"MARYLAND VOICES OF THE CIVIL WAR" History Comes Alive !

Are our times unique, without precedent and more challenging than any other periods of history? The answer might be a fast "yes" from many of us:
9/11 and terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center & Pentagon, Bush/Gore and a disputed election.

In Maryland: A $1.6 billion debt billion deficit, blamed by Governors and a spending Legislature on each other; blasts between City & Counties ; Ehrlich & O'Malley when Glendening still hides; Dangers to the greatest inland body of water in America -- the Chesapeake Bay; Continued excess of trial lawyer abuse on healthcare and good doctors trying to stay in practice

Was it ever any worse, or times more challenging? Again, many of us might say "No!" --- but I am re-thinking that instinctive reaction. How is that possible?

For me and Maryland , it became possible by getting an enlarged perspective on the "Free State's" challenging times. It happened at a recent celebration of the publication of "Maryland Voices of the Civil War", published by The Johns Hopkins Press and edited by Charles W. Mitchell, respected executive with medical publisher Lippincott,Williams & Wilkins. I have known Charley and his family -- first, during his growing-up years in Ruxton and subsequently when we worked together at the national land conservation organization --The American Land Trust and subsequently during the first 2 years as Wills & Associates, public affairs- communications counsel, began its 30-year run and now under the daily management of partner/CEO Brad Wills.

Charley was drawn by the writing magnet -- and per "Maryland Voices" what a break for all who like action and the "people part of history". This remarkable book "came alive" during his dramatic rendering of how the Civil War affected the daily lives of Marylanders and their families -- many of which were divided between advocacy of slavery/ even the business or slave trade and being fierce abolitionists,committed to freedom and, such movements as the "Underground Railroad".

These thoughts are not a complete "Preview of Coming Attractions " -- but a sense of just how divided and yet, interspersed with genuine and even heroic moments, were the 5+ years of the late 1850's and the 4 years, 1860-'65 as the nation plunged into a war that still hold many tragic records of death and injury on the Union & Confederate sides. Maryland was a microcosim of the nation, but even more challenged than most states: we were geographically "in the middle", and that is were "Maryland Voices of the Civil War" the most dramatic anthology of people and places of history . For this history afficiando,it is getting "hooked"!

How did editor Charley Mitchell do it? The best answer is found by reading this collection of real events through real people -- those of us who heard Charley's talk to a packed audience at Evergreen House had the benefit of a "live" rendering with excitement, sadness,drama, and even humor .

First, Charley acknowledged many who helped him -- but 3 whom I know , stand out: His Dad and longtime editor Braxton Mitchell, whose intellect, persistance and humor must have been a secret resourse; Goucher professor and historian Dr. Jean Baker -- author of the best biography ever written about Mary Todd Lincoln; and historian /history editor Robert Brugger, History Editor of the Johns Hopkins, a remarkable publishing house with talent on every floor of its North Charles St. headquarters -- his wife Betsy whose professional and editorial talents were another big asset behind the scenes, in this remarkable 476 pages. The spirit of Charley's late Mom, Polly, was described by as the one -- along with "Braxton,who gave me the push" -- as "Polly , who gave me the paint" . (As a watercolorist by avocation, I found learning creative art from Polly, is founded -- like writing -- by real discipline!)

Don't shrink when you see that number of pages! As a 2 -week owner of the book (first run sold out on Charley Mitchell's June 12 "opening" night lecture/reception and signing) , I have already started tracking into those pages, from notes taken as Charley spoke and in finding some stories adjacent to a fascinating anthology of photographs of faces from history have become real people! Just a sampling:

The parts of "Maryland Voices" break down into "Indecision" -- late 1860 and into the first 9 months of the War; "Occupation " by Federal troops and the corresponding concern of the adjacent Union government/its President Abraham Lincoln, in Washington; "Liberation" -- the tension of and emancipation/ ending of slavery in Maryland, even the recruitment of just-freed slaves as Union soldiers.

Charley Mitchell's power point presentation brought Md. Civil War history to life:

The "Pratt Street Riots" ; Under the command of Isaac Ridgeway Trimble, the drama of Union troops moving through President's Street Station south to Washington. Baltimore Mayor Brown trying to keep order in tense city.

With accompanying photographs -- Baltimore businesses, flying the Union flag and largely opposed to any thought of secession of by Maryland; the "steam gun" -- literally, a machine gun that operated on steam power; the "Monument Street Girls" -- not a group of night club entertainers, but a group of women who secretly made clothing for young Marylanders sneaking off to join the Confederate Army.

"Special Sessions" of the Legislature : not just a 21st century device! Gov. Hicks was pressured to and did call a special session to deal with the secession and other tensions. Guess what: Where was the session held? Answer: NOT Annapolis, but Frederick , Maryland!

Parts of the diary of Elizabeth Blair Lee -- ancestor of a respected Maryland Gov. Blair Lee in the 2nd half of the 20th century and columnist Blair Lee who gives weekly life to political commentary in the "Montgomery Gazette".

Divided families: the famous Shriver family of Union Mills -- one of its members stating firmly that "we southerners prefer to live under the Queen of England (Victoria , during the Civil War) than Lincoln"! (Reminds me of my grandfather for whom I am named, George Stockton Wills -- North Carolinian who, after moving his family to Maryland to continue his academic /teaching career at then Western Maryland/ now McDaniel College. As little kid, I remember and cherish his quiet humor when he, from an anti-slavery family, often quietly said " It was hard moving to a NORTHERN state"!

Photographs and diary entries that make "history come alive": Confederate troops going through Federal Hill; Union soldiers storming the historic Maryland Club; Sgt. John Murphy -- ancestor of the famous family that established the "Afro American" daily newspaper.

To Charley Mitchell: Thank you for linking Maryland's present to a dramatic part of our past . Bob Brugger of the Hopkins Press , said it well , as he introduced Charley to a the large audience at Evergreen House "

" LET VOICES COME ALIVE ! "

That is just what "Maryland Voices of the Civil War" does more than 150 years after this nation's division and reunification , with a century of ripple effect that was still felt in the civil rights era of the 1960's . Charles Mitchell , the Hopkins Press and Marylanders of 150 years ago , prove that "history still lives".

Labels: Civil War, Maryland

  9:04 AM •  0 Comments •

"IMUS - ITIS", " PARIS-ITIS " ARE THEY REALLY NEWS? Paris Hilton, Don Imus, the late Anna Nicole Smith : Do they constitute legitimate "news"? What brings these "superficial celebrities" as the "lead" for news coverage? With the coverage from the so-called newsrooms of CNN, Fox News , MSNBC and even the national networks, citizens must be wondering whether we are receiving information replacements for the Iraq War; the growing Federal (and Maryland!) deficits; and the huge shifts in a the world economy towards globalization; and exodus of too many doctors from practice in today's "phony" lawsuit environment.

Thoughts about about Imus, Paris , Anna Nicole , and ....... some Maryland politicians ....

As thoughtless as his words were about the Rutgers women's basketball team were, is Don Imus the first public figure to do a "ready,fire,aim" verbal shot justifying news domination for more than a week? Does Paris Hilton's calling for "Mom" enroute back to prison deserve equal headline attention with the G-8 Summit disagreements among the major world powers? Through the march of quixotic history, politicians and self-promoters have long been practicing the art of verbal verbosity, speaking stupid and nasty noise!

"In your living room" reporting of Paris Hilton and Don Imus, echoes Richard Nixon's "I am not a crook" , spoken as his Vice President, and former Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew involuntarily left office as he decried the press coverage as given to the American people by "nattering nabobs of negativism".

Here, in Maryland - for the past 5 years - greeting each Maryland General Assembly session, are words that might be classified as the art of "overstatement", when politicians struggle to achieve celebrity attention to issues that deserve more: Serious issues are blitzed by these kinds of statements.

"Slots will balance Maryland's budget"; "A special session will correct everything wrong with excessive spending" ; "More police will solve Baltimore's crime rate" ...... on and on.

Nationally, it's not much different from Maryland. In the current endless Presidential campaign, a typical headline grabber:

"The problems of trade deficit , budget deficit , Iraq War , increased crime , government inefficiency/bloated bureaucracy will no longer exist" when candidate X is elected." !!

Any thinking citizen knows that assertion is not to be true --- but , these kinds of claims are easing into the same kind of news headline that befits the Don Imus -- Paris Hilton syndrome.

Let's try for more analysis and thought instead of increased "hyperventilation" on daily news coverage. Is it not time for going to a perspective that goes more in-depth than just bloating statements of Democrat marginal candidate Kusinich with those of Obama/Clinton, or Republican Huckabey with McCain/Guiliani ?

The tradition of the public editor / content analyis needs to return to news coverage. It is time to reduce the news hype that benefits advertisers and media salaries instead of giving citizenship responsibility meaning when the media reader or viewer is trying to sort out the wheat from the chaff, serious content from "B.S."

Where is the spirit of Walter Lippman and H.L. Mencken? Where are more of Tom Friedman and Maureen Dowd when we need them? Folks, it is not Imus and Paris that need to blanket the complex and serious news of the 21st century!

Labels: Imus, Maryland, news, Paris Hilton

  12:53 PM •  0 Comments •

ELECTRICITY RATE INCREASE & MOUNTING STATE DEBT: WHERE'S THE LEADERSHIP? This week , Maryland citizens / taxpayers have received BGE bills that were recently described , by The Baltimore Sun, as having "arrived quietly" . Rates go up 50% for all households and individuals, unless a "delay on the full amount, but pay the balance later" option is exercised by BGE customers . As this commentary is written, Gov. Martin O'Malley is campaigning in New Hampshire for candidate Hillary Clinton. Comptroller Peter Franchot is speaking out for more expenditures in public transportation/teacher salaries/healthcare benefits --- but appearing as "looking the other way" from the highest responsibility of the Comptroller: to insure sufficient revenue and its collection.

And, to top it all: the role of the Public Service Commission (PSC) in the current electricity rate increase, adding to create a "double hit " on Marylanders if we take into account the O'Malley Adminsitration and the Legislature's delay in reducing the $ 1.6 billion Maryland debt. What insight do we gain on the 2nd floor and the Governor's offices during this "double hit" ?

Let's put the Public Service Commission under the microscope: In the 2006 campaign, O'Malley lambasted then Gov. Erhlich's PSC for approving a 72% BGE rate increase. With maneuvering by the Legislature for a 15% increase, the bottom line of the former/ current PSC has little difference in what Marylanders have to pay in higher electric bills.

And,how much experience in the energy/ energy markets does the new PSC have? Steve Larsen, the Chair appointed by O'Malley has a strong record as a consumer advocate. His knowledge of and views towards the complexities of the energy industry are guarded -- and that may have an impact on just how much in depth the PSC is prepared to go in the proper balance between a regulated and deregulated environment for energy production/ distribution .

Which is better: regulation or deregulation? Consumers want the lower prices or deregulated energy policy when supply, through the grid system is strong. When tight, the lower price can be achieved through a wise PSC oversight. But, the bottom line remains: neither all regulation from a government agency "on high" nor a the idea free market economy can be the ideal solution for power availability all at reasonable rates.

The politicians have proven that they cannot magically deliver lower prices. Example: the General Assembly sat on this issue for too long -- through most of the Glendenning Administration -- as a matter of political "convenience" whereby Annapolis posed as the consumers' "best friend". This inaction forced a response by then-Gov. Erhlich's PSC which was attacked as anti-consumer. There was an attempt at some balanced decision -- but, now the rate meters at our homes have "come home to roost": too high on the nest!

This means that analysis must come first: the Cato Institute's forthcoming report "The Maryland Electricity Market: a Primer" is expected to provide more substance and less politics. When he returns from the New Hampshire circuit of an election a year and a half away, Gov. O'Malley and his still-learning PSC Chair Steve Larsen had better become more analytical and less political. Mike Miller and Michael Busch -- as the Legislature's control force will look for an easy out , to be able to tell Marylanders: "look how much we love you".

What is the "big picture" that looms overhead? If the world of fiction --- including huge stock and salary benefits for too many top tiers of corporate American -- continues , one solution might be considered for both the electricity rate levels and the huge mounting State government deficit which is being postponed by Maryland's political power structure. The public should demand a high-level, objective analysis --- and , soon.

Suggestion for how to do the objective analyis: the appointment of a bipartisan commission with fiscal/ nonpolitical analysts to do the work on these two urgent policy issues:

1) electricity rates / supply and demand --- with a balanced approach that works in the long-term to recognize the challenges facing the suppliers and the consumers.
2) Deficit control by those who know both the worlds of the private sector / business and the government.

Suggestions for REAL leadership? Here's a recommendation , Governor O'Malley and your "spendrift" comptroller Peter Franchot:

Take the national model of honest bipartisanship: the Baker (James Baker/ former Secy. of State ) / Hamilton (Lee Hamilton , former Congressman and now Chair of the Woodrow Wilson Policy Center) Commission .

Make Maryland work through these two series problems of electric rate costs and an escalating state government debt. How? This Governor needs to stop[ campaigning long enough to appoint a Commission co-chaired by Aris Melissarotis, former Secy. of Economic Development, and Cas Taylor, former Speaker of the Md. House of Delegates. Action and action NOW is needed; not the delay of waiting for a "special session" where a band-aid will be applied in the same way as 2 years ago when the trial lawyer Legislature papered over the climate of lawsuit excess that could drive doctors out of practice in Maryland.

Labels: Constellation, Energy, O'Malley, Prices

  3:20 PM •  0 Comments •