Speech

Gov. Martin O'Malley charted a course for the state through a national recession yesterday, pledging to protect safety net programs, freeze college tuition and eradicate childhood hunger. The Democratic governor laid out the vision in his third State of the State address before a joint session of the General Assembly, which must approve many of his plans. In a 30-minute speech, O'Malley said he "never felt more energized" despite bleak economic times, and repeatedly invoked President Barack Obama's name, drawing applause in the overwhelmingly Democratic legislature.

WASHINGTON -- A Supreme Court case about the free-speech rights of high school students, to be argued tomorrow, has opened an unexpected fissure between the Bush administration and its usual allies on the religious right. As a result, an appeal that asks the justices to decide whether school officials can squelch or punish student advocacy of illegal drugs has taken on an added dimension as a window on an active front in the culture wars, one that has escaped the notice of most people outside the fray.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama was fresh from delivering a rousing speech in Southeast Washington when he decided to take a few minutes to greet three news media types. After the Illinois senator jokingly expressed envy about our casual attire, radio talk-show host Joe Madison of WOLB reminded the senator that in his line of work, he really didn't have to wear anything. I was trying to get the picture of a naked Madison sitting in a radio studio out of my mind when Obama walked up, looked me straight in the eye and shook my hand.

BOB HATTOY, 56 Gay, lesbian advocate Bob Hattoy, an advocate for gay and lesbian issues who accused former President George H.W. Bush of doing nothing about AIDS during a speech at the Democratic National Convention, has died in Sacramento, Calif., of the disease. In 1992, just after learning he had AIDS, Mr. Hattoy delivered the DNC speech. "I don't want to die," he said. "But I don't want to live in an America where the president sees me as an enemy. I can face dying because of a disease, but not because of politics."

WASHINGTON -- For J. Terry Edmonds, it has been a dizzying ascent from the projects of South Baltimore to the pinnacles of power, and next week, the speech-writer will reach the summit of his profession -- wordsmithing in the Oval Office.President Clinton yesterday named Edmonds, a Baltimore native and Columbia resident, as his director of speech writing. He will be the first African-American to serve as a chief presidential speech-writer.Edmonds, 49, had held lower posts at the White House speech-writing office, including deputy director, before leaving in December 1997 to take over as associate commissioner for external affairs at the Social Security Administration in Baltimore.

THOUGH the morning was splendid and sunny, Lawrence Bell went indoors to make his announcement. Smart move. Speaking from the base of City Hall's beautiful 119-foot rotunda, Bell's voice boomed and echoed off the marble and seemed to ascend to a height his words could not match.Making the big, inspiring speech is not among Bell's strengths. Which doesn't disqualify him for mayor. William Donald Schaefer was mayor for 15 years, and listening to him give a speech was like watching a blindfolded kid play connect-the-dots.

Corporate subsidies corrupt political and regulatory processJay Hancock's wonderful series on economic development subsidies should be must reading for all state legislators ("The Giveaway Game," Oct. 10-13). And the movement to get Congress to end this unproductive "war between the states" should be encouraged.But voters will need to hold politicians' feet to the fire if this is to happen.Mr. Hancock made clear that corporate executives have become increasingly adept at milking subsidies from the states.

Mr. Weller, the elder, gave vent to an extraordinary sound, which being neither a groan, nor a grunt, nor a gasp, nor a growl, seemed to partake in some degree of the character of all four.-- Charles Dickens, "Pickwick Papers"To your spouse's breakfast-table query, you absent-mindedly answer: Mm-hmm.Hearing a surprising tidbit of workplace gossip, you exclaim: Huh!Reading the news of the latest political scandal, you click your tongue: Tsk, tsk, tsk.Your child takes a tumble, and you offer a comforting syllable: Awww.

WASHINGTON -- Last year the politicians produced a Congress about nothing. This year they're producing a presidential campaign about nothing.Even in the more heavily contested Republican campaign, the conflicts are muted, the differences few, the tensions almost nonexistent. The candidates agree the clashes should be on the issues, not on personalities. But the candidates also agree on the issues.They agree so much that it's possible to cut whole paragraphs from one speech and paste them seamlessly into another candidate's speech.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Actor Warren Beatty sketched out the script for a liberal presidential campaign last night -- but did not say whether he would play the leading role himself.Before a huge turnout of reporters and Southern California liberal activists, Beatty offered few clues on whether he intends to launch a long-shot bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.Instead, he called for sweeping campaign finance reform, lashed President Clinton's record, and portrayed both of the current contenders for the Democratic nomination as cautious centrists in thrall to large contributors.

Perry Ealim was elated to learn he'd won a local business award from the Anne Arundel County NAACP and promptly sent a mass e-mail asking friends and associates, largely fellow Republicans, to join him at the November award ceremony. But most aren't so eager to dine with the guest speaker for the evening, President Barack Obama's controversial former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. "I am happy for your honor, however I cannot support an organization that would have a racist/bigot such as Mr. Wright as [its]

A number of top-ranking Howard County school system officials say that they like the way the showing of President Barack Obama's speech to the nation's students was handled, despite having little time to adequately prepare for it. The school system was given a couple of days' notice about the speech, which made it difficult to coordinate a better plan to share it, according to Sydney L. Cousin, superintendent of Howard County Public Schools. Most Baltimore-area districts let individual schools determine whether they showed the speech.

COLLEGE PARK - - A University of Maryland arena built for cheering Terps basketball rocked instead Thursday to mentions of "the public option" and "pre-existing condition," as President Barack Obama sought to harness the energy of youthful supporters to push for health care change. A largely student crowd of more than 12,000 raised an earsplitting roar when the president stepped onto the floor of the Comcast Center shortly before noon, coatless and with his sleeves rolled up. It was the first campus stop on Obama's campaign-style health care tour, and he tweaked his stump speech in an effort to make medical insurance relevant to a university audience.

Is it proper for President Barack Obama to give a speech broadcast to public school students nationwide? Yes 54% No 42% Not sure 4% (3,140 votes, results not scientific) Next poll: : Will Congress pass health care legislation this year that meets President Barack Obama's goal of providing virtually all Americans with permanent insurance coverage? Vote at baltimoresun.com/vote

WASHINGTON - - Conservative activists blasted it as socialist. Worried parents called for boycotts. School administrators struggled over whether to let students hear it. But in the "back to school" speech President Barack Obama plans to give today, he will do what American presidents have done before - urge students to work hard, stay in school and follow their dreams. "If you quit on school, you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country," Obama will say in the speech, which is loaded with similar exhortations.

President Barack Obama's plans to speak directly to the nation's students Tuesday have sparked a dispute among area parents and politicians, with some expressing concerns that the president could use the speech to promote his agenda - and others calling it a valuable classroom lesson. School systems have been inundated with phone calls this week from both sides. Most Baltimore-area districts are letting individual schools determine whether they will show the noon speech, which the White House says will call for students to take responsibility for their education.

Carolyn C. Benson, a former longtime Cockeysville resident who was credited with being the inspiration behind President Richard M. Nixon's use of the term "silent majority" in a televised national speech, died July 24 of cancer at Gilchrist Hospice Care. Mrs. Benson, who had moved to a daughter's Parkton home in 2006, was 78. A former Democrat who worked locally on the 1960 presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy, Mrs. Benson switched party affiliation by the decade's end and became a Republican.

Mayor Sheila Dixon will deliver her third State of the City address today, a speech expected to lay out a less ambitious agenda than previous addresses because of a sharp economic drop that has vastly reduced city resources. The speech "is going to be focused on some hard decisions," Dixon said in an interview. "We're focused on being more innovative and more efficient and more effective, understanding there are going to be some trying times." The city's budget situation is far tighter than in 2007, when in her first address as mayor she proposed increases in arts funding and more staff members at recreation centers.

Gov. Martin O'Malley charted a course for the state through a national recession yesterday, pledging to protect safety net programs, freeze college tuition and eradicate childhood hunger. The Democratic governor laid out the vision in his third State of the State address before a joint session of the General Assembly, which must approve many of his plans. In a 30-minute speech, O'Malley said he "never felt more energized" despite bleak economic times, and repeatedly invoked President Barack Obama's name, drawing applause in the overwhelmingly Democratic legislature.

St. Paul, Minn. - John McCain's 10-year climb from his desk in the Senate to his party's presidential ticket will top out this evening at an arena in Minnesota. McCain, who was formally nominated last night, has memorably addressed national conventions since Ronald Reagan's presidency. His moving, patriotic speech nominating Bob Dole in 1996 helped mark McCain as a rising Republican star. But the stakes are higher than ever. McCain is trying to catch Barack Obama in the polls. At a late-starting convention, delayed by Monday's hurricane, he has been buffeted by questions about his running mate and how he chose her. Republican politicians and strategists, and independent analysts, identified five big things McCain should be shooting for when he steps onstage, sometime after 10 p.m. Sharpen the contrast McCain should draw sharp lines of difference with his Democratic opponent over experience in government, expertise in international and military matters, and tax-and-spend policies.