This was written​ in the hours immediately following the horrific events in Annapolis.

​I didn’t personally know anyone at the Capital Gazette. In a way, that was a surprise. We are a tight business, and we move around quite a bit. Thus, it wasn’t surprising to find out this evening through social media that there were only a couple degrees of separation.

But I knew every one of those people. I’ve worked with them for 25 years. We’ve shared highs and lows. Drinks and burgers. Marriages. Watched their children grow from newborns to adults. Divorces. Celebrated awards. Moved from apartments to houses. First jobs to retirement. Layoffs. Promotions. New opportunities. Some loved each other. Some hated each other. I know them. All across the world.

Sound familiar? 

It sure did to me. I didn’t think about anything like this when I took my trash to the dump this morning. Or when I walked into the office today at 11:30, just in time to make a lunch meeting. But I did think about how easily this could have been any newspaper I have ever worked at. Where the community can feel free to walk in the front door and complain about a story. Or provide a tip. Or buy a single copy. 

Or threaten us if we didn’t remove a story from our website.

Rob Hiaasen
Gerald Fischman
John McNamara
Rebecca Smith
Wendi Winters

I can’t say much more about them. I didn’t have the honor. I’ll let someone who knew them do so:

“There are no 40 hour weeks, no big paydays — just a passion for telling stories from our community. We keep doing more with less. We find ways to cover high school sports, breaking news, tax hikes, school budgets & local entertainment. We are there in times of tragedy. We do our best to share the stories of people, those who make our community better. Please understand, we do all this to serve our community.” — Jimmy DeButts, an editor at the Capital Gazette

Most people don’t get that. A surprising number to me, actually. I guess I’m odd, but there is nothing I prefer to do. In fact, everything else makes me miserable. There are times I want to look at everyone, take my toys and go home. But I can’t, because this is who I am. It’s difficult when the people I care about don’t get that, but so be it.

Which may be why I get so much joy out of this tweet:

'We are putting out a damn paper tomorrow': Capital Gazette journalists report on shooting in their own newsroom

You're damn right. That is the greatest tribute you can pay to these people. Because that is what we do.

Last weekend marked the third anniversary of President Trump’s ride down the escalator at Trump Tower to declare his candidacy for the Republican nomination, and those who follow politics marked the occasion, in no small part due to the fact that they discounted it as a humorous aside to the election cycle.

Count me among them.

Who knows where the final inspiration to run had come from. Trump had, of course, flirted with the idea for years. Like many, I theorize it had to do with the White House correspondents dinner, where President Obama had a laugh or two at “The Donald’s” expense (he insists it wasn’t the motivation). He’s notoriously thin-skinned. But, wounded as he may have been, I thought the run would be short for two reasons. One: It didn’t make business sense. And two: Evangelical Christians.

Simply put, on a stage where a number of candidates had far better religious credentials, I thought the career womanizer represented just about everything a true blooded conservative Christian would oppose.

That possibility, in hindsight, was laid to rest when Trump had his “Two Corinthians” moment at Liberty University. Despite his stumbling and bumbling, he left town with the evangelicals in his hip pocket, and the Republican nomination.

Keep in mind these were the same folks who backed impeachment of a sitting president just two decades before for consensual sex in the White House, finger wagging and splitting hairs over the definition of “is.” These same folks now backed a candidate caught on tape boasting of forcing himself on married women and grabbing women by the ____.

Why?

I submit: Faith. Trump promised what this group wanted to hear. They also decided his brand of politics would sway enough of the party to vote for him, so they’d best get on board. After all, they were never going to vote for Hillary. And with hardline conservatives in congress to push their agenda, the evangelicals felt he’d be kept on track. They knew balance of the Supreme Court was in play, and they’d get their conservative. Not to mention all those seats on the federal bench.

Perhaps some held their noses to do so, and perhaps they truly feel they can forgive whatever they like, even if he doesn’t ask for it. But for many, it seems to be a matter of blind faith. Trump may be a terrible person, but the Lord has chosen to work through him.

We all have different versions of faith. From those who believe without question to those who do not believe. Most fall somewhere in between. But those who question would be at a disadvantage in understanding how a group that had held the moral high ground for so long would appear to trade that in a New York minute. Blind faith allows it. Because they did not vote for Trump, they voted for the vessel through which the Lord would do his work. And really, that was nothing new, we just never understood the motive.

That comes at a price, however. At the very least, evangelicals come off as hypocrites. These same folks who peak through your windows and judge your actions suddenly rolled over in the political arena. The gave up their moral high ground. In the least, they may have dealt a serious blow to their cause far into the future.

But far worse, what if they are wrong?

My girlfriend’s son posted this for Father’s Day. I thought it was worthy of reposting:

Today on Father's Day, I get to reflect on the life of my life friend and dog, George. He was SHOT and KILLED around 9:00PM on June 13th, 2018. He was chasing the smell or trail of rabbit around a large area of the Fort Independence Reservation in Independence,California. This is an area where I frequently played outside with my dog and took him on walks. As I was distracted for only 1 minute by the construction of my good friend's, Aaron Dodds, house, I lost sight of George. Aaron and I were calling for George VERY LOUDLY by his name! Within only a few minutes, 2 shotgun shots boomed and were followed by the painful cry of my Dog being KILLED.

My dog George had wandered a few hundred feet from Aarons property, went 2 doors down being that no yards have a fence on this part of the reservation, and was SHOT and KILLED while I YELLED HIS NAME!

The man who committed this CRIME is a LOOSE CANNON and shot off his weapons within TENS OF FEET of NEIGHBORS/OTHER ANIMALS and within gun shot distance of homes including CHILDREN!! He took a part of me away that I can never get back and I hardly know him!

My Best Friend George was innocent and friendly to all people, children and adults, and animals alike. He lived with multiple indoor and outdoor CATS and KITTENS,OTHER DOGS, ADULTS, AND CHILDREN. He went to work with me for MONTHS GREETING PEOPLE at my Job at the MUSEUM OF WESTERN FILM HISTORY. THIS DOG HAD NO VISCIOUS OR MALICE INTENTENTIONS EVER!!! If he ever came off that way, which he very rarely did, it is because he was protecting his own or felt threatened by a being as he was trained to do!

MANY LOVED MY DOG! HE WAS A BEAUTIFUL SOUL!

I am sharing moments of his life that I cherish, including the KITTENS HE PLAYED WITH SINCE THEIR BIRTH! Alone without him, just his collar laying between where he would have been, innocently curious of these small creatures.

PLEASE REPOST IF YOU WISH TO SEE CHANGE IN ANIMAL CRUELTY!!

The time for grief is soon over.
The TIME FOR JUSTICE is NOW!!

STAND WITH ME AGAINST ANIMAL CRUELTY!!!

#JUSTICE4GEORGE
#NOMOREANIMALCRUELTY
#ANIMALSHAVERIGHTSTOO

​I don’t stand for cruelty to animals.