Dan Cox, the Republican nominee for the Governor of Maryland, and Gordana Schifanelli, the Lt. Governor nominee are, one could safely conclude, an unlikely pair. But, this is also an unlikely political cycle. Traditional, cookie-cutter candidates are not the flavor of the times. That this rather unlikely pair managed to defeat in the July primaries the heavy favorite and Gov. Hogan endorsed Kelly Schulz, speaks to the political mood of the moment. What is that mood?
Dan Cox, a native of Maryland — he was born in Tacoma Park, MD — is a veteran of running for a variety of local political offices, state and federal, mostly in the suburban Maryland region (8th Congressional District), and subsequently from more northern and western parts of rural Maryland. He currently represents District 4 (Frederick and Carrol counties) in the Maryland House of Delegates.
With his strong support for the patriotic and economic security America First Policy Agenda, Dan Cox caught the eye of the 45th President of the United Stated, Mr. Donald J. Trump. Dan has earned the much coveted 2022 election-cycle endorsement from Mr. Trump. He got a shout-out from Mr. Trump at the Wilkes-Barre, PA rally this past week.
Gordana Schifanelli, on the other hand, is an adopted daughter; she hails from Belgrade, Serbia, an ocean and 4,700 miles away! She makes her home in Queen Anne County, where she settled with her husband Marc Schifanelli, a former Green Beret, now retired from active duty and a practicing attorney in Annapolis. Gordana has an impressive resume of her own. She obtained a Doctorate in Economics from her home town University of Belgrade. Upon arriving to the United States she became fascinated with the “codification of liberty”, as she puts it, the enshrinement of liberty in a constitution. The fascination with liberty inspired her to pursue a law degree at the University of Baltimore. She was an adjunct professor at the US Naval Academy before taking a time-out to campaign full-time. Dan Cox is also an attorney with special interest in Constitutional Law.
It is at this intersection, and “intersectionality” being a thing nowadays, that these two unlikely paths crossed: the love of liberty. It is a theme that is threaded throughout their campaign, but more importantly, it is a passion that is notable when either or both of them speak. When liberty is at very core of one’s belief system, it spreads out in a centrifugal pattern — it reverberates through everything it touches from civil (and medical) rights to economics and education. In a free society, liberty is the “ground of all things”, noted a Nobel Prize winning economist.
I’ve known Gordana for a long while from the local “peninsula” politics. She has made a name for herself in the neighboring Queen Anne County in the fight for Parental Rights and de-politicization of the school curriculum. The fight was prolonged and intense. Gordana, a mother of three, is a passionate and relentless defender of non-politicized education. Having grown up under a socialist regime she is all too familiar with what “social learning” is: “brainwashing”, as she unabashedly puts it. She knows. She has lived it. Her husband Marc now serves on the Board of Education in Queen Anne.
Freedom, to both Dan Cox and Gordana is, at its most basic, “ability to choose” how you see the world, and how you wish to live your life in that world — it is “Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness — all subsequent versions and gradations are but varieties of this basic, fundamental value.
Liberty is an ever present theme in American politics. Liberty is, after all, an American Birthmark and an American Birthright.
Things ever-present can be taken for granted, get a patina of dullness about them, they can get dusty and settled with a non-enterprising status of a relic. From time to time they have to be jolted back to life, infused with new spirit and energy.
The Covid pandemic and the overreaching government response was such a watershed moment — a Road to Damascus moment for many Americans. Businesses were forcefully shutdown, and many were put out of business permanently when the “two week shutdown to flatten the curve” turned into prolonged closures. People were prevented from going to work and earning a living. Schools closed and millions of children were relegated to “remote learning”. Many schools remained closed for almost two academic years, causing undue developmental damage and learning loss. The Biden administration eventually mandated that citizens subject themselves to an experimental therapeutic/vaccine that has since been proven to be anything but “safe and effective”.
This government overreach and intrusion into our private lives was a watershed moment for many Americans, including Marylanders who were subjected to draconian stay-at-home orders. The liberty that we have taken for granted, the relic we dusted-off from time to time, like on Veterans Day, on Memorial Day, or the 4th of July, echoed like a voice in a twilight dream.
The spirit of liberty reawakened. That potent Benjamin Franklin adage, “he who would trade liberty for some temporary security deserves neither liberty nor security”, came knocking. For some of us, loudly.
Americans are once again choosing that fundamental value, liberty. The “stay at home” and obey “mandate-supporting” candidate only carried two counties in the state of Maryland.
The Democratic ticket headed by Wes Moore echoes, approvingly, much of what we have just lived through and rejected. The Democratic ticket promises much of the same for the future: mandates, dictates, more government control, and of course more taxes to pay for it all.
Dan Cox and Gordana Schifanelli are the liberty ticket for Maryland: political freedom, economic freedom, medical freedom, and educational choice, because “LIBERTY is the ground of all things”.
Tatiana Croissette
Former Chair, Kent County GOP
George R. Shivers says
I can only hope that they are unlikely to win the election. They are part of the extremist “revolution” in this country and the Republican Party, even here in “blue” Maryland is once again demonstrating its subjugation to ant-democracy, fascist wing of the party.
Holly Geddes says
Beautifully written. The importance of Liberty can’t be overestimated in the face of the “woke” expectation of conformity of ideas in line with governmental and media ideology.
Carla Massoni says
Whose liberty?
Marjorie Bram says
Probably not yours or mine.
Gren Whitman says
Spy readers are too smart to be fooled by Ms. Croissette’s rose-colored blandishments.
Make no mistake!
The Republican Party’s Cox and Schifaelli are hard-right reactionaries. Full stop.
They are opposed to a woman’s right to choose regarding childbearing.
They would weaken Maryland’s relatively strict firearms laws.
They’re against fact- and history-based public education.
They deny that President Biden won the 2020 election, want to outlaw vaccines, masks, and other public health measures, and are good at avoiding reporters’ questions.
As “Former Chair, Kent County GOP,” Ms. Croissette should at least have learned that there’s an apostrophe “s” in Queen Anne’s County.
And, Ms. C., please describe liberty as something other than an “American Birthmark.”
Holly Geddes says
Beautifully written. 👍🏼
Carla Massoni says
Spelling and grammar – ain’t everything.
A pig is still a pig.
Alex Morgan says
You speak with such declarative authority, you must have a lot of first hand experience with pigs.
Sian Salsbury says
So in support of liberty and individual freedom of choice for healthcare such as the desire to act as one wants in response to the pandemic I am assuming that you do not support any “draconian “ measures to keep women from making such decisions about their individual healthcare. With your strong support of education and liberty I assume you support accurately educating our children with historical facts about our great country including facts about the Civil War, Underground Railroad and Civil Rights movement. Of course “parental choice” means teaching true documented factual history. I also assume in your support of liberty that you trust that all people should have a right to vote conveniently and equitably regardless of economic, religious, or racial status for this is clearly stated in the Constitution. Thus I assume these 2 do not support actions to suppress voting or making voting more difficult. Because of this high standard of belief in our country, constitution and liberty I assume these candidates accept the outcome of free and fair elections such as those held in 2020.
Oops, wrong. These 2 only believe in liberty for actions, beliefs and practices held by them. Don’t ruin MD by voting for these selfish hacks. They want to teach facts about history that they prefer, take away women’s autonomy in individual healthcare and promote a flat out lie about the outcome of the last election. They want us to do as they tell us to do without any questions and don’t dare examine what they themselves are doing.
Beryl Smtib says
I guess this is what one can expect from someone who has their head buried in the sand and only knows how to spout extraordinarily stupid bravos about a supremely unqualified candidate and his immigrant vp. Immigrants are not my attack here–but they come with their own baggage and lack of understanding about our electoral system, democracy and way of living in the United States of America.
Alex Morgan says
Let me get this right: the author is: “extraordinarily stupid”; the candidate is: “supremely unqualified”; his running mate is: “an immigrant … with baggage [with] lack of understanding about our electoral system, democracy and a way of living in the United States of America”. This from a member of the part of: diversity, tolerance, inclusion, intersectionality, multiculturalism and identity politics. OK, I’ve probably missed a few virtues that you claim for yourself but the picture puzzle of hypocrisy is coming together rather nicely, don’t ya think?
Gretchen F Stroh says
Interesting to say Freedom is “the ability to choose” yet he would choose to take that ability away from women.
Bob Moores says
Dear Ms. Croissette,
I find your piece filled with falsehoods, half-truths, and ignorance.
For example, take your statement “The Biden Administration eventually mandated that citizens subject themselves to an experimental therapeutic/vaccine that has since proven to be anything but ‘safe and effective’.”
It’s true that Biden mandated the vaccine, but only for federal government employees, not all Americans. Further, your characterization of the covid-19 vaccine as “experimental” is grossly misleading. The vaccines were proven effective in trials before being authorized for the public by the FDA. They are still effective against the Omicron variants which mutated from the original Delta strain. By “effective” I don’t mean they eliminate the possibility of contracting the disease, if that’s what you are looking for. The vaccines are effective in reducing the likelihood of severe illness and death, especially for the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. If you take time to look at the charts of hospitalization and death rate you will see this is true.
I love liberty as much as you. I have the liberty to be as ignorant and selfish as I please, but I don’t have the liberty to infect others with my virus. Do you understand the difference?
If your favored leader would have warned Americans early about the dangers of covid-19, and set an example by masking and avoiding super-spreader events, there is no telling how many of the million lives lost could have been saved. Instead, he purposely withheld that knowledge, telling us the pandemic would be over by Easter (2020) “like a miracle.” Was he right?
I could go on, but what good would it do?
Robin Faitoute says
Cox and friends have exclusive rights to patriotism and the pursuit of liberty (despite policies to the contrary)??? These claims are – to be polite – typical fascist smoke screening tactics. The letter might be somewhat amusing, flag-waving pablum if it were not for the deliberate and deadly misinformation about the COVID vaccine.
Tim Mim says
Prayers that these 2 are never elected. They are beyond fringe. Cox is not a patriot when he busses people on January 6th to the insurrection and as the Capitol is being breached tweet “Pence is a traitor”. Those actions make you a traitor sir.
I am NOT “woke”, I am not a liberal, but I do believe in our country and the rule of law. Hard no on these 2.
Bill Fritz says
Very well written. All I will say is, I cannot believe the ignorance of some of the people and their rude comments below.