My friend Mike sent an email last week laying out this oh-so-troubling idea:

“Trump, who did nothing to protect the Capitol during the Jan 6 attempted coup, is now deploying federalized troops into Democratic cities. IMO it’s a build-up to provoke violence in reaction, or to create an incident to escalate conflict.  Ultimate game plan: declaring martial law prior to midterms, timed to interfere, interrupt, or even cancel the ’26 election.  There’s no legitimate reason for any of this. It’s leveraging and positioning for power.”

To assure power, do you think Trump and his inner circle would provoke violence?  It’s been part of the strategy since the escalator ride.  And more is coming, predictable as a slo-mo train wreck.  Trump floods DC–and in time probably other large democratic cities—with heavy handed (and heavily armed, often masked) Federal agents to dominate policing in the most visible way. (See morning video here.)  Folks on the streets ultimately take the bait. Many are young, not thinking strategically. And some, young or old, are hotheads.  Occasional violence is met with aggressive escalation…and here we go. 

The radical idea of martial law is not even essential, as we’ve seen this movie before.  In toss-up and even blue districts, a backlash to the predictable violence prior to the midterms will swing many voters against “the protestors,” which means towards the GOP (i.e., Trump, since they are one in the same).  Only old folks like me remember the Nixon/Agnew law-and-order campaign.  It’s being teed up again, right now. 

And Mike is right, that there is no legitimate reason for this sudden strategy.  You’ve read the same articles I have about the crime rate in DC and virtually every other large American city—crime is down dramatically almost everywhere.  Yes, there are homeless encamped in the City, which is unsightly.  And people living there for years who, like Pastor Espinal, did not follow immigration procedures. And there are alleys with trash in them too. 

There have also been a few horrible, very high-profile crimes recently. However, everyone understands that, in terms of strategic policy, those crimes and all the rest are simply a convenient rationale for the Administration’s truly incendiary and cynical strategy. 

(Sidebar: Remember that 1997 movie Wag The Dog?  There, a war was needed to erase a scandal.  DJT is indeed deep in war zone dynamics, but federalizing the DC police department and what follows, also assures that Jeffrey Epstein will fade from memory PDQ. A bonus.) 

In any event, the idea of martial law is surely absurd, right?  Even Stephen Miller and Emil Bove wouldn’t go that far.  It’s unprecedented in America!

Except it’s not.  The most superficial on-line search reveals that martial law (declared “in response to emergencies such as war, civil unrest, or natural disasters”) has been invoked many times in US history, including by Presidents Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln.

None of those affected the implementation of a federal election, but as we’ve seen time and time again, the Trump Administration is not shy–about anything.  If a year from now Trump concludes that a declaration of martial law is necessary—say just in certain districts–I don’t think he’d blink an eye in devising an excuse.  Again and again, we awaken to learn that some impossible idea is fait accompli, permanently or pending a multi-year judicial review. 

Which is the final point:  if anything arises to interfere with the midterm election, whether some selective martial law declaration or other less draconian actions, we will be relying on the US Judiciary to sort it out, while the disruption of the election is a fact on the ground.  That’s exactly what Trump intended on January 6, 2020.

Meanwhile, troops from West Virginia, Ohio, and South Carolina arrived in our nation’s capital over the weekend.  God bless America.

Dan Watson
Easton

 

Was anyone surprised to learn that the latest IRS Commissioner, Billy Long, has been fired by President Trump after being in the job for only two months?  (Mr. Long is now expected to be nominated as the U.S. Ambassador to Iceland.)  He was the fifth Commissioner or Acting Commissioner in a period of only seven months.

One has to wonder why the President chose Billy Long to serve as the IRS Commissioner in the first place.  

He was a Congressman from Missouri from 2011 to 2023.   His background before being elected was as an auctioneer and real estate agent.  He had never completed college.  The only tax credentials he had ever received were a designation as a “Certified Tax and Business Advisor,” a title given after he took a 3-day class from a business in West Palm Beach called Excel Empire.  After getting this certificate, he was involved with companies that assisted businesses and nonprofits in applying for the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC), a credit available in 2020 and 2021 for employers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

From my own experience as both a tax preparer and tax payer, I have found the civil servants who work at the IRS are some of the smartest and most competent in the federal government.  It makes me wonder how these tax professionals kept up their morale with Mr. Long as their Commissioner.  

Add to that the effects of the DOGE project on IRS employees.   Since January of this year, an estimated 25,000 people have left the agency. 

More than 266 million tax returns were filed with the IRS in Fiscal Year 2024, collecting more than $5 trillion in tax revenue and $98 billion in enforcement revenue.   

 I feel fortunate to live in a country where, at least until now, I can file my tax returns and feel confident that they will be processed by an agency that abides by the rules, keeps my records confidential, sends me refunds or credits my payments in an orderly and efficient manner.

Stability and consistency in our tax laws and collection policies are also necessary for a thriving American business community.  

The IRS deserves good leadership in order to maintain the public trust.  The backbone of a healthy U.S. financial system depends on a well-functioning Internal Revenue Service.

As we recently learned when President Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics because he believed the numbers to be wrong, this step is more evidence that this Administration does not value the rules that have been in place to ensure fairness and accuracy, but would rather kowtow to the political whims of the President and his advisors.

Elaine Tama
Easton

United States Customs and Immigration Service (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow declared the citizenship test “not very difficult.” It’s easy to “memorize the answers.”  The Trump administration is planning to revise the citizenship test.

According to the USCIS website, the 2023 statistics show that 94.4% of those taking the citizenship test passed (combined total of initial and re-exam test takers).

According to the Institute for Citizens and Scholars’ 2018 national survey, 1 in 3, or 36%, of native-born citizens would pass the citizenship test.

WHAT ???

This is not a contest of who is smarter; rather, it is intended to question the assertion that the test “is not very difficult”.

Now, let’s consider the claim of how easy it is to “memorize the answers.”  Sure, if you put in the work, it is not so hard to memorize the answers. But the point is you have to do the work, and doing this work when not in your primary language is considerably more difficult. The English test includes an oral, readin,g and writing English component. And this is not all!

The citizenship test is close to the final stage of becoming a citizen. Prior to the test, a 14-page application and biometric testing (fingerprints, photographs, signatures to facilitate criminal and national security background checks to protect national security and public safety, FBI name check ) have to be completed, and a $760.00 processing fee paid (see USCIS website).

So, is the citizenship test “not very difficult”?

Obtaining citizenship is a rigorous process that takes time, effort,   money, motivation, investment, fortitude, determination, English proficiency,  and lots of study and practice.

“The United States has a long history of welcoming immigrants from all parts of the world.  Deciding to become a U.S. citizen is an important milestone in an immigrant’s life.  Candidates for citizenship must show they are committed to the underlying principles that bind us as Americans.”- USCIS website.

The final step in becoming a citizen is taking the Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America.

Robin Stricoff
Oxford

Have you noticed how often, how persistently, the word “cruelty” is showing up in the news?

I was reading about the prison built in the Everglades by the State of Florida to house people being rounded up by ICE. Built in a hurry, it is made up of cages for imprisoning humans and tarps for walls that freely allow mosquitoes in, not to mention the elements of summer in Florida. People who have been imprisoned there have reported maggots in the food, a lack of clean water, denial of medical care, legal access, and other basic human needs. The ACLU declared this “state-sponsored cruelty” and filed suit.  Thank goodness for the ACLU.

The setup is plainly sadistic. And Donald Trump apparently approved when he visited.  This denigration is OK with him, but is it OK with you? Is that what we are now?  Is this America?  My mother served as a WAC in World War II. She often told us how relieved enemy soldiers were to be captured by the US military–as opposed to being captured by Russian soldiers, who would just kill them. Americans were known for being big-hearted, kind, and compassionate. I was so proud when she spoke of this.

Why is this abuse of fellow humans still standing?  If we don’t protest, are we complicit? We might not be guilty of overt cruelty, but we are guilty of casual cruelty where we carelessly, with little empathy, maybe with a bit of superiority, blame the victim and shrug the thought aside. It’s a problem someone else can fix. Do you say to yourself, didn’t those illegals put themselves in this mess after all? It’s on you! Right?

Just type “cruelty Trump” into your search engine. Maybe the article title from the National Catholic Reporter will come up. It reads, “Silence in the face of Trump’s cruelty is complicity.” The headlines should be enough to make you weep. I hope so.

Marion O. Arnold
Easton

Shockingly, the State of Israel has morphed into a soulless terrorist organization driven in large part by theocratic influences.  Look not only to the deadly horrors of Gaza—seemingly another 30 or 40 killed every day, a third of them children.  The ongoing, state-backed, violent (sometimes murderous) takeover of the West Bank led by radical zealots is just a lower-profile outrage.  As American citizens, we must not fear speaking out about this sad and horrifying turn.

Hamas?  Terrorists to the core, killers without conscience.  The atrocities of October 7, 2023, could have no justification.  Of course, Hamas needed elimination, and its hellish ploy of using its own innocents as “the shield” could not trump a just and focused retribution…which it got, in spades.  Does that somehow excuse what the State of Israel has been doing for months now?  For the love of god and humanity, it does not.  

I have no connection to, or particular sympathies for, either the Jewish or Arab communities. I’m just a wasp sort of guy with roots in Catonsville, a non-believer with a long interest in history.  In truth, I’ve not even wanted to follow the Middle East conflict; none of us has unlimited bandwidth, and it’s been a busy time.  The horrors of that autumn/winter of 23-’24 made me turn away, a sense of profound disgust directed at everyone in the misnamed Holy Land.

But this is now.

Trump sucks the air out of every room every day, an endless cascade of headlines.  Then there are floods, China, and the Ukraine war.  All of it is important (some existential for America, perhaps).  But if you can stomach your way through all that and read on, you come face to face with Israel’s crimes du jour. Indiscriminate bombing. Starvation. Relocations. Illegal settlements. Destruction destruction destruction.

The press does report, but I hear little public discussion, much less outrage.  Like it’s happening on a different planet.  You do know that your tax dollars and mine are supporting the State of Israel today–as for the past 75 years, under every administration, whatever party.  But how can it be, that we continue in the face of these horrors?  Billions every year…as if Israel can’t tie the hangman’s knot on its own. 

History is a funny thing.  The stories can be crystal clear as to right and wrong, fault and innocence, guilt and justification.  It just depends on the starting point one chooses when spinning the tale.  Hamas and October 7, 2023?  Arafat and the Intifada? The Oslo Accords?  Say the 1967 war? Independence in 1948 (Nakba to the Palestinians)?  Or was it the Balfour Declaration? Or the ungodly pogroms of the 19th century in Eastern Europe?  Maybe the first Diaspora, or earlier–say the crossing of the River Jordon?  (That is the theocratic argument made today by many settlers trying illegally to seize “Judea and Samaria,” aka the West Bank.)

See nothing, say nothing, do nothing, and we deserve the shame that will be heaped upon us in the future. Yes, it’s uncomfortable to speak out—someone is sure to fling the word “antisemite.”  But we must not be fearful to call evil by its name.  

Israel’s current actions are those of a terrorist organization.

Dan Watson
Easton

 

Fox Chase Estates? The name of this proposed 365-home development should cause us to raise an eyebrow. What does such a development have to do with the historic nature of small-town Easton?  Sounds like a suburban subdivision to me, especially located separately at the north end of town and not connected to any other Easton neighborhoods. 

And why do we need 365 additional dwelling units, with 1200 units currently under construction or approved and waiting to start right now?  One of the major issues cited by citizens during the election for Easton Town Council president was too much residential growth and the unacceptable traffic it causes. What will these 1200 units plus 365 in this proposal do to traffic, already excessive now, in the near future?

Besides the location being basically separate from residential Easton, the plan requires rezoning the property from Commercial to Residential designation. Commercial businesses pay more taxes to the Town. So why would we not save that property for such businesses that would increase Easton’s revenue and also provide jobs?

An important additional concern is proximity to the airport runways where it creates a potentially dangerous situation.  This is a location where there was a recent plane crash.  Proximity to the airport will also create noise levels that would be unacceptable to homeowners CC.

Finally, and really most important, the Easton Comprehensive Plan is now under review.  This huge development should be considered when the Comprehensive Plan is completed, so it will fit with Easton’s vision of the future.  There is no compelling reason for approval at this time. Now is not the time for the Planning Commission to approve this development.

The Planning Commission will consider this proposal on Thursday, July 17th, at 1:00 PM in the Easton Town Hall.  Attendance is encouraged, as are letters sent to: [email protected].

Joan Bollman
Easton

While you may or may not be distracted by the unholy Jeffrey Epstein fixation the splintered Republican party shares with a breathless news media, here’s some of what you might’ve missed. Last Friday, July 11, President Trump held an afternoon press conference following his tour of scenes of destruction and death from the Hill Country flash floods in Texas.

The death toll as of Tuesday, July 15, was 132, with at least 160 more still missing. A reporter at the news conference preceded her question by stating that “families were upset because they say warnings didn’t go out in time.” Then she asked simply: “What do you say to those families?”

The president responded: “Only a bad person would ask a question like that, to be honest with you. I don’t know who you are but only a very evil person would ask a question like that.” 

I don’t know how I can still be shocked that this man seems immune to any shred of empathy or compassion. Sure, he made some decent remarks beforehand, which are usually scripted. But by implication, Trump’s answer to families of loved ones – many of them children confirmed dead or whose fate still tortures other families day by day in hopeless not-knowing – Trump’s answer to them is “only a very evil person would ask such a question.” My question, Mr. President, is “Who’s evil?” The one who raised the question or the one who answered with dismissive cruelty. 

More such questions will be raised, Mr. President, in the coming months and years as your DOGE-ravaged agencies and your “Big Beautiful” elimination of programs – from FEMA to the National Weather Service, from USAID to Medicaid – are far less able to supply rescue, recovery, restoration or even competence.

But this very telling degradation straight from the president’s mouth is just a part of what the Jeffrey Epstein brouhaha is intended to achieve – deflect with shiny objects our attention from bad news about which we’re now too numb to feel outrage. 

What about the Russian blitzkrieg on the civilian population of Ukraine? Trump claims to be “surprised” by Vladimir Putin’s war criminality. He says he intends to send crucial weaponry to help Ukraine defend its airspace. But can we trust a man who says he was unaware that the U.S. had stopped sending such weapons? Or that he allowed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to delay or ignore his orders? Which is worse? That Trump didn’t know or that he did know and hasn’t done much about it. Like firing his Defense chief. 

What about his on-again off-again threats of tariffs or his suggestion that China or whoever else he imposes them on will pay. Sure, just like Mexico would pay for the border wall. No wonder it hardly got built. Or how about  Trump’s obsession with immigrants? Don’t listen to Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security and admitted pet assassin who claims only murders, rapists and child molesters are rounded up for mass deportation without so much as hearing. Due process is overdue for them and the clock has run out. I would remind Trump that – except for Alaskan eskimos and native American Indians, we are all immigrants or beat to the rhythm of our immigrant heritage, including me whose father is descended from the first English-speaking settlers of Jamestown – 21 generations ago. But I’m still a descendant of immigrants. Let’s never forget that immigration, even forced immigration, helped make America great. 

And, finally, leaving out lots of other bad news, let’s not forget RFK Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, who would bring back measles, polio and, who knows what the next pandemic may bring? Millions will die worldwide, in part, because he thinks the best course is to let whatever infects us have its way until it kills you and everyone you may infect as well. Sure, Bobby. Vaccines are an “evil” inflicted on us by a “deep state” populated by sex-trafficking Democrat commies.

All of which brings us back to Jeffrey Epstein, who died in August 2019 of an apparent suicide by hanging in a New York City prison cell. He was convicted first in July 2008 in Florida state court of soliciting prostitution and procuring a minor for prostitution. He died at 66 in prison while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges, possibly resulting in what would amount to a life sentence. (An accomplice and ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, is now serving 20 years on similar charges.)

But the current uproar pits the MAGA wing of the Republican Party against others, including Trump himself, who are trying to distance themselves from it all. FBI director Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino – both Trump appointees – are demanding that the Justice Department unearth dirt from a so-called list of Epstein clients. Attorney General Pam Bondi recently said she had a list of names on her desk. Expecting that the list would include names of prominent Democrats, Bongino threatened to resign if it is not released. The conspiracy-minded MAGAs think there is incriminating evidence about former Presidents Bill Clinton and Joe Biden. 

A photo depicting Clinton with Epstein was de-authenticated as a photocopied composite of separate images. A 1997 photo of Trump with Epstein is apparently real as is a party video from roughly the same period. Neither is incriminating, but Trump’s denial of their relevance falls far short of changing the subject. The darkest conspiracy memes suggest that Biden ordered Epstein murdered in a political coverup. Never mind that Trump I occupied the Oval Office at the time. All of which is to say that the MAGA GOP likes to throw up juicy smokescreens to lure us away from real news about what actually affects the lives of Americans who have no stake in alleged scandals.

We all have a big stake in the Trump dismantling of the federal government with no thought of adverse consequences, very much including life and limb, not to mention freedom to be Americans. 

Steve Parks
Easton

 

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