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August 31, 2025

Centreville Spy

Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Centreville

3 Top Story Point of View Maria

Exactly How Long is Trump’s Retribution Train? By Maria Grant

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When I was growing up and said something mean about someone, my mom would tell me to look inward and recognize my own shortcomings before criticizing someone else. 

Just admit, here and now, that Trump has a ton of inward soul searching to do. Why? Let’s take a brief look at a small fraction of the people Trump has criticized, mocked, humiliated, or for whom he has sought revenge and retribution. 

Ok let’s begin.

Politicians and States people. Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, James Comey, Jake Sullivan, Anthony Blinken, Letitia James, Judge Arthur Engoron, Liz Cheney, Jack Smith, Alvin Bragg, Michael Cohen, Adam Kinzinger. (Trump has also moved presidential portraits of Obama and the two Bushes to a stairwell not visible to White House visitors. In place of the space where Obama’s portrait formerly hung, Trump placed a painting of himself surviving an assassination attempt in Butler, PA. Biden’s portrait has not yet been completed.) 

Revoked Secret Service Protection. Dr. Anthony Fauci, John Bolton, Hunter and Ashley Biden, General Mark Milley, Mike Pompeo, Mark Esper.

Fired. More than a dozen prosecutors who worked on criminal cases against him; several senior justice Department officials; more than 12 inspectors general; the Kennedy Center Director; the Librarian of Congress; the Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner, laid off more than 275,000 Federal employees not including contractors. (The Elon Musk dismissal deserves a whole separate column.)

Revoked Security Clearances. Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Mike Pence, Fiona Hill, Alexander Vindman, more than 50 intelligence officials, including former CIA Director John Brennan. Trump also issued executive orders to limit certain attorneys’ abilities to access government buildings at several large law firms that worked on cases against Trump in the past—firms like Covington & Burling and Perkins Cole–stopping any consideration for future employment with the government, canceling government contracts, and preventing any company that uses such a firm from obtaining federal contracts. 

News Organizations. Trump kicked out AP reporters from White House briefings; ordered investigations into NPR, PBS, and Politico. Trump has called the press fake news, scum, dishonest, low-lifes, corrupt, dumb, clueless, and some of the worst human beings you’ll ever meet. Defunding of PBS and NPR is underway.

Performers, Writers, TV Personalities. George Clooney, Rosie O’Donnell, Taylor Swift, Jimmy Kimmel, Meryl Streep, Jimmy Fallon, Spike Lee, Anna Wintour, Robert De Niro, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Moore, Chrissy Teigen, John Legend, Rihanna, Madonna, Stephen King, Snoop Dogg, Mark Cuban. Stephen Colbert. 

Colleges and Universities. Trump has cut funding at several universities with charges of antisemitism and ideological indoctrination, forced universities to pay millions to settle such allegations, and frozen billions of dollars of research funding. Affected universities include Harvard, Brown, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Duke, George Washington University, Northwestern, University of Minnesota, University of Southern California, Johns Hopkins University, University of California Berkeley, New York University, University of California Los Angeles.

In no way is this a comprehensive revenge list. Such a list might resemble the length of War and Peace. Think about past presidents and how short most of those lists would be. Sure, they may have criticized their opponents or shot back at someone who criticized them, but never before has this country witnessed the vitriol that emanates from this administration. 

Martin Luther King once wrote, “Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.” 

If Trump took King’s advice and put a little love in his heart, it might go a long way to helping the nation begin the healing process. 

Maria Grant was principal-in-charge of the federal human capital practice of an international consulting firm. While on the Eastern Shore, she focuses on writing, reading, music, and nature.

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

ICE Trauma and Drama on the Shore by Hugh Panero

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Daily images of hooded, heavily armed ICE agents snatching people on US soil are traumatizing. As reported in the Spy in July, this hit home in Easton, Maryland, when ICE agents arrested Pastor Daniel Fuentes Espinal, who has served as the Minister of Iglesia del Nazareno Jesus Te Ama church for ten years. After picking up construction materials at Lowe’s, he went to McDonald’s for breakfast and was arrested on Route 322. He had no criminal record.

Pastor Espinal was detained at the Winn Correctional Center deep in the Kisatchie National Forest in rural Louisiana while awaiting a bond hearing. We learned on Saturday that he was finally granted a bond earlier in the week and is now home with his family in Easton. A GoFundMe campaign has raised $50,954 for his legal expenses.

The White House spin used to be that ICE activities were focused on deporting undocumented immigrants who were criminals. During the election, President Trump lumped immigrants into a false and ugly anti-immigrant narrative. He called them all rapists, gang members, and drug dealers, who were flooding across our border. His racist narrative was designed to rile his base during the election. However, we have come to realize that the Administration’s goal is more sinister and focused on reducing the US immigrant population and not just about removing dangerous criminals. 

The Administration’s 3,000 daily deportation quota, designed by Stephen Miller, White House Deputy Chief of Staff and resident troll, is intended to throw a much wider deportation net to include immigrants here legally. Miller’s long-term goal is to eliminate birthright citizenship, gut various pathways to lawful permanent residency (green card), limit and rescind non-immigrant visas for temporary stays, and halt humanitarian and refugee status. 

A young Maryland man was snatched and arrested at his home despite telling ICE agents he was in the US legally and married to a US citizen. Luckily, his family contacted Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen’s office and got lawyers involved before he was disappeared. In Los Angeles, a day laborer was recently hit by a car and killed on the 210 Freeway while fleeing an ICE raid at a Home Depot. Here in Easton, an ICE van menacingly parked for several hours outside the George Murphy Community pool while children swam on a hot day.  A young man in Talbot County waiting to get day work was picked up by masked ICE agents and whisked away. This is not who we are.

Why is ICE not scooping up business owners with the same enthusiasm as they go after undocumented immigrants? Businesses in need of cheap labor play dumb regarding their workers’ immigration status. Lawyers call that “willful blindness”. The fact that ICE tactics do not include going after the demand side for these workers is a tell that ICE’s strategy is not a serious effort, and more about politics, race, and a show of macho power.

ICE wants to do its snatching at warp speed, so the target’s support network has no time to react and intervene, resulting in no due process. Even if you can determine where a loved one is being held, it is hard to post a bond for release while the situation is being resolved.

According to the Texas Tribune, Jaime Galvin Sanchez “has lived in the US for more than 20 years. He was deported in less than 24 hours without due process.” In many cases, ICE uses “Expedited Removal Authority” to snatch people. The concept was established as part of the 1996 Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act. It allows certain noncitizens to be removed from the US without a hearing before an immigration judge. In the past, Expedited Removal was mainly applied to people who arrived at a port of entry without proper documentation, or who had entered the country illegally and been in the US for less than two years. Trump expanded the use of expedited removal authority to remove obstacles to speedy deportation. It limits access to an attorney, bypasses a court hearing before an immigration judge, and provides no appeal options. Fortunately, Mr. Sanchez’s daughter showed up with utility bills, property tax documents, and his kids’ birth certificates to prove he has been living in the US for decades. He was eventually returned to his family, which is rare. 

The Administration’s ultimate goal is to traumatize legal and undocumented immigrants by making living here brutal, foment fear, and motivate immigrants to self-deport, described as “Attrition through Enforcement”. Trump’s attack dog, Border Czar Tom Homan, does not care if innocent people get snatched. Whenever confronted by reporters with examples of ICE agents overstepping their legal authority or mistakenly arresting or deporting US citizens and people in the US legally, he growls and responds with a “shit happens” attitude. 

Then there is the story of Amir, a young Afghan who saved American soldiers’ lives during the Afghan War. He was 18 years old and served as an interpreter. Several times, he saved the life of Dewy Yopp, a retired Special Forces officer. After the 2021 US withdrawal, Amir received a special immigrant visa for Afghan allies for his help during the Afghan War. A promise fulfilled by our government to Afghans who risked their lives and their families’ lives during the war. Trump now wants to end the Temporary Protected Status for Afghan refugees and return them to Afghanistan, claiming it is safe to return despite a State Department Do Not Travel Advisory and the very real threat of persecution and death for those who aided the US. 

Polling shows that images of armed ICE agents snatching people, brazenly marching around Los Angeles and other cities with AK-47s, are turning public opinion against aggressive ICE tactics and the President, which will have an impact on the 2026 mid-term elections.

Voters have also noticed that if you are a black or brown immigrant, you get profiled and picked up by ICE, but if you are white or wealthy, there are shortcuts to acquiring US citizenship. The Administration recently welcomed 60 white South Africans as refugees, saying with a straight face that they faced discrimination and violence at home, which the country’s government strongly denies. Refugee advocates wondered why these white South Africans were admitted when the administration had suspended efforts to resettle people fleeing war and persecution who had gone through years of vetting. 

Like a storyline from South Park, Trump also plans to offer a grotesque shortcut to citizenship for wealthy immigrants, not in keeping with our immigrant heritage. Trump plans to offer a Trump Gold Card for $5 million in exchange for US citizenship. A far cry from poet Emma Lazarus’ 1883 sonnet that gave a voice to the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free….” 

Most Americans know that the majority of illegal immigrants are not rapists, gang members, or drug dealers, but people seeking a better life for their families. While many oppose blanket amnesty, they also realize that the mass deportation of 11 million people is unrealistic.

They are here doing jobs that Americans do not want to do, and that businesses and our economy need. 

It is time for Congress to deal with our broken immigration system. Demonizing immigrants may work in an election year to get votes; however, it does not work if you are serious about fixing a complex immigration system, and leaves us with hooded men in dark SUVs waiting outside car washes, Lowe’s parking lots, public pools, and Latino churches to grab people – maybe your Pastor, neighbor, or good friend.

Andrew Mills, Chief of Police for the City of Palm Springs, CA, said on social media regarding ICE activities, “You joined a Federal Agency to arrest and bag cartels. Instead, you are doing jump outs, arresting dishwashers and gardeners for working hard. You watch the 4th amendment and the 14th mendment being violated regularly behind a cloak of secrecy, wearing masks and heavy armor. There are other options.”

The best option would be comprehensive immigration reform. In 2006-2007, President George W. Bush made comprehensive immigration reform his key policy initiative. His plan proposed a “rational middle ground” where undocumented immigrants with deep roots in the US could apply for citizenship after paying fines, taxes, learning English, and working for several years, while waiting behind those who applied through existing legal channels. It also included:

Border Security: Bush called for increased funding, technology, and personnel for border enforcement, expanding the Border Patrol, and the use of the National Guard for assistance.

A Temporary Worker Program: A legal channel for foreign workers to fill jobs that American workers weren’t taking, with temporary worker status, background checks, and a return to their home countries upon expiration of their authorized stay.

Employer Accountability: Deter businesses from hiring undocumented workers by mandating the use of the E-Verify, the electronic employment verification system, and penalizing non-compliant employers.

Assimilation: The plan emphasized the importance of immigrants learning English and adopting American values to integrate into society successfully.

Bush’s effort failed. GOP Immigration hawks resisted any legalization path, and unions were not happy with the temporary work visa, among other obstacles. Conservatives claimed that amnesty violates the rule of law and rewards bad behavior. An argument that rings hollow today after the President pardoned January 6th rioters, who violently took over the Capitol, a pardon that was a direct assault on the rule of law. 

Hugh Panero, a tech and media entrepreneur, was the founder and former CEO of XM Satellite Radio. He has worked with leading tech venture capital firms and was an adjunct media professor at George Washington University. He writes about Tech and Media and other stuff for the Spy.

 

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

Open Primary Elections in Maryland are an Idea whose Time may Never Come by David Reel

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More than five hundred years ago, political observer and philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli wrote a timeless and thought-provoking message on resistance to change.

He wrote, “It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage, than introducing new ways of doing things. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old ways of doing things and merely lukewarm defenders in those who would gain by the new ones.”

This observation is being tested by ongoing efforts in Maryland to change the rules relative to participation in and state funding of partisan primary elections. 

This issue is driven in large part by the increasing number of individuals in Maryland who have chosen to register to vote as unaffiliated, often referred to as independents.

In April of this year, more than 22% of registered voters in Maryland were registered as unaffiliated. That number was less than 21% in 2023. 

Another 2% of individuals in Maryland have chosen to register with a third party.

The bottom line is almost a quarter of the registered voters in Maryland are not registered as a Republican or Democratic voter and as a consequence, they cannot vote in primary elections.

One can assume this trend will not only continue, but also accelerate. 

In April of this year, more than 36% of new voter registrations, not changes to existing registrations, were unaffiliated.

In May of this year, five unaffiliated Maryland voters filed a lawsuit in Anne Arundel County District Court. They are working with an advocacy group — Open Primaries Education Fund (not to be confused with the Open Society Foundation, funded by George Soros).

The plaintiffs in the suit acknowledge political parties may have the right to exclude citizens from their primary elections, but it is unconstitutional for the state of Maryland to organize and pay for those elections.

They claim the only way the state can be in compliance with the state constitution is if the state Democratic and Republican parties fund their respective primary elections or if both parties allow all qualified citizens, regardless of their party affiliation, to vote in primaries.

The defendant in the lawsuit is the Maryland State Board of Elections, the state agency that manages primary elections.

An assistant state attorney general representing the Board of Elections has requested the Anne Arundel County District Court dismiss the lawsuit based on four claims.

One claim is that a lawsuit filed by only five taxpayers is insufficient to establish standing for such a challenge. 

Another claim is that the merits of the unaffiliated voters’ challenge have already been considered and rejected in two previous court decisions–one handed down by a state court and one by a federal court. 

The Supreme Court of Maryland issued a decision that “voters have no right under the state constitution to vote in the primary elections of a party to which they do not belong.”

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld closed primaries and a political party’s First Amendment right “not to associate” and therefore cannot be required to allow unaffiliated voters to participate in their primary elections. 

Complicating matters further on a judicial resolution on this matter is the opinion of a former senior voting rights attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). 

He has said the courts are often reluctant to depart from regular procedures on changing election laws and prefer to seek legislative consideration and action. 

While pursuing changes in the Maryland General Assembly is always an option, recent history is that pursuing open primary legislation in that arena has failed to get traction. 

In the 2023 General Assembly session, one bill was introduced in the Maryland Senate, and one was introduced in the Maryland House of Delegates, both on open primaries. 

Each bill only had one sponsor, which is a clear indication that neither bill had even minimal support in the General Assembly. 

As a result, neither bill was voted from committee, an essential step on the always challenging process to enact a new law or revise an existing law in Maryland. 

Also, no open primary legislation has been introduced in the General Assembly since then.

Going forward, I predict two outcomes on some form of open primaries in Maryland. 

I predict that in every court case, including any appeals to higher courts, the definitive decision will ultimately be that any changes to the election laws must be approved by the general assembly and signed by the governor.

I also predict that, without widespread public demand for any election law changes in Maryland, they will never be approved in the General Assembly and by the governor.

If my predictions occur, it will affirm that Machiavelli’s observation –“There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage, than introducing new ways of doing things” is as relevant today as it was when he wrote it in 1513. 

David Reel is a public affairs and public relations consultant who lives in Easton.

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

Flight Time by Laura J. Oliver

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Last week I wrote to you on my way to the Netherlands: flower-lined canals, pristine brick streets, Delft tiles, and wooden shoes. A sixth-floor room overlooking an ivy-lined courtyard in a boutique hotel. It was too short a visit, and I have vowed to return. But wait! Now, I’m in England with a few more profundities about international travel:

I miss my dog. 

Fun fact: when Europeans first arrived in America, the First People were using dogs as work animals for dragging and pulling heavy loads, but had never seen horses. When Hernan Cortez introduced them in 1518, the Native Americans’ closest point of reference to horses was dogs, so among other things, they called horses “mysterious dogs,” “sky dogs,” and “holy dogs.” 

Sounds about right to me. 

But back to travel confessions: When the flight attendant asks me to select an entrée, I’m going to pick the worst one. When the sign says, “UK and US Passports this way,” I’m going to pick the wrong line.

I can hardly bear for someone else to carry my luggage. I’m the one who made it so heavy, so it feels unfair to watch some poor kid or older man hoisting it up the stairs six flights in historic hotels without lifts.

I leave my watch on American time so I can imagine what my family and friends are doing at home. My phone doesn’t give me this option, so I do know what time it is wherever I am. Which is not the same as being present.

I never really do figure out other countries’ currencies. I’m not there long enough to do the math. Actually, that’s a lie. I lived in New Zealand long enough; I was just math-challenged and lazy.

Ditto Celsius versus Fahrenheit. Metric versus inches and feet. 

Likewise, driving on the wrong side of the road, which I have done many times in a city of a million people. (Auckland). Because there is a God, you weren’t there to be jeopardized at every roundabout and motorway I merged onto, whispering ‘left, left, left.”  This went on for years.

If any waiter or store clerk can tell I’m American, I want them to see that I’m a nice American, with good manners and proper appreciation for other cultures. I probably overwant this. I feel like an ambassador for America everywhere I go.

I always swear I’m not going to gain weight when I travel.

Hahaha, funny joke. 

But here’s the most candid and no-doubt controversial of all these confessions. I’ve traveled to the islands of Capri, Noumea, New Caledonia, St. Thomas, Bermuda, St. Croix, St. Johns, and the Caymans. I’ve traveled to New Zealand (North and South Islands), Australia, Mexico, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Scotland, England, Austria, and Switzerland. And although that is not the whole world or even every continent, there is a feeling that…by and large…

Seen one sandy beach, seen them all.

Seen one castle, seen them all. 

Seen one museum, seen them all. 

Seen one cathedral, sorry, seen them all,

Kidding? Yes, but also no. 

No doubt you are thinking of many excellent exceptions, and so can I, but the world is so very much the same, which surprises me. The oak trees in England look just like the oak trees at home. The marina where we moored in the Netherlands looked exactly like a creek on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. For that matter, the deserts of Utah look like the landscape of Mars.  

One of the perks of travel is that it satisfies the dictum “brain loves new.” We are the only species on the planet constantly scanning our environment for what is new. Because we are curious, inquisitive, and hungry to acquire new experiences. 

But, if you travel a lot, perhaps it is not so much what is new as what doesn’t get old.

The moment the aircraft is cleared for takeoff, and the engines power up, and the stationary, shaking rumble makes it impossible to hear, but you lean toward the person next to you with a smile, and mouth, “Here we go!” 

That involuntary excitement as the plane accelerates down the runway, faster and faster, and you wait to detect the subtle lift, that moment when the nose pulls up, the wheels leave the earth, and you are climbing, climbing, into the sky, and the world is receding beneath you, whirling away, and with a hum the landing gear tucks up under the body of the plane and you are in the hands of heaven. There’s that.

Seeing the curvature of the earth from over the wing, clouds that with very little imagination could be snow-covered mountains, or glaciers, or a snowfield upon which you could walk in the sky.

In a few weeks, you will be on your descent. You’ll drop through the clouds, hear the landing gear deploy, and that gentle bump when the plane touches down. 

If you love the life you have built and the people with whom you share it, what doesn’t get old? 

Coming home.

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: Is Trump Winning the News Cycle and Governor Newsom Pulls the Trigger on Redistricting for 2026

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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 how the Trump administration is attempting to dominate the news cycle with new initiatives, such as the Putin summit on Friday, and taking over law enforcement in the District of Columbia. Al and Craig also discuss Governor Gavin Newsom’s decision to move forward with plans to redraw the state’s congressional map, aiming to counter Texas’s plans to add five new GOP seats.

This video podcast is approximately sixteen 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 eight years, where he now chairs the board of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and is a former board member of the Academy Art Museum and Benedictine.  He also serves on the Spy’s Board of Visitors and writes an e-newsletter available by clicking on DECADE SEVEN.

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.

Creativity by Angela Rieck

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I was watching the documentary about Billy Joel and he mentioned that he decided to stop writing songs at 44 years old. The documentary was fun to watch, as I got to listen to his music, but it got me to thinking about the issue of creativity and age.

Does creativity necessarily decline with age? The answer is a complex yes and no.

Songwriters report losing their creativity as they age. Billy Joel was most prolific in his 20s and 30s. Bob Dylan famously wrote Blowing in the Wind on the back of a napkin. Dylan claims that he can no longer write songs at the level that he used to write them. Another musical artist who reported a decline in his songwriting abilities was Bruce Springsteen. Most rock and pop musicians do not continue to write songs after their 30s or 40s.

When I was at Bell Laboratories, I worked with a number of particle physicists who informed me that this phenomenon of creativity declining with age was prominent with major physics breakthroughs. Albert Einstein was 26 when he developed the Theory of Relativity. And while he continued to work, he was never able to successfully find a solution to the Theory of Everything.

Several artists were also most creative in their younger years. Picasso invented Cubism when he was 26 years old.

Yet, many artists and musicians continued to innovate as they aged. Beethoven wrote his Ninth Symphony when he was 53 years old (and deaf). Handel wrote The Messiah when he was 56 years old. Mozart was especially productive at the end of his life (but he died at 35). 

The relationship between age and creativity depends on many factors, one of them is the field of study. Some creative domains—such as songwriting, physics, science, and mathematics tend to have early peaks and relatively rapid declines, whereas other fields that require extensive knowledge and skill such as medicine, history, some art, humanities, and philosophers—show later gradual peaks of creativity. 

Thirty-one Nobel Prize Winners in the field of economics were evaluated as to when they made their most significant contributions to the field. There were two peak cycles of creativity, one very early in their careers and another later in their life. The difference between those who experienced a peak in creativity during their mid-twenties and those who peaked in their mid-50s, was the type of creativity.

People who were conceptual innovators—those who think “out of the box,” challenge conventional wisdom, and create paradigm shifts were most creative at an earlier age. The second group built on their knowledge and discovered new and innovative methods within existing frameworks. They worked through trial and error at a more gradual pace.

Examples of young, conceptual innovators include Picasso, T.S. Eliot, Melville, and Einstein. Examples of innovators who produced their best work later in life include Cezanne, Matisse, Robert Frost, Virginia Woolf, and Darwin.

Career age is more important than chronological age. Some late bloomers do not truly hit their stride until their 60s or 70s (think of Georgia O’Keefe). They sometimes had uninspiring jobs for decades before discovering their true passion.

There are several reasons for the decline in creativity with age. Abstract reasoning may be affected by brain changes associated with aging. Speed of processing and working memory decline with age.

But one of the most important reasons for creativity decline is becoming more accepting of and steeped in the norms and a desire to work within them. When young, it is easy to dismiss the work of others, but as we age and become familiar with the work, we are more appreciative of the thought and effort that went into it.

Another reason for creativity decline may be a decrease in motivation, sometimes believing that we have accomplished what we wanted to accomplish, lessened ambition, or a feeling that a “prime time” for creativity has passed. Billy Joel cited that the tiresome nature of rhyming, his process (which required him to work alone), and that he had said all he wanted to say—had contributed to his desire to give up pop songwriting. (He did explore other genres and wrote an album of classical music.)

There are instances where creativity increases with age. Older adults have a wealth of knowledge and experience that can be valuable for creative problem-solving. This is especially true when applying knowledge from one field to another. 

Our brain continues to form new neural connections throughout life. Thus, there are ways to improve and maintain creativity as we age. One way is to allow our minds to wander and wonder. Creative breakthroughs often occur when the mind is not actively focused on a specific task.

Other sources of creativity are interacting with others, learning new disciplines, and engaging in new experiences. The good news is that creativity is not a static ability that inevitably declines with age. It’s a complex process that can be maintained and even enhanced if we are willing to exercise it.

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.

FBI Agents on Street Patrol in D.C.? by J.E. Dean

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What a busy week President Trump is having. Yesterday he “federalized” the District of Columbia police force, effectively ending Home Rule for D.C.’s estimated 695,000 residents. And then there’s his meeting with war criminal and dictator Vladimir Putin in Alaska, where Trump hopes to end the war in Ukraine by declaring Putin the winner. It is almost as though the Jeffrey Epstein scandal is over.

The ghost of Mr. Epstein has not yet been banished, but let’s give the president a gold star (the only type acceptable to him) for trying. Many of us disagree on almost everything with our MAGA friends and neighbors, but we all agree that sexual assault of young girls is heinous. 

But what about declaring an emergency to legitimize a federal takeover of D.C.? For me, and many of us on the Eastern Shore who have lived or worked in D.C., this is also heinous.

D.C. crime is not out of control. Violent crime has decreased 26 percent in 2025 compared to 2024. Robberies have decreased by 26 percent. The Trump administration, as you might expect, challenges these statistics, which were reported by the D.C. Metropolitan Police. 

Violent crime was and likely would have continued to drop even without the deployment of the National Guard and officers from the Park Police, ATF, Secret Service, ICE, and FBI to the streets of D.C. (I am relieved that U.S. Space Force Guardians are not part of Trump’s show of force.)

I lived in D.C. for several years and worked there for more than 30 years. Like President Trump, I did not like seeing drunks, homeless people, or beggars on the streets, but I never once wanted to see homeless people “removed immediately, far away from our beautiful capital city” or 14-year-olds prosecuted as adults even if charged with violent crimes. 

In coming weeks—and maybe even before you read this column—you will read or hear White House officials announce that the takeover of D.C. has resulted in hundreds of arrests and a sharp drop in violent crime. But I also suspect there will be instances of people—some involved in committing crimes—who will be shot and killed and other instances where people will get arrested or “roughed-up,” as the President likes to say. Those instances, representing civil rights violations and police abuse, are not acceptable, to me and many others.

As has already been pointed out, National Guardsmen are not trained police officers. Neither are FBI agents, who, it must be noted, did not seek careers at the Agency to be deployed to fight street crime in D.C. Thus, I worry that many officers, some of whom will be sweltering in bullet-proof vests in 95-degree temperatures, will not be happy. And unhappy police officers are more likely to make bad judgments than appropriately trained happy ones.

I recall driving to work in 2001, right after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. There were National Guardsmen with M-16s on what appeared to be every corner for blocks in downtown Washington. The sight of the U.S. military patrolling D.C. streets was deeply disturbing, but necessary. The 9/11 terrorist attacks were an emergency that necessitated the actions taken. There is no emergency justifying Trump’s actions in D.C.

Trump’s takeover of D.C. will go down in history as unjustified and unwise. Hopefully, that history will not include police violence and unjustified shootings. I also wonder if historians will come to see the “D.C. crackdown” as part of the campaign of distraction now underway directed by a failing 79-year-old president who can’t shake the Epstein scandal.

As someone with special ties to D.C, that include being born there, attending college and law school there, and working there for decades, I want D.C. residents to control their city—just like I want Eastern Shore residents to enjoy self-rule. 

Donald Trump is denying Washingtonians a basic right, but he doesn’t care. D.C. voters rejected Trump in 2024. He won only 6.6 percent of the vote, 21,076 votes, as compared to Kamala Harris’ 92.5 percent. D.C. residents are throw-aways to Trump. I can imagine Trump saying they are too stupid be allowed to govern themselves.

J.E. Dean writes on politics, government but, too frequently, on President Trump. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack.

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Does Anybody Know What Is Going On? By Al Sikes

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Does Anybody Know What Is Going On?

“Do we have anybody in the newsroom who knows anything about tariffs?” The Senior Editors at most frequently read publications know the answer. It is no.

I laughed. Bill Maher, on his TV show, asked George Will, the conservative commentator, about tariff authority and related issues. This is a part of the exchange:

Bill Maher: “The tariffs, that’s not really something the president is allowed to do unilaterally.”

George Will: “No. A constitutionally enumerated power of Congress is to regulate trade with foreign nations. Congress, in its absent minded way, has now become a spectator of government… I have a chronic, incurable trade deficit with my barber. I buy a haircut from her, she buys nothing from me.”

Will enlarged the exchange to include the President’s claim that trade between countries should reflect something close to an even exchange. Markets don’t work that way—supply and demand defy the number pushers in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Or, the political hacks that want nothing more than the leader’s approval.

In the Spring of 1987, I went to the White House with then Secretary of Commerce Malcom Baldrige. Ronald Reagan was the President, and George Shultz was the Secretary of State.

Baldrige and I were advocates for what was pejoratively called “industrial policy”. We argued that a number of countries, and at the time, particularly Japan, were denying market access to US semiconductor companies, stealing their intellectual property, and supporting their leading companies with massive subsidies.

I remember a lively debate among those in the Reagan Cabinet about how we should fight back with our own market intervention. George Shultz was the most formidable advocate for a competitive market unhindered by government interference.

Shultz was the one most likely to argue that the semiconductor industry would be better off without active government support and that, to the extent governments (especially Japan) were subsidizing chips, they were indirectly subsidizing a range of US industries that used them. And he argued, it is a good thing when countries with much less market power do better—democracy is advanced by international well-being.

Baldrige and I argued that the semiconductor industry was so strategic we had no choice but to intervene. Intel, at the time, was our leading semiconductor company and, of course, led the lobbying effort to gain government support.

Bottom line: a chip consortium, Sematech (Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology) was formed in 1987 as a public-private consortium. It was co-funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and leading US semiconductor companies (Intel led the charge).

The initiative was meant to coordinate research and development (R&D), improve manufacturing, and secure America’s leadership in chip technology.

Today a list of leading companies in what is called the “chip industry” is quite different. Nvidia leads the list. According to Gartner (a leading consulting business) in 2024 Nvidia’s sales were $76.7 billion while Intel’s sales were $49.8. Year-over-year growth for Nvidia was 120.1%; Intel, 0.8%.

Nvidia did not exist in 1987; it was founded in 1993.

George Shultz would have a “I told you so” grin.

Tariffs distort markets. President Trump wants to use them to raise money, not build companies. And, today they are often a part of foreign policy, not staging for improved market dynamics.

If tariffs are to be helpful to future US economic outcomes, they must be used sparingly, and a case should be made to Congress, which has under our Constitution the power to levy them. Congressional action follows debate, we need real debate on the use of tariffs.

Relatedly

Multiple lawsuits are pending that challenge the President’s authority to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Regardless of the reasons for imposing tariffs the authority should be clear. The Supreme Court should fast track a case that offers the opportunity for a precedent setting decision.

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. 

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Shucking Corn by Jamie Kirkpatrick

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We had house guests over weekend, and although the guests were family, that nevertheless meant there were lots of pre- and post-visit chores on my “to do” list. Like mowing the lawn, watering the garden, helping to clean the house, overseeing the process of touching up the porch furniture with a little fresh paint, borrowing a pickup truck, unloading, and spreading 1,500 pounds of pea gravel along the side of the house (albeit with help from two angelic neighbors who took pity on my wife and me and came by with shovel and rake), watching said wife slice three cantaloupes and two dozen tomatoes while baking banana bread and cooking scrapple, picking crabs, buying beer, setting up tables for an afternoon garden party, and shucking corn. Four dozen ears of corn.

Of all those chores—and all the others on life’s “to do” list—I have to say that shucking corn is one of the better ones. Hamlet would have understood this: there is something inherently satisfying about shuffling the soul of an ear of corn from its mortal coil, freeing it from the chaos and confusion of human existence, releasing it from its earthly burden. All the beauty and goodness of an ear of corn is inside its ungainly husk, so one has to shuck it to truly bring it to life, and as the primary shucker this past weekend, I was the one designated by my little general to do the shuffling that freed all forty-eight ears of corn from their silky green mortal coil.

There is immense satisfaction in shucking corn. It can be conversational or silent. It can be done on the porch while greeting the day and the passers-by with a smile and a “Good morning!” It’s systematic: grab a husked ear from the sack, remove the tassel, strip the leaves and brush off the silk. Now build another stack, a yellow and white pyramid that one of Pharaoh’s architects would stop to admire. And all this is but a prelude to the crescendo when a steaming platter hits the table and the fun really begins. Please pass the butter and salt.

I like to find the deeper meaning inherent in mundane chores, and shucking corn provided me with a lot of good food for thought. An unshucked ear of corn is a clumsy nuisance, but once all those lovely kernels are released to the light, all their hidden beauty and goodness is made manifest. Once an ear of corn is shucked and freed from this mortal coil, it is resurrected into something glorious to be consumed and enjoyed, all part of the celestial cycle of life.

Which leads to this: over the weekend, we lost two good men. I want to name them here: Bernie Goodrich and Taylor Buckley. Both were aged and had lived good, full lives, and at the end, they both passed peacefully, surrounded by those who loved them. I will remember each  of them fondly. They are each now rid of their mortal coil, free to dream of what may come, “to be or not to be.” 

I’ll be right back.

Jamie Kirkpatrick is a writer and photographer who lives on both sides of the Chesapeake Bay. His editorials and reviews have 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 most recent novel, “The Tales of Bismuth; Dispatches from Palestine, 1945-1948” explores the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is available on Amazon and in local bookstores. His newest novel, “The People Game,” hits the market in February, 2026. His website is musingjamie.net.

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What’s the Buzz in Europe these Days? And What About Diplomacy? by Maria Grant

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After I returned from my two-week European foreign affairs journey, my stateside friends asked me, “What’s the buzz in Europe? What are the Europeans saying about Trump?”

My response was, “They’re really not talking about Trump. They’re talking almost exclusively about Putin.”

In conversation after conversation, you get a real sense of how much the people in countries in close proximity to Russia fear Putin. They are genuinely worried. They worry about their safety. They worry about their freedom. And they worry that their country could be next should Putin move on from Ukraine.

While there, you are also reminded how few barriers there are between Russia and its European neighbors. 

One of the comments that former President of Poland, Lech Wałęsa, made is that “Poland doesn’t have great soil or a ton of minerals. What it does have is location, location, location.” Basically, Poland is in the center of all the countries that surround Russia, making it a pivotal piece of real estate. 

Last week we learned that Trump plans to meet Putin in Alaska on Friday. This announcement does not fill me with hope. Instead, I feel a sense of dread and despair. Trump has not yet invited Zelensky to this meeting. And how weird is it that the meeting is taking place in Alaska, once formerly owned by Russia? 

In my mind, it’s a sign of capitulation that Trump invited Putin to the States, given that Putin has not agreed to a ceasefire. There are good reasons that Putin has not been invited to the States in almost a decade. And whatever happened to the sanctions that Trump promised if Putin did not agree to that said ceasefire?

I would venture a guess that the rest of Europe does not have feelings of hope about this meeting either. What kind of diplomatic move is it when only one side of a conflict is invited to discuss peace? 

Sam Greene, professor in Russian politics at King’s College London said, “The symbolism of holding the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska is horrendous—as though designed to demonstrate that borders can change, land can be bought and sold. Never mind that mainstream Russian discourse maintains a claim that Alaska should be returned to Russia.”

The whole situation brings to mind the meeting that Trump had with Putin in Helsinki during his first term when Trump claimed to trust Putin’s explanations for a series of events as opposed to those of his own intelligence agencies. 

And then there’s the issue of Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy and former real estate and golf buddy with absolutely no diplomatic experience, flying around to Gaza, Russia, and Iran.  

Not much progress so far in those areas. However, there has been progress in one other area. The two real estate/golf buddies have closed a cryptocurrency deal with Abu Dhabi, the wealthiest and most powerful member of the United Arab Emirates, which will reward both of them and their respective sons with mountains of profits. They’re calling it World Liberty Financial. 

So, ok, it’s not difficult to conclude that Trump is more interested in business deals rather than diplomacy. Now Trump is also in the midst of a serious campaign to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Want to garner favor with Trump? In addition to bringing him gifts gilded with gold, as Apple CEO Tim Cook did, you can nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, following the leaders of Pakistan, Israel, and Cambodia. 

John Bolton, who was Trump’s National Security Advisor in Trump’s first term and is now on Trump’s long enemies list said this about Witkoff: “He knows nothing about Russia, he knows nothing about Ukraine, he knows nothing about Iran. He knows nothing about nuclear weapons. What could go wrong?”

It is safe to say that virtually none of Trump’s ambassadorial appointments have diplomatic experience or deep knowledge about the countries in which they now reside. Just last week Trump nominated Tammy Bruce as the next U.S. deputy representative to the United Nations. Bruce is a former Fox News commentator with no foreign policy experience. Couple that with the expertise of Trump’s senior advisor appointments at State and Defense and you are not left with a sense that America is in good hands, so we can sleep soundly at night. 

Napoleon once wrote, “The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls the chaos, both his own and the enemies.” 

Frankly, I have never seen a more chaotic state of American diplomacy. It smacks of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. I’ve always been a fan of appointing people with deep technical expertise in the subject at hand. Otherwise, you just might find yourself on a ship that slowly begins to sink. 

Maria Grant was principal-in-charge of the federal human capital practice of an international consulting firm. While on the Eastern Shore, she focuses on writing, reading, music, and nature.

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