I’ll be honest. Sometimes, the phone calls from A. Robert Kaufman are not always the most welcome. You know he is going to twist your ear about not having a certain viewpoint (read:his) on the show, and will give you a slightly long winded explanation of how he feels and the data to back his opinions up and why this is important and so on and so on. We’re often pressed for time in this job, so sometimes this is not always the most welcome phone call.
But the thing about Bob is, this is really a person who pretty much gives everything he has to the things he believes in. He’s spent his life speaking out for the kind of people that most consider the dregs of society-the poor, the addicted, the prostitutes, the mentally ill. He imagines a society where someone who needs help gets it. That’s really very radical and it’s not often that someone espouses these beliefs and then puts their money where their mouth is like he does. We live in a Christian nation but this perennial candidate and atheist is one of the few people I know that really embraces and lives some of the social teachings of Jesus about poverty and loving and taking care of those in need, our modern day lepers.
So I have a lot of respect for Mr. Kaufman-and will always take his phone calls. He’s on our show today because he is running for Mayor of Baltimore, and I know he has a lot to say about how we can make this a better city. I hope you’ll join us.
-Jessica
