Shame

What a wonderful teaching moment for the 35,000 students at the University of Maryland ("UM to leave ACC for Big Ten in '14," Nov. 20). Integrity? Nope. Honor? Forget it. Tradition? Irrelevant. There is only money. There is nothing else. Cheer for 2014: Go Terps, Yeah Terps, Rake it In, Rake it In. What a shame. Dave Mayhew, Cockeysville

The latest misleading advertising by the anti-equality Maryland Marriage Alliance suggests that if marriage equality passes, you could suffer negative consequences such as losing your job ("Scare tactics on Question 6," Oct. 18). As reported in The Sun, in actuality, Angela McCaskill, the chief diversity officer at Gallaudet University, was not fired as implied, rather temporarily placed on paid administrative leave. This false and divisive scare tactic fails to acknowledge the thousands of gays and lesbians who have actually lost their jobs, their social status, and even suffered physical violence for simply being in a loving same-sex relationships.

If you are elected by the people and you are caught stealing anything in relation to that job you are entrusted with, you should go and lose your pension to boot! ("Alston must go," Oct. 13.) It amazes me that Del. Tiffany Alston can be so nervy to even suggest she might run again. It makes me think this woman was not raised right. For her to have such blatant gall is overwhelming! Please, citizens of Maryland, call, write, email, text or Twitter your elected officials and demand a law go on the books stating that any funny business financially involving their elected positions will be an automatic loss of their job and pension - and none of this admission of guilt or plea bargaining stuff, just out, end of story.

The Sun editorializes that "the incumbent is a known commodity" ("Who is Mitt Romney?" Aug. 28), and that is President Barack Obama's problem - he is a known commodity. His record is no record. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. " Norman Wolfe, Pikesville

Every Baltimore City school superintendent, mayor and state legislator of the last 50 years should be hanging their heads in shame over the atrocious condition of the city's public school buildings. The more than $2 billion of decay didn't just happen overnight. Where did all the money go? The cost to educate the city's schoolchildren continue to spiral out of control. Will the bottle tax be misused just like all the other well-intended taxes that were supposed to benefit the city's children?

President Barack Obama paid tribute on Memorial Day to the men and women who have died defending America, singling out Vietnam veterans as an under-appreciated and sometimes maligned group of war heroes, vowing that "it will not happen again. " This is truly disgracefully pandering for votes among families of fallen American troops. This is no doubt a new low for Mr. Obama. Marking Memorial Day at both the Vietnam War Memorial and earlier at Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River from the capital, President Obama noted that for the first time in nine years, "Americans are not fighting and dying in Iraq," and the nation was winding down its role in the conflict in Afghanistan.

Bill Internicola had to show his papers. He received a letter last month from the Broward County, Fla., supervisor of elections informing him the office had "information from the state of Florida that you are not a United States citizen; however, you are registered to vote. " So Internicola had to prove he is an American. He sent the county a copy of his Army discharge papers. Mr. Internicola is 91 years old. He was born in Brooklyn. He is a veteran of the Second World War. He earned a Bronze Star for his part in the Battle of the Bulge.

The mayhem that took place downtown onSt. Patrick's Daywas certainly reprehensible, and while Pat McDonough wants to demagogue the issue and race-bait, the mayhem was far from limited to downtown and one race. In Federal Hill and Canton, the situation reached near-riot levels with drunken 20-somethings wreaking havoc on residents with the complicity of wealthy bar owners. Residents had to endure vandalism, public drunkenness, public urination, car accidents, and even assault with little or no protection from the city.

Enough is enough. Partisan politics in Maryland has hit an all-time low. As Maryland is hurling headlong into financial ruin, the working, legal resident taxpayers are being taxed to the hilt. Both parties have their collective heads in the sand or at least their party leaders can't see the reality we face every day. Democrats and Republicans refuse to budge or do the dance of moderation only to swing back when the party leaders pull their puppet strings in time to cast their pre-arranged vote in a well orchestrated sham for television.

Well, they did it. The Maryland General Assembly wasted so much time on same-sex marriage, arsenic in chicken feed, and off-shore wind (just harness the wind coming from Annapolis and they won't need it), they couldn't pass a budget ("Time runs out in capital," April 10). They'll need another session needed now costing more money needlessly squandered. Now you have Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael Bush squabbling. This state, led by an inept governor who deludes himself into thinking he is presidential material, is a shame.