America doesn’t need “more philosophers” Sen. Marco Rubio said in a 2015 presidential debate, echoing politicians on both sides of the aisle who have, unfortunately, derided education in the humanities.
Violence is endemic to American life. We know this because people are largely inured to it, at least when it happens to other people.
When I was a small boy, polio terrified me. Each year, it would strike thousands of children like me—and you never knew when or where it would hit next. In the 1952 epidemic, a very bad year, there were nearly 60,000 reported cases in the United States and more than 3,000 deaths.
On the day of Freddie Gray's funeral—April 27, 2015, when the city of Baltimore erupted in a wave of violence, crime, and arson—the police force did not employ a single chaplain. In the two years since, they've grown an ecumenical corps of 134 men and women of the cloth who ride along with officers…
Last week’s big stories tended to drown out another big story that should not go unnoticed. For the third time in eight months, a Baltimore police officer who had been tried in the death of Freddie Gray was acquitted of all charges. (A fourth policeman's case ended last December in a hung jury,…
A Baltimore man has finally been charged with arson for setting ablaze a CVS pharmacy during the Baltimore riots in April. The criminal complaint was announced by the Department of Justice.
The Washington Post has never paid much attention to nearby Baltimore. Which is no great shock, of course: Downtown Baltimore is 40 miles from the Post newsroom, which tends to ignore the immediate Virginia and Maryland suburbs of Washington as well. The Scrapbook has always found this regrettable,…
The home of Congressman Elijah Cummings of Baltimore caught fire this morning. Cummings was in Washington at the time of the fire.
One unexplained death. So many negative images. So many pundits talking past real issues. So many obvious problems.
When guests at a North Korea Freedom Week dinner in Northern Virginia learned the Korean-American pastor at our table led a Maryland church, they immediately asked about the situation in Baltimore. It was May 1, and National Guard troops had been deployed to the city three days earlier to help…
Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post captures the sorrows of Baltimore with this striking datum:
There’s a small group of potential Republican presidential candidates you don’t hear much about, though they speak at events along with better-known candidates. They don’t have exploratory committees or campaign staffs. They’re one-man bands. But what they do have are impressive records. This group…
Two decades ago, Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam lamented that we “bowl alone.” This week, two teams played baseball alone.
The mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, has rescinded the city-wide curfew. The mayor made the announcement on Twitter.
Former Baltimore mayor Martin O'Malley said that if he runs for president, he'll launch his campaign in Baltimore:
Eric Costello, Baltimore city councilman for 11th district, wants the city's curfew lifted. And he wants the national media to go home. Costello made his plea in a series of tweets this morning directed straight at the media.
Christopher Caldwell, writing in the Wall Street Journal:
THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with editor William Kristol on the riots in Baltimore.
A Maryland prosecutor announced charges will be filed against police officers in the death Baltimore man Freddie Gray:
Rachel Maddow understands the utility of a good old-fashioned riot.
At a Manhattan fundraiser yesterday (as noted by The Hill), potential presidential candidate Hillary Clinton spoke of the rioting in Baltimore by invoking a theme of the Obama administration: the need for reform of the criminal justice system.
THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with editor William Kristol on the riots in Baltimore.
Earlier today on CBS This Morning, Baltimore mother Toya Graham told her story about the now-viral scene from Monday where she pulled her son Michael off of the streets of rioting Baltimore.
Don't worry, Valerie Jarrett is in "regular contact" with the mayor of Baltimore, the White House announced late Tuesday night.
Hillary Clinton appeared to avoid the press waiting outside her first 2016 presidential fundraiser by talking to herself as she made her way to an awaiting Secret Service vehicle.
The Baltimore Orioles will play tomorrow's baseball game at an empty stadium. It will be closed to the public due to ongoing riots in Baltimore.
President Obama called the Baltimore riots "counterproductive" in remarks today at the White House:
New Jersey governor Chris Christie will be sending New Jersey cops to Baltimore. The Republican governor made the announcement on Twitter.
A Vietnam veteran interviewed on CNN last night told protesters to go get "their butts at home." The veteran, who identified himself as Robert Valentine, said, "I'm very pissed." Watch here:
CNN political commentator Marc Lamont Hill advised that "we should be strategic in how we riot."
Attorney General Loretta Lynch reponds to the violence in Baltimore:
Baltimore police are warning that there is a "credible threat" to "take-out" law enforcement officers, according a press release from the Baltimore Police Department.
Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake told the press that her city "gave those who wished to destroy space to do that" at last night's protest. Watch here:
Last week, in a blog post titled, "Super Bowl City Leads on Energy Efficient Forefront," the Energy Department touted the Superdome's lights. The Superdome, in New Orleans, is hosting tonight's Super Bowl, where a power outage stopped play for more than half an hour.
The Super Bowl is, as everyone knows, the biggest thing in sports. And television. Which are, increasingly, indistinguishable. The game is routinely the highest rated program of the year. Any year. In fact, three of the four most highly rated shows of all time are Super Bowls. And those would…
The first men to die in the American Civil War fell on this day, 150 years ago, on Pratt Street in Baltimore. Troops en route to Washington were confronted downtown by rioters, and the fighting cost four federal soldiers and 12 civilians their lives.