Baltimore is Dying.

Last night I was the door man for Investigative Voice's 1-year anniversary party, which featured a six-person panel discussion on the state of the city. Former Mayor Sheila Dixon was on Hand, as well as a scattering of the rest of the commentariat, from police-commissioner-turned-radio-host Ed Norris to the local head of the NAACP. And they said:

Stuff

And the audience asked them keen questions, loaded with

Blah

And after a while it sounded like the same Hot Potato game, like we were looking for someone to blame and drive out of town, loaded with our sins, be it the Police Department, City Hall, or the Media. One gentleman did offer up that the communities really ought to police ourselves, and received applause, but no one picked up the train of thought.

This city is something of a sinking ship, and everyone who can is heading for the lifeboats, and the crew is too busy arguing about who was steering to think of plugging the hole.

Update: One of customers writes of the affair far more thoughtfully than I.