Charm City’s next mayor?  Will disgraced former Mayor Sheila Dixon become the “Marion Barry of Baltimore”? or will her gift-card thievery conviction do her in?

LIKE MARION BARRY,
MAYOR-FOR-LIFE
DESPITE FLAWS

Rawlings-Blake fails to convey
vision for the future, or to build
confidence she is in control

ORIOLES’ FEAST-OR-FAMINE
HOME RUN & STRIKEOUT
OFFENSE DOOMS HOPE
OF 2015 CHAMPIONSHIP
 
By David Maril
 
While wondering, after an announcement of the arrival in November of her fourth book, if Sarah Palin is the only person who has written more books than she has read, it’s interesting to note the following:

 Don’t count disgraced Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon out from reclaiming her place in City Hall after the next election.

The late Marion Barry, former Mayor of Washington D.C., showed there is always a second, and in some cases, third chance to resurrect a political career after scandal.

Baltimore has a serious leadership vacuum and Dixon offers the passion, vision and confidence many voters feel has been missing.

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, with her uninspiring, methodical and out-of-touch style, is dropping in popularity and will have a hard time getting reelected as mayor.

In a different era, she would be OK. But with all the turmoil of the past six months, plus an alarming increase in shootings and homicides, the city needs a bold leader who appears to be more in control, offering a vision of optimism.

Unfortunately, the Mayor gives the impression of waiting too long to be decisive. Instead of being out in front of problems and difficult situations, she is too often in a defensive mode, trying to minimize damage instead of preventing it.

 Many critics feel Rawlings-Blake should share the blame for police department dysfunction equally with fired Commissioner Anthony Batts.

One certainty, all of these issues with training, protocol and procedure go much deeper into the administrative level than just Batts and the Mayor.

EMBARRASSING STORIES CONTINUE TO SURFACE

After all the negative coverage, locally and nationally, over questions related to arrest procedure, treatment of prisoners and interaction with the community, it’s mind-boggling that more embarrassing stories continue to surface every day.

After the death of Freddie Gray, who likely died of injuries from bouncing around in a paddy wagon, how could anyone in the department be insensitive and stupid enough to put up a sign in a police van mocking the dangerous ride prisoners would be experiencing after their arrests?

It is sick enough to make such a sign, which was photographed and reported around the country. But even worse is the fact nobody in the police department had the good sense or judgment to immediately remove it.

Just as embarrassing is the fact it took an op-ed story in the Baltimore Sun, by a person on a bike who was mugged, to make the police department hierarchy and the Mayor aware that a number of city police stations were only open limited hours to the public.

 On some camera angles, Kevin Davis, the newly appointed interim police commissioner, looks like the late Hank Peters, former Orioles general manager.

 When the Orioles pull out a victory with a game-winning home run, as they did the other day against the Nationals, there’s a lot of joy and excitement in the Land of Pleasant Living.

AN INCONSISTENT FEAST OR FAMINE OFFENSE

The Orioles do have decent pitching, especially in the bullpen, and solid defense. The problem is this team continues to rely on an inconsistent, feast or famine offense.

When they win, it’s because the team has hit a few homers. When they face good pitching and don’t get mistake pitches, they struggle to get enough runs to win.

To me, one recent game against the White Sox epitomizes their whole season.

After dropping the first two games of the series against a pretty mediocre Chicago team, and struggling to score runs, Manny Machado drew a leadoff walk in the 0-0 game.

When he stole second and third, with none out, you figured he had a pretty good chance of scoring. Instead, the second, third and fourth hitters in the lineup all struck out, stranding him at third.

It should be noted the Orioles did end up winning the game, thanks to some sloppy White Sox fielding and the Birds’ regaining their long-ball touch. But failure to moves runners along, and bring them in to score in tightly pitched games, is a dangerous weakness that will keep them from going anywhere even if they do qualify for the playoffs.

A lineup can succeed with a few high-strikeout power hitters, like Chris Davis and Adam Jones. You can win with a couple of sluggers in the order who amass high strikeout totals as long as they are hitting 30 or 40 homers and driving in runs.

ORIOLES CAN’T RELY STRICTLY ON HOME RUNS

But when you have seven or eight hitters in the batting order using that same approach, and hitting under 20 homers for the season, you are in big trouble and it spells inconsistency. You can’t rely strictly on home runs when you face teams with quality pitchers who avoid serving up mistake pitches.

 Why should casinos in Maryland get such breaks on the liberal hours they are allowed to sell booze and also provide space, outdoors, for customers to smoke while gambling? If all this is going to be allowed, shouldn’t it extend to other entertainment business venues as well?

 Speaking of alcohol, nobody will convince me otherwise that revenue is the only factor behind the decision to allow beer to be sold at some College Park sporting events. The reasoning that selling beer inside will eliminate or reduce drinking at tailgating parties outside at University of Maryland, making things safer, is pure spin.

 It was a no-brainer for the combined US Airways and American Airlines to eliminate the US Airways name now that the merger has been completed.

While American Airlines, for the most part, has a legacy of class in the travel industry, US Airways seemed to represent all the shortcomings of an airline that was large enough to be dysfunctional and impersonal while being too small-time to efficiently provide all the services of a major company.

American Airlines has a legacy of class in U.S. travel.

Before swallowing up Piedmont Airlines, a popular, well-run company, US Airways was Allegheny Airlines. Most travelers, however, called them Agony Airlines. Then when they were US Air, we referred to them as US Scare.

The airline never could shed its image of too many cancelled flights, late arrivals and overpriced fares in areas where it had no competition.

Hopefully, for the sake of consumers, the new airline will be more like American.

 The Ford Motor Company deserved praise when it was the one big U.S. automaker that didn’t take any of the public bailout money offered to the industry during the recession.

Conversely, it should draw criticism for a recent decision to transfer manufacturing of some of its smaller-sized car models from Michigan to overseas plants.

 It’s amusing the way people react to the Pope’s taking political stands on issues. Some will lecture us on the importance of separation of church and state if the Pope comes out against an issue, like birth control, that they support.

But when the Pope takes a stand on something they support, like the threat of global warming, they will say he’s entitled to speak out and should be encouraged to go on record with political issues.

The reverse, of course, is also true, with others supporting the Pope when he is against birth control but say he should stay out of government issues when he supports something they don’t like, such as taking measures to protect the environment.

 It is a similar situation with the Supreme Court. When a decision goes the way one group wants, you’ll hear them say, “Ah, the system of checks and balances really works.”

But when a group doesn’t get the decision it wants, you will hear, “Why are these types of rulings being made by a bunch of unelected lawyers with lifetime appointments who answer to nobody?”

TRAITOR? …OR PERSON OF CHARACTER AND COURAGE?

Or, verdicts are judged on whether it’s a victory for conservatives or liberals. And if one of the justices who is labeled as being expected to vote a certain way, considers other factors and surprises, he or she is criticized by some as a traitor and praised by others as a person of character and courage.

 Also in the can’t-win category are the security agencies that determine the level of threats to the nation. Going into the July 4th holiday period, warnings were issued about a need for people to be vigilant.

The reactions to the warnings, after a weekend of fireworks and celebrations without any incidents of terrorism, were mixed.

Many people were critical, claiming the agencies exaggerate the threats, trying to cover their tracks, if something did happen, and make themselves look good when nothing does happen.

We didn’t hear any public praise that it was peaceful July 4th and whatever threats existed had been properly dealt with.

However, you can be certain if there had been trouble, the criticism would have been unending over why it hadn’t been prevented and that the warnings were not severe enough.

Sarah Palin’s fourth book is scheduled for November release.

 With all the federal computer system hacking attributed to China, that steals public identity information related to security clearance applications, one has to wonder if this spills over into the TSA program for air travelers.

It would be the ultimate irony if in the process of submitting to background checks to qualify for quicker, less intrusive trips through airport security lines, a person is opening the door to becoming a victim of identity fraud.

 By the way, Palin’s new book, due out in November, is entitled Sweet Freedom: A Devotional. According to the Associated Press, it will include 260 meditations, fitting biblical principles to current issues.

Obviously, when it suits her political views, she’s not a big believer in separation of church and state.

As to whether she reads her own books, that’s up for grabs.
 
davidmaril@voiceofbaltimore.org
 
“Inside Pitch” is a weekly opinion column written for Voice of Baltimore by David Maril.
 
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