Day166 Friday 02/11/11

ran 4.9 miles

• Maryland was the seventh state to join the union on April 28, 1788, one month before South Carolina and two months after Massachusetts.

• Population, as of 2010, is 5,773,552.

• Senators are Benjamin Cardin (D) and Barbara Mikulski (D).

• Representatives are Andy Harris (R), Dutch Ruppersberger (D), John Sarbanes (D), Donna Edwards (D), Steny Hoyer (D), Roscoe Bartlett (R), Elijah Cummings (D) and Christopher Hollen (D).

• Maryland has ten electoral votes. Historically, the state has voted primarily blue, having participated in all fifty-six elections. Maryland voted Republican only three times (Richard Nixon in 1972, Ronald Reagan in 1984, and George Bush in 1988). Barack Obama defeated John McCain 62% to 38% in 2008.

On a completely separate note, Donald Trump was quoted at CPAC saying that if he were president he would take in “Hundreds of billions from countries that are screwing us”. He also said the United States has become a “Laughing stock” and “Whipping post” for the rest of the world. Trump announced he was considering a run at the presidency in 2012 and that he would officially make his decision In June, when the latest season of “Apprentice” will come to an end.

There will likely be a handful of unexpected presidential candidates throwing their names into the race as the election gets closer. George Clooney’s name keeps surfacing in the news, too. It seems odd, pompous and nearly impossible to consider, but Ronald Reagan was a well-known Hollywood celebrity before he entered the political arena so anything is possible. Donald Trump would be loud and obnoxious, but his blunt ability to say what he thinks with no qualms about softening hard truths is a quality our next president definitely needs. And, if any one man were to make America, once again, the unchallenged world leader in economics and superiority, and not be ashamed of elitism, it would be Donald Trump.

1,634.7 miles to go.