As this is a shorter work week for most, instead of going too in-depth on just one or two stories, we highlighted some of the most important or interesting national and local headlines for you.
Trump vs. Clinton
This past weekend in the Democrat presidential debate, former Sec. Hillary Clinton made headlines after saying “They are going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists." Immediately fact checkers on both sides of the aisle furiously began trying to prove or disprove her statements and no one could find these videos. So, as Trump normally does, he demanded an apology from her to which when asked about this by a reporter, a campaign staffer responded “Hell, no.”
Conservative-leaning blog RedState did some digging and while no Trump video was found, they did find an ISIS recruitment video from LiveLeak that features former President Bill Clinton (as well as President Obama, former President Bush and Sen. John McCain).
Even Trump haters couldn’t argue with this attack on him, but then any momentum he had was ruined by using what many consider a sexually derogative term describing Hillary’s loss to Obama in 2008. A Fox News media analyst described both of these candidates’ missteps in a column this week
In other election news, Sen. Lindsey Graham finally dropped out of the GOP presidential race after failing to pick up a following and continually being relegated to the "kiddie debate stage." Our question, when will O’Malley, Pataki, Huckabee and Santorum come to their senses?
Miller vs. Franchot
The Capital Gazette’s Len Lazarick has a humorous column this week tracking a sarcastic and entertaining fight between two of the state’s leaders, Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller. According to Lazarick, this has been a longtime simmering over small disagreements that are now spilling into insults on government stationary. The straw that broke the camel’s back was apparently the Baltimore Co school air conditioning issue (which ABC2News has been covering since the beginning VIEW TIMELINE).
In formal letters that Lazarick obtained, first Franchot wrote Miller accusing him of not caring about important issues in the state, being too busy focusing on the 2018 gubernatorial election and “only being interested in taxes when it’s time to raise them.” Perhaps the lowest blow was blaming Miller and other MD General Assembly democrats for Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown’s huge loss to Gov. Hogan last fall.
Miller respondedwith an equally sarcastic letter questioning why Franchot is inserting himself in matters that he has no authority over or do not have anything to do with his office, and at the expense of what his duties should be.
“As the tax collector for the State, it is indeed fortunate for you that do not have to worry about the bigger picture at either the State or local level and can simply harangue others about whatever pops into your head every other Wednesday at the Board of Public Works,” Miller penned.
Other Headlines
In other local news this week, the NAACP filed a federal complaint against Gov. Hogan for canceling the Red Line Project, which would have built a line between east and west Baltimore. They claim the governor's move violated the Civil Rights Act because it affects African-Americans who live in the city. Gov. Hogan said the Red Line project was too expensive and inefficient but promised to revamp train and bus lines instead.
Having a little Christmas fun, a group called the Clean Slate Baltimore PAC put out the first attack ad of the new Baltimore mayoral campaign season. An anti-Sheila Dixon Christmas cartoon is being used by the group with the intention to remind voters of her past in office. Dixon resigned as mayor after she was convicted of one count of fraud for using gift cards meant for the homeless on herself and aides. The PAC states they are not part of any other candidate’s campaign
