serve as an election judge again in this great state of Maryland, I can’t help but be grateful I live in a place that comfortably aligns with my political sensibilities and vision for America.

I know that is not true for everyone.

I can’t imagine living in a state like West Virginia or Texas where the majority political opinion is so much different than my own, and the political leaders seem to take such delight in marginalizing the opposition citizenry like they aren’t really citizens at all.

As for my conservative friends, I can’t imagine how it must be for you living in the Old Line State. You must cringe every time the democratic legislature passes a crazy bill like banning the sale and possession of untraceable “ghost” guns or establishing a statewide paid family and medical leave program for millions of workers. Even when a republican governor vetoes a bill, the democratic legislature simply overrides it with little or no fanfare because it’s (ho-hum) business as usual.

Despite the frequent threats I hear to leave Maryland, I know it’s not easy to move. But if I were in the permanent political minority, I would surely make it a priority. In this regard you have to give former Maryland state senator Alex Mooney (R-Mars) credit because he took his political talents from Maryland to West Virginia and picked up right where he left off. Except now, he has more sympathetic ears and has gained higher office, even if it’s in West Virginia.

I might be pessimistic but when you project this state-by-state angst over the entire country, It seems quite possible to me the United States makes a clean, political break one day. It is doubtful there would be all out war—we’ve been down that woeful road before and it didn’t work out so well. But, a political, paperwork-laden solution decades from now? Sure. Just think something like Brexit.

Consider if breaking up would be so bad. California is, by itself, the world’s fifth largest economy. Texas, Florida, and New York could no doubt stand on their own. The remaining states would then band together in one or more conservative-leaning countries or progressive-leaning countries. This could be decided by state referendum but the lead time would be such that the political losers in each new country could find work and swap accommodations with the losers in the other if they wish, sort of like an enormous Airbnb program. Texas could build that wall and California could ban all those guns. We would all be able to move freely about these new countries just like the EU citizens do. We would all be members of NATO.

Politicians are fond of saying we have more in common than we have differences. My observation is we don’t. We have many more differences—certainly too many and too serious to remain in an unhappy marriage. It used to be that a foreign threat would bring us together. Think Cuban missile crisis or 9-11. No longer. All you have to do is watch some Fox News and you’ll see we can’t even agree on our opposition to Russia in their war with Ukraine.

Abortion? As we are now seeing this issue alone has the potential to thwart the very idea of what it means to be American. Most of us want this procedure to be safe, rare and legal. We feel it is none of our business what women do with their own bodies. Others want it to be very much their business. They wish to preserve the fetus at all costs and make criminals out of doctors and desperate women.

Gun rights? Some of us know that more guns do not make us safer and would be happy if we had many less guns than people. Others insist more guns d0 make us safer and there can’t be too many. They should even be at our sides at all times.

Voting rights? Most of us believe there is not a voter fraud problem in this country and wish to make voting as easy as possible. Others believe elections are stolen and voting laws must be tightened up precipitously.

I could go on and on.

If you know a little history, you know this: there is nothing sacred about being a “country.” The list of countries that have come and gone is telling. We only have to look at modern times to remember there used to be independent states like USSR, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, East Pakistan, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. They’ve been replaced by a potpourri of new or merged countries. English- and French-speaking Canada flirts with a split every decade or so. Even on our own sunny shores, Texas and Hawai’i, believe it or not, used to be independent countries. And let’s not forget America itself was not so long ago part of the British Empire.

When you look clear-eyed at this in an historical light, it seems more likely than not that America breaks up with itself one day. And, why not? Most people are either mad, anxious, or apoplectic at the other side. They simply can’t understand why those people think and live the way they do and are always stirring up trouble. The same angst and stress that plays out in red and blue states for the opposition party clearly plays out at the federal level every day. Do you really think it will get better? I don’t. Compromise and “country before party” is a quaint relic of another time. The political class has failed us.

I hope I’m wrong about breaking up. I can’t imagine needing a passport to visit my beloved Siesta Key, Florida, each year. Of course, I don’t think you could pay me to live there now with Ron DeSantis (R-Looney Tunes) gleefully banning books, criticizing mask-wearing students and picking on Mickey Mouse for saying “gay”. But if Florida were in a different country, I’m ashamed to say that I would probably hold my nose and overlook the human rights abuses taking place there in order to visit. After all, I did that when I visited China many years ago.

Intolerance Not Education

By Gary Bennett

This article appears in the April 12, 2022, issue of the Frederick News Post

Just when you think this kind of nonsense can’t happen here, a merry band of pirates take over a BOE health curriculum committee meeting and threaten violence if they don’t get their way.

It seems clear the lessons of Kindergarten and first grade on how to conduct yourselves are lost on them. How ironic. I would like to assure the committee volunteers who give their time, efforts and talent freely that this despicable group does not speak for a majority of Frederick County citizens. Most of us stand with the science and expert opinion when it comes to educating our children.

I don’t think there is any doubt that the group of four including Cindy Rose and Tiffany Noble running for the Board of Education on the so-called “Education Not Indoctrination” slate has sealed their election fate. Frederick County will not put up with this kind of conduct no matter how strongly held your beliefs are. These are not the kind of people we want in charge of anything. In fact, to add clarity to the upcoming election I propose this group be called for what they are—the Intolerance Not Education slate.

Faith and Begorrah, It’s St. Patrick’s Day!

By Gary Bennett

Useless Facts to Impress your Friends and Bar Mates

This article appears in the March 17, 2022, edition of the Frederick News-Post

This most fun of American holidays features the wearing of the green, lots of drinking and kissing, and plenty of parades and orchestrated hijinks. But I’m here to help you impress your friends and sketchy bar acquaintances with the following useless, but interesting, knowledge.

Hard as it is to believe now, St. Patrick’s Day was a dry holiday for most of the 20th century. St. Patrick’s Day is considered a religious holiday in Ireland, meaning the nation’s pubs are closed for business on 3/17. (This is not quiiiiiiiiite the way it is in the U.S.) The one exception to closing bars in Ireland was to allow beer vendors to sell their wares at the big national dog show, which is always held on St. Patrick’s Day for some odd reason.

New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade is one of the world’s largest. Since 1762, 250,000 marchers have paraded up and down Fifth Avenue on foot. Much like the PGA, the parade doesn’t allow floats or cars. Not to be outdone, Chicago has been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day by dumping 40 tons of green dye into the Chicago River since 1962.

Since we’re all Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, you’ll want to know some of the lingo. Besides “faith and begorrah,” which I cleverly worked into the title and roughly means “by golly,” the other phrase you’ll need is “Erin go Bragh,” which means roughly “Ireland Forever.” This one comes in handy when rooting on your favorite soccer hooligans or claiming you are actually Irish. I’m sorry to report that “kiss me, I’m Irish” is purely American.

Even though we’re all Irish now on his special day, you might not know that St. Patrick himself wasn’t Irish. He was born to Roman parents in Scotland or Wales in the 4th century. And perhaps St. Maewyn’s Day would be a better name for his holiday. According to Irish legend, St. Patrick’s birth name was Maewyn Succat, but he changed it to Patricius after becoming a priest. Excellent move!

The shamrock became associated with St. Patrick when he used the three-leafed plant as a metaphor for the Holy Trinity when introducing Christianity to Ireland. The other marshmallow symbols you’ll find in your Lucky Charms cereal bowl are purely American, and rightfully so!

It wouldn’t be St. Patrick’s Day without leprechauns, now would it? But did you know they are all men? In traditional Irish folk tales, there are no female leprechauns, only nattily attired wee males. This begs the question, how do we get new baby leprechauns?

And make no mistake—they earned that gold they’re guarding. According to legend, leprechauns spend their days making and mending shoes. It’s hard work, so you can’t blame them for being territorial about their pots of gold.

In Irish lore, St. Patrick is credited with driving all the snakes out of Ireland. But modern scientists suggest that the job might not have been too hard—Ireland has never been home to any snakes. Through the Ice Age, Ireland was too cold to host any reptiles and the surrounding seas have staved off serpentine invaders ever since. Modern scholars think the “snakes” St. Patrick drove away likely represented the Druids or possibly Mitch McConnel and Chuck Schumer.

If being an historically dry holiday is not bad enough, I’m sorry to report that, traditionally, there is no corned beef in corned beef and cabbage, that most Irish of St. Patrick’s Day snacks. Oh no, it has nothing to do with grain corn. Instead, it’s a nod to the large grains of salt that were historically used to cure meats, which were known as “corns.”

Now you know. Please enjoy St. Patrick’s Day responsibly.

So You’re Newly Retired. Now What?

By Gary Bennett

Ellen Bennett helps her grandson, Logan, prepare for kindergarten next fall.

This article appears in the February 23rd, 2022, edition of the Frederick News Post.

As we begin to reach our 60s and beyond, most of us can begin to see the end of our working days on the horizon. It can be a sweet picture: wide open, unhurried days with long walks and longer lunches. It’s going to be great, right?

Maybe not.

Without a plan for retirement, these unhurried days can quickly become boring — or worse, detrimental to our health. Most experts agree we need to keep our mind, body and spirit active in retirement.

I retired on Jan. 1, 2020, just before the pandemic began, after a long publishing and marketing career at associations in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. My wife, Ellen, followed me eight months later after an equally long career as a nurse. After two intense but rewarding careers, we were more than ready to retire at age 62.

Our plan for retirement was easy. We wanted to help as many people as we could for as long as we could.

With that in mind, here is our recipe for a happy retirement that allows us to enjoy an active lifestyle while helping others. We realize this pace is not for everyone, but if you ever find yourself bored, pick out one of two of our suggestions and give them a try.

FIND A NEW JOB

This may sound counter-intuitive, but more and more retirees are doing it, and we did as well. We found new jobs.

Three days a week, from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., we serve as caregivers to our two pre-school grandsons. We are exhausted by day’s end but can’t help smiling as we talk over each eventful day.

If there is any way you can swing it, we highly recommend you give this a try. We save our son- and daughter-in-law mountains of money, provide love and peace of mind and — the best part — get the privilege of having front-row seats to the wondrous, daily reality show of children growing up.

Logan, Gary and Gavin Bennett and grand-dog Chloe enjoy the water table.

This is a great “job,” but it wasn’t quite enough for me, so I got a second job delivering prescriptions two or three days a week for Whitesell’s, a local pharmacy. The hours are great (roughly 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.), so I get to have a few leisurely mornings. Along with helping other people by bringing them something that makes them feel better, I get to be my own boss, drive around town in a sporty Ford Focus and get a little sunshine and exercise, too.

Of course, you don’t need me to tell you that the job market is red hot right now, even for seniors. If you try, you can find a part-time job that you will like or perhaps love. Top jobs for seniors according to AARP are teacher’s aide, coach/referee, tour guide, retail salesperson, tax preparer and consultant.

VOLUNTEER

My wife and I also take advantage of the wonderful world of volunteering. Frederick County is special in this regard. Endless opportunities await if you have a sincere desire to make a difference.

I began volunteering shortly after retirement by becoming an English tutor for the Literacy Council of Frederick County. They showed me the ropes, provided teaching materials and paired me with two Spanish-speaking sisters with a strong desire to learn English. The Literacy Council always needs tutors, and I can guarantee that if you give this a try, you will find it immensely rewarding.

Gary Bennett working with one of his English students at the Urbana library.

If you have a little more time, we recommend membership in any of Frederick’s fine service clubs. Each has a slightly different focus but all want to make Frederick County a better place to live and work. Ellen and I joined the Lions. Others include the Elks, Kiwanis, Moose, Jaycees and Rotary.

At Lions, Ellen used her nursing knowledge to start a used medical equipment lending program that serves Frederick County citizens in need with wheelchairs, walkers, bedside commodes and other medical equipment free of charge. She runs this program out of our garage, although we are looking for more permanent space.

Ellen Bennett checks her inventory of used medical equipment for loaning out.

I created an annual Lions event called Canines on the Creek that brings the community together around a fun pet costume contest that raises money for Leader Dogs for the Blind. I also help lead an event called Roar Like a Lion that creates care packages for houseless individuals.

Other volunteer opportunities in the area:

• Frederick County Food Bank, where we stock shelves and help clients choose food. We include our 16-year-old grandson in this endeavor.

• Frederick County Adopt-a-Road program that puts citizens in charge of occasional trash pick-up on stretches of county highways. This activity provides great exercise while doing something good for your neighborhood.

Gary Bennett at the beginning of a two-mile stretch of road the Bennetts have adopted.

• Meals on Wheels, which allows Ellen to use her nursing skills to provide periodic client assessments, and I make deliveries.

• Local homeowner’s association, where we have both served as officers.

• Local election judge, in which I’m currently serving a four-year term and looking forward to the 2022 elections.

• Downtown Frederick Partnership, where we have assisted with Bring a Broom Saturday, Thursday evening Concerts on the Creek and the annual Fire In Ice event.

• American Red Cross, where we have become frequent blood and platelet donors.

• A local church, where we work on our spirituality, make friends and help others. We attend First Baptist Church on Bowers Road and are so glad we do.

KEEP YOUR BODY MOVING

It doesn’t have to be all work, work, work. Frederick County offers many free and low-cost diversions. Ellen and I participate in as many as we can.

Our favorite is the senior exercise classes held at the William R. Talley Recreation Center. They are held daily in the morning, although the best we can do is about once a week. Frederick’s Senior Rec Council also provides opportunities in various sports including hiking, biking, bowling, basketball and softball.

CONTINUE LEARNING

We’ve also taken advantage of Frederick Community College’s Institute for Learning in Retirement. This program offers classes in interesting subjects such as history, politics and languages. Ellen and I have taken several courses, my favorite being Hiking the Appalachian Trail, which helped get me on the trail.

Gary Bennett, right, with Brad Petersen, Frederick Community Action Agency.

The Legendary Gordon Lightfoot to Visit Frederick

Gordon Lightfoot performs at the Weinberg Center for the Arts on Thurs., Feb 10, 2022.

By Gary Bennett

This article appeared in the Frederick News-Post, Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022.

It’s difficult to overstate the impact Gordon Lightfoot had on popular music in the 1970s. Along with artists such as James Taylor, John Denver, Harry Chapin and Jim Croce, he came to embody the sensitive, singer-songwriter movement of that decade.

He is perhaps the most accomplished musician of that group. In his day, he was widely regarded as a first-rate 12-string guitarist, top-notch writer of both music and lyrics that attracted the attention of music giants such as Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Barbara Streisand and Glen Campbell, and a near non-stop live performer. Unlike many pop artists, Lightfoot actually reads music, arranges his songs and scores them.

Lightfoot makes his first appearance in Frederick on Thursday, February 10 at the Weinberg Center for the Arts. Limited tickets are still available. He was actually scheduled to appear in August but was forced to cancel due to a minor hand injury. He is in the early stages of a 44-date tour spanning December to June that will take him up and down the East Coast and Midwest. He is backed by his long-time four-piece band.

Lightfoot is now 83 years old and not what he once was, of course. His rich distinctive baritone voice that took listeners on exotic adventures and let them in on the most personal of secrets has been replaced by a raspy, reedy vocal that nevertheless imparts a truthfulness that’s not always apparent in music today. If ever there was an artist not named McCartney who should be allowed a valedictory final curtain call late in life, it is Lightfoot.

His songs have a timeless quality to them. Several topped the charts in the ‘70s. He gained wide recognition in the ‘60s as a writer for others with songs such as “For Lovin’ Me”, “Early Morning Rain”, “Steel Rail Blues” and “Ribbon of Darkness” – a number one country hit in 1965 for Marty Robbins. But it wasn’t until the unforgettable 1970 ballad “If You Could Read My Mind” that chronicles the sad ending of his first marriage that Lightfoot established himself as confident singer of his own material.

My wife and I saw Lightfoot in concert at Wolf Trap in Virginia in 2016 and “Mind” stoked the most heartfelt sing-along I’ve ever heard at a concert. Lightfoot commented that “Nobody dreamed it would become a hit; the album [Sit Down Young Stranger] was out seven or eight months before the song emerged, and I was glad it did. It’s about peace through acceptance. It’s stood the test of time, about 30 years, and I never get tired of doing it.”

In 1974 through 1976 Lightfoot unleashed a string of four consecutive number one folk-rock songs that put him in the same echelon as Elton John, John Denver and Barry Manilow in public consciousness. Lightfoot and his band knew that “Sundown” would be a number one hit when they recorded it in 1974. Sultry and bluesy, it tells the story of unrequited love with some infidelity thrown in for good measure. Lightfoot sings, “Sundown, you better take care, if I find you’ve been creeping’ ‘round my back stair.”

The follow up to “Sundown” – “Carefree Highway” vividly tells the story of “Ann” that Lightfoot says “…knocked me out when I was about 20 and then left me standing there.” He escapes her memory on this carefree highway.

Then came “Rainy Day People” in early 1975, which seems to be about those friends you can always count on to provide a shoulder to cry on and sympathetic ear to tell your troubles to but is really about, according to Lightfoot, “the person waiting in the wings for a relationship to subside, so he can move in.”

In 1976 Lightfoot delivered what is perhaps his most famous but least likely number one hit song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” He read a Newsweek article in the fall of ’75 about the shipwreck of this huge freighter on Lake Superior. A slide guitar provides the haunting sound of melancholy and despair the song calls for. The intricate wording and storytelling bring to mind an Irish sea chantey. Incredibly, it is documented the song was laid down in just one take with all the lights of the studio dimmed except for Lightfoot’s scribbled lyrics. Lightfoot says “I’m proud it’s been written. It’s been a very educational and interesting experience, for sure. I have gotten to meet a lot of the people who were related to the men on the Edmund Fitzgerald; periodically they have functions, which I attend whenever I can. It’s been a real-life experience for me.”

If you only know Gordon Lightfoot for his huge hits, treat yourself and listen to two fairly obscure but incredibly beautiful love songs. “Song for a Winter’s Night” is folk-rock at its best, telling the story of unrequited love set in the dead of winter with snow lightly falling, windowpanes iced over, an empty glass and forlorn love letter. “Beautiful” on the other hand tells the story of love fulfilled with an economy of words and simple melody that is almost breathtaking. He makes a point to always sing this song in concert.

His impressive discography includes 19 studio albums, three live albums, 16 greatest hits albums, and 46 singles. He has sold more than ten million albums worldwide.

Gordon Lightfoot was born near Toronto in 1938. He began his career by fronting various rock and roll bands around Toronto when he was still a teenager. At 20, he relocated to Los Angeles where he took classes in music school and wrote jingles for TV commercials. He returned to Toronto in 1962 where he became a fixture in the city’s folk music scene. He wrote successfully for others and then signed his own record deal in 1966. In the late 1960s he scored several minor hits on the Canadian pop charts before striking it big in the ‘70s.

Lightfoot has not had an easy life. Like many artists, he has battled substance abuse. In his case it was alcohol that nearly derailed his career. He also suffered through a couple of health scares. In 1972 he was stricken with facial paralysis when he contracted Bell’s Palsy. In 2002 he suffered a near fatal ruptured abdominal aortic aneurism. He spent six weeks in a coma, endured four surgeries and two years of extensive rehabilitation. In 2006 he suffered a minor stroke that limited use of his right hand that he has since regained. A heavy smoker since age 15, Lightfoot has emphysema.

Among Lightfoot’s honors include five Grammy nominations, 17 Juno Awards (Canada’s Grammy equivalent) induction into the U.S. and Canadian Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and Officer of the Order of Canada. He even appears on a Canadian postage stamp.

Lightfoot is reportedly worth about 40 million dollars so he certainly doesn’t need to be on the road as much as he is. But he remains singularly focused on the stage and vows to continue performing as much as he is able for his faithful fans. “I’m 82 years of age now [now 83]. That feels very important to me. If health permits, I’m happy just to be able to continue to perform in one way or another.”

Cover of his 1974 top-selling album Sundown

Unvaccinated are holding us hostage

By Gary Bennett

This article appeared in the Frederick News Post on January 13, 2022.

So, after all this time, only 68 percent of Frederick County residents are vaccinated against Covid. It seems to not matter that Fredrick Health Hospital has over 100 Covid patients, three-quarters of which are not vaccinated, and is under such intense strain that it instituted “crisis standards of care,” which removes optimal care to patients with serious but more chronic conditions. It seems to not matter that our doctors and nurses are pleading with us to do the right thing. It seems to not matter that with serious outbreaks in nine county schools we’re probably going to have to go back to virtual learning, thereby further harming our children and throwing a wrench into the vexing parental conundrum of working or staying home and caring for their children.

Why do the unvaccinated hold the rest of us hostage like this? The efficacy of the Covid vaccine cannot be disputed by any reasonable person. There are millions of us who have been vaccinated with few or no side effects and have avoided severe disease. What more proof do they need? It’s sad but I’ll admit it’s becoming increasingly difficult to feel bad for wantonly unvaccinated people who are now dying of Covid and are begging for the vaccine. I will also call out people who are not wearing masks in public spaces. We should all do that. It’s the patriotic thing to do. It may be uncomfortable but perhaps these people will think twice next time if there is some shame involved.

We should have conquered Covid by now and relegated it to being a still dangerous but mostly seasonal nuisance like the common flu. But the selfish, inconsiderate, and yes, under-educated portion of our citizenry—the very ones who complain the loudest about wearing a simple mask and who must contend with empty store shelves and closed eateries—have prolonged this crisis with their recalcitrance.

At this point, as the virus continues to mutate, it’s hard to see how we’ll ever put it in our rear-view mirror until, as in 1918, the virus simply runs out of viable hosts to infect. That could take years and mountains of sorrow because of our fellow selfish citizens. My elderly aunt is right. If these selfish, unpatriotic people were around in her day, we’d still have smallpox, polio and countless other communicable diseases.

Response to Reader on My Proposal to Reform Office of Sheriff

Editor’s Note: This article is in response to a Frederick News Post reader who took exception to my call to reform office of sheriff. His comments can be found here: https://www.fredericknewspost.com/opinion/letter_to_editor/no-need-for-change-with-the-sheriffs-office/article_f075f972-8934-5e5d-9df7-db067336a9f1.html

By Gary Bennett

I told you the hue and cry from the current sheriff’s backers would be loud.

I would like to ensure Rick Godfrey and those of like mind that I have no partisan stake in my proposal to scrap the sheriff’s office as lead law enforcement agency in Frederick County in favor of a county police force. This may come as a shock but I can assure him that I would feel the same if Karl Bickel were sheriff right now. (I wonder if Mr. Godfrey’s position would change if progressive Bickel were to be elected sheriff in 2022?)

Mr. Godfrey worries about progressives ending such scourges as no bail arrests and looking the other way on public urination. (Public urination, really?) But right now, any sheriff, conservative or progressive, can publicly denounce any law he or she disagrees with and pledge not to enforce it. This happens all over the country particularly with gun laws and there is very little anyone can do about it including the governors. We should all shudder at that.

Mr. Godfrey makes the classic mistake of assigning traits to all progressives that are held by those on the fringe. Most progressives do not believe all conservatives are racists or insurrectionists, so why can’t the same benefit of the doubt be given to the other side on crime? I’ve written in this paper before that we’d be better off if we tune out the fringes on both sides and I believe that.

It’s preposterous to think that the five largest Maryland counties have high crime rates because they have county police departments. Does anyone really think that if the sheriff’s office were in charge in these five counties that crime rates would be any different? The biggest driver of crime is population density and these counties have more than their share.

I am accused of being naive in asserting that a county police department would not get bogged down in day-to-day petty politics like a sheriff often does. I would like to ask this paper’s readers when is the last time you heard the Frederick City police chief take to the airwaves to rail about something an alderperson did or about the scourge of illegal immigration? Exactly, you haven’t. There is no reason to believe the same would not hold for a county police chief. What happens behind closed doors would obviously be another matter.

Voters of Frederick County make their political wishes known when they vote for a county executive and county council. These leaders serve the people on a myriad of issues and should have their say on public safety, too. Unfortunately, the outdated county sheriff model removes that almost completely.

It may be only a matter of time before the political nature of our current law enforcement model gets us into deep trouble. Just ask ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona who has nearly bankrupted his county with lost lawsuits due to profiling of Latinx drivers during traffic stops. We’ve started down that road already.

Time to Reform County Office of Sheriff

By Gary Bennett

Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry would be appalled at that has happened to the office of sheriff.

This article appeared in the Frederick News Post, November 24, 2021

Ongoing political sniping in this newspaper between current sheriff Chuck Jenkins and previous and probable future candidate Karl Bickel should remind us all that it doesn’t have to be this way in Frederick County.

It is clear to me, and I hope to you, too, that Frederick County has outgrown the increasingly outdated policing model of county sheriff.

In Maryland, the office of sheriff is an elected one required by the state constitution. There are 23 counties and Baltimore City, and 24 politician/sheriffs serve each one.

And therein lies the problem. Do we really want elective politics playing a day-to-day role in professional law enforcement? That is what we have here in Frederick County and I submit it does not serve us well.

Sheriff Jenkins has made it clear he is not shy about pushing back forcefully at his critics at any time. It is chilling to listen to him rail against fellow politicians Karl Bickel and Kai Hagan, who are in fact Frederick County citizens he swore an oath to protect.

Karl Bickel seems to think that an honest discussion of the merits of a county police force is a red herring at this time. He sounds more like a politician who thinks he has a pretty good shot at becoming sheriff in 2022 but would have very little shot at winning a nationwide search for county police chief. He is probably very right about that.

As a constitutional officer, there are relatively few checks on the power of a sheriff. The popularly elected county executive and county council have no authority whatsoever over the sheriff. They do have some say in setting the sheriff’s overall budget but it is severely limited and can not be itemized to, for example, defund our county’s participation in ICE’s 287(g) program.

If he or she wishes, a sheriff can publicly denounce any law they disagree with and pledge not to enforce it. This is done all over the country particularly with gun laws, and there is very little anyone can do about it. This is an extraordinary amount of power to be placed in one person, and it must end.

While the Maryland constitution requires each county to have a sheriff, state statutes allow counties and municipalities to form local police departments. This is the path Frederick County needs to start down.

The five largest Maryland counties – Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery, and Prince Georges – have all created professional county police departments that report directly to the county executive or county council, much like the Frederick city police chief reports to the mayor. They are the primary law enforcement agencies in these jurisdictions, charged with enforcing all laws and investigating all crimes. In these counties, the office of sheriff remains but is limited to enforcing orders of the court such as evictions, seizing property, serving subpoenas, summonses, and warrants and running the county jail.

Frederick County ranks right below these top five in population. We are not the sleepy backwater we used to be. We are a metropolitan county that demands good government. We are the largest, most diverse Maryland county without its own police force. We’ve seen fit to join other large Maryland counties in establishing a county executive and county council. A county police force is the next natural progression.

A professional Frederick County police force would have several benefits:

Political sniping and grandstanding would no longer have an effect on day-to-day law enforcement policy.
We can be secure in the fact that law enforcement policy would be in tune with the overall political wishes of a majority of Frederick County citizens who vote for the county executive and county council who, in turn, campaign on their public safety stance and hire the county police chief.
With a likely nationwide search for the best possible candidate, the overall quality of the county’s chief law enforcement officer would surely increase.
Frederick County policing would be subject to better accountability and oversight. The chief of a county police department would serve at the pleasure of the country executive and county council with appropriate oversight especially in budgetary and big-picture matters such as 287(g).
Training and professionalism would increase. In Maryland counties with their own police force, money spent on training has more than doubled over what was spent by the respective sheriff’s office.

Creating a professional county police force won’t be cheap, of course. New officers will be needed along with new cars, equipment, and office space to name a few. Some of these items can reasonably be drawn from the existing sheriff’s office, but not all. Funding of the sheriff’s office must continue, too, albeit at a lower level. But Frederick County is in excellent financial shape and can afford to take this bold and necessary step.

A change such as I am proposing would take an extraordinary amount of political will and courage. The hue and cry from the incumbent sheriff and his backers and sheriff wannabes would be debilitating. But progressive Maryland can get it done.

This change in policing model could and should be timed to not adversely harm any incumbent, challenger, or upcoming election. The election for sheriff should and will go off as planned with other county office holders in 2022. After appropriate study, the legislative request to create a county police force and reform the office of sheriff in Frederick County could then go to the General Assembly in 2023 with a target date of enactment in 2026. Even for government, this timetable should be doable.

Progressives, like conservatives, want safe communities and the laws to be enforced. The difference comes in the policies to make this happen. Politics should not play an overt role in such an important endeavor.

Current Frederick County (MD) sheriff Chuck Jenkins (2021)

The Difference Between Democrats and GOP

By Gary Bennett

This article appeared in the October 9th, 2021, edition of the Frederick News-Post.

If you are not paying close attention and wonder what really is the difference between the two political parties, I offer this: Democrats want to govern, come to consensus, negotiate, and try to do something positive for the American people while the Republicans are more interested in the raw accumulation of power and have a continuing unhealthy interest in what goes on in our bedrooms.

Don’t think so? How then do we explain the fact, not opinion, that Democrats are on board with investigating what went wrong in Afghanistan while Republicans cannot even be bothered to want to investigate the attempted overthrow of our government on Jan. 6? How is it that Democrats voted to raise the debt limit seven times under Donald Trump, even though he ran up record deficits, while Republican refused to raise the debt limit under Joe Biden and risked government default?

These are just two examples and I could go on and on beginning with the brazen appointment by the Republicans of a ultra-conservative Supreme Court justice during the last election while a Barack Obama appointment was not even provided a hearing an entire year before the 2016 election. The power-hungry desperation of the Republican Party is maddingly there for all to see and I hope independents will remember that when they next go to the polls.

Where Does All This Selfishness Come From?

By Gary Bennett

Protesters against a COVID-19 mandate gesture as they are escorted out of the Clark County School Board meeting at the Clark County Government Center, in Las Vegas.

I’ve been thinking a lot about selfishness lately. It’s been in the news.

The refusal of many people to get the Covid vaccine or to even do the bare minimum and wear a mask to protect themselves, their children, and the rest of us has certainly brought this ugly trait forward.

But it’s always been there. Unfortunately. Maybe without such deadly consequences, but still there.

One only has to consider what we see every day: trash littering our highways, parking in fire lanes when perfectly good parking spaces are only yards away, playing music too loudly in public, taking a basketful of groceries through the express line, not using turn signals, cutting in line during merges, and billionaires going off to space but not paying their employees a living wage. I could go on.

Those of us who care about others and actively work to improve their lot look on in disgust at the depths others are willing to sink to satisfy their own needs. Under the guise of patriotically battling government tyranny, a certain segment of our population has proven they don’t give a blip about the rest of us. I’m not buying their crocodile grievances and faux patriotism. Actions speak louder than words. Recurring tantrums at school board meetings, on airplanes, and in convenience stores roar with selfishness. Don’t think so? When’s the last time you heard an anti-vaxxer or anti-masker talk about the legitimate concerns of others?

Where does all this selfishness come from?

It is tempting to write off all these selfish people as simply toddlers in adult clothing. Not so, say most scientists. Contrary to conventional wisdom, they don’t believe we are born inherently selfish. Selfishness appears to be mostly learned behavior, not instinctive. The implication is that our rational mind makes selfish decisions consciously. We see it working for some people, at least in the short term, and decide we want some of that.

Happily, the same learning process holds for altruism. Scientists have learned that kids display altruistic behaviors from a very young age. At first, children learn to care only for their needs with little empathy or consideration for others. We see this all the time. But gradually, children begin to learn that other people have emotions too and develop empathy. What’s more, other research suggests altruistic behavior may be the default option in our brains.

So, if selflessness is rooted in the brain, why do some people have such a hard time with it? The answer lies in emotional intelligence or lack thereof. Most psychologists agree that emotional intelligence exists on a spectrum, and some individuals are simply higher on it than others. One symptom of low emotional intelligence is the tendency to be self-absorbed, or exclusively concerned about what you’re thinking, feeling, needing and wanting, instead of the thoughts, feelings and needs of others.

After stumbling in the beginning, science quickly reached consensus that masks help. Even if the science wasn’t clear, wouldn’t common sense tell you that covering your face will provide some modicum of protection to both you and others from this airborne and highly contagious disease? If I were wavering, that would be enough to convince me. Even harrowing accounts of packed ICUs and exhausted doctors and nurses pleading with us to do the right thing fail to move some people. This infuriating ignorance is another form of selfishness.

Businesses are beginning to once again post signs that highly recommend masks. Some even require them. Even though this should be common sense in any small, enclosed space, I applaud their courage to make such a call anyway. But this doesn’t stop a sizable segment from thumbing their noses. “Don’t tread on my rights” and “government can’t tell me what to do” are the usual tired refrains ignoring the social compact that we each have a responsibility to look after one another.

The most jarring excuse, though, is the one that insists we must not hide our faces because we are made in God’s image. This would be laughable if it weren’t so sad. The Jesus I know would be the first to put on a mask to help protect others and urge others to do the same.

When it comes to the vaccine, I let out a sad, knowing sigh when I read in the Frederick News-Post about many local schools recently receiving STEM grants. I believe one of the great dichotomies of today is why so many of us want our children to pursue careers in STEM but then ignore—or worse, disparage—them when they grow up and provide their expert opinion. Anyway, where did all these lay people get their medical and scientific knowledge to know better than scientists who’ve been studying infectious diseases for years? That smugness and unreasonableness is another form of selfishness.

The typical responses used to discredit the vaccine is that it was rushed, there is not enough data available yet for me to commit to it, or (inexplicably) it doesn’t work.

The vaccine was not rushed. To its credit, the former administration put the vaccine on a very fast track because we needed it to be. What people don’t understand is that the infrastructure to get the vaccine out quickly was already in place. The world is bedeviled by infectious diseases every single year and science has become good at responding. AIDS, SARS, smallpox, polio and countless other communicable diseases have been highly eradicated or wiped off the face of the earth because of vaccines.

The efficacy of the Covid vaccine cannot be disputed by any reasonable person. There are millions of us who have been vaccinated with few or no side effects and have avoided severe disease. What more proof do you need? It’s sad but I’ll admit it’s becoming increasingly difficult to feel bad for wantonly unvaccinated people who are now dying of Covid and are begging for the vaccine.

We should have conquered Covid by now but the selfish, inconsiderate, and yes, under-educated portion of our citizenry—the very ones who complain the loudest about masks and vaccines—have prolonged this crisis with their recalcitrance. At this point, as the virus mutates, it’s hard to see how we’ll ever put it in our rear-view mirror until, as in 1918, the virus simply runs out of viable hosts to infect. That could take years and mountains of sorrow because of our fellow selfish citizens.