http://www.citypaper.com/columns The Baltimore City Paper's weekly screeds. en-us Copyright 2008 Baltimore City Paper http://www.citypaper.com/columns/story.asp?id=16111 So I guess there's gonna be a vote, or a referendum, or a Plebecite or something, about these Slot Machines, and I'm pretty sure I've made it perfectly fucking crystal clear in various outbreaks of the Mr. Wrong "column" that I am in favor of all forms of gambling that can be made legal with a min ... Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/columns/story.asp?id=16101 Here we are near the end of the long, hot summer, and that odor wafting toward you isn't skunked beer or uncollected trash--it's desperation. You can tell when campaign ads talk about "celebrity" and feature Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, both of whom might be hard-pressed to answer how many year ... Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/columns/story.asp?id=16074 To be perfectly honest, I'm a little distracted while I'm writing this. I'm making a mental checklist. Since it's summer, the grill is clean and running well, and I have plenty of charcoal. Likewise, there's a freezer filled with chicken wings, breasts, and drumsticks that I'll defrost and season ... Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/columns/story.asp?id=16063 The next time there is a Republican president and Congress--and there will be a next time--they'll have it a whole lot easier. For one, they'll have a complete road map. Richard Nixon started drawing the map back in the 1970s. His mistakes were the grand ones that set off the Watergate scandal: wir ... Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/columns/story.asp?id=16048 I could stand to lose a few pounds, so I got a bike, you know? Yeah, I'm gonna ride all over the place to places where normally I would drive my car, right? Yeah, sure, like to work, or to, uh, church and stuff, or possibly like to go buy ice cream or snacks or some refreshing beverages so I can r ... Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/columns/story.asp?id=16031 "It's a free country." How often do you hear someone say that phrase? Or, does this lyric ring a bell: "I'm proud to be an American/ where at least I know I'm free." You can never go broke selling something if you put the words "freedom," "liberty," or "American" in it. Just look at the "A" section ... Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/columns/story.asp?id=16009 When I was a kid, every summer my family would take a pilgrimage back to Alabama to visit my extended family. It was a 10-hour trip, we drove straight, and it was pretty brutal. My father and godfather would drive and, being the old-school country Negroes that they are, we would listen to the blue ... Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/columns/story.asp?id=15992 Back in 1992, when I was working on Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign, during the time after the Democratic National Convention, I got in the habit of scrutinizing the state-by-state polls that a startup must-read political newsletter called The Hotline would put out every morning. In ever ... Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/columns/story.asp?id=15978 Every presidential election season, there are a few things you can count on, and one of them is the "single message" the Republican Party will put out about the Democratic nominee. For John Kerry, it was "flip-flopper." Every statement Kerry made was measured against some imagined "permanent record ... Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/columns/story.asp?id=15973 Now is the Summertime, and I am generally in favor of heat and humidity, especially because of when I think of Wintertime, which for me is not usually so much Good Times. I mean, I can get behind some Winter sports, like the skiing and sliding down a hill in a sled or toboggan or whatever, but the ... Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/columns/story.asp?id=15948 Let me be perfectly clear: I don't expect much from Meet Dave. Eddie Murphy is a comedic genius and a box-office legend but his film career, when looked at in totality, is a little dicey. For every Beverly Hills Cop or Nutty Professor, there's one or two films like Haunted Mansion and The Holy Man ... Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/columns/story.asp?id=15941 Back before we got John Roberts as the nation's newest chief justice of the Supreme Court, it was widely bandied about that Antonin Scalia had a hankering to be elevated to the position. In some ways, it is rather surprising that George W. Bush didn't appease him in this quest, as it would have ful ... Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST