Dan Rodricks

Wow, that decade just rolled by! James Hamlin and his Avenue Bakery, on historic Pennsylvania Avenue in West Baltimore, celebrate 10 years this weekend, with a concert on Sunday afternoon. I wrote about the bakery when it opened, and James, who already had become something of a local legend for his pull-apart, cloverleaf dinner rolls … Continue reading The Avenue Bakery: 10 years on a roll

I came across his old red-handled clippers, the one he pruned his fruit trees with, and immediately saw him again, on the grassy, sloping orchard of memories. He was in his 70s then and wore a brown corduroy coat and plaid hunter’s cap. It was autumn — or maybe it was spring, whenever you are … Continue reading In the orchard of memories

An Irish writer named John Waters defines authority as “the capacity to endure unpopularity in the interests of the good.” He adds that a defining quality of fatherhood through the ages has been “a preparedness to be resented.” The two are very much related in the context of American political leadership: Some of the adults … Continue reading Biden and Pelosi lead while Republicans make playground noise

“Disgraceful” is a kinder word than the one that more aptly applies to many things that have occurred in America during the last five years. “Disgusting” is more apt. Example: Michael Fanone, one of the police officers attacked by the Trump mob on Jan. 6, testified last week that the disrespect shown to him and … Continue reading Trump’s emotional toll on America

I said my piece about the Bishops, Joe Biden and the Eucharist a few weeks ago. That they would withhold communion from the most religious President since Jimmy Carter because he respects the law and a woman’s right to an abortion — and is, therefore, unworthy of the Eucharist, in the eyes of some bishops … Continue reading ‘Jesus fed everybody who showed up.’

I thought the photograph of the Baltimore Bloody Mary, by artist Mark Adams, might get your attention. As I report in my Sunday Sun column, available at baltimoresun.com, Mark got a little carried away with cocktails during the pandemic. The Baltimore Blood Mary, while fun, is hardly representative of just how far Adams went with … Continue reading The Baltimore Bloody Mary

You can call her a right-wing QAnon nut. You can call her election last year to the House of Representatives a tragedy. And even some Republicans might distance themselves from her. But yesterday, with their infantile mask protest in the Capitol, Republicans pretty much fell in line behind the awful Marjorie Taylor Green. They embraced … Continue reading Republicans fall in line behind Marjorie Taylor Greene

I usually don't bother to respond to Trumpies who continue to espouse the Big Lie or deny that what happened on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol amounted to an attempted coup. I haven't much stomach for false equivalencies, what-aboutism and both-sides-bad because I don't believe both sides are bad. I believe Republicans in Congress … Continue reading Response to a tragically Trumped-up Terrence

My latest Sun column is about Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md-1) and his claim that the University System of Maryland should not mandate vaccinations against COVID-19 because of the risk of a side effect that, according to the CDC, occurs about 12 times in every 1 million doses. The column is available at this link. Risk … Continue reading Yes, Andy Harris, even anesthesia , your specialty, comes with risks

One of the brave police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 testified before Congress Tuesday that some of the men who attacked him seemed — by their demeanor, attire or tactics — to have military or law enforcement experience. This, of course, has been established already. At least 45 of the approximately … Continue reading The Loser’s Army: ‘Trump sent us’