A quick follow up to my original post from this morning.
First - I just discovered that MY member of Congress, newly-elected Rep. Donna Edwards, voted against the bailout package, citing a large number of constituent emails opposing the proposal. Donna (may I call you Donna? Good.) - you have been elected to represent your consitituents, not to simply do their bidding. You know this bailout is needed, and when it comes up again, I hope you will do the right thing and vote for it. You may be elected to your first full term in November, but you should take a look at the bigger picture. If the economy goes in the tank because of the inaction of Congress this year, you're going to be out of a job two years from now.
Second - It's always cool to write an opinion in my blog, and then find someone in the Washington Post write essentially the same thing. Check out Steven Pearlstein's column.
I'm still getting caught up with the news after returning from Hilton Head...
A big congrats to the Washington Nationals, winning the opener in their new ballpark, a 3 - 2 dandy over the dreaded Altanta Braves!
I was not able to make last night's game, however I do have a couple of very memorable opening days in my past! My Dad took me to what turned out to be the last opening day ever for the Washington Senators in 1971. Frank Howard slammed a homer as the Senators shut out the A's, 8 - nothing, and I got to miss an entire day of school! And in a personal career highlight, I covered the opening of Camden Yards in Baltimore in 1992! I co-hosted the Harden and Weaver show on WMAL that morning, because the great Jackson Weaver was out sick. My lingering memory from that day was that we were given commemorative train whistles by the O's, but mine didn't last long! When O's Vice President (and baseball legend) Frank Robinson came up to the press box for an interview, he pocketed my whistle. I've always wondered why!
Two other news items of note that occured during my absence...
In an obvious concession to my riveting commentary on the foolish effort by lawmakers to pick and choose which distractions should and should not be legislated while driving, the Maryland House has killed a proposed handheld cellphone ban. Thank God! I'll be prepared to go hands-free on the cell phone just as soon as they ban every other potentially dangerous driving distraction. If they want us all to be safe, maybe they should ban driving, too!
My Congressman, Albert Wynn, was so badly beaten and humiliated in the Democratic primary by Donna Edwards, that he's decided to step down in June... six months before the end of his term. Wynn's departure leaves Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley with two BAD choices... Either A) - fill Wynn's seat via an expensive and no-doubt sparsely attended special election or B) - Leave the seat open until January. Considering that I was one of Wynn's constituents for nearly all of his 15 years in Congress, and that as far as I know, he never even visited my part of Montgomery County, I say let the seat stay vacant for now... It's not like it was being filled for the past 15 years! Thanks for nothing, Al... and don't let the door hit your backside on the way out!
It all started at a 5,000 watt AM station in the nation's capital, where I filed away Steve and Eydie albums for Bill Trumbull. 25 years later, after making the transition to news - first as a street reporter and later as News Director - my position was eliminated. The dance card has plenty of vacancies now... Anyone wanna tango?
