Recently in Politics Category

Don't look to Plugs and Dottles for anything profound about the election or its results. Others far better than me have the corner on that market.

I never would have guessed the Republicans could come up with presidential candidates more unqualified to be in the White House than the current occupants but, by God, they've done it. They've really done it. Were the Republican candidates Martin and Lewis I don't think my bewilderment could be more ineffable, my contempt for the national GOP more complete.

Republicans... Gimme the votes. To hell with America.
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For the first time since Walter Mondale picked Geraldine Ferraro, a presidential candidate has chosen a running mate I've absolutely never heard of. Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, is McCain's choice.

Huh. Sarah Palin? Really? Never heard of her. Sarah Palin? Alaska has a woman governor?

In fact, when the New York Times news alert flashed across my computer screen saying "McCain Chooses Palin as Running Mate" I had this brief moment of confusion. Visions of Monty Python in the White House danced in my head.

I'm fairly astute and observant as people go. I read newspapers, websites, blogs. So if I've never heard of her, I figure a whole bunch of other people have never heard of her. I can't quite figure out if McCain is desperate, cynical, or just wants the antithesis of Dick Cheney as a running mate. (Oh, wait, McCain's a Republican... very likely all three.)

It's usually of no consequence to me who the Republican vice presidential candidate is. Or the Republican presidential candidate, for that matter. I'll no sooner vote for a Republican than I will fly to the moon. But McCain turns 72 today. If he wins the White House, Palin stands a much better chance of assuming the presidency than Joe Biden does.
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Super Tuesday didn't settle much as far as the Democratic presidential contenders are concerned, so Maryland is actually getting more than the minimal attention we typically garner from our presidential candidates. The Baltimore Sun tells us - with less than a week before the Maryland primary election - the Clinton and Obama camps are "scrambling" to plan in Maryland. Offices are being opened, advertisements readied, and rallies scheduled. I heard on the radio this morning that Obama may actually visit Prince George's County in our humble state (though at this point it's still only a rumor). I even saw a presidential campaign ad last night on TV. Be still my fluttering heart!

From my jaundiced and apathetic viewpoint, Obama seems to have the most traction in the state. My representative - Elijah Cummings - and a whole raft of local Howard County officials are endorsing him. But Clinton has some high-power endorsements herself: Governor O'Malley and Senator Mikulski are both strong Clinton supporters. I've yet to settle on a candidate. I have till next Tuesday to do so. (Maryland has a closed primary system. To vote in the primaries, you have to declare an official party affiliation. I get to vote only for Democrats.)

I think this is the first time since I've lived in Maryland that my vote in the presidential primary might actually mean something. In all the other primaries, the nominee had been decided long before I got to vote. Now I have to really think seriously about my choice. I'm not free to cast my usual "What will piss off conservatives the most?" vote.

So much for my Al Gore write-in campaign.
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National
Governor Mike Huckabee yesterday apologized to Mitt Romney for disparaging Romney's Mormon religion. Gov. Huckabee caused the issue in published comments when he innocently suggested that according to Mormon teaching, Jesus and Satan are brothers. Presumably the apology was not over this specific point of Mormonism - Mormons really do believe Jesus and Lucifer are brothers (cf. D&C 76:25) - but that he brought up religion at all. Nevertheless, this is exactly the kind of political discourse our Founding Fathers wanted: presidential candidates cowed into defending their ways of worshiping God by a powerful minority determined to impose its religious tenets as a test for holding public office. May all Republicans rejoice!

Local
The demise of Columbia, Maryland's, Christmastime poinsettia tree has caused not only a little sadness in Howard County but a protest as well. For forty Christmases, the cultural, social, intellectual, and spiritual heart of Howard County's planned community - The Mall in Columbia - has boosted community Yuletide morale by providing Columbians with a huge poinsettia "tree" at the center of this venerable establishment. Unfortunately the Mall's new out-of-town management ditched the beloved tradition in favor of a tacky, crass, and tawdry "Santastic" experience (Where Santa believes in you!). Brokenhearted Columbians, desperate for solace, succor, and any last shred of the true spirit of Christmas, have been found as far away as Arundel Mills Mall in a futile attempt to regain the magic.

Sports
Major league baseball is issuing a report today naming names in the ever-growing steroid scandal. Evidently some pretty big names are going to be mentioned. Baltimore Oriole's-own Jay Gibbons has already admitted to steroid use and has been suspended for 15 games at the start of next season. Other Orioles are almost certainly going to be named. But you know what? So what else is new? Buzz was pitch-perfect on this one: Marion Jones was the last straw. Now I believe all world-class athletes - no matter the stripe, no matter the sport - are on steroids. I figure that kid who won the national spelling bee is on steroids.

Science
Scientists and anthropologists now understand why pregnant women don't tip over like bowling pins. Researchers from Harvard have discovered that skeletal adaptations of the female lower back can be found in early hominid fossils. These adaptations help relieve strain on the female lumbar region as women naturally lean back during pregnancy. Hominid women so equipped would be better adapted to their environment than hominid women without. It also explains the apparent lack of beer-gutted australopithecine men in the fossil record.
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Yesterday, Maryland's highest court upheld a statute defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. It was a close vote: 4-3. Gays cried, traditionalists exulted.

The court certainly didn't close the door on the same-sex marriage issue in Maryland. It merely punted the whole thing into the lap of the legislature. "In declaring that the State's legitimate interests in fostering procreation and encouraging the traditional family structure ... our opinion should by no means be read to imply that the General Assembly may not grant and recognize for homosexual persons civil unions or the right to marry a person of the same sex," said Judge Glenn T. Harrell Jr., who wrote the majority opinion.

The same-sex marriage issue does merit discussion. In the Maryland case, same-sex couples argued that the Maryland law is a form of sex discrimination. Like the court, I don't really see it this way. Currently everyone has the right to marry someone of the opposite sex and no one has the right to marry someone of the same sex. We all have the one right; we're all denied the other. There's no discrimination against any one group. That this situation works out to the satisfaction of heterosexuals and not of gays is almost beside the point. Same-sex marriage is such a big expansion of the rights of everyone we need debate. What is the impact to society? We need to discuss it. Same-sex marriage is not the no-brainer some folks - both conservative and liberal - want it to be. In this case, the legislature is the proper place to begin.

Personally I have no problem with same-sex marriage. If two people want to create a stable, loving family unit why should society stop them? The high divorce and teen pregnancy rates seen in this country as well as the amount of spouse and child abuse do not lead me to think hetero-marriage is the noble, pro-family, society-sustaining, life-affirming institution traditionalists suggest it to be. The notion that marriage is for producing children has never been anything but antiquated. Senior citizens get married all the time without any intent (or capability) of producing offspring. All the hysterical, slippery-slope predictions suggested by traditionalists ("What's next? Marrying animals? Marrying dead people?") are nothing but canards. And please, please, please don't wave your Bible in my face and shout about biblical injunctions and abominations before God. Two verses plucked from a Pauline letter, devoid of any historical context, are not a sound basis for public policy. We need a 21st-century solution for all of society not just conservative Christians.

I expect the issue to surface again when the House of Delegates begins meeting in January. Gay couples are smarting from yesterday's ruling and religious zealots want to seal current law in the state constitution. The legislating will be difficult. But in the end, the fair and compassionate thing to do is ensure that everyone in Maryland is treated as equally as possible by the law.

I'll keep you posted.
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An update to this. Yesterday the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill requiring that Maryland restaurants and bars be smoke-free beginning in February 2008. The smoking ban includes private clubs. Governor Martin O'Malley has pledged to sign the smoking ban legislation.

The General Assembly ended its 90-day session ducking a few pressing issues: Maryland's looming budget deficit and the ongoing decline of the Chesapeake Bay chief among them. Other contentious issues - granting in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants and slot machines in Maryland - were deferred until next year. Bills to ban the death penalty and assault weapons were defeated. The tone of discourse seemed more pleasant now that Robert Ehrlich is gone.

That's it till next year.
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The Maryland General Assembly meets for 90 days beginning in January. It's a whirlwind of activity only occasionally capturing my undivided attention. This year's legislative session promised to be just a bit more entertaining because last November Republican governor Robert Ehrlich and his monstrous arrogance were voted out of office. Democratic mayor of Baltimore, Martin O'Malley, was voted in. No one was sure how well O'Malley and the legislature would play together.

This year, one issue I've been paying more than passing attention to is the statewide smoking ban now being debated in Annapolis. Howard County enacted a countywide ban last year and Baltimore City enacted one very early this year. A few other Maryland counties had already gone that way. Seeing the writing on the wall, both the Maryland House of Delegates and State Senate have passed measures banning smoking in bars and restaurants statewide. A conference committee will be required to iron out the differences. Whether to regulate smoking in private clubs and who decides hardship cases separate the two measures. O'Malley has stated he would sign a statewide ban if a bill reached his desk.

I didn't need one parent who died as a result of smoking and another who died from the effects of secondhand smoke to support a smoking ban, but it helps. For me, this is purely a worker health and safety issue. Let's try and think of another business or industry where known carcinogens are intentionally pumped directly into the workplace atmosphere shall we? Thought of any? Nope, me neither. In no other situation would a local jurisdiction permit such a palpably unsafe work environment to exist. It's only a matter of time before smoking bans in bars and restaurants become the norm everywhere.

As for the smokers? Well, the hell with them. Smokers fly cross-country in airplanes, they fly to Europe and Hawaii, they go to movies and concerts and shows, they sit in classrooms, all no smoking situations of duration longer than your average restaurant meal and gotten used to it. They can get used to this, and at the same time, feel good about not poisoning thousands of bar and restaurant workers. Quite frankly, I see this as a win-win situation.

I'll keep you posted.
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