On Baltimore

Baltimore Harbor Tunnel, 1986

I wade into these waters carefully every time. But I'll give it a go.

Baltimore is a city that I've driven through and visited numerous times.

I'll drive through it again in August if all goes according to plan.

Let me tell you about the Baltimore I know (although, to be fair, I don't know it that well).

I know a city that has mesmerized me since I was a little boy, due to the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel (and later, the Fort McHenry Tunnel). The infrastructure always fascinated me.

I know a city that is charming, yet tough. You know: "Charm City."

I know the Inner Harbor and the Babe Ruth Birthplace and the restaurants and the Duck Boats and Fort McHenry and Loyola and Memorial Stadium (RIP).

I know where the Charm City football team plays (and quoth them nevermore, thank you very much).

I know Camden Yards and Boog's BBQ and potato chips with crab meat and Old Bay on them!

I know Fell's Point. Not well, but I've been there.

But I also know one other thing, and while it's not necessarily Baltimore's fault, it's still a fact.

Cars I own have been broken into twice. Once was on a street in Brooklyn, NY and was sort of my fault, because I left visible signs of electronics (including, yes, a suction cup mark on my windshield). Thus, my old GPS got taken out of the console in a smash-and-grab.

An NYPD patrolman just shook his head at me. You can take the boy out of the suburbs...

The other time was in -- yup -- Baltimore, MD. Parking wasn't available on the lower levels of a garage at a hotel in the Inner Harbor, so I was one of the first on the next level.

You can guess the result. Nothing was taken, but a window was smashed.

The parking lot manager was nothing short of wonderful when I returned to my hotel room hours later. He had me meet him and we moved the car next to the office for the night, where they made sure to put plastic on the busted window and cleaned as much of the glass as they could.

The next day, he had me drive to a window place just northeast of Baltimore to have it replaced -- on them. He was furious that it happened at all and even said to come back anytime and park for free (note: that was 20 years ago, so I won't be making good on that).

I've seen the good and I've seen the bad, as I've seen of numerous places.

I bring all of this up because, as you undoubtedly know, the President of the United States said some unkind things about Baltimore, specifically the district of Representative Elijah Cummings.

I didn't like the comments, but to be fair, I also don't like the tweeting behavior of 45.

He specifically called it "a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess."

Oy.

Look, it's not exactly a Gold Coast. We get that. There are some nasty areas, such as there are in so many cities. As a city, it doesn't need to be Palm Springs.

But when Jon -- the pride of R-Va, who once lived in Rep. Cummings' district -- says, "The VAST majority of it is not dangerous, rat infested or filthy," I believe him.

Of course, The New York Post is wetting itself to defend Trump, while The Baltimore Sun wrote an eloquent editorial to defend its city, as they should.

Instead of arguing over stupid politics, and falling over each other to make sure everyone stays on their side of the aisle, how about we actually -- you know -- do something about it?

That includes the President.

I like Baltimore. I'll never forget having my car broken into, but I've been back since.

Let's be better than this.

I feel like I say that way too often.