And I shook my head …
German Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemöller wrote the famous piece “First They Came for the Jews.” It is a powerful reminder of the dangers of indifference and the importance of speaking out and acting against injustice. Based on the actions of the current administration, Niemöller’s words have never been more relevant. I have updated his words for our times to remind us that being involved and speaking out is as important now as it was in the early days of Nazi Germany.

First, they came in the night for students legally in this country because they did not like what they said or wrote. Without due process, they were whisked off by masked men.

I shook my head, then wrote my Senator

They took away the rights of people who were offensive to them – those who were immigrants, black, women, or LGBTQ.

I shook my head then joined the ACLU

They took books out of libraries, threatened Librarians and insisted we only read what they deemed acceptable.

I shook my head but did not attend Library Board Meetings 

They forced state governments, local governments, universities, and private businesses, to stop helping those in our society not as fortunate by stopping efforts to give everyone equal opportunity.

I shook my head but did nothing 

They suppressed the ability for people to vote, in the name of stopping fraud (that did not exist).

I shook my head, then wrote my Senator

They intimidated law firms that represented cases against them and people they did not like.

I shook my head but did nothing

They attacked the free press and kept reporters who were trying to report the truth from having access while they fed lies and conspiracy theories to those reporters friendly to them.

I shook my head but did nothing

And what will happen if they come after my rights or me?

There may be no press to report on it, no law firm to represent me, and no way to vote them out of office.

Please speak up, write or call your representatives, peacefully demonstrate, donate to candidates, attend local and state governmental meetings, and above all VOTE. 

Will Ferniany, PhD

Retired Health System CEO

 

The 47^th President of the United States stormed in the White House and fired the first shot over the bow his first day in office, and over the next 80 days he never once let up.  Among his early targets were Air Force Lt. General Charles Q. Brown Jr., Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, federal prosecutors and agents who had investigated the president and his allies, 12 inspectors general Congress designated to expose abuse and illegal activities in federal agencies, several senior F.B.I. officials Trump deemed suspect, the nation’s head archivist at the National Archives, keeper of our country’s history and records, and thousands of transgender military service members, be they privates, tough sergeants, F-18 fighter pilots, doctors, linguists, and software engineers, all were informed in his angry executive order they would be booted out, that there was no place for their kind in his military.

Was there any rhyme or reason for this dastardly first order of business?  Definitely. The President of the United States was posting his enemies list, and it was only a preview of a very long list. Everyone needed to understand things were going to be different this time around.

Was this how our president and Commander-in-Chief intended to settle old scores and rub his worst instincts in our faces? Yes, it was.

Unfortunately, he was still obsessed with personal slights, rejections, and insults, and a litany of wrongs that include perceived phony indictments and impeachments, phony convictions, rigged court orders, and sleazy and incompetent government and private sector lawyers and fancy law firms, and reporters and TV networks out to get him. He could go on nauseum

Could it be that a troubled Captain Queeg from The Caine Mutiny, but one far more dangerous and sporting an orange/peroxide pompadour, had walked out a New York City courtroom a free man only to end up months later, his wildest dreams come true, in the oval office at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?

This angry president still needed constant attention.  He still craved and pursued attention and adulation every day.  He would make his nasty enemies heed; he bragged how they would come to him on bended knees. Some saw his ugly spectacle as revenge by a small man.  Most Republicans approved.  After all a lot of those people and institutions the president had fingered needed a good comeuppance, and there was the matter of those big, beautiful tax cuts still needing congressional approval. Those tax cuts were desperately needed

The president didn’t attempt to disguise what he was embarking upon. He would use the extraordinary powers of the most important political office in the world and the bountiful purse of federal funding and rich contracts to threaten, reward, and settle his petty scores. He said he was cleaning up a big Biden mess, and creating a beautiful new culture and America would love it.

And then he and the Ship of Fools he had personally selected for his cabinet set out to threaten or declare war against elite universities and colleges, major corporations and their CEOs and employees, leading research hospitals, foundations, nonprofits, big city white-shoe law firms, and numerous federal agencies and their programs.  With a mix of derision and delight he singled out cultural institutions such as the Kennedy Center and several Smithsonian museums, including the National Museum of American History, and the African American Museum, to name a few, all located on the mall in Washington D. C., and all receiving some federal funding.  The president called out his targets in Executive Orders he issued, often with fanfare and delight from the White House and on his social media postings. For some tasks, the president deployed one of his key so-called agents of change, Elon Musk and his reckless Doge team to close or cripple agencies, hand out pink slips to stunned government employees, and gain access to secured private data without authorization.  It happened swiftly and without much coordination and thought, and there was little resistance.  The chaos and confusion and harm done didn’t seem to register with the president.  Anxiety about Medicaid and Social Security and Veterans checks didn’t concern the president and Musk.  After all the whole idea was to get this business accomplished before his henchmen were stopped by Congress which had authorized and funded most of the agencies and programs.

The cowardly Republican Congress without fuss quickly went MIA; they did nothing to halt the illegal White House scheme.  In fact, they rolled over and allowed the legislative branch of government to become groveling flunkies of the Executive.

No one knows what, if anything, the Judiciary will do to stop this Trump White House.  It may be that Chief Justice Roberts, and his colleagues will eventually do their jobs and restrain a president running amok.

Perhaps the President’s bizarre press conference last week in the White House Rose Garden complete with middle school charts announcing his tariffs, coupled with Wall Street’s reaction and dive over the next four trading days which took us briefly into a 20% bear market decline, frightened enough people to wake up and ask two fundamental questions:  Is our president well?  What can I do?  It looked like Americans around the country were doing that over the weekend in their homes, out on the streets in big cities and small towns, and in their coffee shops.

And, in a less visible way, but perhaps equally dramatic, some alarmed CEOs of major corporations were spotted in Washington early this week attempting to persuade Republican senators to wake up; a few CEOs were seeing cabinet officials, and a couple business Titians were attempting to speak directly with the president.

If corporate America is this anxious about the president’s erratic, unpredictable behavior and judgement you know this is a very perilous hour for our nation and our pocketbooks.  Monday the president told us repeatedly he will not do a deal on tariffs.  The next day the president’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested the president is telling his aides to get ready to deal on tariffs.  Which is it?  I wonder if the president was in class at the Warton Business School the days his professors underscored how much markets appreciate and reward for predictability and consistency.

Aubrey Sarvis

Army veteran, former corporate officer, and former

Executive Director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network

I guess that 80 years of prosperity and relative peace is too much for our American patriots to stand. Have we forgotten how we once created a new world order after defeating the truly evil forces of fascism. Now there is a restlessness shaking off the compliancy of peace and prosperity. Stand still for a minute, and you can smell the sickly vapor of adrenalin and testosterone, as it emanates from the bloodied canvas of the Republican back bench, populated by such luminaries as Marjorie Taylor Green and our own Andy Harris.

How did we get here? After WW2, Europe was largely a wasteland, it’s industrial centers reduced to rubble. The victors, mostly the United States, could have let anarchy reign, and probably face a WW3, or communist takeover, before the end of the century. Yes, the threat of communism was a great, and real, concern. But in the great tradition of all those who seek recognition and power, the danger of communism was exaggerated and amplified, leading to thousands of unnecessary deaths, from SE Asia to Iran, to Chile, to Central America, ad nauseum.

What did the U.S. do as it surveyed the destruction that its victory had wrought? From Wikipedia, “The goals of the United States were to rebuild war-torn regions, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, improve European prosperity and prevent the spread of communism.^[2] The Marshall Plan proposed the reduction of interstate barriers and the economic integration of the European Continent while also encouraging an increase in productivity as well as the adoption of modern business procedures.^”

 What would Donald the Girth have done if it were up to him? I’m sure he would have sucked up to Stalin, admiring the way he removed any opposition with vigor, creating an authoritarian paradise. Not to mention how he bamboozled the peasants into starving themselves to death. There would have been much for his girthiness to admire.  I’m sure he would have annexed the Baltic, transforming it into a Riviera studded with golden Trump towers. There would have been enormous statues celebrating his Girth, just like his buddy Stalin kept putting up.

Behind all his bloviating “Trump believes that the post-World War II system, created by Washington, ate away at American power. That system prized relationships with allies committed to democratic capitalism, even when those alliances came with a cost to American consumers. It sought to avoid power grabs by making the observance of international law, and a respect for established international boundaries, a goal unto itself. To Trump, that system gave smaller and less powerful countries leverage over the United States, leaving Americans to pick up the tab for defending allies and promoting their prosperity.”¹

“For all its faults, the post-World War II system avoided great-power war and encouraged economic interdependence. Trump, instead, would use American power to strike deals — essentially an argument that peace is as simple as weaving together minerals agreements and trade pacts. There is little precedent to suggest that approach alone works, especially with authoritarian leaders like Putin and President Xi Jinping of China.”²  As he struts, wrapped in his grandiose delusions, he seems convinced that as long as he is at the helm, the world will order itself as he commands.

And now, today, he sits in a position of power, bound and determined to abuse it for his personal gain and have his revenge on those who were merely doing their jobs. His obsessive grip on an imagined universe where he never loses, drives his every move. Human weakness is his pallet, and the darkness he paints of imagined dangers seduces. If you were bamboozled into reinstating him into the Casa Blanco, you should get down on your knees and beg your grandchildren for forgiveness .

 Notes:

1&2.  David E. Sanger

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/briefing/oval-office-showdown.html

 

John Ramsey

Chestertown

 

.Doesn’t it say it all when the Speaker of the House counsels his caucus not to hold in-person town hall meetings! Evidently, Mike Johnson feels that voters are unhappy and the members of the Republican caucus can’t manage question and answer periods. And why is that? Isn’t it time for Andy Harris to explain his policy positions to his constituents?

Farmers, watermen, landscaping and construction companies, and small business owners should get answers about why he is supporting excessive tariffs and the deportation of hard-working, law-abiding immigrants who pay their taxes. Veterans need to know which of their services are being cut. School board members need to know the financial implications of shutting down the Department of Education. We all need to know how privatizing our beloved post offices will improve deliveries and reduce costs especially in rural areas.

What are the implications to the thousands of Marylanders who are losing their federal government jobs? How can you reconcile purging the civil service knowing thousands of these employees are veterans? How will that affect the finances of our state?

Currently, Medicaid covers 1 in 3 children, 5 in 8 nursing home residents, and 1 in 3 people with disabilities. How will seniors be able to live with cuts to Social Security and Medicare? How will working families be affected by plans to cut the ACA, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program?

How does cutting funding for finding the cure for cancer and Alzheimers help us lead healthier lives? How will universities losing their funding affect their research? How will hospitals be able to offer comprehensive care, especially in our rural hospitals? Health care, in general, is in danger under the auspices of Robert Kennedy Jr. What happens if there’s another pandemic when he can’t even handle the measles outbreak? Certainly as a doctor Mr. Harris should have some educated answers for us.

Why are prices continuing to rise despite promises to reduce inflation? How will tariffs affect prices and availability of goods? To support the tax cut for the wealthy the national debt will increase. How will that affect interest rates for working families?

How will the destruction of all of our environmental efforts to address climate change affect the Chesapeake Bay? Is it wise to cut the weather service so we will be in the dark when a hurricane threatens us?

Since when is compassion a form of resistance? How do Mr. Harris’ positions reflect his family values and religious beliefs? I’m certain he has answers so why not share them with us.

Looks like there’s lots to talk about, Mr. Harris.

 

Barbara Vann, Chestertown

It has become clear that the national Democratic Party is absent in this battle for America’s future and is losing the messaging war.  In the recent NBC poll, the party’s rating by the public is at 39%!

Despite what Democratic strategist, James Carville, is advocating – don’t fight back now, just wait for the Trump/Musk alliance to implode – I think otherwise.  Such a strategy is too much of a gamble.  Stakes are too high. Plus, it leaves us Democrats deflated and feeling helpless. I prefer, instead, what Governor Maura Healey (Massachusetts) said recently in the New York Times – “…we need leadership that is aggressive, that is proactive and that is speaking to everyday Americans.”

This is not a normal political situation.  At this scale for the first time in my lifetime: the President’s administration is pursuing nasty and unconstitutional specific retribution and intimidation; years of expertise are being forced to exit the government;  many business, government and even university leaders are cowering; and, our worldwide relationships are being turned upside down.  We no longer lead the “free world.”

Most of loyal local, regional, and national grassroots Democrats are feeling impotent, under-represented, and rudderless for the country’s future.  This is why I believe that we need to do something more than the uncoordinated skirmishes now playing out in the local, state and national level.  Don’t get me wrong, legislative maneuvers, lawsuits, local rally’s, postcards and calls to your representative’s office, flooding town hall meetings, are all necessary. And thank goodness for the active non-profits, political action groups, local Democratic Clubs, states’ Attorneys General, and Senators and Congresspeople who are fighting.   But I believe these are not enough if we are going to stop this chaos and win the hearts & minds of Americans – and the trust of the world.

So, I propose that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) continue to focus on recruiting and supporting good local and state candidates across the country, raise funds and help them organize so that 2026 will be successful.  But they – the DNC Chair with consult  from past & present Democratic leadership – should create and announce a small Democratic leadership group – maybe 3-5 – to act at the national level as our opposition leadership team – “the loyal opposition.”

Such a group should be comprised of creditable, diverse and respected people who have the ability to communicate – perhaps a business leader (Warren Buffet would be great if 20 years younger), Michael Bloomberg or Mark Cuban, (if more controllable), a midwestern governor and/or mayor such as Michael Johnston (Denver) or Gretchen Whitmer (Michigan), maybe an up-and-coming Congress person (many to choose from), and/or ex-cabinet official such as Jennifer Granholm or Pete Buttigiege.  I group able and willing to work together, speak clearly and loudly, and represent the best in America.   However, to minimize the chance of grandstanding and in-fighting, they should all pledge that they will not run for President in 2028.

What would they do?

They would be announced as the Democratic Opposition Team and in this capacity they would:

• Articulate the Democratic Party’s values and proposals – what we stand for and what we want to do;
• Hold high profile press conferences to refute the Trump Administration’s pronouncements & actions;
• Take out ads & post on social media in places where MAGA’s get their news;
• Issue press releases & articles in opposition and setting forth alternatives;
• Organize boycotts of those companies supporting Trump’s actions and support for those who don’t;
• Encourage & organize public demonstrations, rallys, etc. ; and
• Encourage & help organize, with Democratic legislators, local townhall meetings.

There may be more as circumstances change, but I believe that this disciplined small opposition team would go a long way to articulating another vision for America while also helping uplift Democrats.  All the small natural actions and reactions to what’s happening should be encouraged, unimpeded and when possible coordinated.  Legislative leaders (Jeffries & Schumer) should be closely communicated with, but should not direct the efforts.  We need to articulate a way forward that contradicts the current administration and that focuses on a how the Democratic Party will lead us there.

Sincerely,

Vic Pfeiffer

Concerned American

I am a veteran and served during the Vietnam War. Fortunately my talent and aptitude were better served in Turkey than in Vietnam. Turkey got me closer to the Soviet Union which was necessary then since I was a trained Russian linguist and monitoring Soviet Military communications was my contribution to the Cold War.

It is beyond my comprehension that the current President is willing to side with Russia over Ukraine and try and create an alternate universe where Ukraine is the villain that started the conflict.  The current President says that he wants peace, but his solution is to ambush President Zelenskyy in the Oval Office and extort Ukraine’s rare minerals in exchange for vital intelligence and munitions. But since President Zelenskyy didn’t say “thank you” nor kiss the ring he was asked to leave without any kind of a deal. Is this Trump being “tough” or just being himself, a bully?  The answer is obvious but unfortunately not to everyone. The usual response is “why are we spending so much to arm Ukraine?”  There are many reasons why but perhaps the most poignant one is that Ukraine is fighting a war so that our sons, daughters and grandchildren don’t have to. Veterans, especially those who fought the Cold War should be outraged that a known enemy to our democracy is gleeful and realizes that the Russian narrative has been adopted by an American President.

Trump is willing to throw Ukraine under the bus but he wants to do the same to our veterans. The cuts to the Veterans Administration put those who sacrificed much out of touch with the benefits they so desperately need. I guess “suckers and losers” don’t deserve our compassion or respect. In fact, if Trump would get his request for a military parade he would restrict the participation of wounded soldiers. It would be too “embarrassing” to this nation. Pretty sad coming from someone who escaped military service by claiming that bone spurs kept him on the sidelines. Interesting that spending $18 million of taxpayer’s money on golf just this year doesn’t make his bones hurt. I know his actions make my soul hurt.

My older brother, a Coast Guard veteran, passed away this past October ironically on my birthday. My Dad was a veteran of the Army Air Corps, my uncle Stanley was a submariner in the Pacific theater and my uncle John, my namesake, was awarded the Silver Star for courage in the Battle of the Bulge. Although I miss all of them terribly. I’m glad that they are not here to witness this travesty and abuse of power by the “KING.”

John Riley,

Galena

I would like to offer to Spy readers my February 25, 2025 testimony to Kent County Commissioners Regarding SB 0931 and HB 1036 for your consideration.

As we approach the long hot days of summer, Maryland residents and businesses are increasingly expressing grave concerns about the escalating cost of their electric service; the ability of MD power companies including Delmarva Power, Pepco Holdings, BGE, and other in-state electric service providers  to satisfy growing electric power demand; and the distinct possibility of electric black outs during peak demand periods.  They are demanding that power companies and state and local governments provide solutions to our existing electric grid’s questionable ability to deliver reliable electric service now and in the future. These legitimate concerns – that are shared by a majority of state residents including our own Eastern Shore delegation to the state legislature –are the impetus for several bills currently under consideration by the state legislature including Senate Bill 0931 and its companion House Bill1036.  If enacted, these bills will facilitate urgently needed improvement and expansion of the state’s electric service generation and delivery infrastructure and capability,  As Chris Adams, the Chair of the Eastern Shore Delegation asserted in a February 7 meeting with power company representatives,  “Once you get past the budget, the number one issue we’re going to have to deal with in session is electricity. We can’t be silent on the matter of energy generation.”

What most people – including those who oppose passage of this legislation – don’t realize is that most Maryland electric utilities do not produce most of the electric power they deliver. Instead, the electric service they deliver to Maryland customers relies almost entirely on their acquisition of power generated  out-of-state from wholesale or market capacity markets at a substantially marked up and highly variable cost to our residents. In 2023, virtually 100% of Maryland households relied on electric power generated by out of state electric power producers. By June of this year, MD’s existing power generation capability will be further reduced as a result of thee shutdown of the Herbert E. Wagner, Bramble Shores and Vienna fossil fuel powered electric generation plants, leaving the State’s electric generation capability dangerously under-resourced. It’s no wonder that most Marylanders in the know call this situation a crisis.

The only way to control escalating energy costs and achieve long term energy self-sufficiency is to build broad-based – preferably renewable energy fueled – in-state electric generation capability. So, let’s examine what SB0931 and HB1036 (co-sponsored by Eastern Shore Delegates Wilson and Crosby representing  rural Charles and St. Mary’s counties) would actually do.

Both bills mirror each other. Briefly, they would expedite the process currently employed by the Public Service Commission to authorize siting of proposed electric generation stations and storage devices, restrict local government’s authority to adopt laws or regulations denying site development plans, and require local governments to expedite review and approval of certain site development plans under certain circumstances. Local governments would continue to exercise permitting authority for PSA approved facilities and would be compensated by fees payable annually by the facilities owners.  The bills also establish new baseline construction requirements for solar energy generating stations and energy storage devices that address common community concerns about buffering and landscaping these facilities; eliminating the current need for local governments to reinvent the wheel on such requirements in typically long, drawn out individual project review and hearing processes.

Contrary to the opposition’s highly exaggerated and unsubstantiated  claims that passage of these bills will “ fail rural communities by exposing them to wholesale degradation of rural landscapes, threaten the future of farming, undermine local financial autonomy,  force counties to do more with less, increase the burden of unfunded mandates, etc, etc”, passage of these bills will  enable the State and its counties to expedite realization of essential energy self-sufficiency that will benefit Maryland residents and businesses  by lowering their energy costs, vastly improving service reliability, and establishing reasonable esthetic standards for new electric generation sites.

With respect to claims that passage of these bills will result in wholesale loss of valuable farmland, the fact is that before agricultural land can be converted to house an electric power generation facility, the farmer/owner of the land has to first decide to sell or lease the property for that purpose.  In law, that decision making authority is a foundational right of property ownership. Neither of the two bills in question authorize state takeover of farmland by eminent domain.

In Kent County about 85% of our acreage is zoned Agricultural. Over 30% of this acreage  is already permanently protected from development. Another several thousand acres are designated Agricultural Preservation District lands that typically convert to easement-based permanently protected farmland within a year or two of designation.  Further auguring against development, all land in agricultural use in MD enjoys a flat $500/acre Preferential Property Tax Assessment valuation and corresponding vastly reduced property tax rate that effectively dissuades most owners of farmland from selling or leasing their land for alternative use. Given these circumstances, it’s no wonder that Kent County has one of the lowest farm conversion rates in the State. All of these factors indicate that the probability of wholesale conversion of in-county agricultural property to house energy generation/storage facilities is slim to none.

This is a question of appropriately balancing the interests and concerns of all in-state residents.  In view of the fact-based considerations outlined above,  county residents who wish to be able to count on reliable electric service delivery now and in the future; particularly those who are unable to install independent solar or wind powered electric service at their homes, farms or businesses, are urged to contact their State Senators and Delegates and  advocate prompt passage and enactment of SB0931 and HB1036.

Paula B. Reeder

Chestertown