As a proponent of the “Lord of the Flies” school, I have never been a fan of human nature, but at least I understand it. The same cannot be said of some of the curmudgeons who wish to run my Baltimore neighborhood like junior Mussolinis. “No dog poop on the sidewalks!” they proclaim, and yet they close the parks and grassy areas to dogs and refuse to provide public trashcans for waste. “No posting notices on trees and telephone poles!” they decree, and yet the alternatives they provide are fancifully insufficient. They demand a vibrant, clean, and safe neighborhood and simultaneously choke out the forces that might lead to that result.

They already run the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary branches of the government; have Republicans taken over my neighborhood, as well?