Courage

I am deeply moved by the courage Maryland state senators are showing — and I hope delegates will also soon demonstrate — in voting for marriage equality. It is especially profound that some of these legislators are voting for a relational construct that they do not personally commend. That level of civic consciousness, supporting equanimity even when it is uncomfortable, and claiming the dignity of constituents with whom they do not find an affinity, is the stuff that will bring this Free State of Maryland to its fullness.

John Lloyd Bergbower, a Johns Hopkins Medicine security vice president who as a city police commander battled drug buyers in Southwest Baltimore, suffered a fall at his North Baltimore home Sunday and died later that day at Sinai Hospital. He was 60. "He didn't need to run into a burning building or take on an armed gunman to know that John Bergbower was a courageous man," said Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III, who served under him in the Southwestern District nearly 15 years ago. "He was a very smart, capable person with an air of confidence about him that made an impression on a young sergeant like myself.

What a surprise: The Sun's editorial board and op-ed writers are slamming the courageous, committed leader of the Roman Catholic Church in our archdiocese ("O'Brien's quixotic fight," Feb. 8). Why? Because, it would seem, birth control is an absolute good, pregnancy is unhealthy for women and children, and most Catholics - we are told - don't agree with the Church's view on contraceptives anyway. Let's imagine for a moment that the religious leader speaking out were neither Catholic nor Christian.

Unlike letter writer John Rutkowski ("Idiotic 'Doonesbury' strip on abortion insults readers," March 20), I applaud The Sun for having the courage to publish the Doonesbury comic strip dealing with what is certainly one of the most Draconian mandates ever suggested. You can believe me when I say that thinking women who read your newspaper appreciated the exposure you gave to yet another pro-life (read Anti-Abortionist Republican) assault on women. Hopefully, Republicans will find that their "War on Women" and their hateful, intolerant, sanctimonious brand of "Christianity" has shot them in the foot when election day rolls around.

WELL, IT looks like Congress is going to stop this flag desecration that's been going on. Going on somewhere. Not sure where anymore.Went on all the time everywhere, though, back in Vietnam War days. At least everywhere a television camera caught an anti-war demonstrator in its view finder.Congress is going to fix that.Next time there's a Vietnam War there's going to be none of that burning the flag, none of that sewing the flag on the seat of your pants and sitting on it.Congress is going to amend the Constitution to stop it. That's right: the Constitution Itself.

The first thing you noticed in the lobby at Martin's West was the long line. The second thing was the sportsmanlike behavior of these fervent football fans. After all, they were about to get autographs from many of the top players in the National Football League -- players voted tops in personal courage by their teammates. Honorees for the 22nd annual Ed Block Courage Awards banquet included: the Ravens' Peter Boulware, the Patriots' Drew Bledsoe, the Steelers' Chad Scott, the Titans' Steve McNair and former Detroit Lion Mike Utley, who received the Alumni Courage Award.

LOS ANGELES - -Thousands of uniformed firefighters gathered for a memorial service in Dodger Stadium on Saturday to honor as heroes two firefighters killed in the massive wildfire burning in the Angeles National Forest. Fire Capt. Tedmund "Ted" Hall, 47, of San Bernardino County, and Firefighter Specialist Arnaldo "Arnie" Quinones, 34, of Palmdale, "served with dedication, courage and, during their last alarm, with absolute bravery and selflessness," Los Angeles County Fire Chief Deputy John Tripp said at the service.

John F. Kennedy, in his Pulitizer-Prize-winning book, "Profiles in Courage," gave three reasons why it is so difficult for elected officials to be courageous. First, all politicians want to be liked. Second, politicians want to get reelected. And third, interest groups exert enormous pressure on legislators to get their way. Ignoring all these factors is often difficult for lawmakers.It certainly was in Annapolis over the past two weeks. A surprising number of legislators, especially from Baltimore County, caved in on all three counts and voted against a package of new taxes to keep state and local governments from running aground.

In the moving opening monologue in "Hannah Senesh," the title character's mother recalls visiting the Hungarian jail where her daughter was imprisoned by the Nazis. The prison warden, she says, "knew [Hannah] was Jewish, but he also knew that she was a British paratrooper who had come to fight them and having been taught for years that Jews never fight back . . . he was struck by her courage."The latest production in Center Stage's "Feminine Singular" series, this one-woman show -- written and directed by David Schechter and based on Senesh's diaries and poems -- is a tale of uncommon courage.

Presidential Courage Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989 By Michael Beschloss Simon & Schuster / 430 pages / $28 Published in 1956, John F. Kennedy's Profiles in Courage became a national best-seller. The book celebrated the uncommon courage of eight politicians who risked their careers by taking principled, but unpopular, positions. Kennedy won the Pulitzer Prize for "teaching patriotic and unselfish service to the people." Profiles in Courage is the model for Presidential Courage.

What a surprise: The Sun's editorial board and op-ed writers are slamming the courageous, committed leader of the Roman Catholic Church in our archdiocese ("O'Brien's quixotic fight," Feb. 8). Why? Because, it would seem, birth control is an absolute good, pregnancy is unhealthy for women and children, and most Catholics - we are told - don't agree with the Church's view on contraceptives anyway. Let's imagine for a moment that the religious leader speaking out were neither Catholic nor Christian.

President Barack Obama is being pilloried by friend and foe alike for his decision relating towomen's health care coverage. His foes, of course, criticize him 24/7, no matter what he says or does by their reflexive opposition to him. It's just business as usual. His friends, however, deplore his stance based on the political fallout. Although it may be hard to imagine, is it possible that a politician may choose to do what is right regardless of the political consequences? Whatever may be said about him, President Obama is not stupid.

When the Ravens announced after the 2010 season that Cam Cameron would return in 2011, head coach John Harbaugh said that he liked “Cam under fire.” And on Thursday, as the Ravens prepare to face the Houston Texans in the AFC Divisional Round on Sunday, Cameron admitted he was “jacked up” and “fired up” after he defended his oft-criticized quarterback Joe Flacco. “Really, we can't get too hijacked by that kind of stuff,” the Ravens offensive coordinator said. “The bottom line is that I think the world of Joe Flacco.

As expected, the stock market is down and the citizens of this country are financially poorer through no fault of their own. Members of Congress need to be reminded that they once took an oath of office - to the people, to God, and to their own souls. Many others have made such pledges. Physicians, firefighters, nurses, policeman, soldiers. They have promised that even the middle of the night, if they hear the cries of the people they pledged to serve, they would willingly relinquish their own sleep, their safety and even their lives to attend to the needs of others.

One of the biggest aspects of the Penn State tragedy that has been overlooked is the courage and tenacity of the Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa. While many details remain unclear, one thing that is apparent is that Penn State was a dominating and intimidating force in the community. No one went against them, even when there was strong, even overwhelming, evidence of significant wrongdoing. In comes 24-year-old Sara Ganim, a writer for the paper, who uncovers this story. And at her side was the editorial staff of the Patriot-News.

Ravens long snapper Morgan Cox has been named the team's 2011 Ed Block Courage Award recipient. Here's the full news release:   The Ed Block Courage Award Foundation has announced that LS Morgan Cox is the recipient of the 2011 Ed Block Courage Award for the Baltimore Ravens. Cox was the lone undrafted rookie free agent to make the Ravens' 53-man roster during the 2010 campaign. In his first NFL season, he snapped for a pair of specialists who earned Pro Bowl honors, starting kicker Billy Cundiff and first-alternate punter Sam Koch.

"Hey Drew," the boy asked. "You want to play some football?" The answer from Drew Bledsoe was yes. And with that, one of the most magical days in sports kicked into full swing. Bledsoe, the quarterback of the New England Patriots, walked outside and began playing catch with a group of boys at the St. Vincent's Center in Towson. Ravens linebacker Peter Boulware, Minnesota Vikings safety Robert Griffith and other Ed Block Courage Award winners followed, ready to create a football field of dreams.

Fighting Chance" will break your heart if you have one and then put some of the pieces together again. It's Harry Connolly's new book of photographs of three kids at Johns Hopkins Hospital who have cancer and fight the bastard for every inch of life.Connolly spent three years at this labor of love and despair and renewal and memorial to his mother, who died of cancer when Harry was a teen-ager. Years later, he stumbled onto a photo in a magazine: a boy's courageous but futile fight with the disease.

My faithful readers will remember that I started at The Sun as a sportswriter more than 30 years ago, and they have heard me describe some pretty unpleasant exchanges with both professional athletes and my fellow sportswriters. For all those years in the locker room and on the sidelines, I believed I had it coming to me. I had chosen a nontraditional field for a woman, and my presence was considered something between an invasion of privacy and an insult. I was a provocation just showing up for work.

America suffered a horrible tragedy on 9/11, but our actions in the aftermath also inflicted terrible tragedies on the people of Iraq andAfghanistan Thanks to Dan Rodricks for his thoughtful column on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks ("In anger and pain, little sympathy for 'the deaths of others,'" Sept. 11). Yes, America suffered a horrible tragedy on Sept. 11 that is indelibly etched into our nation's memory. But we must also acknowledge that our actions in the aftermath of Sept.