Michael Olesker

‘Young Tommy’ D’Alesandro Brought Out the Best in People and Politics

by Michael Olesker | Oct 21, 2019 | Blogs, Blogs & Opinion, Michael Olesker

Sometimes, when Tommy D’Alesandro told you a story, he’d lean in close and cup his hand, as though whispering a secret at religious confession. He didn’t want you to miss a word. Then he’d let loose with an uproarious tale, followed by one of the greatest laughs in...

The Vanishing of the Mamaloshen

by Michael Olesker | Oct 18, 2019 | Blogs, Blogs & Opinion, Michael Olesker

Can I get an “Oy vey” out there? Or at least a “gevalt”? In a word, yes. But not much beyond a word. Not in Yiddish among my Jews, and not in Italian, Greek, Polish or any of the other foreign languages spoken by first- and second-generation Americans that are...

Elijah Cummings Appealed to the Better Angels of Our Nature

by Michael Olesker | Oct 17, 2019 | Blogs & Opinion, Michael Olesker

Elijah Cummings’ voice was the sound of conscience come to life. That voice cut through the standard bureaucratese of political Washington – the deadening, cynical, obfuscating, lying, soul-deadening voices of the White House and Capitol Hill – and connected all who...

Even Faith Must Respond to American Society’s Evolution

by Michael Olesker | Oct 16, 2019 | Blogs, Blogs & Opinion, Michael Olesker

Can we talk for a moment about the American sense of humor as it pertains to gays? I know it’s not the most burning issue of the day. Everybody’s worked up this week about President Donald Trump’s impending impeachment and his latest foreign policy outrages, and the...

Fells Point Fun Fest Serves as Reminder of City’s Delights

by Michael Olesker | Oct 14, 2019 | Blogs, Blogs & Opinion, Michael Olesker

This one’s for all those folks out in suburbia who have repeated the same unfortunate mantra – “I don’t go downtown anymore,” they say — ever since the Freddie Gray troubles of 2015 and all the enduring emotional shadows. Memo to all of you: You’re cheating...

Choosing to Play instead of Pray

by Michael Olesker | Oct 11, 2019 | Blogs, Blogs & Opinion, Michael Olesker

During a week in which Yom Kippur and the baseball playoffs overlapped, every Jewish baseball fan could recite the great Sandy Koufax story: he refused to pitch on the 1965 Day of Atonement, no matter the World Series being played. But in her terrific book, “The Last...

Pimlico Plan is a Crucial Victory for Northwest Baltimore

by Michael Olesker | Oct 7, 2019 | Blogs, Blogs & Opinion, Michael Olesker

Let’s applaud all those who scratched out a survival plan for the Preakness Stakes to remain at Pimlico Race Course, while realizing that a single day’s worth of horse racing might be the least important aspect of the deal. Emotionally, it’s a signal that the city of...

Baltimore’s Current Political Scene Evokes Memories of Melvin Perkins

by Michael Olesker | Oct 4, 2019 | Blogs, Blogs & Opinion, Michael Olesker

The unlikeliest political candidate of them all was the late Melvin Perkins. The last time he ran for mayor of Baltimore, back in 1987, he got a swell total of 534 votes in spite of everything. Everything? Well, over the years, he ran for a variety of offices under a...

Farewell, Diamondback

by Michael Olesker | Oct 2, 2019 | Blogs, Blogs & Opinion, Michael Olesker

For sentimental sods like me, the news out of College Park this week arrived with a sense of nostalgia and inevitability. The University of Maryland’s student newspaper, The Diamondback, is closing its print run after 110 years. The nostalgia’s easy enough to explain....

The O’s are Staying, But Who’s in Charge?

by Michael Olesker | Sep 27, 2019 | Blogs, Blogs & Opinion, Michael Olesker

As the Orioles of Baltimore enter the final weekend of the 2019 season, they’ve already lost 107 ballgames, the second-worst record in all of Major League Baseball. But that’s not the worst number of the year. Their pitchers have given up more than 300 home runs,...