Foregone Conclusion

This is the 52nd presidential election.The first was held in February, 1789. It was unlike presidential elections today. There were no parties, so no party nominees. In fact there were no presidential candidates. There was no campaigning, and there were very nearly no voters.Then as now, electors cast the actual votes for president. But unlike now, only four states allowed ordinary citizens to choose those electors. The other states gave their legislatures all or most of the power to select electors.

Once again, drunken driving is all over the sports pages. Within the past two weeks, Ravens rookie Sergio Kindle and Redskins lineman Joe Joseph have been charged with driving under the influence. Kindle apologized to the Ravens organization for making a "mistake. " Joseph put out a statement saying he was "very remorseful" about the events that led to his arrest in Loudoun County, Va. Here's as good a place as any for the caveat that they are legally presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Basketball hoop ban: What's the point? I could hardly believe my eyes as I read about the ban on portable basketball hoops in Sykesville ("As portable hoops flourish, suburban towns cry foul," Aug. 4). I felt certainly the police chief and a town councilwoman had better things to do with their time, than take toys away from our children. During my ten years in Sykesville, I have not heard of a single incident involving a motorist and children playing at a neighborhood basketball net. I would hope that while driving through residential areas, regardless of where one is, that they would be aware of children at play.

In X- Men, Bryan Singer brought more artistry to the depiction of the Third Reich's crimes against humanity than he does in Valkyrie, which depicts the heroic attempts of a handful of German officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and thus bring down the Nazi regime. The concentration-camp prologue to X-Men grounded the movie's premise that a new Holocaust could be catalyzed against mutants. The prologue to Valkyrie fails to do the same for Tom Cruise's Col. Claus von Stauffenberg.

"The less government we have," Emerson observed a little more than a century ago, "the better . . ."That may have been a reliable philosophy for bucolic 19th century America, but it is about as applicable to the 20th century as the horse-drawn buggy in the age of the space shuttle. If William Donald Schaefer's credo of political life could be reduced to a single sentence, it would be simply this: The more government serves the people, the better.With humane instincts, nimble imagination, driven determination, tireless energy and above all, dauntless optimism, Schaefer has applied that philosophy with remarkable success.

Before she was elected to the Anne Arundel County Council four years ago, Republican Diane R. Evans promised to shake up panel that had been all-Democratic for years. She pledged to foster more public debate among politicians who had gotten used to making their decisions in private. She has been as good as her word. She has not been afraid to speak her mind and create controversy. Three or four Diane Evanses might be a formula for chaos, but one has proven a valuable watchdog and a refreshingly independent voice.

Calvert Hall broke the tie in the competition for the Fred Leidig Trophy by winning the 68th annual MSA Swimming Championships with 367 points last night at Johns Hopkins' pool.Calvert Hall and Loyola had each won the Leidig award 10 times; no other school has broken their grip on it.Loyola finished second in the A Conference with 335 points. Gilman was third with 255.The Hall produced double winners in Brian Brandt (200 and 100-yard freestyles) and Brad Francis (100 butterfly and 100 backstroke)

Begin passing out credit for the Old Mill girls basketball team's magical season and watch Pat Chance disappear."The kids did all that. I just sit on the bench," the veteran coach says uncomfortably."

In X- Men, Bryan Singer brought more artistry to the depiction of the Third Reich's crimes against humanity than he does in Valkyrie, which depicts the heroic attempts of a handful of German officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and thus bring down the Nazi regime. The concentration-camp prologue to X-Men grounded the movie's premise that a new Holocaust could be catalyzed against mutants. The prologue to Valkyrie fails to do the same for Tom Cruise's Col. Claus von Stauffenberg.

AS CHAIRMAN of Howard County Republicans, Allan Kittleman can't take sides in primary contests. But he has the perfect slogan for Chuck Ecker's uphill GOP gubernatorial race."

Basketball hoop ban: What's the point? I could hardly believe my eyes as I read about the ban on portable basketball hoops in Sykesville ("As portable hoops flourish, suburban towns cry foul," Aug. 4). I felt certainly the police chief and a town councilwoman had better things to do with their time, than take toys away from our children. During my ten years in Sykesville, I have not heard of a single incident involving a motorist and children playing at a neighborhood basketball net. I would hope that while driving through residential areas, regardless of where one is, that they would be aware of children at play.

New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens could record his 300th career victory as soon as tomorrow, depending on the condition of his bruised right hand, and add an exclamation point to a career that already ranks him among the greatest pitchers in the history of the game. The Hall of Fame is a foregone conclusion. The Rocket will land in Cooperstown in August 2009 if he sticks by his stated intention to retire at the end of this season. There aren't many pitchers who have been more deserving.

WASHINGTON - President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain will meet at Camp David tomorrow, with both leaders seeking to sustain support for the war and to counter perceptions that Iraqi resistance is stiffer than expected and that higher coalition casualties are now more likely. In the United States and Britain, round-the-clock news coverage is beaming home piercing images, from an Iraqi citizen tearing down Saddam Hussein's likeness on a billboard, to dead U.S. soldiers crumpled on a floor.

U.S. troops in Kuwait are poised to invade Iraq in a matter of days if not hours. Both sides regard war as inevitable. President Bush has declared that even Iraq's destruction of all remaining prohibited or questionable weapons will not deter him; only Saddam Hussein's removal might. Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz told me in a two-hour interview in Baghdad last month that "America has long since decided to attack Iraq, and nothing Iraq could do would prevent it." After visiting Baghdad, I flew to Washington, where I found knowledgeable people split into two camps so divergent they seem to be seeing different worlds.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The Orioles' pitching rotation came into clearer focus yesterday, as manager Mike Hargrove made it all but official that his starting five will be Scott Erickson, Jason Johnson, Sidney Ponson, Josh Towers and Calvin Maduro. The only real question has been Maduro, and even that was no mystery. Maduro has pitched 12 innings this spring. He has allowed one run. "I don't think there's any secret Calvin Maduro has done everything to win the fifth spot in the rotation," Hargrove said.

WASHINGTON -- Most Americans may know deep down that the impeachment trial of President Clinton is the stuff of history.But it is not a water-cooler story."

WASHINGTON -- Most Americans may know deep down that the impeachment trial of President Clinton is the stuff of history.But it is not a water-cooler story."

WASHINGTON -- Striking a conciliatory tone and pleading for fairness, a top White House lawyer opened a grueling defense of President Clinton yesterday with a concession that the president's testimony regarding Monica Lewinsky might be deemed "unlawful" by a criminal court.But the lawyer, appealing directly to wavering moderate House Republicans, said that no matter how reprehensible the president's actions may have been, they did not justify what would be only the second presidential impeachment in U.S. history.