UMD Professor Critcizes O'Malley's Bush-Bashing

University of Maryland political science professor James Gimpel on Wednesday criticized Baltimore's Democrat Mayor Martin O'Malley for comments he made at the National Press Club criticizing President Bush.

In a speech The [Baltimore] Sun reported was more like a presidential campaign speech than a gubernatorial candidate's speech, O'Malley attacked the Bush administration for not providing cities with enough resources to secure the homeland.

O'Malley specifically listed Baltimore's port, which only inspects 10 percent of incoming containers while Hong Kong inspects 100 percent of its incoming containers.

"For a Democrat from a city that's broke, everything's a federal responsibility," Gimpel said. He said the comments were not controversial because everyone agrees that the federal government needs to play some role in the defense of the nation's cities.

"Would anyone in the Bush administration really quarrel with that?" Gimpel asked The Sun. "Would anyone in the Ehrlich administration really quarrel with that?"

One can only wonder how long Gimpel, who The Sun reported has consulted for national Republicans, will have a place at UMD. There's just not room for professors who are willing to criticize people like O'Malley and defend people like Bush and Ehrlich.