politics

John Edwards admission that he lied and dismissed reports of an affair with Rielle Hunter, a filmmaker hired to cover his presidential campaign, may have ended his public life, but did it also signify an end to the era in which the mainstream media controlled the agenda for national political journalism?

Allow me to join the round of boos…I mean, editorial boards in calling out Governor Martin O’Malley (D) for not doing anything about the death penalty. First in The Washington Times, whose editorial board states, “Unlike his Virginia counterpart [Gov. Tim Kaine (D)] who has decided to uphold the law, Mr. O’Malley has chosen to snooker it. We understand that an untold number of Americans and politicians wrestle with the morality of the death penalty. But Mr. O'Malley must understand, too, that the law is the law, and he has sworn to uphold the U.S. Constitution and Maryland state law.”

The Capital editorial board who clearly states that they are for what the people want, if they want to repeal the death penalty, but “[they] do have a problem with endless procrastination, legalistic nitpicking and waiting on the outcome of jury rigged studies.” It should be noted that they started off by saying that Maryland is on its way to being a symbolic state. I thought we were already there with all of the official state “stuff” we have on the symbol list.

In any event, O’Malley is showing the same lackadaisical attitude that was on display when it came to the budget last year. We were facing a budget deficit that ranged from $1.3-1.7 billion dollars. Instead of jumping into looking at what he could do budget wise to lessen the blow for the following year, he took a wait and see approach while attempting to fire the alleged incompetent and consumer hating Public Service Commission to bring on his own alleged professional, competent and consumer friendly PSC in hopes of rolling back the BGE rate hikes. By the way, how did that go and how much more money did he give Steve Larsen?

Comptroller Peter Franchot is on the turf of his potential Democratic primary challenger, Jim Smith, touring overcrowded schools with a group that has been critical of the Baltimore County Executive.

Don't forget to participate in this week's Cartoon Caption Contest.

In a 22-1 vote, the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee selected Donna Edwards as the party's nominee in the June 17 special election. Jason Jennings received one vote.

Edwards won the Democratic nomination last February over incumbent Rep. Al Wynn, who is stepping down on May 31 for the private sector. In response to the vacancy, Gov. Martin O'Malley and the state legislature created a bill allowing a party's central committee to select a nominee under certain circumstances, thereby proceeding directly to a special general election.

The Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee will meet to select its nominee on Thursday night.

Donna Edwards finished the quarter with a healthy $236,000 reserve, and not surprisingly, several of Al Wynn’s big money supporters have found their way into Edwards’ financial reports this quarter.

Congressman John Sabarnes at an earlier rally supporting the NCLI ActThis morning, a subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee is holding a field hearing at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel.

The hearing, with Rep. John Sarbanes and testimony from Gov. Martin O’Malley, will focus on the No Child Left Inside Act (NCLI) and improving environmental education in our nation’s schools.

The NCLI Act would authorize $500 million over five years in federal funding for states to train teachers in the field of environmental education; support outdoor environmental education programs for children and develop model environmental education curriculum.