Editorial Board

Editorials, unlike other articles that appear in this newspaper, don't have bylines. The name of the person who writes it doesn't appear at the top - or the bottom - of each editorial. That's because the editorials represent the voice of The Sun, not of any one individual. They reflect the paper's abiding values and core concerns. The editorial page speaks for the publisher, but in a broader sense, it speaks for The Sun and its history. We like to think of it as the soul of the newspaper.

So much for "innocent before proven guilty"! Not only does the liberal newspaper editorial board hang people even before an arrest they also condemn an entire state for the laws enacted to protect it's citizens ("License to kill," March 23). Former Baltimore City Councilman Kenneth Harris surely would have loved to have Florida's laws protecting him just before he was murdered. Councilman Harris did everything that stupid Maryland requires; he abandoned his friend in an emergency; he offered no resistance; and he tucked his tail and ran away.

How shocking that a 20-year-old college senior who worked in Rep. Andy Harris' congressional office drank a glass of wine at her farewell party last summer! ("Md. lawmaker under fire for underage drinking by intern," Jan. 4.) That should have been Page One news. Why doesn't The Sun put political blogger Joe Steffen, who broke this non-story, on its editorial board? He would fit right in. Marie Mullen

Maybe instead of blustering about the need to increase the state's tax on a gallon of gas, The Sun's editorial board should support legislation to outlaw an increase in the tax until all of the money that was stolen from the Transportation Trust Fund since 1992 is returned ("Pay now or later," March 14). It would also be helpful to know exactly how much has been taken from the fund since the last time the tax was increased, and who was the governor at the time that authorized it. The title of the editorial is somewhat ironic, as I feel that I have already "paid now," it's just that those funds weren't spent for the purpose they were collected.

The mission of The Sun's editorial page is to provide timely, compelling commentary on issues of interest to Maryland readers, particularly those in the Baltimore area. The editorial page will seek to engage, educate, challenge and amuse. It will recognize the strengths of the community, as well as its weaknesses, acting as a forum for discussion of alternatives and a force for positive change. It will chastise when necessary and offer praise when deserved.-- Editorial page mission statementAn editorial is the institutional opinion of The Sun, not that of any one individual.

For the editorial board of The Sun to say that $447 billion is "modest" only illustrates the depths of their partisan-at-all-costs support for anything President Barack Obama proposes ("Let them eat tax cuts," Sept. 12). And exactly when and where did the editorial board extol the virtues of bi-partisanship when the president had overwhelming majorities in the House and Senate during his first two years in office? Save your future editorials on Washington's dysfunction (and it only seems dysfunctional when a liberal agenda doesn't sail through our legislative bodies)

What exactly is "stupefying" about turning the care of the Chesapeake Bay over to the state which has the greatest stake in having it be clean and functioning ("No defender of the bay," July 18)? Or was your editorial more about political candidates The Sun's editorial board wishes to support and less about issues? David Riley

I wanted to scream after reading the editorial about Ron Smith on Friday ("The voice of reason," Nov. 25). To say The Sun's editorial board is not often in agreement with Ron in matters of politics and government is a given. Ron's ideas are reasonable and formed by basic common sense. The Sun's ideas are usually absurd, partisan and predictably wrong. To link Ron with Rush Limbaugh and Fox News is absurd - more predictable Sun style. You were correct that he is not captive of the dogma or talking points of the right, as The Sun carries the water of the far left daily.

So much for "innocent before proven guilty"! Not only does the liberal newspaper editorial board hang people even before an arrest they also condemn an entire state for the laws enacted to protect it's citizens ("License to kill," March 23). Former Baltimore City Councilman Kenneth Harris surely would have loved to have Florida's laws protecting him just before he was murdered. Councilman Harris did everything that stupid Maryland requires; he abandoned his friend in an emergency; he offered no resistance; and he tucked his tail and ran away.

China is celebrating the advent of democracy on Taiwan with giant firecrackers.Buchanan is no Republican. He is Whig on trade, Socialist on business, Klan on ethnicity, Know-Nothing on immigration, Mugwump on party loyalty, America First on foreign policy and Inquisition on science.The mayor wants to (A) keep the schools under current management; (B) share them with the state; (C) subsidize private schools; (D) replace them with something else. Choose one.The Princess of Wales could always emigrate and join the editorial board of George magazine.

Your recent editorial "Repairing city schools" (Feb. 18) can only have been written by someone who hasn't spent much time in the city's public schools recently. I have, and I can tell you that there are students who avoid going to the bathroom all day because the toilets won't flush or the stall doors are missing, and there are teachers who have lost a decade's worth of materials to flooding caused by leaking roofs. If you were to set foot inside their schools, would you tell them that certain "details" need to be worked out before we can start raising the money to fix their buildings?

The District of Columbia Council this week approved a ban on members using "profane, indecent or abusive language" at public meetings, a suggestion that came after a heated, profanity-laced exchange between a couple of council members, including former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, a couple of weeks ago. "It's time for members to understand decorum, and a code of conduct, is in place," Chairman Kwame Brown told The Washington Post ....

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.

University of Maryland president Wallace Loh, responding to an editorial in the campus newspaper, said today that Athletic Director Kevin Anderson has his "unqualified support. " Loh issued a written statement after The Diamondback's editorial board wrote that it is "starting to wonder how much longer Athletics Director Kevin Anderson will remain at the university. " Athletic directors are criticized all the time without university presidents responding. Criticism comes with the territory.

How shocking that a 20-year-old college senior who worked in Rep. Andy Harris' congressional office drank a glass of wine at her farewell party last summer! ("Md. lawmaker under fire for underage drinking by intern," Jan. 4.) That should have been Page One news. Why doesn't The Sun put political blogger Joe Steffen, who broke this non-story, on its editorial board? He would fit right in. Marie Mullen

To The Sun's editorial board I say: Bravo! Bravo! I spent 39 years as a cop and a loyal Baltimore County employee, and it pains me to see the direction the county is headed ("A pension windfall," Dec. 18). Without an honest and unbiased media, the fabric of our government becomes tattered. I think what continues to amaze me is the decisions that Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz continues to make. How does an educated man with over 16 years of government experience continue to make decisions that defy common sense?

I'm offended and flabbergasted by your biased, unsubstantiated endorsement of Warren Branch for the 13th District Council seat ("For City Council," Sept. 8). In The Sun's endorsements of candidates running for council in other districts, the editorial board takes care to compare the qualifications of each challenger. The qualifications of the challengers running to unseat the incumbent in the 13th District were not mentioned. Why not? What community members have you spoken with? What/whose interests are you serving by this endorsement?

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.

I wanted to scream after reading the editorial about Ron Smith on Friday ("The voice of reason," Nov. 25). To say The Sun's editorial board is not often in agreement with Ron in matters of politics and government is a given. Ron's ideas are reasonable and formed by basic common sense. The Sun's ideas are usually absurd, partisan and predictably wrong. To link Ron with Rush Limbaugh and Fox News is absurd - more predictable Sun style. You were correct that he is not captive of the dogma or talking points of the right, as The Sun carries the water of the far left daily.

H.L. Mencken once observed that newspapers, by nature, are bellicose and do not speak in support of anyone or anything unless they absolutely can't help it. There are any number of public figures in Maryland and beyond who would attest to this. But on rare occasion, we have the good fortune to encounter someone who merits words of praise, and so exceptions have to be made. To leave such thoughts to obituary writers alone would, at the very least, deny the living the potentially defibrillating shock of reading them in this forum.