The marshmallow test is a psychological test of our ability to defer gratification and reward to achieve a better result later. It comes from tests done years ago and works this way: children are brought into a room and tempted with a marshmallow. They are told that if they do not eat it they will get a reward later. The test giver leaves the room. The children are tracked and later it is found that those who could resist temptation and not eat the treat were more successful in school and life. The whole experiment has been challenged, but you get the point.

How does this connect to our response to the Covid19 pandemic? We had a chance to put on our big boy pants and face the thing head on the best we could. We could have done what science and the medical profession told us to do – a pretty total lockdown which would have hit our economy pretty hard. Admittedly early guidance was sketchy. This is what the Canadians, Europeans, and others did. Or we could try to ignore it and get by – thus saving the economy at the cost of an unknown benefit.

Our president took the latter course. He claims he did not want to panic us. How would you feel about a doctor who knew you had cancer, especially a kind that had a potential cure available, but decided not to tell you about it because he did not want you to panic?

But then, many of us had pretty good knowledge that things were bad and were going to get worse based on reporting from newspapers, TV, internet, and sources such as Johns Hopkins. We could see that we were being targeted by a scam artist but what could we do?

How bad could it get? What would it mean if, as has been reported, the administration thought that more ill effects from this tragedy would hit blue states than red ones?

Vox had a piece on 9/9/2020 by German Lopez. It compares the US response to Covid-19 with that of other comparable countries. Based on Our World Data the US would have had 84,000 fewer deaths out of nearly 190,000 if we had the same death rate as the EU. If we compare our rate to Canada, we could have saved 109,000 lives if we matched the Canadian performance. If we go to Australia the number is 179,000 and for Japan, it is 185,000.

You may note another difference or similarity or two in our results compared to others. The offshore markets did not tumble even under tight regulation of behavior of the local population. People in Europe and Canada are freer to travel than we are. They are more easily able to see far away children and grandchildren. They made sensible choices.

Importantly, the Europeans and Canadians did not ridicule those who chose to wear masks and take precautions. They did not have leadership which encouraged followers to “liberate” states with restrictions. They did forgo some immediate gratification in order to reap benefits down the line. They passed the marshmallow test. We have not.

Tod Engelskirchen
Bozeman

Unlike most important governmental decisions that demand compromise, the issue of keeping the Talbot’s Confederate monument where it stands or removing it, I believe, cannot be solved by compromise. As far as I understand physics, it is not possible to “partially remove” a monument. It either stays or it goes; there’s no in-between. 

Many of Talbot County’s citizens, as well as some members of the Talbot County Council, have searched and continue to search for creative ways to solve this problem. They hope to find some middle ground that would be not totally acceptable to either side, but would be something that both sides could eventually live with. It is a noble venture, but I don’t think it will ever happen. Why? Because I believe this is a moral issue of right and wrong, and in matters of right and wrong, I’m afraid, there are no gray areas in between. The fact that a previous council would only approve a statue of Frederick Douglass, its most famous son, if it were no taller than the Confederate statue nearby, (clearly that county council’s attempt at compromise), speaks volumes.

Here is my moral argument: If this monument, a “Lost Cause” symbol of the Confederate states’ attempt to leave the Union and to protect their privileged white citizens’ right to own slaves, were located in a park, in a cemetery, or on a museum’s grounds, I don’t believe there would be the strong desire from citizens to have it removed. But it is at the entrance to a house of justice that makes it for many an object of hypocrisy and shame! History has made it clear that there was no justice in the South during its two-hundred plus years of slavery for the majority of its population, and sadly, there continues to be little justice for Black citizens from the end of the Civil War until today. That is one of the reasons for the Black Lives Matter movement that we are witnessing now.   

Most of us who want the monument removed have come to this decision mainly because of where the monument is located. If council members could find it a home somewhere else in the county, we would be satisfied. We don’t want it to be destroyed and we don’t want to erase history as many have claimed; we just want it moved elsewhere! For me, one solution would be to move it to the Talbot County Historical Society’s garden where the appropriate historical plaques, written by respected historians, would surround it, so that it could be an educational tool for young students studying that period of American history. This is exactly what many cities in the South, including Richmond, Charleston, Atlanta, and Savannah, have chosen to do with their Confederate statues in order to help further educate their visitors as well as their own citizens.     

I realize this is not an easy decision or a popular one for many of Talbot County citizens, but I feel moving it from the court house grounds is the only answer that makes sense. Ultimately, this needs to be understood by our elected county leaders and for them to act. No one else can move it for them. 

Jim Richardson
Claiborne

There were no “losers” that morning.

The morning of July 29, 1967, was sunny and warm with a fresh breeze streaming across the deck. It was a morning like any other aboard the U.S. carrier. Flight Operations were getting underway as the ship began to slowly turn into the wind in preparation to launch aircraft.

The days mission would carry pilots and crew into the skies over Vietnam in support of the war effort. Many of us stood in the catwalk, watching the pilots jockeying their aircraft for position at the catapults. In a moment, the sunny day turned into a hell of sorts with black smoke and the odor of burning jet fuel filling the air. The Flight Deck Chief and his crew were vaporized the instant the first bomb exploded and that explosion was followed by others as planes caught fire and were destroyed.

In only a few hours, 134 servicemen lost their lives. Of those who died that day, 50 were asleep in their bunks when the bombs exploded and the fires consumed them. Another 161 where injured, many severely. These are the servicemen the current president calls “losers” and “suckers”. But, they weren’t. They were there in service to their country. The real losers are the guys that had their fathers pay a doctor to invent a bone spur excuse. The real suckers are those who tend to believe everything their loser in chief tells them. The only people on that ship that day were American servicemen doing their sworn duty, many, like Lt. Cmdr. John McCain and that Flight Deck Chief, heroically!

Michael Estrella
St. Michaels

I have lived and worked and paid taxes in Talbot County since 1981. My wife and I raised our two children here who both graduated from St. Michaels High School. I am a veteran of the Vietnam War and  I regularly attend church in Easton.

I write to you today because I want you to know how upset I am with your latest vote to deny the removal of the Confederate monument that is located on public land, specifically on the front lawn of the county courthouse where you meet twice a month. It is both shameful and inexcusable that Mr. Divilio, Mr. Callahan, and Ms. Price cannot yet understand that this is an issue of fairness, equality, and justice, not just for the Black community of Talbot County, but for all of us.

Let me be clear. Unlike some of you who wish this long-time racial problem will go away if we just give it enough time, that the Black Lives Movement that has been embraced by much of the country is just a fad, and that many of the citizens of Talbot County protesting for the removal of the Confederate monument will get tired and go away, I believe it’s NOT going to happen. 

Some of you attended the dedication of the Frederick Douglass park last week. Those of you who voted for keeping the Confederate monument in place must have felt uncomfortable when you were reminded by one of the speakers that, as far as improving racial issues in Talbot County, we still have a lot of work to do. Part of that work is removing the monument to a more appropriate place. For the rest of the country to know that we have the last Confederate monument on public grounds should not only be an embarrassment to you, it should be an embarrassment to the majority of us who live here and who choose not to believe the historical myth of “The Lost Cause”.

After the Civil War ended, Frederick Douglass feared that the history of the war would be changed so that white Southerners would be viewed in a more favorable light. Douglass spent the next twenty years speaking about this rewriting of history and his fear that the freeing of the slaves may not mean very much if the right to vote and other basic human rights were denied. According to his biographer, David W. Blight, “He was appalled at the national veneration of Robert E. Lee when he died in 1870, and disgusted at what he called the “bombastic laudation” and the “nauseating flatteries” of the “rebel chief”.”

Mr. Pack, as president of the council, I implore you to use all your leadership skills and legislative powers to persuade your fellow council members to end this “bombastic laudation” of a monument that should have been put to rest years ago. In my mind, it is the most important issue now confronting the Council, and I believe, it is not a legacy that any of you desire.  Ask yourselves, what would Frederick Douglass do?

James Richardson
Claiborne

In the midst of a raging pandemic, president Trump is trying to slow down the Post Office workers’ ability to deal with millions of Mail-In or Absentee Voting ballots (which amounts to the same thing) and will, thus, possibly disenfranchise those who do not dare or cannot vote in person on November 3.  The big, blue mailboxes are being removed from some locations, and some large sorting machines are removed from some post offices.  In Pennsylvania, the Republican Party is suing the state and its 67 Boards of Elections to stop them from installing ballot drop boxes (more about these below).  This behavior is un-American, and the Democrats are not going to accept it.  We will see lawsuits filed by the House, as only Congress has the right to change the functions of the Post Office.

We cannot expect president Trump, who does not read, to know the origins of post offices.  The Emperor Augustus of the ancient Roman Empire established the first post office between 27 BC and AD 14.  Article 1, Section 8 of the US Constitution established that the US should have post offices and postal routes.  An Act of Congress in 1792 outlined the US Post Office Department.  Only an Act of Congress can change or repeal the US Post Office.

Most Americans rely on the US Post Office today for delivering not only mail from friends and family but many necessities of life such as medicines, Social Security checks and other important documents.  In these times of Covid-19, many of us also shop online and have the items sent to us through the US Post Office.  In Maryland, where Absentee Voting this time is open to anyone who asks for an Application for Absentee Voting, the post offices will have to deal with two mailings unless the voter jumps in to simplify the process.  

First, find out that you are registered at the right address (if you moved) and under the right name (if you got married).  You can apply online for an application to register to vote which you need to sign and mail to Talbot County Board of Elections, 215 Bay Street, Easton 21601. Or you can register in person during Early Voting or on Nov 3, the day of voting and then vote the same day.  If you are registered and do not want to appear in person, you can online download the Application for an Absentee Ballot from the Maryland State Board of Elections.  You need to sign it, and mail it to the Talbot County Board of Elections. The ballot may be mailed to you or you can receive it as an email.

Once you have your ballot in hand you can decide if you want to fill it out and return it by mail or settle on the better choice, which is to drop it off in one of the secure drop boxes which, we hope, will be installed outside all voting precincts.  Most of the deadlines for getting these applications and returning them to the Board of Elections are in mid-October.  Do not wait until then.  Go through these hoops now in August, and you will be ahead of the game.  You can hang on to your ballot and drop it in a ballot drop box in October for it to be counted early.

Lena Gill
Easton

As a native of Talbot County, I’ve read with interest letters you’ve published in defense of keeping the Talbot Boys statue on Talbot County property.

I would like to respond to these “long winded half truths” (sic). In the interest of brevity, I will cite quotations from someone who was “in the room,” so to speak — the Honorable General Robert E. Lee of the Confederate States of America (CSA) Army. Who better to look to regarding this issue?

From the Lee Family Archives:

Lexington VA 13 Dec – r 1866

My dear Genl

I have considered the questions in your letter of the 8th Inst: & am unable to advise as to the efficacy of the scheme proposed for the accomplishment of the object in view. That can be better determined by those more conversant with similar plans than I am.

As regards the erection of such a monument as is contemplated; my conviction is, that however grateful it would be to the feelings of the South, the attempt in the present condition of the Country, would have the effect of retarding, instead of accelerating its accomplishment; & of continuing, if not adding to, the difficulties under which the Southern people labour. All I think that can now be done, is to aid our noble & generous women in their efforts to protect the graves & mark the last resting places of those who have fallen, & wait for better times….

Very truly yours

R E Lee

Writing in the Republican Vindicator on September 03, 1869, Gen. Lee writes:

Lexington, VA., August 5, 1869.

Dear Sir–Absence from Lexington has prevented my receiving until to-day your letter of the 26th ult., inclosing an invitation from the Gettysburg Battle-field Memorial Association, to attend a meeting of the officers engaged in that battle at Gettysburg, for the purpose of marking upon the ground by enduring memorials of granite the positions and movements of the armies on the field. My engagements will not permit me to be present. I believe if there, I could not add anything material to the information existing on the subject. I think it wiser, moreover, not to keep open the sores of war but to follow the examples of those nations who endeavored to obliterate the marks of civil strife, to commit to oblivion the feelings engendered.

Very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

R. E. Lee

Finally, here’s another quote regarding the matter from writer Jonathan Horn, author of The Man Who Would Not Be Washington: Robert E. Lee’s Civil War and His Decision That Changed American History

“It’s often forgotten that Lee himself, after the Civil War, opposed monuments, specifically Confederate war monuments.”

How anyone in the United States of America, including past and present members of the U.S. military, can have the gall to speak for Mr. Lee or deny his wishes — Looking at you, Council members Chuck F. Callahan, Frank Divilio and Laura E. Price — goes well beyond the pale.

Sincerely,

Kathleen Johnson
North Carolina

###

The movement to remove the Talbot Boys statue will continue until it’s gone from the courthouse lawn.  This is a movement for racial justice that goes far beyond Easton or Maryland.  It’s nationwide and is only growing in commitment, size and power.

In that context, please note that 44 Confederate statues have been removed just since the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2010 by cities, counties, states, courts and governors across the nation:

Removal Date                  City and state                                 Monument/Memorial

June 1                                Birmingham, Alabama                 Confederate Soldiers & Sailors

August 10                         Athens, Georgia                              Athens Confederation Monument

June 30                              Rocky Mount, North Carolina    Nash County Confederate Monument

June 8                                Indianapolis, Indiana                   Confederate Soldiers & Sailors

June 5                                Mobile, Alabama                           Confederate Navy Admiral Raphael Semmes

June 8                                Louisville, Kentucky                     Confed. Officer John Breckinridge Castleman

June 9                                Jacksonville, Florida                     Jacksonville Confederate

June 25                              Denton, Texas                                Denton Confederate Soldier

June 13                              Fort Worth, Texas                         Confederate Monument

July 6-7                              Salisbury, North Carolina           Gloria Victis Confederate

June 17                              Houston, Texas                              Spirit of the Confederacy

June 17                              Houston, Texas                              Confederate Officer Richard W. Dowling

June 11                              Quincy, Florida                              Gadsden Confederate Memorial

June 24                              Dallas, Texas                                  Confederate War Memorial

June 18                              Decatur, Georgia                           DeKalb County Confederate Monument

June 13                              Frankfort, Kentucky                      Jefferson Davis

June 22                              Greenville, North Carolina           Pitt County Confederate Soldiers

July 14                               Asheville, North Carolina             Monument to 60^th Regiment NC Volunteers

July 10                               Asheville, North Carolina             Confederate Colonel John Connally Marker

June 11                              Plant City, Florida                          Confederate Cow Calvary Monument

June 17                              Brownsville, Texas                        Jefferson Davis Memorial Boulder

June 18                              Little Rock, Arkansas                    Memorial to Company A, Capitol Guards

June 21                              Raleigh, North Carolina                Statue of Henry Lawson Wyatt

June 21                              Raleigh, North Carolina                North Carolina Women of the Confederacy

June 15                              Clarksville, Tennessee                  Confed. Soldiers’ Memorial Bridge sign & statue

June 29                              Louisburg, North Carolina           To Our Confederate Dead monument

June 29                              Beaumont, Texas                           Our Confederate Soldiers

June 24                              Warrenton, North Carolina         Warrenton County Confederate Soldiers

June 24                              Oxford, North Carolina                The Granville Gray

July 1                                 Kinston, North Carolina               Lenoir County Confederate Monument

June 25                              Wilmington, North Carolina        Confederate Memorial

June 25                              Wilmington, North Carolina        George Davis Monument

June 29                              Charleston, West Virginia            Kanawha Riflemen Memorial

June 30                              Conyers, Georgia                           County Confederate Monument Rockdale

July 2                                 McConnellsburg, PA                     2 statues commemorating Confederate soldiers

July 5                                 Sarasota, Florida                           Judah P. Benjamin Monument

July 29                               McDonough, Georgia                   Henry County Confederate Monument

July 8                                 Wadesboro, North Carolina        Anson County Courthouse Confed. Monument

June 17                              Hwy. 99 near Bakersfield, CA     Marker of Jefferson Davis Highway

July 9                                 Little Rock, Arkansas                   David O. Dodd Memorial Bench and Marker

July 10                               Charlotte, North Carolina            1929 Confederate Reunion Marker

July 11                               Clinton, North Carolina                Sampson County Confederate Monument

July 23                               Phoenix, Arizona                           Memorial to Arizona Confederate Troops

July 23                               Gold Canyon, Arizona                  Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway marker

In addition, 40 Confederate monuments were removed or plans announced to be removed in Virginia.

The above-noted removal of 84 Confederate monuments since May 25, 2020 does not even include the 21 toppled by protesters, or the 30 where a commitment by a city or county to remove a statue has been made.  Six monuments have even been removed by the Sons of Confederate Veterans or the United Daughters of the Confederacy in Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia!

All these Confederate statues, monuments and memorials were removed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now tell us again why you can’t vote to remove the Talbot Boys statue?

Denice Lombard
Tilghman, Maryland

Recently our Fire Department has taken the time to thank many essential workers in our community. Their new electronic sign has carried “thank you” messages to delivery folks and mail carriers, to police officers and EMTs, and to many others who have been working hard during this Covid-19 pandemic. It seems to me that now is the time for us to say “thank you” to our Fire Department.

We should all remember that our Fire Department is staffed by volunteers who we call upon to protect our property and out lives. These folks perform this service 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. They cover a territory that encompasses 130 square miles and they respond to our calls no matter what the weather is.

This week many of us received a letter from our Fire Department asking for a donation to their annual fund drive. Their goal is to raise $ 100,000. Given what they do for us, this does not seem to me to be too much to ask. I know that it has been a tough year financially for many of us, but it has been a tough year financially for our Fire Department as well. They have not been able to hold fundraisers so far this year.

Let’s show them our appreciation and our thanks and put them over the top of their $ 100,000 goal. I just sent them my check, please join me!

Donna Hunt
St. Michaels

Talbot County, Maryland has the most unique history in the United States when it comes to the civil war era. Yes, it is by far the most unique, period. And, it is long overdue for us to market our incredibly unique national treasure.

When I watched a local attorney, Ms. Lynne Mielke, speak to the Talbot County council about the Talbot Boys statue during a recent meeting, it became quite obvious that none of us are focused on the right issue. During her well-crafted presentation about the uniqueness of the Talbot Boys, she spoke of Culp’s Hill in the civil war battle of Gettysburg. If you do not know what Culp’s Hill is, please look it up. It is one of the many important parts of our local history from that era.

During council comments at the end of that meeting, Mr. Pack addressed many issues. When he talked about the Talbot Boys monument, he spoke to Ms. Mielke and told her that he appreciated her recounting the story of Culp’s Hill. As Mr. Pack did so he made a very innocent, yet very important comment. “I had actually forgotten about that story”.

These were citizens of Talbot County fighting to KILL one another at the battle of Gettysburg in July of 1863 and they are forgotten. Let that sink in. They were killing each other. Yet, we forgot them.

I do not fault Mr. Pack for forgetting the story. That is not my point. But, I do fault the many generations our local leadership – including the present one – who have not embraced our local history and made an effort to tell these important stories. They should be at the forefront of our Talbot County marketing identity – not hidden from view. Our incredibly rich history is a true national treasure. These stories should be told over and over again, and never forgotten.

Let’s be pragmatic. We own our history and it is very valuable. As a marketer, I can tell you it does not get any better than this if you care about the future financial well-being of Talbot County that depends greatly on tourist revenue. Look at the history of Harriet Tubman and what Dorchester County had done with it in the past few years. Our Talbot history is far more unique than theirs. It needs to be utilized to benefit our county starting now.

Here are just a few of the parts or our history – and there is so much more.

– We had two groups of Talbot residents fighting each other on opposite sides in the battle of Gettysburg… How did that happen?….

– There were plantations throughout the county… Where were they?… Who owned them?… There were more than just the Lloyds and Wye House…

– The oldest free black neighborhood in the United States was located in downtown Easton just a few miles away from plantations… How did that happen in the 1790’s???… Who were the 400 people located on the hill?… Who are their descendants?

– The slave market was a few blocks away from that neighborhood… How could all of this happen at the same time??… Do we know more about that market?… Tell it all…

– Frederick Douglass’ rise from Talbot County slavery… Give all the details… A statue is not enough… Read his writings and encourage everyone to do so!…

– Admiral Frank Buchannan and others of note on the Talbot Boys statue… Who are they?… Why are they on the monument?… Why were their lives significant?…

– How and why was the Talbot Boys statue was placed there?… That story is a different than 99% of all monuments from that era…

– The pistol whipping of Judge Richard Bennet Carmichael at the Talbot County courthouse, his arrest, his release 6 months later having never being charged with a crime… Why?… How?…

– Unionville and its soldiers!.. Who were they?… Who are their descendants still here in Unionville?…

– The Cowgills – the owners of the Lombardy plantation… How and why did they end up helping those black soldiers settle the area after the war?… What a story that is!…

– Imagine adding a complimentary statue of a Unionville soldier next to the Talbot Boys and telling the whole story of all of our civil war veterans… That is a powerful story that can garner national news coverage… Why are we not doing it???… Yes, it takes effort – not talk…

The list goes on and on. Yet there has been no concerted effort to tell the whole story of our role in that period in history. WHY??? Shame on all of us in Talbot County. For those who say, “history should be in a museum”, our history should be right in your face. We don’t need a museum. It should be displayed prominently in public view. All of it.

It is time for us to embrace what we have and come together united as one Talbot County to tell our story – THE WHOLE STORY – and not just parts that fit political narratives. We need to tell the good, the bad, the beautiful, and the ugly. It’s all there to tell. A Frederick Douglass statue does nothing. A Talbot Boys statue does nothing. There is so much more that needs to be done and the time to start working on this marketing project is now before it is too late.

For those who have a hard time seeing the big picture, let me remind you that there is not one soul who can testify to anything about the intent of the men whose names are on the Talbot Boys monument. None of us knew them. None of us were there. And while we can pontificate and say they were traitors, racists, supporters of slavery, etc – that is not the whole story. It is far from it. If our whole story had been told starting several generations ago, you would understand that statement is a fact.

Today, we could have been showing the world why we did not remove our Talbot Boys statue as part of our history and why we the citizens of Talbot County have come together, united, to tell our whole story. Instead, we have no united leadership. We have no efforts to unite our citizens. We have nothing. All we have is a diatribe of local social media posts with $5 opinions that are absolutely worthless.

Our history is very marketable and extremely valuable to our county – more so than waterfront restaurants. Speaking of restaurants, imagine how many people would be eating in downtown Easton this weekend if we would had built our historical reputation over the last 50 years using all of the incredible tools we have. We damn sure would not be wasting time right now trying to make something out of nothing with a promenade. We would have plenty of traffic.

In closing, I want to address Mr. Pete Lesher. I invite you to reconsider your position and be the leader of the effort to tell our local history using the incredible tools we have to do the job, including the Talbot Boys. You are more than qualified to help sort it all out. I would be happy to join you in forming a group whose goal is to put Talbot County at the forefront of our nation’s conscience using our very unique history. Let us be the beacon to show how to overcome our differences.

I also ask that you reconsider the following statement you made last night before the vote on whether or not to remove the Talbot Boy statue. “Our failure to act to remove this monument from the courthouse square, in our failure to do so, Talbot County increasingly puts its tourist economy at risk along with our legendary reputation for hospitality.” That is far from the truth today. It will be even further from the truth tomorrow if we all work together to share our rich unique history in our efforts to market the county.

In order to get Talbot County to a new and better place it is going to take leadership without bias. It is going to take leadership with purpose. Choose to lead in that manner and all will follow. Just as the men who fought the civil war eventually united to move in a new direction, it is time for all of us in Talbot County to do the same.

We have the tools we need to generate more interest in Talbot County than ever before. More importantly, everything we have can unite our county and make us proud. It takes vision. It takes leadership.

It can be done.

Stephen Hunter
Talbot County