Last month, about 75 Talbot County citizens concerned about the current direction of the country held a meeting at St. Paul’s Church in Oxford. The non-partisan group consisted of Independents, progressive and moderate Democrats, and former and current Republicans who are in the process of responding with civility and respect to certain of the Administration’s actions and policies.

The meeting grew out of a belief that the best way to respond is through local organizing and networking and by supporting each other in taking thoughtful and strategic actions. 

In previous meetings, the group agreed to focus on the following eleven action areas:

Provide financial support to organizations negatively impacted by this administration’s policies, as well as those organizations defending against attacks on the rule of law.

Write short, impactful opinion pieces to the local press.

Post thoughtful short pieces on social media that include personal stories. 

Contact legislators and other elected officials and cite harmful effects of certain federal policies and budget cuts that negatively impact local constituents.

Attend public local Board meetings, such as Election and School Board meetings to express views and counter negative attacks.

At the local level, get involved in nonprofits and other agencies directly impacted by this Administration’s policies and drastic budget cuts. 

Get involved with the 2026 mid-term election, which may include taking part in rallies or protests and other grassroots support. Motivate people to vote and assist them in getting to the polls.

Host small-group discussion meetings that help identify important actions and serve as a catalyst to stimulate people to act.

Participate in issue-specific groups that focus on topics such as communication strategies, legal immigration actions, rule of law, and more. 

Initiate one-on-one conversations with those who may have different views but are willing to listen and be in respectful dialogue. Search for common ground.  

People can tailor these actions to their individual styles and the issues that most concern them. 

If you would like to get involved with this group of committed voters, please contact [email protected] for more information. 

Maria Grant
Oxford

Are we a free people anymore? We were told ICE would begin seizing illegal immigrants who were convicted criminals, MS-13 members, drug dealers, murderers, human traffickers and people of that ilk. We wondered how there could be 12 million such people who needed to be deported as Trump claimed during his campaign. Maybe these were some of the illegal immigrants who were eating the dogs and cats of the residents in Springfield, Ohio.

Now, we are witnessing immigrant farm workers, students, factory workers and assorted individuals without criminal records of any kind, being arbitrarily arrested by masked operatives and removed to foreign prisons without charges and no means of family or legal protective help.

Now, cities that don’t demonstrate active assistance in these arbitrary ICE arrests are being threatened with withholding federal funding. City and state authorities are being put in the position of aiding and abetting the arbitrary arrests and deportation of innocent individuals as if these people are slaves. We’ve seen large numbers of men chained, hands and feet and sent to prisons with no civil or human rights assured. Thus, local authorities are being dragged into these unlawful acts of US government fascist authoritarianism.

Even as horrified wives and mothers protest the unproven charges against their sons and husbands, families are being broken up and administration officers are having to acknowledge that many detainees are no more dangerous convicted criminals than the masked ICE agents themselves. At least some of these government agents are themselves convicted criminals in the January 6th assault on the US Capitol. Certainly, few if any of these illegal immigrants have been convicted of 34 felony counts and assault against a woman.

Yet our Republican Party senators and representatives are silent on these vile, arbitrary assaults on individuals. Conservative Republican journalists ignore the subject as if its routine in American society.

If the old adage that “If one of us isn’t free, then none of us are free” is true, then we are already living at the start of a fascist, authoritarian state. If any government agent(s) can arrest anyone off the street without legal representation simply because of their color or foreign language, America has fallen back into the pre-Civil War era. ICE agents are the equivalent of slave catchers who used the Fugitive Slave Act to demand the assistance of otherwise unwilling individuals and groups. If you don’t aid and abet, you are also guilty.

Until this cancer on the face of America is removed, none of us is truly free. We are no longer a country of free men and women. America is descending into an enemy of world democracy, willing to abandon Ukraine and our European allies. Trump initiated a devastating worldwide trade war with huge tariffs. Our federal deficit is likely to balloon by $3-4 trillion with massive tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of the population. We have threatened to take over Greenland and the Panama Canal and control the Gaza Strip into a “Riviera of the Middle East”. Millions of average Americans will lose their Medicaid and Medicare benefits. Social Security is on the chopping block and that loss will devastate many millions of highly vulnerable Americans of that into which we have already paid.

The Republican-controlled Congress aids and abets Trump along with the Supreme Court as part of the Bill of Goods known as Project 2025, aimed at the dissolution of American democracy into an oligarchy.

When I think about those American soldiers’ graves at Normandy and other locations around Europe and Asia, it sickens me to think so many abased, deluded Americans would support Trump under these circumstances. Worse yet, the Republican legislators who ignore their oaths of office to defend the US Constitution and the Supreme Court majority who hand a convicted felon like Trump the legal power to break the law in pursuit of their mutual philosophical goals, are unworthy. They have abandoned the very thing all those good men suffered and died to preserve.

They support this scoundrel of a man so he can place a massively larger portion of our country’s wealth in the hands of a few. Now he can arrest and deport virtually anyone at will. Are we a free people anymore?

Somehow, the 4th of July has a very different feel in 2025.

Dominic Terrone
Oxford

I am currently reading the book, Chesapeake Requiem, which was recommended to me by a friend. It was written in 2016 and chronicles the year its author, Earl Swift, spent with the watermen and other residents of Tangier Island. I have found it to be a fascinating and disturbingly sad read. It has taught me a great deal about crabbing and the life cycle of crabs as well as the daily routines of watermen and others who live on the Island. Their way of life is vanishing. According to the 2020 census, the town’s population was 436, at least half of whom were senior citizens. At its peak, in the 1940’s, the town’s population was 1250. Tangier Island has also lost 67% of its land mass since 1850. It is literally being swallowed up by Chesapeake Bay. Thus, the Island, its people, and their way of life are facing real extinction.

Reading this book has been a painful pleasure for me. While I am enjoying learning about this very isolated part of the world and its culture, I am keenly aware that even in 2016, when the book was written, Tangier Island was in a state of sinking deterioration from which it would not be able to recover. And despite not personally knowing anyone from Tangier or ever having set foot on its shores, I have felt saddened and upset while reading about this.

When I tune into what I am actually feeling, it is a visceral sensation of being punched in the gut, almost as though I can’t catch my breath. When I ask myself why I might be feeling this so intensely, it occurs to me that our current political climate has threatened us with a different kind of extinction. And much like the watermen and the other residents of Tangier Island, we complain about the changes that are happening in our midst, and then go about our day-to-day lives as though this is not really happening. I pray that, unlike Tangier Island, our country will recover from the greed, racism, and oligarchic fascism that have been biting at our shores and eroding our way of life. However, I am not sure we will be able to beat back this storm. Too many of us are asleep. Too many of us are selfish. Too many of us are complacent, too many of us are brainwashed, and too many of us are afraid to stand up to the routine cruelty and fear being used by the current regime to vanquish our freedoms.

While the end of Tangier Island seems to be a certainty, I think it is too early to say that about our democratic way of life. Perhaps the roots of our Constitution run deeper than we think. Perhaps the values of liberty, justice, and decency will be able to weather this storm. It is possible that the storm will turn out to be a clarifying and cleansing force, prompting us to let go of non-truths and embrace the democratic principles necessary for our survival. The one thing that seems clear from the many storms that Tangier Island has weathered over the years is that the longer the storm, the more damage it did, and the longer it took to repair. We will see how much damage this current storm does and how long it will take for these dark and menacing winds to finally subside.

Margot Weiss McClellan
Easton

Dear Representative Harris,

In your June 27th Capitol Hill Report, you discussed House passage of HR 875, the Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act.  You indicated that this legislation:

“…takes decisive action to ensure all illegal immigrants convicted of driving under the influence are eligible for deportation. Sparked by the tragic loss of American lives at the hands of drunk-driving illegal immigrants, this bill will help safeguard Maryland families from preventable and dangerous crimes.”

Given your outrage over the impact the DUIs have on innocent Americans, I’d like to share some information that you may have missed, but hopefully was presented as part of the consideration of this legislation.

Research consistently shows that undocumented immigrants have lower rates of DUI, and lower crime rate in general compared to the rest of the public.  According to a peer reviewed study in the American Journal of Public Health, every 1 percent increase in the proportion of undocumented immigrants in a population of 100,000 results in 42 fewer drunken-driving arrests, 22 fewer drug arrests and roughly one less drug overdose.  Similar results have been found in other studies discussed in a briefing paper by the CATO institute (https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/2021-07/IRPB20.pdf).  States with the highest DUI rates have the lowest rates of undocumented immigrants.  A study in Miami found that, while illegal immigrants had drink more than illegal immigrants, they are much less likely to be involved in DUIs.

Given your outrage over criminal activity impacting innocent lives, I trust that you will turn your attention to the January 6th criminals pardoned by Mr. Trump and look into all of the crimes they have committed, including those in addition to the January 6 attack on the Capitol and the assaults against law enforcement officers.  Here are a few examples:

–  Andrew Taake, convicted of assaulting Capitol Police officers on January 6th, was later arrested for online solicitation of a minor based on a 2016 charge (https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/06/arrest-trump-pardon-insurrection).

–  Shane Jason Woods, after receiving a pardon for assaulting police and a press photographer during the riot, was convicted in April 2022 of reckless homicide and driving under the influence (https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2025/04/30/shane-woods-lauren-wegner-jan-6-capitol-riot-murder-trial).

–  Theodore Middendorf, who pleaded guilty to destruction of government property on January 6th, was previously sentenced to 19 years in prison in 2024 for sexually assaulting a seven-year-old https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25508132-theodore-middendorf-sex-offender-detail/).

–  Taylor Taranto was arrested in 2023 for illegal gun possession and making threats (https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/washington-state-man-who-livestreamed-threats-convicted-weapons-and-other-charges).

–  Brent John Holdridge was arrested for burglary and grand theft in May 2025, after being pardoned for his role in the Capitol riot (https://www.khsu.org/2025-05-13/sheriffs-office-arrests-copper-wire-theft-suspect-who-was-also-identified-in-jan-6-riots).

–  Zachary Alam was rearrested in May 2025 for an alleged home invasion and theft (https://apnews.com/article/zachary-alam-january-6-capitol-riot-burglary-44936751dc13364d5e64bf52f65d51aa).

–  Edward Kelley was convicted of conspiracy to murder federal employees, including FBI agents, and threatening a federal official (https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/federal-jury-convicts-man-conspiring-murder-fbi-employees).

–  Emily Hernandez was sentenced to 10 years in prison for a fatal 2022 drunk driving crash that occurred after the January 6th riot (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/01/30/emily-hernandez-sentenced-fatal-car-crash/78047420007/).

–  Matthew Huttle was killed in January 2025 during an altercation with a sheriff’s deputy following a traffic stop related to his being a habitual traffic offender, including driving while intoxicated and a battery case involving his son (https://apnews.com/article/indiana-man-killed-trump-pardon-matthew-huttle-8c674e76c8e3c5ef1610ed29d0669050).

–  Daryl Johnson was arrested and charged with invasion of privacy for secretly recording women at his father’s tanning salon, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender (https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2023/07/22/iowa-capitol-riot-january-6-sentenced-tanning-salon-peeping-tom-daryl-johnson/70432301007/).

It is important to note that President Trump granted clemency to approximately 1,500 individuals charged or convicted in connection with the January 6th attack, including those with prior criminal histories, such as rape, manslaughter, domestic violence, and drug trafficking.  Excluding the January 6th event, I would not be surprised if these 1500 individuals had a higher rate of criminal activity that the public in general – and certainly higher than undocumented immigrants.

After sharing this information with you, I’m eagerly awaiting to hear your outrage over the tragic loss of American lives and horrendous crimes caused by those receiving January 6th pardons.

Ron Ketter
Easton, MD

Women are going to have a tough time registering to vote if a new Executive Order and the House-passed SAVE Act are enacted.

President Trump’s March 25 Executive Order* requires those registering to vote to provide a passport or similar documentation proving citizenship.  According to The Center for American Progress,** The SAVE Act “would require all Americans to prove their citizenship by presenting documentation in person when registering to vote or updating their voter registration information.”

The Center says, “More than 140 million Americans do not possess a passport, and as many as 69 million women, who have taken their spouse’s name, do not have a birth certificate matching their legal name…These women lack citizenship documents showing their original names, because they changed their names after marriage, and their birth certificates do not match their current IDs.”

The US League of Women Voters responded to the Executive Order by filing suit in April.  In League of Women Voters et.al. v. Trump et.al,***  a federal court judge has issued a temporary stay “blocking the US Election Assistance Commission from…adding a requirement to show a passport or similar document proving citizenship when registering to vote…The injunction preserves the status quo where…voters already affirm under penalty of perjury that they are US citizens.”

The Sashes Rise Again

One hundred years ago when women rallied for equal voting rights, sashes were often worn by suffragettes during parades, rallies and other events as a way to bring attention to their cause. A simple phrase “Votes for Women” drew attention to their message and helped to unify them with each other and their supporters. The colors of the sashes were symbolic – with purple for loyalty, white for purity and gold for light and hope.   Through their hard work and persistence, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote in elections, was passed on August 19, 1920.

Notably, the League of Women Voters (LWV) was established on February 14, 1920, in that same year. To celebrate the League’s 100th anniversary and the passage of the 19th Amendment, the LWV Mid Shore, Maryland, distributed replica sashes to storefronts in Cambridge and Easton. The sashes were made by Cambridge resident Anne McAnulty and lettered by Margaret and George Anzalone.

Now, after a century, the right of women and other citizens to vote is once again in jeopardy. In response, the League of Women Voters-Mid Shore will resurrect the sashes worn by the Suffragettes calling for “Votes for Women”. “Now, we will proudly wear our sashes in solidarity with those Suffragettes and the many others who fought for voting rights. As we work in the community to register voters, promote civic education, empower voters and defend democracy, the LWV-Mid Shore members will proudly wear our sashes in support of voting rights” said past president Kathi Bangert.

Glenna Heckathorn
Dorchester County

The voters of Easton made a clear statement on May 6: character, truth, and civility matter.

As Chair of TalbotDems, I do not typically engage in nonpartisan municipal races. But there are moments when silence becomes complicity, and this election was one of those moments.

In the Easton Town Council President race, Don Abbatiello’s victory is a rebuke of disturbing tactics. What should have been a thoughtful campaign about Easton’s future devolved into a smear operation. Residents’ mailboxes were flooded with campaign mailers riddled with distortions, personal attacks, and fabricated attributions.

This wasn’t a fluke. It’s part of a broader pattern, including in the last mayoral race and in Talbot’s last Board of Education election, where similar mis- and disinformation tactics were deployed. Let’s be clear: This is not how we build trust in our institutions or inspire faith in local government.

We must recognize what this climate costs us. Running for office is hard. It takes courage, vulnerability, and a willingness to serve. When elections are defined by deceit and personal destruction, we risk deterring good people from stepping forward. Toxic tactics don’t just harm their intended targets—they corrode our civic culture and discourage participation at every level. Do we want to be a community where fewer of our neighbors are willing to put their name on the ballot?

That’s why Don Abbatiello’s candidacy—and his win—matter so deeply. He chose a different path. He ran a campaign grounded in service, not slander. He listened, engaged, and refused to stoop to the politics of fear. His leadership style reflects the best of Easton: respectful, thoughtful, inclusive, and committed to all residents, not just those aligned with one political view.

In electing Don, the people of Easton showed that they value honesty over artifice and unity over division. They showed that even when misinformation floods, truth still has the power to rise above it.

Let’s take heart in this result and the historic turnout for this election. It shows that voters are paying attention. It reminds us that integrity still wins. And it proves that voting matters.

By Phil Jackson
Talbot County Democratic Central Committe

Last week the President hosted an interview with Terry Moran of ABC News in his newly gilded Oval Office. Trump drew Moran’s attention to a wall-mounted copy of the Declaration of Independence. Moran prompted the President to state his understanding of the significance of the Declaration. Trump disconcerted Moran by saying that the document stood for “unity, love and respect.” 

Amidst Trump’s deliberate and incessant saturation of the news cycle, this ignorant assertion should not be overlooked or forgotten. Indeed, it should stimulate Americans to take a fresh look at the Declaration. (Those who bought the $ 60 God Bless the USA Bible that Trump grifted before his re-election will find a copy of the Declaration included within.) Although the President has stated that the Bible is his “favorite book,” it is apparent that he failed to read the Declaration when packaging it with the Bible.

Most are familiar with the Declaration’s eloquent preamble that “all men are created equal” and are endowed with rights of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness….” Many, however, may not realize that the great bulk of the Declaration comprises a litany of ways in which King George III was despotically and tyrannically interfering with the rights of Englishmen resident in the American colonies. These were rights underpinned by an evolving, unwritten but sturdy British constitution. Even with the passage of 250 years many of the Declaration’s bill of particulars still resonate today.

Some examples will illustrate. Thomas Jefferson and other drafters accused the King of:

1. Preventing growth of population of the Colonies by obstructing laws of naturalization and limiting immigration;
2. Obstructing administration of justice;
3. Making Judges dependent “on his Will alone;”
4. Erecting a “multitude of New Offices” (think DOGE);
5. “Cutting off Trade with all parts of the world”;
6.  Depriving many of the benefits of Trial by Jury (analogy to lack of respect for Due Process);
7. Suspending our own Legislatures and declaring power to legislate in all cases ( analogy to Trump Administration’s program and budget cuts without approval of Congress); and
8. Exciting “domestic insurrections.”

Not mincing words, Jefferson et. al. concluded that George III “whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.”

President Trump could profit greatly from reading the Declaration on his office wall and modulating his behavior in office accordingly. Certainly, he won’t find it a testament to “unity, love and respect,” but rather an admonition against despotism.

J.T. Smith II
Easton