As a proud centrist Democrat, I would like to congratulate Sheriff Chuck Jenkins on his reelection. It was a tight race, but no, I don’t believe the election was stolen. I believe the outcome was what a majority of Frederick County citizens wanted. I challenge the other side to say the same thing publicly about the county executive race.
I certainly wish folks like Cindy Rose would reconsider their rhetoric about fair and unfair elections. I’m sure it hurts to lose, but to cast doubt on our local election without a shred of evidence harms all of us. It especially disparages us regular citizens who served as election judges.
Folks should know that there is simply no way to get away with anything as an election judge. Even if you were so inclined, there are just too many prying eyes, regulations to follow and peer pressure to try anything untoward. Of course, in America, you can hold any opinion you wish and say it out loud without fear of retribution. That’s one thing that makes America great. But, you should know that when it is a reckless, ill-informed opinion, it makes you look, well, less than smart, and perhaps someone who should never be in authority.
If Republicans are tired of seeing their leads slip away as the early votes and mail-in votes are counted, I suggest they take advantage of those tactics themselves. Most of the races were tight and could have gone either way. I believe this means that most Frederick County citizens wish to be governed from the center. I hope Sheriff Jenkins and Jessica Fitzwater are paying attention.
When you meet James Hubbard for the first time, a sense of quiet confidence, competence and thoughtfulness comes through clearly.
And, it’s no wonder after the things he saw and accomplished in Vietnam in the late 1960s. He especially points to the story of his “alive day”—a day he not only remained alive under dire circumstances but proved he could think and function well under extreme pressure.
March 30, 1968 was a typical hot and humid day at fire support base Fels in the Vietnam delta near the town of Cai Lay. The base served as field headquarters for an infantry battalion. Sometime after 5:30 pm, the Viet Cong started dropping mortar rounds onto the base from about 1,000 yards away. Unfortunately, a few of the rounds caused six or seven casualties among the troops, a few very serious.
The battalion surgeon was soon on the phone asking then Lieutenant Hubbard for helicopters to immediately evacuate the worst casualties to a field hospital for treatment. Trouble was, it was extremely dark with no moon or stars to guide the chopper pilots. For just such an emergency, Captain Hubbard and his men had constructed a helipad, complete with 15 slanted holes about five yards apart in the shape of a T to hold tin cans that would, in turn, hold 15 flashlights to guide the pilots onto the base. This did the trick and the chopper landed safely.
Unfortunately, the chopper, with its flashing red lights, made a good target and the enemy soon started firing again. Through the chaos of shouts, screams of wounded men and enemy fire, Captain Hubbard and his men got the casualties loaded onto the chopper and out of harm’s way just as the last round landed near to their position. Extreme courage, preparation and inventiveness had saved the day. Captain Hubbard went on to receive the Silver Star for his service in Vietnam.
In 1973 Captain Hubbard was medically discharged by the Army due to a serious illness. Otherwise, he would have made the Army his career. The discipline and leadership skills he learned in the Army served him well over his long civilian career as a director and lobbyist for the American Legion, where he was a frequent presence testifying on Capitol Hill. One of his proudest moments at the Legion was assisting in the approval and dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC.
Not one to stop working, Captain Hubbard now serves as a volunteer at Monocacy National Battlefield giving tours and explaining what went on at this hallowed battlefield during the Civil War. “My time in the military taught me a lot about myself, about leadership, about buckling down and getting the job done, about decision-making. It was a really enjoyable part of my life, even though some of it was fraught with danger.”
James B. Hubbard, Jr. and his wife Judy live in Frederick and celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary in 2022. They have two daughters and four grandchildren. Daughter Deborah Nylec assisted in the development of his book. To read more about Captain Hubbard’s time in Vietnam, read his book, From Michigan to Mekong, Letters on Life, Learning, Love and War 1961-1968.
Name: James Hubbard Current Age: 79 Hometown: Ludington, MI Year Enlisted: 1966 Years of Service: 6.5 Branch: Army Rank when retired: Captain
Shawn Rearden never saw himself as a leader but concludes his military service brought that out in him. “A few years ago, I had an evaluation and my manager at the time said you know that you’re one of the people in the OR that’s really looked up to as a leader, and I was like ‘really, why?’ I didn’t understand it—I’d never seen myself as that type of person.”
Rearden knows he wouldn’t be where he is today without his time in the service. He is a Surgical First Assistant at Frederick Health, and he’s working towards his nursing degree, on schedule to achieve that in December 2023. Rearden has been married to his wife Jen for 15 years and has a 12-year-old daughter, Molly. The Reardens make their home in Adamstown near Point of Rocks.
He enlisted in the Navy at 18 after four years of Army ROTC in high school and served for seven and a half years. The Navy was a no-brainer for Rearden as both his father and grandfather served in that branch. It also didn’t hurt that the Navy offered some of the best medical training available. As with many young men, military service offered a career path, a way to pay for college through the Gi Bill and a way to get out of his small town.
Rearden misses the structure and camaraderie at times but doesn’t feel like he particularly needed the structure at 18. He understands, however, that many young people do. “It’s not for everyone. If you have a problem with authority, you’re not going to do well. But if you can suck up your pride and realize they are breaking you down to rebuild you in a way that will make you productive then they’ll bring out the best in you. They definitely brought out the best in me.”
Rearden’s seamless transition from military to civilian life serves as a guide for others about to leave the service. He says it is important to get training that you can translate to civilian life. “Make sure you get some kind of certification that you can use when you get out. For me, Naval Hospital Corps School was basically the first semester of nursing school.” In fact, the training is so good that employers take notice right away. For his first job after leaving the military, Rearden said the hiring manager quipped “Maybe I should interview you. No, I’m going to hire you anyway. What shift do you want to work?”
Name: Shawn Rearden Current Age: 40 Hometown: Sunbury, PA Years of Service: 7.5 Branch: Navy Rank when left service: Petty Officer 3rd Class (HM3)
Being an election judge, or maybe more accurately a “poll worker”, is not for the faint of heart. Don’t get me wrong, it’s tiring but great. I love to help people, and it is fascinating to watch the democratic process at work. This is about the only way I get to use my long-ago Poly Sci degree except for the occasional opinion piece in this paper.
I’m in the middle of a four-year term as an election judge, our official title, and performed those duties at a local elementary school on Primary Day, July 19, 2022.
The day is certainly long. My day began at 6 am as our team prepared the school for the polls to open at 7. The first thing I noticed was how hot it was in the gym. No one had bothered to turn on the air conditioning. I can’t blame anyone. How could they have foreseen that it might be hot in the middle of July? I’m not complaining because after we scrambled to come up with about 20 fans, we nosed the room temperature down from 80 degrees to about 78 when the polls closed at 8 pm. I can only come to the conclusion that Governor Hogan must have vetoed air conditioning when he vetoed counting mail-in ballots before Primary Day.
I wish I could say I was a volunteer, but that is not true. You may not realize that poll workers are paid. Of course, for some inexplicable reason, we are told not to expect our paychecks until September at the earliest. No one exactly knows why. I believe the state may be waiting for some of us to die. After all, our team averaged about 70 years of age. And, may God bless our two chief judges, one a democrat and one a republican. Both had been through the election wars for over 30 years now. What type of personality deficiency would cause such a condition? I asked them but got only grunts.
At least turnout was pretty light, which gave me plenty of time for observation. We only ran about 1,000 people through our polling place, and I interacted without almost all of them. I either selected and gave out the proper ballots, helped people vote while being careful to look away, or helped people scan their ballots into the mysterious ballot scanner.
About two-thirds of the voters were registered republicans. Not quite one-third were democrats. This figures. We know that democrats hate crowds and tend to vote by mail so they can vote grandma’s ballot, too. Just kidding? A small number were independents, there to vote in the school board race. The independents, 50 or so, were almost always 20-somethings. They may have had it with the two big parties. That’s what one told me.
A lot of people came with youngsters in tow. Most of them were republicans. Democrats seemed to be happier than republicans, many of which you’d have to describe as grumpy. Maybe the presence of their children had something to do with that. Many republicans were quite wary of the process, especially the vote scanner. More than one asked how I can be sure their vote was actually counted. I can’t.
I got pretty good at guessing the party affiliation of people as they walked in the door. For men, the shorter the hair, bigger the bellies, and frownier the faces meant they were republicans. For women it was a little harder. The younger the women and the tattoo-ier they were usually meant they were democrats. Nearly 100 percent of all blacks were democrats.
More folks than you might imagine made mistakes on the ballots and had to start over. They mostly voted for more candidates in a contest than they were allowed. I’m sorry to report, mistake-makers were mostly republicans. Who can blame them? The more republicans, the better, right? A couple of other folks had trouble finding their way out of the small gym. Their votes still counted.
One young man brought a blank ballot to the scanning station. That is fine, of course. I’m told some folks do that as protest. That begs the question, of course, why don’t they just stay home and save the trouble? Turns out he was confused and hadn’t even voted yet. He was a republican.
One person came in with a sample ballot to consult and was disappointed that it was not for his precinct. Another wondered where all the good candidates were. Turned out he was a democrat and wanted to vote for republicans. After voting, he changed his party affiliation, which one can do.
A few people were indignant that the touchscreen software forced them to look at the names of all people vying for the republican nomination for governor before they could vote for Dan Cox. I saw the same thing in 2020 for Donald Trump. You don’t want to be a candidate on the second page. Just ask Kelly Schulz.
One person erroneously voted for a few of the so-called Education, Not Indoctrination school board candidates and came back for a new ballot. Her exact quote was “I didn’t mean to vote for these idiots.” The most predominant voting literature carried in and consulted was the “apple” ballot supplied by the teacher’s union. Next was some literature from the firefighter’s union extolling the virtues of their preferred candidates.
People are determined to vote. One person, bless her heart, asked for info on all the candidates because she didn’t know anything about them. “I don’t want to vote for just the best names,” she said. When told we didn’t have any literature to give her and were not allowed to do so anyway, she departed and came back to vote a few hours later. One can only surmise she finally did her research which makes you wonder what rock she may have been living under all these months. Another asked me for recommendations on who to vote for, which I did not and could not provide.
As I trudged home at the end of the day at 10 pm, (yes, the polls closed at 8 but it took two hours to tear things down and get the gym back into shape) I couldn’t help but smile. As imperfect as we are, at least we all get our say. Oh, and cell phones are actually illegal in the polling place. You might as well outlaw oxygen.
What bothers me most about our periodic gun debates after the latest sorrowful massacre is the predictable push back from gun owners. Just once, it would be refreshing if some of them would stand up and say, “OK, you’ve got a point. We can’t keep going on like this. Mental health care is a problem but so are guns. The tool I use for recreation and to put additional food on my table is causing excruciating pain for so many people when used improperly. I’ve got to do something to help.”
Sadly, you never hear that. You only hear about the perceived infringement of their own rights. They seem reluctant to even join the debate in a meaningful way beyond a need for more guns so good guys with guns can win the day. We see that very rarely happens. No, they are often happy to blame mental illness, ignoring the fact that only 23 percent of shooters have such a diagnosis according to the CDC. Once the furor of the latest bout of gun violence dies down, meaningful reform is quickly forgotten. Will this time be different?
I’m pessimistic because our democracy doesn’t seem to be working the way it should. You know the statistics. Nearly 9 in 10 Americans support enhanced background checks, including 84 percent of Republicans. Two-thirds support an assault weapon ban and nearly three-fourths support a national “red flag” law. And yet progress never comes because most of these Americans are congregated closely together in blue states with like-minded senators. The smaller, more rural red states stand behind the filibuster and minority rights no matter who it harms.
I wish I could see the attraction of guns as recreation and sport. I don’t. I feel safe in my community so I don’t need to own a gun for protection. But – and stay with me for a moment – I do love biking and hiking. I’d like to think that if my bike or hiking poles were being used by bad, evil, mentally ill people to maim and kill the most vulnerable among us, I would want to help. I would feel some responsibility. I would start by turning in any extra bikes or poles I had lying about so they wouldn’t fall into the wrong hands. I would join with others to lobby bike manufacturers to stop making extra fast, high-capacity bikes because they are simply not needed. And I would stop giving money to the National Bike Association because they are not interested in helping. You get my point.
This is ironic but I have to say it: gun owners, you needn’t be afraid. No one is coming for your guns. For better or worse you have the Second Amendment in your corner and no one is going to repeal it. You sure have to give the NRA credit, though. As shady as their finances are, they’ve been wildly successful making you think that if you give an inch the rest of us will take a mile. Don’t worry – it’s not worth the fight. Meaningful gun reform can only come from gun owners. The ball is in your court. I only hope your child is not next.
The Roberts Court, April 23, 2021
Seated from left to right: Justices Samuel A. Alito, Jr. and Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor
Standing from left to right: Justices Brett M. Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan, Neil M. Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett.
Photograph by Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
After nearly 50 years as the law of the land, it seems the end of Roe v. Wade is upon us. Who could have seen this coming? As it turns out—everyone.
It doesn’t matter that nearly two-thirds of Americans support a women’s right of bodily self-determination. This day has been inevitable ever since Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett ascended to the Supreme Court under disgusting (even for politics) circumstances. We should never forget the rank political maneuvering that got them there and brought us to this day.
Gorsuch was appointed by Trump after then senate majority leader Mitch McConnell refused to even give Obama’s pick, Merick Garland, a hearing nine months before the 2016 presidential election. For nearly a year the Court operated with eight justices. Then McConnell turned around and rushed Kavanaugh through despite believable allegations of sexual misconduct that were never fully investigated. Not to be outdone, he then pushed through Barrett just seven weeks before the 2020 election that Trump would lose and during (during!) early voting for president. The hypocrisy (again, even for politics) has been stunning.
This whole sordid affair has never gotten the attention it deserves. It is court packing, pure and simple. One could hardly blame Biden if he were to immediately name and push through three or four new justices. There is nothing but howls and screams from the right to stop him. Of course Biden would never do this but since the right only understands scorched-earth politics, the left should abide.
One might wonder how mitch McConnell sleeps at night but then you remember who we’re talking about. If there was ever a person singularly interested in obtaining and keeping raw political power no matter the consequences and who it tramples, it is him. He admits as much.
I’ve written before in this paper that the majority leader in the Senate, no matter the party or person occupying this made-up office that is not even mentioned in the Constitution, has too much power. In the case of McConnell, he was singularly making decisions that affected all Americans based on the electoral wishes of a majority of a small southern state’s voters. I never got a chance to vote for McConnell or McConnell’s opponent, and probably neither did you.
Now, with this new precedent, it would not surprise anyone if the right-leaning Court begins to systematically chip away at same-sex marriage, LBGTQ rights, and even the separation of church and state. And, if the GOP gains control of both houses and is able to win the presidency in 2024, the complete and total end of abortions in the U.S. for any reason would likely become a reality no matter what most Americans think. Iron-fisted rule by a loud minority over a quieter, less organized majority is, historically, how democracies begin to crumble.
I clearly remember the day in 1973 when the Supreme Court found in favor of Roe, and suddenly, receiving and performing abortions were no longer a crime. The ruling, while critically important, did not throw the country into crisis mode. It even felt like a compromise in some ways. Even the most callous of citizens agreed that, if we had to have abortions, better they be performed safely by trained clinicians than in some dark alley by someone with little or no training or by the desperate women themselves. Red states were even able to put some restrictions in place, but it seemed like everyone could work with that. Those kinder, gentler days seem to be gone forever.
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.
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.
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.
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.
