Point of View - Centreville Spy

Out and About (Sort of): Joy and Grief by Howard Freedlander

June 27, 2023 by Howard Freedlander Leave a Comment

Living in a small village of roughly 170 residents, I like the feel and energy of a wonderful waterfront retirement community called BayWoods of Annapolis. It is comfortable and friendly. It also is 15 minutes from our youngest daughter, her husband and two grandchildren, and 45 minutes closer to our oldest daughter in northern Baltimore County.

All is good. My words are similar to other ones that I have previously written. Please excuse my redundancy.

What differs this time is recognition of the inevitable grief experienced with the demise of friends coping with the ravages of advanced age. Proximity exaggerates the loss. I am observing, not complaining. It is a fact of life in a senior community.

This past year has been particularly difficult. Our immediate neighbor, a wonderfully engaging fellow burdened with a weak heart, died. He was beloved in our community. He was likable, accomplished and intelligent. He knew his fate. He accepted it graciously.

Two weeks ago, a neighbor two floors down died of diabetes. He fought a losing battle. He seemingly lost the will to live. He had led a full life until his illness sapped him of energy. His wife continues to live at BayWoods, the subject of plentiful compassion.

I do not ascribe grief simply to proximity. That would be foolhardy. Thirteen years ago, one of my very best friends died suddenly in Jacksonville, FL, his lifelong home. We typically spoke every two weeks. Our politics were similar. So were our values. I continue to mourn his death. I received the news just as I was leaving for church in Easton.

During 44 years in Easton, I felt grief-stricken when I heard about a friend’s passing. It struck me that friends and acquaintances in a community facing a terminal illness became secluded in their homes or hospitals, served wonderfully by Talbot Hospice. One would have to make an effort, hopefully welcomed by the family, to visit a friend and offer good words (whatever they might be). It was difficult and fulfilling.

In a place like BayWoods, you watch neighbors decline as they navigate illness and disability. They watch you. Their personalities still sparkle despite cognitive and physical challenges. It is sad. It prompts concern and sincere attention; being dismissive of people in decline may be understandable, but selfish, if not inhumane.

While this column may seem morbid and depressing, it is meant to examine the gratifying—and painful passage of advanced aging. Courage and grit are common to octogenarians. Giving up is not an option to most senior citizens. I watch with wonder as the number of 90-year-olds increases at BayWoods.

Readers may wonder about the headline since most of the content concerns grief, not joy. Though many people choose to remain in their home as they age and confront medical problems, some of us view communal living in a retirement community joyfully free of upkeep and maintenance characteristic of a former—and treasured–home.

Life is easier, albeit expensive.

For demographic reasons, a senior citizen community presents a close-up perspective on aging. As we all know, life offers trade-offs. Perfection is unachievable. My wife and I made a choice. We opt to see the joy while cognizant of the grief that accompanies the death of neighbors.

Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. After 44 years in Easton, Howard and his wife, Liz, moved in November 2020 to Annapolis, where they live with Toby, a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel who has no regal bearing, just a mellow, enticing disposition.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

The Top 10 Reasons to Like Donald Trump by Bob Moores

June 27, 2023 by Bob Moores Leave a Comment

Why do so many of my fellow citizens like and support Donald Trump? I have worked on this puzzle off and on for the last seven years.

The little I get from MAGA friends is indirect, by inference. That’s because we want to remain friends, and we have agreed to make discussion of Trumpian politics taboo.

But I read articles and listen to Trump supporters on TV. When my Trump pieces are published in The Spy, I save dissenting comments to a Word log that I continue to build – anything that will add another piece to the puzzle.

As an engineer, I have a propensity for analysis, and I know that to understand any difficult problem, especially one involving human views, I must be as objective as I can be. With that in mind, in this piece I take the position of trying to see Trump through the eyes of a MAGA person.

I decided to present my analysis in the form of a top ten list of reasons to like Donald Trump. Note that this list is a compilation of inputs, not all held by every supporter. As with most top-whatever lists, the order will be from least to most important. The order is rather arbitrary, my thinking at this moment. That is, except for Reason #1, which all my data says is deserving of that exalted position. Try to restrain yourself and not skip ahead.

Okay, here goes.

Reason #10 – His physical appearance is attractive. He is tall, large, white, and, though a little overweight, appears physically fit for his age. He is not skinny or obese. He is always well-groomed. He looks good in well-tailored suits. He looks “presidential”, especially beside other world leaders.

Reason #9 – He was good at foreign policy. It was America First, and he called out our NATO partners for not contributing their fair share. He knew how to control authoritarian leaders through a combination of flattery and fear. He admires Vladimir Putin because (a) he is a powerful leader and (b) he helped the right American candidate win in 2016.

Reason #8 – He is an astute communicator. He understands the symbolism of our flag and the Bible. He was quick to grasp the power of Twitter in talking directly to his audience, bypassing the filter of liberal media. Overall, his writing is succinct and not atrocious. It’s never hard to get his meaning. His speech is easy to understand; he doesn’t mumble, slur or stutter.

Reason #7 – He is good for business and our economy. He worked diligently for America. He lowered our personal taxes and excessive taxes on corporations. He was not given enough time to prove that the “trickle down” economics of Reagan and Bush Sr can actually work. He was trying to drain the DC swamp.

Reason #6 – He defends American values and conservative principles. He is a patriot. He wants to return us to a time when America was respected, when certain types of people were less vocal, disruptive, and knew their place. He defends our borders from illegal intruders. He is good at exposing conspiracies against the US (vaccines, deep state rigging of our elections, big pharma, climate change, green energy, and witch-hunters). He agrees with Bobby Kennedy Jr who exposed Dr. Fauci as one who pushed the covid hoax for his own enrichment.

Reason #5 – He is tough, a strongman, an alpha-male with a certain charisma. He is not too nice (think Jimmy Carter). He is a street fighter. If you hit him, he will hit back twice as hard. He knows how to stick it to wokey liberals who play identity politics. He knows how to demean his political opponents by giving them memorable nicknames. Let a criticism go unanswered? Nope. Admit he’s wrong? Never.

Reason #4 – He is sincere. What liberals call lies, he truly believes are not lies. He is not faking it when he says things that seem to have no basis of fact or evidential support. In his mind, these things are true, and I believe that in most cases he is at least partly right. You can trust that he won’t discard you as long as you stay loyal to him.

Reason #3 – He is resolute. He exudes strength of purpose and self-confidence. He is committed to what he believes in. He is not a flip-flopper. He does not equivocate.

Reason #2. He is useful. He works tirelessly to promote long-term conservative principles. He won’t allow liberals to take my guns away. He is pro-life. He appointed dedicated conservative judges. Though he may have a few personal flaws (no one is perfect), the ends justify the means. He is not a liberal, a progressive, or a Democrat.

Reason #1 – He tells me what I want to hear. “Covid will be over by Easter, like a miracle,” and “If re-elected I will end the Ukraine war in 24 hours” are examples.

To explain Reason #1, I am morphing from MAGA avatar back to me. There are two human qualities at work here. The first is that people don’t want to hear bad news, so a potential leader who bears bad tidings will have a hard time getting elected in a democratic society. Al Gore’s “inconvenient truth” of climate change was a good example. The second is “confirmation bias”. People want to believe that which reinforces what they already hold. Thus, MAGA folks are predisposed to believe what Donald trump expounds.

Couple these qualities in a political system where folks are forced to choose (in practical terms) between two less-than-perfect (I’m being kind) candidates, and it helps me understand why so many of my fellow citizens prefer Donald Trump.

Bob Moores retired from Black & Decker/DeWalt in 1999 after 36 years. He was the Director of Cordless Product Development at the time. He holds a mechanical engineering degree from Johns Hopkins University

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Mano a Mano by Al Sikes

June 26, 2023 by Al Sikes Leave a Comment

Everybody wants a good obituary. Most, of course, just hope that their life’s story is about contribution, both to their family and community. And then there are a relatively few who want to be remembered for their use of power to achieve their great goals. Few, who actually have that vainglorious ambition, are honored by any pen other than their own.

Yevgeny Prigozhin began some months ago to make sure his story is different than Vladimir Putin’s. Essentially Godfather Prigozhin began to take on the leader of the powerful Russian intelligence and armed forces mob, Vladimir Putin.

Prigozhin began with criticism of Russia’s Ministry of Defense (MOD) and named names. Cell phones, the soldier’s news medium, lit up. He left Putin out of his attacks but was attacking functionaries that Putin put in place. With visual panache Prigozhin was challenging Putin’s MOD from the front lines adorned in military gear and derisive critiques. He had the appearance of a soldier’s soldier.

And Putin? Often as Covid wound down Putin was portrayed, at least in the West, sitting at an impossibly long table with functionaries at the other end. Translation: Putin is out of touch. His opposite, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wore the colors of Ukraine’s soldiers—olive drab.

Fast forward to last weekend. Prigozhin’s army, The Wagner Group, who had earned their reputation fighting successfully for Russia in its overseas ventures, were on the move, heading North. As they traveled, they met little resistance although along the way they shot down helicopters that were presumably a part of a force intended to halt their progress.

And then when most commentators were anticipating a civil war and the word was out that Putin had been flown out of Moscow on his private jet, The Wagner Group stopped. Confusion was not only evident in Russia but also with confident Russian experts who had predicted the beginning of a civil war. What was going on?

I am not a Russian expert by any definition, but like you I am familiar with obituaries. What is the story? How is it written? What will the historians say?

Prigozhin was acting his story. He doesn’t want it to be his obituary, but then only time separates our life story from our obit.

Putin, well he lost again—he called Prigozhin a traitor and then made a deal with him. He had begun the war anticipating Russia was going to take over Ukraine; it hasn’t. His aim was to improve Russia’s position vis-a-vis NATO; he has weakened it. Etc. Now he has once again been outmaneuvered.

Stories matter and the storyline on Putin is set. He will not last the year.

Prigozhin—who knows? My guess is he will survive. Indeed, I think his left turn to Belarus on the way to Moscow was about survival. Putin might not be able to prevail over Ukraine, but Prigozhin was not prepared to bet on his army’s survival and, of course, his own against Moscow forces.

Finally, and quickly, those in this country who have criticized our support for Ukraine and, beyond that, have suggested Russian leadership should be respected, that will be in their storyline. It is hard to change the line, but they should try.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

More Thoughts on a Biden-Trump Rematch by David Reel

June 26, 2023 by David Reel Leave a Comment

In a previous commentary, I shared my reasons for my prediction that Donald Trump will not be the Republican nominee for president in 2024. In this commentary, I will share my reasons for my prediction that Joe Biden will not be the Democrat nominee for president in 2024. My reasoning on the Biden prediction is based largely on a review of the 1968 Presidential election.

In 1968 Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) was the incumbent Democrat president. Prior to serving as president, LBJ was a U.S. Senator and ran for the 1960 Democrat presidential nomination in a field of seven candidates. He lost to John F. Kennedy, who then selected LBJ as his running mate. After Kennedy’s assassination, Johnson automatically succeeded him. In 1964, LBJ ran for re-election and branded his Republican opponent – Barry Goldwater — as a radical unhinged ultra conservative who was not fit to serve as president. Johnson won in a landslide. LBJ then immediately and aggressively pursued a very liberal public policy agenda – “The Great Society.” Implementing that policy resulted in inflation, budget deficits, economic turmoil, and civil strife that included rioting in many urban areas. On the foreign policy front, Johnson oversaw a huge buildup of American involvement in the Vietnam war that resulted in heightened tension between America, the Soviet Union, and China.

The parallels to this history recap of 1968 and 2024 are striking. Biden served in the United States Senate and lost to Barack Obama in a bid for the 2008 Democrat presidential nomination. Obama in turn selected Biden as his running mate. Biden served in that role for all eight years of the Obama presidency. In 2020, Biden was nominated by the Democrats for president. Like LBJ, the Biden campaign launched a campaign branding Donald Trump as an unhinged, hot tempered, boorish, loose cannon who was not fit to be President. The media also dutifully advanced a false narrative that Biden would govern as an even tempered and bipartisan moderate. He has not done so. From day one in the Oval Office, Biden has aggressively and unapologetically pursued a robust progressive agenda on domestic affairs. I predict he will not pivot to the center going forward. He simply cannot risk incurring the wrath of the progressive wing of the Democrat Party, plus, at his core, he is and always has been a progressive.

While I have no doubt Biden’s support with the progressive wing of the Democrat Party is deep and solid, I predict his governing record will result in a measurable drop in support from conservative and moderate Democrats who vote in primaries.

Just as in 1964, the top campaign issues in 2024 are likely to be the economy and public safety, with world peace, a third.

I predict Biden’s record, particularly on domestic issues, will lead to the same result in 2024 as Lyndon Johnson’s failure to secure the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968. That is not Republican wishful thinking. The American electorate is shifting.

Results from recent Gallup polling indicate the American electorate is becoming more conservative. Thirty-eight percent of poll respondents said say they are conservative on social issues, up from thirty three percent last year. Forty four percent say they are economically conservative, the highest level since 2012. Voters saying their social views are very liberal or liberal has dipped to twenty nine percent from thirty four percent in each of the past two years, while the portion identifying as moderate (thirty one percent) remains near a third.

Gallup reports further there have been double-digit increases in conservative social ideology among middle-aged adults — those between the ages of 30 and 64. At the same time, older Americans’ ideology on social issues has been stable, while there has been a modest increase in conservative social ideology among young adults.

That reality is also occurring in deep blue Maryland albeit it to a lesser degree.

A recent statewide Gonzales poll indicated that fifty two percent of respondents approved of the job Biden is doing; a six -point drop from January polling results That drop was driven by a nine point drop in support among unaffiliated voters.

A pivot by Biden to a more moderate governing style before the 2024 elections will not happen. A pivot will alienate the progressive wing of the Democrat Party, which is a crucial element of Democrat Party support, especially in primaries. Secondly, moderate and conservative Democrats who vote in primaries will view a pivot to the center as too little, too late.

The recent actions of Biden to reach a compromise on a debt ceiling limit with House Republicans does not foretell more bipartisanship by Biden going forward. This one-off occurrence was the result of grudging acceptance by key decision makers in Washington that failure to enact a debt ceiling limit increase would have resulted in a catastrophic impact on the American and world economy. It is telling that immediately following signing of the debt ceiling limit bill, Biden resumed his take-no-prisoners approach to advancing a progressive agenda.

Last, but certainly not least, is another significant obstacle on Biden’s quest for the 2024 nomination is a replay of events from 1968. In the 1968 New Hampshire Democratic primary, Eugene McCarthy captured a stunning forty two percent of the Democrat primary vote while LBJ got forty eight percent. Soon thereafter, Johnson announced he would no longer pursue, nor would he accept the Democratic presidential nomination.

Earlier this year, Robert F Kennedy Jr. son of Robert F Kennedy, announced that he will challenge Biden in the 2024 New Hampshire primary. The Democrat Party leadership is so concerned about this challenge they changed their primary calendar so that New Hampshire’s long held position as the first in the nation primary will now follow South Carolina. This is telling as South Carolina played a critical role in rescuing a floundering Biden primary run in 2020. Troubling news for Biden is polling reports of polling in New Hampshire showing RFK Jr. getting nineteen percent of the vote. More troublesome for Biden is speculation that his name may not even appear on the New Hampshire Democratic primary ballot so he could lose there by default. Most troublesome for Biden is the fact that three times in recent history, incumbent presidential candidates who survived serious challenges in the primaries leading up to the general election, ended up losing the general election.

The bottom line is Democrat party power brokers understand and embrace the timeless wisdom of George Santayana – “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”.

They may not say it publicly yet, but I am sure they are learning from history. As a result, I predict individually and collectively they are concluding that Joe Biden is unelectable in 2024. Accordingly, they will do whatever they deem necessary to ensure Biden is not their presidential standard bearer in 2024. You can bet on it.

David Reel is a public affairs/public relations consultant who serves as a trusted advisor on strategy, advocacy, and media matters who resides in Easton.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Unbidden by Laura J. Oliver

June 25, 2023 by Laura J. Oliver Leave a Comment

Sophie, the robin who has been sitting on three blue eggs in the pink dogwood just outside my office window, abandoned ship last night. The nest was a magnificent structure. To make the interior soft and bowl-shaped, she had pressed her rounded breast into the grass and twigs she’d gathered and painstakingly plastered with mud. She shaped it like a potter might use his hands; only Sophie-bird had used her heart.

A crow discovered the nest two days ago and swept in for repeated attacks. I’d warded off two assaults myself, but I knew the crafty crow, a hulking black shadow, a menace to all small things that sing, would inevitably succeed in this lethal mission, and he did.

Yes, Sophie was one of a billion robins, collectively known as a “worm” of robins—like a “pride” of lions and a “murder” of crows. And yes, statistics indicate that only 25% of birds fledged in summer, make it even to fall, but she was a good mother. Or at least the best she could be.

And that kills me. That good wasn’t good enough.

Self-improvement was a major theme in the house of my childhood, and I need to get a handle on this. Good never feels good enough, remorse never feels deep enough, and you cannot be grateful enough for the gifts you’ve been given. (I won’t argue with that last one.)

I was thinking about these things lying in a float tank—a sensory deprivation chamber. I signed up for this hour session somewhat impulsively because I’d always been curious—what on earth would happen if I turned off my brain? I’d heard that the experience is unique and lends itself to emotional insight, healing, and spiritual revelations. (I’m not known for low expectations.)

I arrived for my session in a ponytail and no makeup. I was going to be in water up to my ears for an hour and then showering off the Epsom Salts that would make me as buoyant as a balloon, so the normal morning routine had been swapped for “dear-God-don’t-let-me-run-into-anyone-I-know.”

The float chamber itself had been a stunning surprise. If you’ve ever been to a grotto, like the one on the island of Capri, where the sunlight seems to shine upwards from the white sea floor making the water pristine blue and alive with light, it was like that. As if blue and light had merged to be a living thing. And the ceiling of the float chamber was covered in glittering stars! We know I was charmed.

After taking a peek into it from my private outer room and having showered at home, I got undressed, then opened the chamber door and lowered myself into water the color of the sky and the temperature of my skin.

When ready, I could push a button with a wet salty hand to turn out the chamber lights so that only the stars lit the darkness. But I had been advised to use a second button to eventually turn out the stars as well. Floating in the absence of light, as if in the womb, would provide the ultimate float experience.

I lay there, reluctant to relinquish the stars. They are themselves evidence of a living universe, but I did eventually hit the button in search of the greater experience. The water held me just as it must have held me in the womb. I could open my eyes, and there was no difference in having them shut. I was sightless. Sort of weird. Sort of utero. Except, I probably wasn’t thinking thoughts in the womb.

Okay, that’s a lie, I probably was, but I was definitely still thinking thoughts here. I wanted to turn my brain off, but I came to understand that my internal mental chatter was not the result of outside stimuli. With all external stimuli eliminated, the mind monkeys were having a barn dance and had invited rowdy friends on scooters.

I tried concentrating on my breathing and on the water itself—which some call silky, not slimy. But after what I’d determined to be about 40 minutes (with deadly accuracy, it turns out), I resorted to amusing myself. What would happen if I put my feet down? Made the water ripple? If I died and became suddenly limp, in what position would they find my body? My hands seemed to always float to my hips—like Wonder Woman! Like someone who died bossing everyone around! I had earplugs in, but I could feel water seeping in around them and started worrying about getting salt crystals in my ears.

I tried harder to find heaven.

Where was the spiritual revelation? The emotional insight? The healing? I’ve got conundrums, and I’d provided the blankest slate I could muster to no avail. After a while, I started pinging myself off the sides of the tank, floating from left to right, pushing off with my toes.

I was a float fail. I tanked the float-tank experience.

The times I’ve been graced by the presence of spirit have come unbidden, have descended like a cloud. Like the night before surgery, when I’d been waiting three weeks in excruciating anxiety for a specialist from Georgetown to join my surgeon at Anne Arundel Medical Center.

I was awakened by gratitude—a soft, living presence that entered the room as gently as light, flooding my body and saturating my being so thoroughly that I could only lie in the dark and weep for the reality of a living love. I lay there just ridiculous with gratitude because I knew that if my surgery revealed the presence of a terminal illness, it would somehow be the experience I was born for. I didn’t feel assured that I would not be sick, only that if I were, all was well. All was perfect.

Sometimes God has arrived in a flash of intuition where I suddenly knew something I could not possibly know. Spirit has shown up as someone I’m meeting for the first time who feels like home. But God has never arrived when I was looking. Or testing. Or bargaining.

Instead, God has always materialized in ways I cannot anticipate. Do you search for the air you breathe? That’s the way love manifests, I thought, lying there in the primal dark. Grace is a presence for whom you can only open the door.

And with that revelation, I turned on the stars.

Laura J. Oliver is an award-winning developmental book editor and writing coach, who has taught writing at the University of Maryland and St. John’s College. She is the author of The Story Within (Penguin Random House). Co-creator of The Writing Intensive at St. John’s College, she is the recipient of a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in Fiction, an Anne Arundel County Arts Council Literary Arts Award winner, a two-time Glimmer Train Short Fiction finalist, and her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her website can be found here.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

From and Fuller: The Politics of Supreme Court Ethics

June 22, 2023 by Al From and Craig Fuller Leave a Comment

Every Thursday, the Spy hosts a conversation with Al From and Craig Fuller on the most topical political news of the moment.

This week, From and Fuller discuss the conflict of appearance concerns raised by Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito accepting but not disclosing vacations paid in part by parties who had legal matters before the court.

This video podcast is approximately 13 minutes in length.

To listen to the audio podcast version, please use this link:

Background

While the Spy’s public affairs mission has always been hyper-local, it has never limited us from covering national, or even international issues, that impact the communities we serve. With that in mind, we were delighted that Al From and Craig Fuller, both highly respected Washington insiders, have agreed to a new Spy video project called “The Analysis of From and Fuller” over the next year.

The Spy and our region are very lucky to have such an accomplished duo volunteer for this experiment. While one is a devoted Democrat and the other a lifetime Republican, both had long careers that sought out the middle ground of the American political spectrum.

Al From, the genius behind the Democratic Leadership Council’s moderate agenda which would eventually lead to the election of Bill Clinton, has never compromised from this middle-of-the-road philosophy. This did not go unnoticed in a party that was moving quickly to the left in the 1980s. Including progressive Howard Dean saying that From’s DLC was the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.

From’s boss, Bill Clinton, had a different perspective. He said it would be hard to think of a single American citizen who, as a private citizen, has had a more positive impact on the progress of American life in the last 25 years than Al From.”

Al now lives in Annapolis and spends his semi-retirement as a board member of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (his alma mater) and authoring New Democrats and the Return to Power. He also is an adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins’ Krieger School and recently agreed to serve on the Annapolis Spy’s Board of Visitors. He is the author of “New Democrats and the Return to Power.”

For Craig Fuller, his moderation in the Republican party was a rare phenomenon. With deep roots in California’s GOP culture of centralism, Fuller, starting with a long history with Ronald Reagan, leading to his appointment as Reagan’s cabinet secretary at the White House, and later as George Bush’s chief-of-staff and presidential campaign manager was known for his instincts to find the middle ground. Even more noted was his reputation of being a nice guy in Washington, a rare characteristic for a successful tenure in the White House.

Craig has called Easton his permanent home for the last five years, where now serves on the boards of the Academy Art Museum, the Benedictine School, and Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. He also serves on the Spy’s Board of Visitors.

With their rich experience and long history of friendship, now joined by their love of the Chesapeake Bay, they have agreed through the magic of Zoom, to talk inside politics and policy with the Spy every Thursday.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Optical Allusions by Angela Rieck

June 22, 2023 by Angela Rieck Leave a Comment

This column, like many, is inspired by a documentary. I am an avid consumer of documentaries. The plethora of streaming channels make more available, especially those that did not get their due when they were first released. Tim’s Vermeer is one such documentary. Released in 2013, it is now available on Hulu.

While the title seemed silly, the first five minutes of the documentary grabbed me. An inventor, Tim Jenison, announced that he was going to attempt to paint a Vermeer. His only drawback—he wasn’t a painter and had no artistic training. Instead, Jenison was an inventor whose interest was in making machines work and inventing devices for television and movie graphics.

It sounded like the height of hubris.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: I know little virtually nothing about art, so without art history education, I can easily be misled.

Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch painter in the 1650’s. His works are simply magnificent, with images that appear to pop and feature brilliant details and perspective. (He is my favorite artist.) Unlike most painters of his day, his subjects were primarily women and girls, which seem to give his paintings an inherent sweetness. His detailed backgrounds, clothing, furniture, and facial expressions allow me to imagine what life was like back in Delft, Netherlands. I can feel how stiff and scratchy their clothes were, how plain their everyday objects were, how hard life was. Sometimes his subjects are working (The Milkmaid, The Lacemaker, The Art of Painting), others (Girl with a Pearl Earring) are wearing enigmatic expressions that inspire our imaginations.

So, why did Jenison think that he could paint such a master work of art with no training? Well, because two men, one an art historian, the other a famous artist, have posited that Vermeer and other great painters used optics to assist them.

In 2002, David Hockney, arguably the most famous living artist, wrote Secret Knowledge, a book based on a year of study that convinced him that in the mid 1400’s there was an inexplicable artistic leap in paintings that could not be explained. This was a sea change in art from two dimensional to detailed three dimensional paintings. To explain it, he hypothesized that some of these artists, especially the Dutch, used lenses to help them. A year before, Philip Steadman published books to “prove” that Vermeer used optics.

Hockney’s argument was that this giant leap in painting realism in the mid-1400s stretched credulity to accept that artists somehow made such a major leap in talent in a short time period. He posited that in the mid- 1400s some artists were using optics, specifically Van Eyck, Carravagio, Campin, and van der Weyden. And if you look at those artists through that lens (no pun intended), these paintings do appear similar to camera or video images.

Most art historians disagreed, believing that the use of lenses was a “cheat” of sorts and diminished the talents of the artist.

But it does seem possible that Vermeer used optical lenses. There are several “tells.” First, there are no preliminary sketches of his paintings, many artists sketch before painting (e.g., Van Gogh). X-rays of Vermeer’s paintings reveal no painted over sketch marks either. Secondly, Vermeer painted few paintings in his lifetime (36 confirmed works) compared to other artists. The optical technique that Jenison proposes is very time-consuming. (Although, it is also believed that Vermeer only painted part-time.) Another fact to fuel this hypothesis is that there is no evidence that Vermeer apprenticed with an artist or had artistic training. (Although little is known about Vermeer.) One of the facts that is in evidence is that the Dutch were experts in lenses and optics. It is also known that Vermeer lived next to a prodigious and skilled lens maker who produced very high quality lenses and mirrors. In addition, all of Vermeer’s works were roughly the size of a camera obscura painting (more about that later). Finally, scientists who are experts in human perception have proved that due to image compression in the brain, it is impossible for the eye to see the kind of detail on walls that Vermeer produced.

Vermeer is said to have “painted with light.” His portraits captivate us, his scenes inform us, and his love for each detail renders everyday living in the Netherlands conceivable. Of course, video is projected light.

Many art historians now accept that in order to paint large scenes in perfect perspective, some artists may have used a camera obscura. A tell-tale sign that a camera obscura was used can be the size of the paintings, which tended to be small (30 square centimeters).

A camera obscura (Latin for dark chamber) is a darkened room with a small hole or lens that lets light in and projects a reversed and inverted image on the back wall. It provides artists with perfect perspective and size.

After reading Hockney’s work, Jenison decided to test this hypothesis by creating a Vermeer. He chose The Music Lesson, which is owned by the British Windsors. The first challenge was to design an optical configuration that Vermeer could have used. Jenison invented a method of projecting the image from a camera obscura with a 4-inch lens onto a 7-inch concave mirror. Then the image from the concave mirror reflected onto a 2-inch-by-4-inch mirror. This made the image brighter and sharper and also allowed Jenison to put this mirror in front and directly above the canvas. Jenison simply painted a copy of the image on the mirror and used the edge of the mirror to determine when the image and color were perfect. Clearly a perfectionist, Jenison built the set, ground the lenses to the level of precision that Vermeer would have been able to access, formulated and mixed the pigments, everything to make it authentic to the time of Vermeer. It took over 220 hours to paint Vermeer’s The Music Lesson. (His daughter, who attended the Rhode Island School of Design, taught Jenison basic brush strokes. All total, the project took almost 8 years; and it looks remarkably like the original Vermeer.)

The point of Jenison’s obsession is what scientists and technologists call “proof of concept.” Vermeer could have used this method.

But while Vermeer could have used these techniques, there are no records that he did. His beautiful compositions, his super realistic details, his enigmatic models, and his graceful style are what make his works so beloved.

And if he developed such a technique to do this, that makes his work, to me, even more impressive. So, this week, I am taking time to marvel at each of his paintings. They make me smile, they make me think, they awaken my imagination…and isn’t that the purpose of art?

Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Are We Reaching a Tipping Point on Destructive Development? by J.E. Dean

June 21, 2023 by J.E. Dean Leave a Comment

I sense that the Eastern Shore, at least part of it, is waking up to the problem of reckless development. When I met new people last week and told them I lived in Oxford, they commented, “I guess you’re worried about the Poplar Hill Farm development.” I am. When I commented to another friend that I was taking the boat out later in the day, he asked, “Does the water seem worse this year?” It does.

These comments are not a scientific poll, but, when taken together with the Talbot Integrity Project “Fix Lakeside” signs and a continual stream of excellent letters to the editor and articles in The Spy expressing concern over development, I see progress. The chorus of voices saying “no” to developers is growing. That is good news. But will the voices get loud enough to reach the ears of county and town councils? That remains an open question.

Our waters—one of the assets that makes the Eastern Shore a wonderful place to live—are in trouble. The data meticulously collected by ShoreRivers, and other organizations indicates a direct connection between development and declining water quality. This means that every vote in favor of additional development, especially development anywhere near our rivers, is a vote to destroy our way of life and turn the Eastern Shore into something mediocre.

Dare I say it? Development is a dirty word. The dirt is bacteria, phosphorus, poor water clarity, chlorophyll a in the water and more. The “dirt” not only often makes it dangerous to swim in the water but threatens the Eastern Shore economy. Like crabs? Either start worrying about the health of our rivers or give Vietnamese crabmeat a try. Newsflash—the Chesapeake Bay fishery is destructible.

I understand why many of us are concerned about uncontrolled development. What I do not understand is why anyone would welcome and promote massive, character-changing “new towns” such as Lakeside and Poplar Hill Farm. The easy answer is that developers are out to make their bucks and won’t be around to address the repercussions (further deterioration of water quality, traffic congestion, overtaxed schools and health resources, more crime, and “development spurred by development,” meaning construction of more big box stores to meet shopping needs of new residents).

Is it only developers’ desires for profits behind the threats to the Eastern Shore? I think not. The problem is also delusional thinking—the belief that more people will somehow make the community stronger. If Easton or Chestertown were five times as large as they are now, for example, would the cultural offerings in both be greater than they are today? Good question. But when you answer it, ask yourself what the price will be for “moving into the 21st century.” People forget that growing communities frequently mean endless parades of road-widenings and additional trailers to “adjust” for overcrowded schools.

No compelling reasons justify growing the Eastern Shore in a manner that degrades our environment. Already fully developed areas of America have plenty of room to accommodate increases in the population. And re-development of these areas brings the added benefits of restoring economic vitality to cities and, by substituting for development in environmentally sensitive areas, improving the environment.

We also must remember climate change. Many of us live in areas where rising sea levels are, or should be, a major concern. Why should the government permit or encourage development in areas that are subject to elevated levels of risk from hurricanes, flooding, and other natural disasters? Better put, why stick our tongues out at mother nature?

When someone asks you what the “Fix Lakeside” signs mean, you can explain the complicated process for approving new sewer capacity, or you can simply say it means there should be no more development without comprehensive consideration of the impact on all aspects of our community and strict compliance with all approval protocols. You can also say elected officials stop destroying the Eastern Shore!

Disclosure: I am a signatory on the Fix Lakeside petition organized by the Talbot Integrity Project. If you haven’t read the petition and considered signing it, I encourage you to do so.

J.E. Dean is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant writing on politics, government, and other subjects.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Out and About (Sort of): Political Stunt by Howard Freedlander

June 20, 2023 by Howard Freedlander Leave a Comment

In a letter to the editor two weeks ago in the Washington Post, I condemned the decision by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin to deploy Virginia National Guard troops to the Texas border to stanch the flow of fentanyl from Mexico to the United States. I found the decision offensive, a blatantly inappropriate use of troops under the peacetime command of the governor.

An accompanying letter criticized the action on legal and constitutional grounds. The writer, a Virginian, was right.

Fentanyl arrives in the U.S. by tractor-trailer or by ship. Consequently, I wonder what the Virginia Guard soldiers are supposed to do. Hijack the trucks or the ships? To burnish his credentials as a possible presidential candidate in an already crowded field, Youngkin is misusing citizen-soldiers as political pawns.

The state is spending $3.1 million to deploy the troops. In so doing, he is implicitly signaling to Virginians that it is more important to spend their taxpayer money outside, than inside the state.

The governor’s logic is flawed. Political calculation is his motivation.

As a state resource, the Guard is intended to support citizens in event of manmade or natural disasters within the state. The border mission is the bailiwick of the federal government. Good, thoughtful governors consider the Guard a precious resource to be used in extreme need. Deployment to the Texas border represents crass opportunism as its worst.

Youngkin is deliberately thumbing his nose at President Biden. He hopes to show he is more sensitive to transmission of illegal drugs across the Texas border than the president. He is treading where he should not.

Publicity is more important to Youngkin than common sense.

Guard members’ families and employers can recognize a foolhardy political scheme. Regrettably, they will endure the absence of loved ones for self-serving governmental reasons.

My fellow letter-writer took a different tact, one focused on states’ rights versus federalism. He believes, as I stated earlier, border control is a federal responsibility. He goes further to compare the use of states’ rights as an argument for action akin to states seceding from the Union prior to the Civil War.

James R. Kunder of Alexandria, Va. wrote, “He (Youngkin) is contributing to a “states’ rights” perspective that erodes our national consensus on appropriate federalism. He is acting like pre-Civil War political leaders who ended up as Confederates. He is being disloyal to the United States with his near-treasonous policy. He has guaranteed that I—as a Republican voter—will never support him for any other elected office. Mr. Youngkin should read some U.S. history and put the nation’s interests ahead of his own,”

The strong scent of traitor-like behavior underscores Mr. Kunder’s criticism. I am a bit more circumspect in charging Youngkin with treason. Perhaps I have succumbed to low expectations of our political leaders based on the disgraceful performance of some (I am trying so hard to avoid mentioning the Mar-a-Lago resident).

Youngkin has acted carelessly and politically. His stature has diminished when he sought just the opposite. His disrespect for the proper use of the military is obvious.

Military units have undeniable expertise. They love to serve. They disdain ill-advised actions by civilian leaders. They can smell political deceit. The odor is pervasive.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

The Circle Game by Jamie Kirkpatrick

June 20, 2023 by Jamie Kirkpatrick Leave a Comment

On these midsummer mornings, light creeps into our bedroom early. At 5 o’clock, there’s a hint of daylight; by 6 o’clock, it’s full on morning. My wife burrows down deep in the covers where no light can penetrate. She’s a light-sensitive creature and thinks she needs her beauty sleep. I think she’s already beautiful, awake or asleep.

We’re on the cusp of the summer solstice, the longest day and shortest night of the year and the astronomical first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. While that may sound like a good thing, we all know there’s ghost hiding in that closet. Each day after the summer solstice is a fraction shorter than the one before, and soon enough, we’ll go through the ritual of setting our clocks back an hour, and those long, golden summer evenings will be another memory. Oh well; at least, mornings in our bedroom will be a bit darker.

Sometimes I think the seasons make promises they can’t keep. As June slips into July and August, we’re lulled into believing that summer is here to stay. But deep down, we know it isn’t.

In the back of collective minds—at least the collection of minds in this hemisphere—we hear the great celestial clock winding down again toward winter’s chill. The warmth and light we cherish today will be gone before we know it.. What was it Joni Mitchell called it? “The Circle Game?”

If you are of the calculating persuasion and want to mark the precise moment of solstice, it will occur this year at 14:58 GMT which I think means it will be 10:58 where we live. Maybe I’ll be working in the garden or out on the golf course, but wherever I am, I’m not planning any kind of pagan ritual to mark the moment when earth’s northern axis holds for a heartbeat, then begins to tip away from the sun. In fact, there’ll likely be no tumult of any kind to mark this momentous heavenly passage. Spring one second, summer the next; tilting closer to sun, tilting away from it. And yet, I think something atavistic in each of us will recognize the moment. I probably won’t howl at the moon or dance naked around a bonfire (eye bleach!) but if memory serves me, I’ll feel a brief sadness, a cloud drifting across the sun of my soul, as we transition from one season to the next. And I can’t help but wonder how many more seasons I’ll see.

The word ‘solstice’ derives from the Latin ‘sol’ (sun) and ‘sistere’ meaning ‘to stand still.’ That’s reasonably accurate because for that one brief moment, the sun does indeed stand still on our horizon. But only for a moment and then the moment is gone. There is very little stasis in nature, or, for that matter, in ourselves.

“And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down.
We’re captive on the carousel of time.
We can’t return, we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round
In the circle game.”

I’ll be right back.

Jamie Kirkpatrick is a writer and photographer who lives in Chestertown. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Washington College Alumni Magazine, and American Cowboy Magazine. His new novel “This Salted Soil,” a new children’s book, “The Ballad of Poochie McVay,” and two collections of essays (“Musing Right Along” and “I’ll Be Right Back”), are available on Amazon. Jamie’s website is Musingjamie.net.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

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