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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsO’Malley 2016 Just Committed Suicide in Baltimore - By Jackie Kucinich
He was supposed to be Hillarys main rival. But when Martin OMalley rode back into his battered hometown, he was told to GTFO.It could have been a breakthrough moment for former Governor Martin OMalley.
A former mayor/governor/turned potential presidential contender cuts short a series of paid speeches in Europe to return to the still-smoldering city he once governed and where he still lives.
I just wanted to be present. Theres a lot of pain in our city right now, a lot of people feeling very sad, OMalley said Tuesday, according to The Washington Post. Look, weve got to come through this together. Were a people whove seen worse days, and well come through this day.
But as he hopped in and out of a black Suburban that ferried him from neighborhood to neighborhood torn apart by fire, looters, and poverty, he just became a joke. Worse, for some people, he revealed himself to be a root cause of Baltimores problem.
There are a lot of cameras here in town and some people are looking for attention, Governor Larry Hogan said Wednesday afternoon. Im just focused on the crisis. Im here to answer your questions, but were really here trying to heal the community.
OMalley was even heckled, according to the Post, as he walked around the streets.
more
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/30/o-malley-2016-just-committed-suicide-in-baltimore.html
BeyondGeography
(39,285 posts)If he really wants to.
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,308 posts)He is not a joke.
840high
(17,196 posts)Rosa Luxemburg
(28,627 posts)He is a very clever politician
Mojorabbit
(16,020 posts)and it seems the Post is turning that on it's head.
justiceischeap
(14,040 posts)evah, people did not like his policies all that much especially his tax hikes. That's why we have a Republican governor at the moment. His entire campaign was about lowering taxes and people ate it up. I'm not saying O'Malley didn't do some great things in Maryland but he's not a popular guy here.
marym625
(17,997 posts)Not like I think the governor is anything but a racist, media whore.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)But it isn't necessarily fatal.
bigtree
(85,920 posts)dionysus
(26,467 posts)warning"
BainsBane
(53,003 posts)Sanders brings something new to the race. What does O'Malley bring? If the residents of Baltimore dislike him as their former mayor, why should I want to vote for him?
FSogol
(45,363 posts)BainsBane
(53,003 posts)and Simon is no right-winger. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/04/29/david-simon-on-baltimore-s-anguish
FSogol
(45,363 posts)long standing grudge against O'Malley.
BainsBane
(53,003 posts)watch the Wire? The criticism is concerning, and I have great respect for Simon.
FSogol
(45,363 posts)Also, you do realize that "The Wire" is a work of fiction? It doesn't change the fact that O'Malley left as Mayor in Baltimore in Nov 2007.
Why blame him, yet cut a break to the people in charge the last 7-1/2 years?
Here's my spiel again:
O'Malley, as Mayor of Baltimore (Dec 1999-Nov 2007) followed a policy of zero tolerance, also know as the broken windows policy as did almost every major city in the US. Every major city switched to that form of policing in the mid to late 90s because of the drop in NYC's crime rate. By the mid 00s, everyone was moving away from it due to over-policing, arresting innocent people, profiling, etc. He employed those policies when he arrived as Mayor, but moved away from them for the reasons stated. The number of arrests dropped each year in Baltimore as did the crime rate.
By the end of his Mayoral term he moved away from that policy. He did not employ those methods as Governor. Unlike say, Giuliani, O'Malley changed, evolved, and modified his approach until he got a fairer/more workable system.
From a recent Washington Post article:
Benjamin T. Jealous, a former president of the national NAACP who worked with OMalley when Maryland abolished the death penalty in 2013, credited him for supporting a civilian review board as mayor and for a sharp drop in police shootings that occurred during that time. Jealous said OMalleys mass incarceration police strategy is a separate issue than police brutality, and a conversation for a different day.It was a period where a lot of mayors were doing whatever they could to try to reduce crime, Jealous said.
and
Whether its a police custodial death or a police-involved shooting, OMalley said, we all have a responsibility to ask whether theres something we can do to prevent such a loss of life from happening in the future.
Earlier this month, at a civil rights event convened by the Rev. Al Sharpton, OMalley said his crime-reduction efforts as mayor saved many lives. There are a thousand fewer black men in Baltimore who died violent deaths over the last 15 years than otherwise would have died had we not come together.
BainsBane
(53,003 posts)I'm looking at his record and asking why I should feel compelled to consider him for President over Clinton or Sanders.
The Wire is a work of fiction, created by a former cop and journalist who knows Baltimore very well. It's also the best television program ever made, something I have often referred to as the Shakespeare of TV.
What Simon describes in the article is what he chronicles in The Wire. It's about rounding people up for no reason other than the Mayor's, then O'Malley, political prospects for becoming governor. Courts ruled that policy violated the Fourth Amendment. Police refused to take reports of rape and aggravated assault, tampered with crime stats so O'Malley could run for Governor by claiming he cracked down on crime. I see nothing in any of that to recommend him for the Presidency.
FSogol
(45,363 posts)O'Malley used that method when he arrived as mayor in 1999, but had moved away from that before he left the Mayor's office in Fall 2007. There is a fact checker article floating around DU that shows that O'Malley did not manipulate the stats like Simon alleges. He used the FBI numbers.
Here's a short list of what I like about O'Malley.
1. Ended death penalty in Maryland
2. Prevented fracking in Maryland and put regulations in the way to prevent next GOP Gov Hogan fom easily allowing fracking.
3. Provided health insurance for 380,000
4. Reduced infant mortality to an all time low.
5. Provided meals to thousands of hungry children and moved toward a goal for eradicating childhood hunger.
6. Enacted a $10.10 living wage and a $11. minimum wage for State workers.
7. Supporter the Dream Act
8. Cut income taxes for 86% of Marylanders
9. Reformed Marylands tax code to make it more progressive.
10. Enacted some of the nations most comprehensive reforms to protect homeowners from foreclosure.
His resume can be found here:
http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/08conoff/gov/former/html/msa13090.html
Vattel
(9,289 posts)FSogol doesn't even know when O'Malley left the mayor's office, which was in January of 2007, not November of 2007.
FSogol says: "He employed those policies when he arrived as Mayor, but moved away from them for the reasons stated. The number of arrests dropped each year in Baltimore as did the crime rate."
That is completely false. During his time as Mayor, arrests peaked in 2005, leading to the lawsuit in 2006.
FSogol says: "O'Malley, as Mayor of Baltimore (Dec 1999-Nov 2007) followed a policy of zero tolerance, also know as the broken windows policy as did almost every major city in the US."
FSogol would have you believe that O'Malley was just doing what everyone else was doing, but that completely ignores that O'Malley's zero tolerance went well beyond the basic broken window approach. As Simon says:
My own crew members [on The Wire] used to get picked up trying to come from the set at night. Wed wrap at like one in the morning, and wed be in the middle of East Baltimore and theyd start to drive home, theyd get pulled over. My first assistant director Anthony Hemingway ended up at city jail. No charge. Driving while black, and then trying to explain that he had every right to be where he was, and he ended up on Eager Street4. Charges were non-existent, or were dismissed en masse. Martin OMalleys logic was pretty basic: If we clear the streets, theyll stop shooting at each other. Well lower the murder rate because there will be no one on the corners.
FSogol says: "There is a fact checker article floating around DU that shows that O'Malley did not manipulate the stats like Simon alleges. He used the FBI numbers."
Where does FSogol imagine that the FBI got their numbers from? They got them from the city government of Baltimore. Those numbers in no way show that Simon's claims about manipulating statistics are false. And I might add, the fact checker at the Washington post must really like O'Malley because the that "fact checker" doesn't even mention that the drop in homicides that O'Malley brags about is based on looking at the number of homicides in years 2007-2009 in addition to earlier years. So O'Malley is taking credit for what happened in Baltimore after the next mayor came in and stopped the mass arrest policy.
Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)Most of the article was about police practices, a subject on which Simon was indeed critical of O'Malley. It also included this passage:
Which is to say that O'Malley, like any other politician with a significant record, will have some things in that record to admire and some to criticize.
BainsBane
(53,003 posts)That is a different question from whether I will caucus for him.
FSogol
(45,363 posts)DJ13
(23,671 posts)Lets see what happens as he hones his message.
Thanks.
wyldwolf
(43,865 posts)Someone running to the left of Hillary who REALLY IS to the left of Hillary.
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)More than a year before the election... Hell, almost eight whole months before the first fucking presidential primary... and we're already feasting on our own.
This is gonna be one fucked up process.
elleng
(130,156 posts)Hutzpa
(11,461 posts)cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)Dragonfli
(10,622 posts)did he employ as mayor? Were the police targeting people of color more, less, or the same under him?
Did his commissioner use profiling to arrest unusually high numbers of POC, was there a pattern of police abuse then like now? Or was his tenure a period of relatively progressive and fair enforcement compared to now?
Any residents from the city during his tenure know the answers to such questions?
That is what to me appears to be relevant now, but I have no idea how the police thugs were directed during his time as mayor and would like someone from the area to help me out.
Hutzpa
(11,461 posts)aggressive policing, some of the folks from Baltimore were talking about it or mentioned it on few times two days ago.
Dragonfli
(10,622 posts)It does not sound good and his attitudes regarding policing, profiling and prisoner abuse are far more important than his deciding to appear in the city at this time. The former deals with substance, the latter with appearances and campaigning.
I am more concerned with substance when deliberating levels of support for potential candidates.
Aggressive policing does not sound good, often it inspires things like racial profiling, arrest quotas, unlawful search, and even informally condoned physical abuse.
Hutzpa
(11,461 posts)but it was mentioned on CNN by the reporter who was walking with him at the time and also by those that
appeared on CNN.
Update
Found these on google;
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/back-in-baltimore-omalley-seeks-healing-could-face-political-fallout/2015/04/28/1fc4fc54-ede7-11e4-a55f-38924fca94f9_story.html
and another;
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/martin-omalley-returns-home-to-tough-questions-117454.html
and then this;
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-06-27/news/bs-ed-rodricks-omalley-zero-tolerance20100627_1_zero-tolerance-timely-intelligence-and-statistics-o-malley-years
brush
(53,475 posts)Check out this link of an interview of David Simon, the creator of "The Wire" who is also a former newspaper police beat reporter during the O'Malley years Simon is no right winger.
This information needs to be out there before any nomination least we have another Edwards situation like almost torpedoed us Dems in '08 if he had gotten the nomination and then the sex scandal and baby momma surfaced)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/29/david-simon-martin-_n_7175274.html
FSogol
(45,363 posts)Don't fall for RW crap.
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)I'd call myself an O'Malley supporter.
FSogol
(45,363 posts)cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)It's gonna be a long, bumpy ride. I'm glad I've never been prone to motion sickness!
elleng
(130,156 posts)cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)brush
(53,475 posts)Check out this link of an interview of David Simon, the creator of "The Wire" who is also a former newspaper police beat reporter during the O'Malley years Simon is no right winger.
This information needs to be out there before any nomination least we have another Edwards situation like almost torpedoed us Dems in '08 if he had gotten the nomination and then the sex scandal and baby momma surfaced)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/29/david-simon-martin-_n_7175274.html
elleng
(130,156 posts)Pisses me off.
Martin O'Malley, Baltimore's Prodigal Mayor gets to work.
BETTER~
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-04-29/martin-o-malley-baltimore-s-prodigal-mayor-gets-to-work
Cha
(295,929 posts)thanks for the link.
This is what I say to the OP..
"..even heckled".. Everyone gets heckled.. "suicide".. Really? I bet he's still in the game, Jackie.
elleng
(130,156 posts)Will see how he continues to respond to this. Hear/see 'friends' fairly negative, so I don't engage.
Cha
(295,929 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)the 34 year old daughter of Sandra Lee McCarthy and former representative, oft-time POTUS candidate, and Fox News Contributor Dennis Kucinich.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts).
OilemFirchen
(7,143 posts)Trippin' gig!
MADem
(135,425 posts)you, I am not going to presume as to his leanings nowadays. He is the father of this young woman, he was a Representative, he was a POTUS candidate, and he is a Fox News contributor. These things are known about him, with certainty.
I do know, on his way out the door, he didn't have anything nice to say about Democrats--or Republicans.
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/12/28/outgoing_rep_dennis_kucinich_with_2
So I am not sure why you are INSISTING that he's a Democrat, and you "fixed it" when he's not too thrilled with them as the link illustrates. He does, in this interview, make it a point to discuss his alliance with Congressman Paul and he doesn't seem at all enamoured of the two party system...but hey, you go on ahead and call him what you'd like. I happen to think he's moved on.
Cha
(295,929 posts)sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)Wall St fraud etc, doesn't bother me too much, happens all the time.
It really bothers me when a Democrat joins forces with Republicans to get something like the TPP passed, that kind of fondness for some of the worst Republicans, definitely bothers me.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)I'm not sure why you are upset over Democrats discussing issues with Republicans.
It's better than Democrats working with them to pass a horror of a bill like the TPP eg.
Far as I know he never appointed Republicans to powerful positions in government after WE threw them out.
I am stating a fact. Until he says otherwise, he's a Democrat.
You can 'think' what you want, I 'think' a lot of things too, but they aren't facts.
Kucinich on the issues was and is one of those Democrats who did not abandon his principles and vote with Republicans to start a disastrous war eg.
He didn't 'think' Bush was telling the truth.
But you go ahead and bash Democrats all you want, it won't change anything.
MADem
(135,425 posts)concerns into the discussion!!!
I provided a link that had him expressing in his own words (those are "facts" -- those words of his--not "opinions" his thought processes as he left Congress and his friendship with his fellow Congressman Paul; you respond by attempting, lamely, to "characterize" me as "upset."
Check your mirror--I think you're the "upset" one here. And if you bothered to check the link I provided, you'd see that he DID "say otherwise"--he basically abandoned the two party system. So, sorry--he doesn't sound like a "practicing Dem" to me anymore.
But hey, how could you know? I provided a link and you didn't bother to click on it!!!
Pointing out what Dennis Kucinich actually said isn't "bashing" anyone--least of all Democrats.
I have to wonder where you get some of this material you drag out as you follow me around--it's lame as all get-out. Apropos of absolutely nothing, too.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)thought it might forward good legislation. So upset you are pretending to 'think' he must not be a Democrat, with zero to back it up, other than he expressed his opinions about issues.
How do you feel about a Democratic President appointing Republicans to powerful positions, in Defense, in Economics, in State, leaving Bush appointees in the NSA, in the DOJ?
You must be livid over those close relationships and friendships with people like Hagel et al.
I mean you can't be upset with one Democrat for working with, though not placing in any powerful position, one Republican and applaud all those friendships which led to putting them BACK in power AFTER we threw them out?
Consistency is everything. But then I'm only assuming that Democrats consorting with Republicans is something that so upsets you you believe they are no longer Democrats, not just this Democrat??
MADem
(135,425 posts)Sorry--no matter how many times you repeat That Word, I'm not upset.
I am starting to feel sorry for you, though. There's something amiss when you keep trying to characterize others with emotions you are plainly feeling.
You must be upset!!! You must be livid!!! Where are you getting this crap?
I think you do need some help. I can't give it to you, though. Not sure why you keep following me around and going off on tangents, but this isn't the first time--I'm sure it won't be the last.
Psssst--here's a clue. I don't give a shit what a Fox News contributor does in his spare time, mmmkay? Apparently you're enamoured of the guy, because you can't do the Frozen and Let Him Go...?
Tarheel_Dem
(31,211 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)She looks a bit like his present wife, which is kind of odd.
JI7
(89,182 posts)Probably looks like the current one.
MADem
(135,425 posts)This is the most recent wife--the pic is five years old, I think she cut her hair.
Hutzpa
(11,461 posts)Saw a reporter asked him how did he feel that the people were booing him and screaming at him? couldn't catch his response.
If your home state is not feeling your presidenting before you even get to the starting block, you know it's time to
pack it in.
FSogol
(45,363 posts)You are mixing up your rw memes.
elleng
(130,156 posts)Hutzpa
(11,461 posts)not making this up.
I also saw on CNN the reception he got was very mixed.
FSogol
(45,363 posts)of allegations from other hit pieces. Total BS.
MADem
(135,425 posts)Before that she wrote for WAPO and The Hill.
You're seriously accusing her of writing a BS RW hit piece? Just because you don't like what she's reporting?
ucrdem
(15,512 posts)and it might have been heavily edited. It does read like a hit piece though doesn't it?
MADem
(135,425 posts)It seems more like an evaluation that comes to the conclusion that this candidate hasn't "caught on" and he's squandered what opportunity he might have had. The big finish is all opinion, but it comes off like a valid assessment. You are probably right about the headline, I'll bet--because the conclusion doesn't match the headline. It's not suicide, it's more like a petering out, if anything.
And yet, for some reason, no one is listening.
But hes still a serious contender for the White House. Because hes a Democrat who is thinking about running for president?
Is that really a reason?
Anything is possible, of course, when it comes to presidential races. The media love to build up unlikely contenders, at least for a little while. Long shots do rise to the top, from time to time. But after OMalleys less-than-warm welcome back to his hometown, this does not appear to be one of those occasions. Perhaps now we can all stop pretending hes a real rival to Hillary Clinton.
OMalleys failure to take hold of this moment in the city he has staked so much of his reputation as an executive on is puzzling. But his failure to realize this Baltimore reunion would open up old, deep wounds in a community that has not quite forgiven him for tough policing policiesis politically tone deaf, at best.
OMalleys presence on the ground in Baltimore probably didnt make the situation there any worse, but it sure didnt make OMalleys presidential dreams any more real.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026598870
ucrdem
(15,512 posts)If he'd spent that last week touring Dublin or wherever he was and skipped the whole ordeal, that would have been a failure, but he canceled his engagements and went back. So calling it failure seems like a predetermined conclusion.
The other thing is that my conspiratorial gears started turning the minute I heard Baltimore was "in flames." Also, Daily Beast has always struck me as having neo-con tendencies though I reached that conclusion years ago and haven't really read it much since.
MADem
(135,425 posts)And Kucinich has been on that beat for years. I remember her at the Hill a LONG time ago when she was cutting her teeth. She did a decent job there. I didn't follow her when she was at Wapo, but that's a good training ground. DB is partnered with NEWSWEEK which is to the left of TIME magazine, which is reliably Republican. They're all corporate, of course, but everything is. I will say NEWSWEEK is on the right side of most "issue" journalism, particularly gender and race issues and other equality issues.
I watched a lot of riot footage, and it's not something that should be downplayed. It was a serious event. This was an outburst of anger and frustration that was stunning in its intensity.
For the first time in HISTORY, a major league baseball game was played without ANY fans.
This was a serious situation and to downgrade it is just not on.
ucrdem
(15,512 posts)DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)you seem to be more or less clueless about what constitutes Left and what constitutes Right. Feel better soon.
FSogol
(45,363 posts)DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)When you're a centrist, and you're calling people to the left of you right-wingers (presumably to feel better about the milquetoast positions you're taking), you need to take stock, because you're wrong about very basic and fundamental notions.
Hutzpa
(11,461 posts)FSogol
(45,363 posts)I find it hard to believe that the Daily Beast has great liberal credentials, but insult away...
Response to FSogol (Reply #68)
Post removed
FSogol
(45,363 posts)has any problems I can't handle.
DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)FSogol
(45,363 posts)DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)Item the first: I just got done calling you the Internet tough guy, or were you not able to derive that friom my statement about you acting different in your real life than you do on the Internet, as evidenced by your good health?
Item the second: you know I didn't threaten you. I know it. And we both know you used it in a subject line as a setup for a possible lock. Again, refer back to cowardice as it relates to you.
Finally, show me and everyone else where I threatened you. You made the false accusation. You to,d a lie. You're being called on it now. Produce results or enjoy being known as someone whose word and character are of no account.
FSogol
(45,363 posts)DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)I'm not surprised. Your character dictates how you'll respond to a thing, so you've behaved as expected. I'd like to think better about fellow Democrats, but I learned a good while back from people like you that this is not possible. I'm ending this because this is enough Internet drama to last me a year. I don't want anything to do with someone like you,with someone willing to tell lies in an attempt to harm someone's character after slinging insults about a person's parentage and upbringing. What's wrong with you?
Hutzpa
(11,461 posts)FSogol
(45,363 posts)on a motorcylce was a housing developer and obviously some rw clown. Two hecklers and a bs comment from rw governor in over his head are enough to doom a campaign?
Really?
Why do DUers keep falling for this RW bullshit?
Check this out for the real perspective:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026584386
Hogan has to be worried because everyone is seeing a real leader, not some RW skunk begging Chris Christie to send more cops.
Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)malaise
(267,845 posts)Pathetic
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)Hogan's a Republican. I'm shocked he'd diss Democrat O'Malley (not)
FSogol
(45,363 posts)He actually begged NJ Gov Chris Christe to send him more.
KMOD
(7,906 posts)and now they're trying to blame Martin O'Malley.
You know who I blame? The officers.
questionseverything
(9,631 posts)that only makes him worth looking at
the war on mj has been the most expensive counter productive thing our nation has done recently
Hutzpa
(11,461 posts)is mj the only thing you care about?
questionseverything
(9,631 posts)i hate the govt wasting my money to keep us safe from potheads
pretty ballsy for omalley to break away from the usual dem stance of "treatment not jail"
the drug court stuff sets people up to fail and again very expensive,with mj i just dont think there is a need for the govt to interfere with something safer than alcohol
i do support heroin,meth,crack being illegal
seveneyes
(4,631 posts)Life has no risks it has not overcome. That which never started never ends.
JI7
(89,182 posts)And quote from republican governor to try to back up authors bs
MADem
(135,425 posts)jeff47
(26,549 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)Are the people at ALTERNET right wingers, too?
They've got the same opinion of the man. http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/presidential-hopeful-omalley-was-warned-his-police-strategy-would-produce-more
jeff47
(26,549 posts)to claim she must be a liberal.
As for Alternet, they seem to think O'Malley only used one policing strategy during his entire time as mayor. Pretty damn shallow analysis. But hey, they agree with the Republican governor, so they must be liberal....or something.
MADem
(135,425 posts)I think the riots in Baltimore have shut the door on his chances. That's just my opinion, YMMV.
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)Octafish
(55,745 posts)That would be a real deal breaker.
fadedrose
(10,044 posts)but it's good that it happened now, rather than after he was picked as the nominee just before the election.
He could not have known the consequences of his actions and his lack of knowledge of police brutality on the blacks/coloreds and how it would affect his term.
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,085 posts)Way to drag the family name through the mud, Jackie.
Perhaps O'Malley was heckled by some. Perhaps some do think it's just political grandstanding on his part. Perhaps O'Malley does need to answer questions about some of his policies as mayor.
At this point, I don't care. For whatever criticisms may be launched at Martin O'Malley, at least he's giving some effort to connect with the people of the city he used to lead.
Jackie Kucinich wants to hold O'Malley up against Larry Hogan? Are you freaking kidding me?
Look at this man:
?itok=nfkjrbq-
Every ounce of that man's body language screams, "I don't want to be here." Hogan has made zero effort to try and connect with the people of Baltimore. None. All he's done is walk around the city with a dazed look on his face and go crying to his buddy Chris Christie for help.
Give me a break. Complete and utter hogwash.