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February 14, 2026

Centreville Spy

Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Centreville

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The Things You Carry By Laura J. Oliver

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“Start with a list,” I tell them. “Like Tim O’Brien did in “The Things They Carried,” the title story in a collection about an American platoon in Vietnam. In the story, O’Brien listed what each soldier carried on his person into the jungle, where the chances were good at least one of them would die on any given day. Every ounce of weight increased the burdens they bore, so they chose them carefully: Tranquilizers, a girl’s photo, foot powder. But also, the incalculable weight of their fear, love, guilt, and grief.

Everything is metaphor.

My workshop participants like this exercise. We are on Zoom, so I see them as small squares on my laptop screen, which makes them small indeed. 

“Or write about a scar,” I suggest. “Make it real, don’t strain for meaning. “I give them 10 minutes to think about this. Some of them turn their cameras off, and some just mute their mics and leave the video on. I see their heads bent over their papers; some stare into space, and I think of my own scars. 

There are a lot, most barely visible. One from when I was a baby cartwheeling down a flight of wooden stairs. One, the result of an adolescent bike accident—think Irish setter running into the path of an English racer on the downhill slope of a gravel road. 

When my writers turn their cameras back on, I ask if anyone wants to share what they came up with in just 10 minutes—a rough draft, of course—no expectations. After all, didn’t we just read Anne Lamott’s famous essay, “Shitty First Drafts? 

The best writing comes from letting go of any need to be perfect. And even as I promise them that I’m thinking—does the best life come from that kind of letting go as well? Write with abandon. Live with abandon.

Everything is metaphor.

And a woman who looks as if she can’t be more than 20 years old raises her hand and begins, “The night I met you, I accidentally cut myself. You held my hand, but we couldn’t stop the bleeding.”  And she goes on to read an impromptu piece about wounds and longing and falling in love in a cooking class with a man who would hold and heal her for the next 30 years, and it just blows me away, it is so compelling. I know I should not be too effusive in my praise because the next volunteer will suffer by comparison—I should be neutrally dispassionate– but my goodness, have you met me?

I tell her how amazing the piece is and sure enough, the next writer to share has tried just as hard, but I have to dig deep to think of anything to say at all. That is the crucible of being worthy of another’s trust. It is not how you celebrate the talented, but how you accelerate those on the ascent. You are the energy that powers up the engines, you are the lifting force, then navigator. 

Everything is metaphor.

Write about being rescued or rescuing someone else.

I won’t write it, but as my students dig deep again, I think about the season when young people annually sweep through my neighborhood, dropped off by a supervisor in a van to spend the day selling magazines door to door. I know they are required to sell a certain number before they can quit for the day, and the girl shifting her weight from foot to foot on the slate of my front porch is thin, pale, with a shy Georgia accent. I don’t want her magazines, but I do want to offer her water and a chance to sit down someplace cool for a few minutes.

I invite her in and am surprised when she tells me she is very newly pregnant and, she says, with a hitch in her voice, This is really hard.

I remember being newly pregnant. I remember really hard.

At the end of the day, the supervisor will drive her crew to a motel room off 301 South to sleep on the floor. 

I can’t shoulder her burdens, but I can buy a bus ticket to Georgia. 

Everything is metaphor.

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.

February 2026 Sky-Watch By Dennis Herrmann

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Jupiter, king of our Solar System’s planets, continues to dominate the night sky in February.  Lying inside the zodiac constellation Gemini (twins), which sits well up in the eastern sky, it is the brightest object there and cannot be missed.  Jupiter is visible all night.  Look for the gibbous Moon just above Jupiter on February 27th.
Saturn is gradually getting harder to see but may be viewed with several other planets in the western sky shortly after sunset in the first half of February.  Look for the ringed planet about 35 degrees above the horizon in the first two weeks of the month.  But on February 18th a nice grouping of objects occurs.
On February 18th Saturn will be the highest; 30 degrees above the western horizon.  Mercury will be 15 degrees below the ringed planet, with the slim crescent Moon just to its left.  And very close to the horizon and below Mercury, Venus, the brightest of all these objects may be seen, especially for sky-watchers who have a good clear view right down to the western horizon.
In the latter half of February both Saturn and Mercury will appear to swing down toward the Sun with Mercury disappearing by March.  Saturn will be even harder to see in March and will be lost in the glare of the Sun by month’s end.  Venus however, will gradually appear to appear higher toward March.  Mars remains invisible to us again this month.
February 2nd is the exact mid-point between the Winter Solstice, the first day of winter, and the Vernal Equinox, the first day of spring.  Despite whatever the Ground Hog sees this day; shadow or nor shadow, spring is still 6 weeks away.  However the night sky offers a hint of springs arrival in mid-February.  Looking east around 8 or 9 pm Zodiac constellation Leo the lion pushes its backwards question mark shape into the sky.  Leo lies high in the south in April and May.  In February we see the front of Leo as the promise of spring to come!
Look for the waxing crescen tMoon very close to the Pleiades open star cluster on February 23rd  Binoculars should show both in the same field of view.  Also look for an early Full Moon this February; on February 1st.

 

Dennis Herrmann developed a life-long interest in astronomy at an early age and got his first telescope at the age of 12. Through his 43 years of teaching at Kent County High School he taught Astronomy and Earth/Space Science and coached track and field and cross country. He led and participated in numerous workshops on astronomy at the Air and Space Museum (DC), the Maryland Science Center, and the Mid-Atlantic Planetarium Society. He loves sharing and explaining the night sky to increase understanding and enjoyment of it to folks of all ages.

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

MD Senate gives Preliminary OK for Prohibiting mask Use by Law Enforcement

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The Maryland Senate gave preliminary approval Thursday to two bills aimed at reining in immigration enforcement, by prohibiting cooperation agreements between local police and federal immigration agencies and by banning face coverings on officers while they are on duty.

Democrats managed to beat back a number of Republican amendments to both bills on largely party-line votes over about three hours of debate. The only amendment approved Thursday was a Democratic proposal to make the bill prohibiting local-federal agreements an emergency measure that would take effect as soon as it was signed into law.

That amendment would make the Senate bill on so-called 287(g) agreements identical to a House version of the legislation sponsored by Del. Nicole Williams (D–Prince George’s), which is expected to come up for debate in the House on Friday.

The bills are speeding through the two chambers at a time of heightened scrutiny of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement policy, that led to fatal shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis this month of two U.S. citizens — Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37.

“I know there’s lots of disagreement on this,” said Senate President Bill Ferguson (D–Baltimore City), explaining his vote for the emergency legislation amendment. “I deeply appreciate the debate here and the thoughtful consideration, but we are in a really important moment. So, I appreciate this truly being an emergency that we figure out how to move forward.”

He said both measures could come up for a final vote Tuesday. The emergency designation amendment passed 33–13, with all 13 GOP senators voting against it.

Republicans said the 287(g) agreements in Maryland bear little resemblance to the video of violent confrontations in Minnesota. Maryland agreements are strictly jail-based programs, they said, that allow county jails to hold an individual in their custody for another 48 hours for pickup by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if it is determined the person is in the country illegally.

Republicans also said Senate Bill 245 infringes on local governments. Senate Minority Leader Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R–Upper Shore) offered an amendment that would let county leaders decide whether to enter into or terminate a 287(g) agreement.

“I think this is important because we’ve seen the counties have already found a way to handle this issue,” Hershey said. “What’s important is that the counties should be able to decide. They are the ones that are in charge of our public safety. They made those decisions. They are elected bodies.”

But Sen. William C. Smith Jr. (D–Montgomery) said 287(g) agreements make communities “less safe” and that Hershey’s amendment “fundamentally undermines the bill.”

The amendment was rejected 32–14, with Sen. Mary-Dulany James (D–Harford) joining the 13 Republicans in opposition.

Senators also rejected an amendment from Minority Whip Justin Ready (R–Frederick and Carroll) that would have mandated the state adopt E-Verify, a federal database that lets employers determine whether workers are legally able to work in the country. What Ready called a “pro-labor” amendment was rejected 31–13 on a straight party-line vote.

‘They’re petrified’

The debate on 287(g) agreements followed nearly two hours of debate on Senate Bill 1 — sponsored by Sen. Malcolm Augustine (D–Prince George’s) — that would prohibit face coverings on law enforcement officials in the state, including ICE agents who are typically masked. Williams is also sponsor of the House version of the mask bill, which is scheduled for a hearing before the Judiciary Committee on Feb. 24.

The bill would impose a civil penalty on officers who wear balaclavas, ski masks, neck gaiters, or other face coverings while on duty. Exceptions would be made for officers in an undercover operation, wearing a motorcycle helmet, or wearing a covering for religious or health-related reasons.

The majority Democratic chamber rejected all six Republican amendments, including one from Sen. Chris West (R–Baltimore and Carroll) that would have lowered the civil penalty from $1,500 to $100.

West said there could be conflicts between state officers enforcing the law and federal officers carrying out their duties.

“ICE agents are working Americans, just like our police officers, and $1,500 for a working-class person is a lot of money,” he said.

Smith acknowledged the bill could face litigation.

“I’d say that’s a safe assumption,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader Nancy King (D–Montgomery) said the masking of ICE agents represents fear for immigrants in her district.

“They’re petrified to even go to the grocery store,” King said. “My community is petrified, and when they see somebody coming up to them with a mask on, it makes it even worse.”

By William J. Ford

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Food Friday: Hot Potatoes

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We survived Winter Storm Fern! Hooray! Another storm is lurking out there now, soon to darken our doors, and ice the roads, but I am not going to worry about it. Mr. Sanders can keep up with the stats, and inform me accordingly. The end of January is approaching. It is still lamentably cold, and we need simple, hot food to get us through the dark winter months.

February, though it is the shortest month, and is packed with many festive events (Black History Month, Groundhog Day, Mardi Gras, the Super Bowl™, Valentine’s Day, Presidents Day, Chinese New Year, and finally, the Olympics), tends to drag its leaden, icy feet slowly from one long, cold day to the next. We need reasons to trudge along.
Luckily for us, we can tap in many sources for delicious, traditional potato dishes which ward away the gloom of the gelid polar evenings. A short tool around Instagram and TikTok yield delicious findings. Classic Jacket Potato with Baked Beans and Cheese

In the UK they turn potatoes into atmospherically named dishes: bangers and mash, shepherd’s pie, cottage pie, Cornish pasties, bubble and squeak, not to mention the exquisite chipped potato. The best British chips come from chippies – shops devoted to the fine art of deep frying chipped potatoes. I cannot understate the sheer glory of a perfectly crisp, furnace-hot chip, dusted with salt, put steaming in its paper nest, but I must not rhapsodize in the middle of a think piece about baked potatoes. Hot chips (and fries) are perfection. Add vinegar if you must. To each his own. Fries

Baked potatoes are the workhorse potato dish that crosses all the international borders. Use Idaho, Yukon Gold, Russet potatoes, Red Ruby or even sweet potatoes for your meal. Some people fill double-baked potatoes with sauerkraut: Baked Potato

The Potato Hut in Dubai will serve you baked potatoes stuffed with fajita, steak, tuna and mayo, BBQ, or veggie delight. They are also looking for fanchisees if you’d like a dream job. “No fry, No Oil, Ask for Baked.” Potato Hut

I don’t want to make any more runs to the grocery store on skittery, icy roads than I have to. Prudently, we have a pile of potatoes and a fridge full of topping ingredients, in case of snow, or ennui. Some evenings we can barely think about dinner prep. We want to have a glass of something warm and watch The Pitt. Here are some things to keep on hand, to minimize your travel time: bacon, chives, sour cream, crème fraiche, smoked salmon, ranch dressing, garlic, butter, fried onions, pulled pork, cole slaw, Burrata, prosciutto, crab salad, Cheddar cheese, and sprouts. Dare I suggest caviar? None for me, thanks, but you might be fancy.

Also veggies: tomatoes, peppers, onions, avocados, beans, and salsa! Leftovers! What a concept. Use up the leftover chili, taco meat, beef stew and chicken pot pie! Use it up! Make it do! (Thanks, BA for the fancy ideas: 12 Creative Ways to Top a Baked Potato)

A plain baked potato, topped with good butter and freshly ground black pepper can be a divine way to warm up, so don’t stress if you don’t have all the trendy ingredients. Keep it simple. Or you can just root around in the fridge for some ideas, while also checking your sell-by-dates. Mr. Sanders added some healthy green broccolini and a handful of chopped tomatoes, because he is such a show off. He also made a side salad of cool Romaine and arugula, which was our nod to healthy eating. Plus we had a bowlful of baby carrots in lieu of fatty crunchy cocktail snacks as an appetizer. We ate our veggies, honest. Because there were fresh, home-baked biscotti for dessert. Grown ups, yes, but maintaining our gold-standard priorities, thank you.

Some folks like to rub potato skins with butter or olive oil before roasting. It is important to prick your potatoes to let the steam escape while they are cooking. I use a long cooking fork, and really spear the potatoes. Then I cheat a little, by popping the potatoes into the microwave for about 3 minutes on high for each potato. I also cook them singly, because I find the microwave math daunting. Then I pop them right in the preheated oven, on the oven rack, at 450°F for half an hour. Maybe I don’t need that toaster oven after all. I use Russet potatoes, because that’s what we had growing up, and I am sure Martha says so, too.

J. Kenji López-Alt, who does extensive and exhaustive recipe testing, recommends baking potatoes, preferably Russets, at 375°F for about an hour (the more moderate oven temperature produces a creamy, fluffy interior). Early on I had an boss who scoffed at such niceties. She believed in cooking things FAST. 450°F was her preferred temperature for a lot of foods. Never argue with your art director. And last night she was right, again. Thanks, Pat!

This is genius from Instagram: Crispy Baked Potato Halves

The Ultimate Guide to Perfect Loaded Baked Potatoes

Keep dinner warm and nutritious, because that’s what baked potatoes are all about – a full belly, and keeping winter at bay. Stay warm out there!

“Wherever you come near the human race there’s layers and layers of nonsense. Look at that moon. Potato weather for sure.”
—Thornton Wilder

Jean Dixon Sanders has been a painter and graphic designer for the past thirty years. A graduate of Washington College, where she majored in fine art, Jean started her work in design with the Literary House lecture program. The illustrations she contributes to the Spies are done with watercolor, colored pencil and ink.

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

Wine of the Week: Grosjean Torrette Vallee d’Aoste

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Ciao Tutti!

This  weekend at Piazza Italian Market, we will taste the Torrette  Vallee d ’Aoste DOC  ($28.50, 13.5% ABV) from the Grosjean  Vins winery in the tiny village of Olligan. Vallee d’Aosta or  ‘Valley of Augustus’ is named for the Roman Emperor Augustus whose legions conquered the valley in 25 BC. Valle d’ Aosta is Italy’s smallest and least populated region and shares borders with France, Switzerland and Piemonte. The Aosta Valley is also the highest region in Italy and includes the Italian slopes of Gran Paradiso, the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa. 

The Grosjean family dates its roots from the early 17th century, when the region’s ruler, the Duke of Savoy, encouraged families from Savoy and Burgundy to move to the valley whose population had been decimated by a plague in 1630.  

The family settled in a village in the high mountain passes where they initially raised cattle.  During the summer, they also grew both grapes and chestnuts. They stocked up on wine to endure the long winters and in 1968, the family patriarch, Dauphin Grosjean, presented his wine at a local exposition where his wines’ exceptional quality was recognized and led the family to devote themselves to vinticulture. In Valle d’Aosta, viniculture is called “heroic” for the challenges posed by high altitudes, steep slopes and terraces, requiring all back breaking labor to be done by hand. 

Another challenge, climate change, is impacting the Alpine regions-drought, retreating glaciers and high mountain peaks that earlier generations could only reach without climbing equipment are now accessible to workers in low shoes and shorts (!), portend a worrisome future.

The estate now contains seven hectares and is managed by the third generation of the Grosjean family. They were the first winery in the Aosta Valley to convert to organic farming. Grosjean’s Torrette has become popular with our customers so it is long overdue for its tasting debut this weekend. It is a perfect blend of the indigenous grape varieties Petit Rouge (80%), along with small amounts of Cornalin, Fumin, and Vin de Nus. 

I love this wine’s light to medium body, flavors of blackberry, blueberry, cherry and pomegranate, crisp acidity and soft tannins. Pair with savory, rustic dishes; traditional Alpine hearty soups; or Piazza’s Fontina cheese, cured meats, risotto and pasta with meat sauces. 

If you have not yet tasted this delicious wine, come join me Friday from noon to 5:45 or Saturday from noon to 4:45. Check our website if our hours change due to more snowy weather. 

Cin Cin!

Jenn

Piazza Italian Market is located in the Talbot Town Shopping Center at 218 N. Washington St., suite 23, in Easton, MD

Contributor Jennifer Martella has pursued dual careers in architecture and real estate since she moved to the Eastern Shore in 2004. She has reestablished her architectural practice for residential and commercial projects and is a real estate agent for Meredith Fine Properties. She especially enjoys using her architectural expertise to help buyers envision how they could modify a potential property. Her Italian heritage led her to Piazza Italian Market, where she hosts wine tastings every Friday and Saturday afternoons.

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

Chesapeake Music Presents Jazz and Chamber Music this Winter

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Chesapeake Music is delighted to host two exciting Winter Interlude Concerts on back-to-back weekends: an evening of jazz with the Stephen Philip Harvey Jazz Orchestra on Saturday, February 21 at 7:30 p.m. and an afternoon of chamber music featuring the Abeo Quartet with violist Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 1. While individual concert tickets are available for purchase, Chesapeake Music has also put together a special 2026 Winter Interlude two-concert package at a discounted rate. Both concerts will be performed at The Ebenezer Theater at Prager Family Center for the Arts for the Eastern Shore community.

On Saturday, February 21 at 7:30 p.m., the 17-piece Stephen Philip Harvey Jazz Orchestra will be one of the largest ensembles to ever take the stage at the historic Ebenezer Theater, promising an unmatched, explosive energy that will need to be witnessed (and felt) to be believed! The ensemble will play a mixture of music from their recent album release (“Multiversal”) alongside select works from their first release in 2022 (“Smash!”). Both albums contain entirely original compositions by Stephen Philip Harvey, inspired by comic books and superheroes. The concert will be a pseudo-cinematic experience that will bring the audience into an action-packed setlist of ethereal melodies, hard-hitting counterpoint, and heroic themes.

On Sunday, March 1 at 2 p.m., experience the electric artistry of the Abeo Quartet as they make their return to Easton. Chesapeake Music fans may remember them from their Silver Prize win at the 10th Biennial Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition in 2022. This time around, they will be joined by the luminous violist Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, founding violist of the twice-Grammy-nominated Dover Quartet and recognized as one of the most sought-after chamber musicians of her generation. Together, these musicians will bring depth, passion, precision, and profound musical dialogue to a thrilling program.

Chesapeake Music offers a limited number of free tickets for students, educators, and Talbot County First Responders, as well as a “buy-one-get-one” option for first-time patrons of Chesapeake Music. General admission tickets are $50, and two-concert packages are $75. Visit ChesapeakeMusic.org for tickets and more information.

Based in Easton, Maryland, Chesapeake Music is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that brings renowned musicians to delight, engage, and surprise today’s audiences, and educate, inspire, and develop tomorrow’s.

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Choptank Health Joins National Campaign to Highlight School-Based Health Care

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Choptank Health is joining communities nationwide in recognizing School-Based Health Care Awareness Month this February, highlighting the critical role school-based health centers play in supporting student health, academic success, and community well-being across Maryland’s Mid-Shore.

Through partnerships with local school systems, Choptank Health operates 18 school-based health centers and additionally utilizes mobile health units to support dental and other school-based health initiatives.

“School-based health care removes barriers that keep students from getting the care they need to stay healthy and ready to learn,” said Choptank Health Director of Community-Based Programs Chrissy Bartz, PA-C. “By delivering care where students spend most of their day, we help families avoid missed school days, delayed treatment, and unnecessary emergency visits.”

Choptank Health’s participation aligns with a national awareness campaign led by the School-Based Health Alliance, which represents nearly 4,000 school-based health centers nationwide. Nationally, community health centers serve 52 million patients annually through more than 17,000 locations, including two out of every three school-based health centers.

At a time of rising student mental health needs and continued pressure on local health systems, school-based care remains a proven, cost-effective solution for communities.

“School-based health centers are a smart investment in both education and public health,” said Choptank Health President and CEO Sara Rich. “They strengthen our schools, support all families, and improve long-term outcomes for students and communities. Continued support for these programs is essential to the health of our region.”

Choptank Health’s school-based care journey began in 1999 with four school-based health centers in Caroline County Public Schools. Over the years, Choptank Health’s commitment to the community has expanded its medical, dental, and behavioral health services for Mid-Shore students.

Today, Choptank Health’s school-based health centers and mobile health units reach more than 8,000 students each year, providing dental services in Dorchester County and medical, dental, nutrition, and behavioral health services in Caroline, Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot Counties.

The school-based health centers are a partnership between Choptank Health, Maryland Department of Health, county health departments, and each county’s public school system. Care is coordinated with the student’s primary care provider and/or primary dentist.

Services include in-person, virtual, curbside, well, and urgent care during the school year and over the summer. Students can receive diagnosis and treatment of illnesses, behavioral health services, nutrition services, health education, and more.

Choptank Health’s school-based dental programs include dental screenings and sealants, cleanings, oral health education, fluoride treatments, and dental emergency referrals.

Choptank Community Health System provides medical and dental services to more than 34,000 patients annually across Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot counties.

With a mission to provide access to exceptional, comprehensive, and integrated healthcare for all, Choptank Health’s services include primary healthcare, women’s health, pediatrics, behavioral health, chronic health management, lab services, care navigation, and more.

Student enrollment forms and more about Choptank Community Health System’s school-based health programs are at www.choptankhealth.org/schoolbased.

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

From and Fuller: Will the GOP Pushback Against Trump’s ICE Hold and the FBI Raids a Georgia Election Office

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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, Al and Craig discuss growing pushback from some Republican members of Congress against President Donald Trump’s aggressive use of federal agencies for immigration enforcement. They also comment on the Trump Justice Department’s recent decision to raid the Fulton County, Georgia, elections office as part of an investigation into the 2020 presidential election results.

This video podcast is approximately 12 minutes in length.

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 notable was his reputation for 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.

Donald Trump Has Mastered Roy Cohn’s Three Rules by J.E. Dean

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The nation is outraged by the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Neither victim deserved to die. And the images of both being shot—Pretti, some believe, 10 times– are difficult to watch. My TV is now off. I will turn it back on when ICE leaves Minneapolis, or the officers that shot Good and Pretti are held accountable for what appears to be severe misconduct.

After turning off the news, I found the 2024 film, The Apprentice, on the streaming service TUBI. This is the film about Donald Trump’s life before he was president. The film, which Trump aggressive sought to block from release, tells the story of how Roy Cohn schooled Trump to be, well, the Trump we know today.

I recommend the film, which is streaming free. It is controversial but represents an attempt to understand Trump. No spoilers here. The most important part of the film is a scene where Roy Cohn, Trump’s lawyer who was notoriously aggressive his entire career, tells Trump his “three rules.”

The rules are first, to always attack as forcefully as possible (stay on the offense). Second, never admit wrongdoing and deny everything, regardless of evidence suggesting wrongdoing. And third, always claim victory, even in defeat.

Trump, it appears, was an outstanding student. Evidence of his living by these rules is everywhere. His propensity to attack may be found today in his daily postings on Truth Social. More dramatic examples include Trump suggesting that Senator Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the assassination  of John F. Kennedy, and the President’s attacks on E. Jean Carroll, the woman who sued Trump for defamation.

Evidence of Trump denying everything is also everywhere, but best found in his claim that he did not try to overturn a loss in the 2020 elections. As you will recall, Trump telephoned Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger to ask him to “find” 11,780 votes. 

Finally, there is the issue of claiming victories. One could point to Trump lying about winning club championships at his various golf clubs without cheating, but a more familiar example is the big one, which the President still repeats, almost on a daily basis—that he won an election that all evidence suggests he lost.

One could argue that Trump’s adherence to the three rules has led him into multiple impeachable offenses, but even if Democrats win the House and Senate in the mid-term elections later this year, Trump is highly unlikely to be impeached and removed from office. And if he is impeached (the equivalent of being indicted), when the Senate fails to garner the 60 votes to remove him from office, he will claim victory. 

Far more serious is what the “three rules” might lead Trump to do in his remaining time in office. Already we are seeing Trump attack the victims of ICE shootings, calling the victims “domestic terrorists” despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. 

We also are seeing Trump claim victory in his quest to annex Greenland, which is not happening. Trump “won” the right for the U.S. to maintain the military base it already has in Greenland (Pituffik Space Base) and the right to build additional bases, which it already has the right to do.

An example of Trump attacking happened earlier this week when the federal government fired the consulting firm Booz Allen from all its federal contracts. The basis? A Booz employee leaked Donald Trump’s and others’ tax returns. Trump seeks to instill fear in all federal contractors not to do anything that displeases him. Booz was fired to set an example. The former Booz employee is already in jail and was clearly a rogue employee. Trump doesn’t care about the penalty fitting the crime.

Most worrisome are Trump’s ongoing and escalating allegations of voter fraud in states that rejected him in 2020 or 2024. He is attacking their leadership and the integrity of their elections. Some say he is setting the stage to attempt to cancel the 2026 mid-term elections.

Do we need to worry that Trump will attempt to cancel elections he thinks he will lose? Yes. And the best way to do that is to get involved now in making sure that Americans get the chance to vote this November and that decent Americans—the people I call Patriots but that Trump calls lunatics—speak out against the outrageous conduct of ICE, Trump’s destructive foreign policy, and evidence of widespread corruption throughout the Trump administration.

It is not too late to save democracy.

J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, goldendoodles, and other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean is an advocate for democracy, sanity, and the rule of law.

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