With Camden Yards set to hold its first fan-attended Baltimore Orioles game in over two weeks tonight, it's a good time to go back to a May 2 item by Meredith Shiner at Yahoo Politics.
Readers may remember the Duke-"educated" Shiner as the person who was flabbergasted that GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz cited "God-given rights" when he announced his candidacy on March 23, tweeting in part: "Bizarre to talk about how rights are God-made and not man-made ... When Constitution was man-made?" Few will be surprised that Shiner's interview of Democratic Congressman Elijah Cummings is an income inequality-obsessed de facto puff piece which lets Cummings completely off the hook for worsening conditions in the district he has represented since 1996.
Cummings has seemingly just discovered a serious problem and wants the rest of America to pay to fix it (bolds and numbered tags are mine):
Rep. Elijah Cummings reflects on an empty stadium and a turbulent week in Baltimore
May 2, 2015
... Quiet moments have been few in Baltimore this week, except where you’d least expect them: in the Camden Yards ballpark, where the Orioles played the White Sox on Wednesday with no fans in the seats, a first in Major League history. In a strange way, the empty stadium was a symbol of the inequality that fueled the protests. [1]
The lasting legacy of the riots won’t be the film of a burned-out drugstore in West Baltimore that played endlessly on cable news but a heightened awareness of issues that have preoccupied Cummings during his 20 years in Congress. [2]
As Cummings pointed out, the fans who ordinarily would have filled those seats at picturesque Camden Yards wouldn’t have come from the neighborhoods just two or three miles away that are the epicenter of the protests. That’s because the average cost of a game for a family of four is $173.39.
(from interview text)
SHINER ... A lot of focus has been on criminal justice reform, but there are serious, systemic economic inequality issues that simmered for years before these protests erupted. You are actively involved in constituent work in the area and have been its representative for nearly 20 years. What do you see as some of the bigger-picture issues here?
CUMMINGS: We’re trying to make sure that we maintain a level of peace because, you know, survival is No. 1 right now. And when I say “survival,” I mean making sure that people don’t get harmed and that we maintain a sense of security. [3]
We have got to make sure that we begin to deal with — and make permanent policy — the things that are really affecting people on a day-to-day basis. One of the things is education. I’ve been really talking to kids and getting a feel for what is fueling anger. And one of the things is education. [4]
... A young lady was at a forum the other night, and she cried like a baby. She said, “I’m reading from a book, ladies and gentlemen, a textbook that was written in 1973.” You know, in 2015. [5] So we’ve got to look at our education system. A lot of people, they don’t want to touch it because it’s so big. They say, “I’m fine in my little county over here. We got everything.” But they don’t understand that we’re all together. [6]
... We’ve got to figure out how we share so that all of us are lifted up. You know, some people jump up and say — what do they call it when you talk about shared prosperity? — “class warfare.” It’s not about class warfare. It’s about making sure that people pay into a system that they’re benefitting from and that they pay in a way that makes sense. [6]
Notes:
[1] — Meredith Shiner sees a Major League Baseball game occurring in an empty stadium as a symbol of inequality. I see it as tens of thousands of people who had paid money and made plans having their opportunity to see an an MLB game snatched away by criminals, likely aided and abetted by a mayor who prevented her police officers from maintaining order. Stephanie Rawlings-Blake allegedly told police to stand down and retreat and to let the looters loot, because "it's only property." Well, the mayhem was so severe that the Orioles felt like they couldn't safely hold a scheduled game with fans attending. So it immediately became about far more than "only property." What in the world "income inequality" has to do with this I'll have to leave to Shiner, who did not explain herself.
[2] — If these "issues" have "preoccupied" Cummings for 20 years, why have things only gotten worse?
[3] — Oh, this is rich. Who is this "we" to whom Cummings referred, and why was he part of it? The "sense of security" was restored because the necessary law enforcement resources were finally brought in. While perhaps rightly concerned about brutality in the Baltimore Police Department, Cummings is part of a long line of urban "leaders" who simply won't stand up to the criminal element in their community.
[4] — After 19-plus years of "service," Cummings acts as if he's just discovering that "education," as in poorly provided education, is a problem — and Meredith Shiner just let it slide.
[5] — Gosh, Elijah and Meredith, maybe Baltimore's school system has no money for textbooks because, despite being generously funded, it overpays its unionized teachers. Perhaps, like so many other school systems, it's bloated with bureaucrats. How long has that been going on, folks, and what has Mr. Cummings done about it? (cue chirping crickets)
[6] (tagged twice) — And what's Mr. Cummings' answer to the problems noted in Item [5]? More money from people who didn't create the problems, of course.
Separately, Shiner has as far as I can tell never expressed the slightest regret for the content of her ignorant March 23 tweet. Instead, she has oh-so-predictably played the victim (my comments are in italics):
- "Just wanted to let you know in past hour alone, I'm an ABSOLUTE BIMBO, idiot, moron, fool, dope, jackass—& worst of all—woman." (When all else fails, play the gender card)
- "Also, many of you have suggested I get a refund on my college education, as if getting that money back would be a punishment." (No ma'am, it would punish Duke, which obviously didn't provide you a genuine "college education.")
- "Really excited for my parents to read through my twitter feed today, you guys." (Maybe you should ask them why they never made sure you learned the basics about this country's founding documents.)
Apparently, Meredith Shiner's parents also never taught her that when you're wrong, you admit it, and apologize for it.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
