Bob Ehrlich

Guests at a June 14 dinner honoring former Maryland governor Bob Ehrlich and former Ravens all-pro place-kicker Matt Stover will dine in complete darkness. The event, called Dining in the Dark, is hosted by the Foundation Fighting Blindness , a Columbia-based national nonprofit focused on life-saving research. Described as "a distinctive sensory awareness experience," diners at the Baltimore Hilton will take their entree course "using only their senses of smell, sound, taste and touch to get a glimpse into the lives of the blind.

A forceful friend and an active advocate: These words describe my feelings about business and civic leader Richard E. Hug, whose hard work helped improve Maryland politics (May 7). As a volunteer participant in Bob Ehrlich's campaign for governor, I remember Dick Hug's 24/7 work in raising funds to help achieve election success. Citizen participation in a democracy means work, and that is the kind of volunteer participation and leadership that Mr. Hug gave. Thanks for his fine example.

Update: Former Gov. Bob Ehrlich, longtime aide Greg Massoni and former elections board chief Gene Raynor were called to testify before the grand jury, according to my source. Chris Cavey, former chairman of the Baltimore County GOP,   just confirmed to me that he also testified. Former Ehrlich communications director Paul Schurick and Joe Sliwka, a former campaign aide, were not called to testify. I misunderstood my source and I regret the error. Former Gov. Bob Ehrlich and a two top aide s testified last week before the grand jury investigating deceptive Election Day robocalls made on behalf of his re-election campaign, a source close to the matter told me Tuesday.

Bob Ehrlich devoted roughly one-third of an entire op-ed page in Sunday's Sun to a surprisingly weak and inarticulate diatribe about how liberal colleges and universities are often force-feeding "your kids" ludicrous, politically correct junk ("As kids head to college, beware liberal groupthink," Feb. 24). He only made direct reference to four universities. Vanderbilt, a private school, allegedly placed four Christian groups on provisional status for requiring members to adhere to religious tenets.

For 25 years, Casa de Maryland has been providing support services — English as a second language, legal advice, training for day laborers, road-to-citizenship classes — to thousands of poor Latinos who immigrated to the United States and settled in Maryland, particularly the D.C. suburbs. War and civil unrest in Central America in the 1980s caused thousands of families to flee north, and it was in the basement of a Presbyterian church in Takoma Park that Casa's first volunteers provided emergency clothing and food to new arrivals.

I'm sorry, but replacing Ron Smith's column with Bob Ehrlich is like substituting homemade hooch for a fine wine. Though conservative, Mr. Smith could disagree with fellow conservatives with reasoned argument. It seems presently that Mr. Ehrlich, like so many other conservatives, is just spewing out worn out party phrases as election propaganda. What happened to the era of independent thinking Republicans along the lines of Dwight Eisenhower or locally Charles McC. Matthias? Have they simply no one with an original, cogent idea?

I'm disappointed that former governorRobert L. Ehrlich Jr.will be writing a column in The Baltimore Sun, a newspaper that skewered him unmercifully when he was in office ("Ehrlich column to run in The Sun," Jan. 22). What The Sun did to Governor Ehrlich, including taking him to court, is unforgivable. I'm displeased in his decision to accept this offer as it reeks of self-promotion. Mr. Ehrlich says his first two columns will be on his decision to write for the paper and then a tribute to Ron Smith.

I have a question for all the people who once fought so hard against casinos in the state when Gov.Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.ran on a "slots" agenda: Don't you feel silly? Now these people can't seem to get enough of the millions of dollars being generated by gambling venues, or of the jobs that are being created in their neighborhoods. Just a few years ago, Gov. Martin O'Malleyand the dim bulbs in Annapolis said that using gambling money to fund education was "morally bankrupt. " Where is their "moral superiority" now?

Bob Ehrlich devoted roughly one-third of an entire op-ed page in Sunday's Sun to a surprisingly weak and inarticulate diatribe about how liberal colleges and universities are often force-feeding "your kids" ludicrous, politically correct junk ("As kids head to college, beware liberal groupthink," Feb. 24). He only made direct reference to four universities. Vanderbilt, a private school, allegedly placed four Christian groups on provisional status for requiring members to adhere to religious tenets.

It's a little bit of a mystery to me why former Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. wants to "ice skate uphill," as a listener put it, battling the blinding blueness of Maryland's political landscape in an attempt to win back his old job from Martin O'Malley, the man who sent him packing in 2006. So let's try to unravel it. Remember, this loss happened despite positive approval ratings for Mr. Ehrlich. Remember also that he was the only incumbent governor in the nation to be ousted on election day in 2006.

Last week's column chronicled a dire set of circumstances regarding our economy and culture at the onset of Obama II. This status quo is complicated by an aggressive liberal establishment attempting to take advantage of the president's post-election momentum and an always compliant mainstream media. And then there's the necessity of offering an inviting conservative message, attractive to the all-important swing voter - a vital constituency that supported the president by a significant margin in 2012.

Last week's column was all about why certain of us (49 percent nationally) continue to identify with the party of individualism and free markets. This week, a related topic: what it will take to increase that 49 percent to 51 percent in 2016. First, we should not attempt to emulate liberal Democrats on their core issues. A "Democrat-lite" approach is simply a nonstarter, despite the apparent dawning of a new progressive era in the U.S. Believe me, this too shall pass. Accordingly, any recipe for wholesale redrawing of the party platform should be resisted.

I would like to thank Bob Ehrlich for clarifying what it takes to be a conservative in the Republican Party ("A platform for the next Republican nominee," Nov. 18). Having run on those principles, Mitt Romney lost. Having run on those principles himself, Mr. Ehrlich lost. I hope the Republican Party sticks to its "principles" of opposing immigration and couching its verbiage in 1940's racial symbolism. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has said that the Republicans have to "stop saying dumb things.

Former Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. presents a 20-point platform for Republicans to "be proud of" ("A platform for the next Republican nominee," Nov. 18). Let's examine each of these points in detail, and the reader can decide if any of them are things to be proud of. Mr. Ehrlich says that the Republican conservative movement: •"Chooses to respect the American tradition of religious liberty as applied to faith-based institutions. " Poppycock! This has nothing to do with religious liberty - it is just an excuse for religious employer (the Catholic Church in this case)

I'm sorry, but replacing Ron Smith's column with Bob Ehrlich is like substituting homemade hooch for a fine wine. Though conservative, Mr. Smith could disagree with fellow conservatives with reasoned argument. It seems presently that Mr. Ehrlich, like so many other conservatives, is just spewing out worn out party phrases as election propaganda. What happened to the era of independent thinking Republicans along the lines of Dwight Eisenhower or locally Charles McC. Matthias? Have they simply no one with an original, cogent idea?

Talk about two political careers going in opposite directions. Last Sunday, I wrote about the top Sunday morning public affairs shows like "Meet the Press"  falling in love with Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and booking him every chance they get. I missed the debut that day of a sorry little 30-minute piece of political propaganda called "Politics Unplugged" -- the product of former governor Bob Ehrlich and his wife, Kendel, buying time Sunday...

A document making the rounds in Maryland political circles would appear to be a casting call for a Bob Ehrlich campaign ad. One reason there's interest in that: The spot would be shot in California, and Ehrlich has campaigned on the need to bolster Maryland's film industry. Another reason: Among the parts to be cast are Homeless Person #1 and Homeless Person #2, bringing to mind the last time Ehrlich went out of state for homeless people. In 2006, his campaign bused them in from Philly on Election Day to hand out literature that suggested — falsely — that Ehrlich was backed by several black Democratic leaders.

In a new ad, a guy named Robert Ehrlich pops up in someone else's house. He doesn't offer to do plumbing or yardwork. Instead, he strolls into a living room where a gunman has just been shot dead by police. With hostages whimpering in the background, he begins: "Does this ever happen to you? Do you often find yourself being threatened in a hostage-like situation by a crazed psychopath? Well, you no longer have to feel this pain. You can be free from the cloud that is the crime in our cities.

"If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. ... Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business - you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen. " - President Barack Obama Remember when Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren charged that "there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own - nobody"? That gratuitous shot at American individualism generated a storm of criticism that continues to this day. But a recent series of speeches by President Obama has trumped Ms. Warren.

I have a question for all the people who once fought so hard against casinos in the state when Gov.Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.ran on a "slots" agenda: Don't you feel silly? Now these people can't seem to get enough of the millions of dollars being generated by gambling venues, or of the jobs that are being created in their neighborhoods. Just a few years ago, Gov. Martin O'Malleyand the dim bulbs in Annapolis said that using gambling money to fund education was "morally bankrupt. " Where is their "moral superiority" now?