Party Line

It's an election year, and Patrick Michael Simpson is back, leading the cheers for voting.But it's a tough sell in a country whose citizens -- particularly young people -- all too often exercise their right not to vote, Simpson concedes. So what can he do about it?A prolific songwriter, Simpson, 44, who won notice as Baltimore's "Singing Cabbie" in the 1970s and 1980s, believes in music's power to convey messages. He is trying to strike a spark with three of his many "voting songs" that focus on the civic duty of voting -- and the consequences of not voting.

DisabilitiesDo the articles on Social Security disability payments (Jan. 22-Jan. 25) mean that, since I am addicted to nicotine, and many workplaces in Maryland including mine ban smoking, I can apply for Supplemental Security Income benefits because I can't work without a cigarette?Could I also get SSI benefits because my boss stresses me out every day, and I am starting to lose my mind, can't remember anything and as a result have increased my smoking?What about my kid? I've been told that he has an attention deficit disorder.

Dan Rodricks turned his editorial fire on me for standing up against income tax increases passed by the state Senate that would hit nearly all Marylanders in this sluggish economy ("Maybe Bobby Zirkin should be a Republican," March 20). Mr. Rodricks seems to believe that any Democrat who dares to speak against taxes or challenges party orthodoxy in any way is worthy of his scorn. Mr. Rodricks also apparently sees no problem with the type of divisive rhetoric that pits citizen versus citizen.

At 83, George Aloysius Meyers of Govans remains a big man with a big, wry, ironic laugh that punctuates his memories like the exclamation point at the end of the Communist Manifesto."

Military academies in U.S. should not train foreign studentsI learned more than I needed to know from Neal Thompson's article ("Foreign military students must pay," Sept. 25).Consider: All three U.S. military academies have foreign students (from places such as Bahrain, Cameroon, Turkey and Croatia). This was sure news to me.And: "Foreign nations are supposed to pay for their students to attend U.S. service academies, but the State and Defense departments almost always granted waivers, and U.S. taxpayers picked up the bill."

WASHINGTON -- Triumphant Democrats returned to Capitol Hill yesterday to prepare for the transfer of power in Congress, but their postelection emphasis on unity quickly dissolved into power struggles and jockeying over the spoils of victory. Much of the squabbling stemmed from the decision over the weekend by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who is likely to become House speaker, to endorse a longtime loyalist to be her second in command. Hoyer spurned In backing Rep. John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, a strong critic of the Iraq war, for the post, Pelosi turned her back on Rep. Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, who is favored by many of her party's more moderate members.

TOKYO -- Japan's governing party has turned its gun against some of its own elected officials, apparently out of mounting fear that mushrooming scandals might break the grip on power it has held since 1955.The party's old-line power brokers have issued an edict many younger members describe as a "gag rule," stripped a junior parliamentarian of a committee membership after he defiantly spoke on television without notifying the elders, and passed informal word that retribution awaits those who fail to push the official version of the latest scandal.

Boston.--Every once in a while, I figure that there must be an internet connecting every password-carrying member of the political establishment. When something happens, they all log on to Soundbites On-Line and pass around the same tidbits, or tidbites if you prefer.This time the subject was welfare reform. No sooner had the outlines of the Clinton plan been announced last week than we got the party line.''Hopelessly weak'' said Rep. Bob Michel. ''Limp'' said Sen. Phil Gramm. ''Marginal tinkering,'' said former drug czar Bill Bennett.

The day was March 17. My Grandfather Edward Jacques Monaghan dressed in his best suit, whitest shirt, vest, Hamilton 28-jewel pocket watch, gold chain and diamond fob.He then went off to church and maybe to a luncheon given by one of the city's Irish-American associations. But mostly, St. Patrick's Day in the late 1950s was a time for this gregarious man in his 70s to celebrate and tell stories with his old friends, of which he had plenty.To a gentleman whose beautiful handwriting was always executed in green fountain pen ink, the Irish holiday was a special time -- a day for sharing Cuban cigars and Maryland rye whiskey with his friends.

A year ago, the tea party movement looked like an irresistible wave sweeping through the Republican Party. Anyone who hoped to win this year's GOP presidential nomination, it seemed, would need to embrace tea party activists' stringent demands for smaller government, lower taxes and deep cuts in spending. But in Tuesday's Iowa caucuses, the three candidates who hewed closest to the tea party line - Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich - sank straight to the bottom of the pack.