Speech

As he prepared to resign his commission as commander in chief of the Continental Army, Gen. George Washington traveled to Annapolis. While staying at Mann's Tavern, he drafted the speech he would give on Dec. 23, 1783, to Congress, which was then meeting in the Old Senate Chamber in what is today the State House. "Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of action and bid a fine and affectionate farewell to this august body," he wrote. Washington did not seem to consider higher office, concluding with "I take my leave of the employment of public life.

Mark your calendars. In pencil. Gov. Martin O'Malley has rescheduled his annual state of the state address. Again. It is now on for noon Tuesday. The speech is given with a full complement of Annapolis pomp and ceremony. Invitations go to all 188 lawmakers, who listen as the governor outlines his agenda. This year, the speech was initially set for noon today. But when President Barack Obama announced he'd give his annual State of the Union speech that day, the governor bowed out. "The governor expressed a desire to be sure the people of Maryland see the State of the Union," O'Malley spokesman Shaun Adamec said.

The Johns Hopkins University School of Continuing Studies is sponsoring a five-part discussion series starting this week on free speech, the media and privacy:* Wednesday, defense attorney Barry Scheck and Associated Press court reporter Linda Deutsch will talk about free speech and trials.* Oct. 14 -- Frank Sesno, Washington Bureau Chief for CNN, will deal with the balance between common decency and the public's right to get information.* Oct. 21 -- Hal Buell, chief international photo editor for the AP, photographer Felice Quinto and Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig will discuss the paparazzi and privacy.

We loved that song. While Mama was at work, my younger sister Reagan and I used to blast Arrested Development's "People Everyday." The hit was on the radio, like, every 10 minutes during the summer of '92. As I cranked up the volume, I'd call out to Reagan, who was always in the bathroom mirror experimenting with her hair: "Girl, the jam's on!" She'd fly into the living room - one side of her head done, the other side looking like she had been in a fight. And we'd hurriedly move the coffee table out of the way for our own Soul Train.

BOSTON -- On the Johns Hopkins University campus, university administrators seem to be giving credence to an observation by Abigail Thernstrom, who categorized left-leaning, politically correct institutions of higher education as "an island of repression in a sea of freedom." Instead of functioning as marketplaces of ideas - "to protect the university as a forum for the free expression of ideas," as described in the Hopkins student handbook - universities continue to punish what they categorize as "offensive" speech and behavior that do not conform to the acceptable, liberal views of politics, race or sexuality.

John Waters poked fun at Jackie Onassis. He knocked the Catholic Church. He urged African-American youths to listen to country music -- simply to drive their parents crazy. And, as usual, the Baltimore filmmaker said a lot of other things that we cannot print here. Indeed if anyone thought that Waters, who yesterday addressed the annual convention of the Association of College and Research Libraries, might censor himself -- in deference to the finer sensibilities of a roomful of 2,500 librarians -- he thought wrong.

WASHINGTON -- The day George W. Bush won Iowa's caucuses, the Supreme Court decided a case concerning campaign finance. One of Mr. Bush's father's worst and one of his best legacies were on display at the court that day. In an opinion written by Justice David Souter, who was nominated by President Bush, the court affirmed its 24-year-old ruling that permits government to regulate the right of Americans to engage in political speech. In dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas, another nominee of President Bush, argued correctly that the ruling is a perverse anomaly in First Amendment jurisprudence.

Almost 223 years to the day after George Washington strode into the Maryland State House to resign as head of the Continental Army, the state Board of Public Works agreed to buy the notes written by the future president for a speech that marked a turning point for the young republic. The event, commemorated by a 14-foot-wide oil painting in the capitol, is considered the moment that cemented the new nation's commitment to democratic, civilian rule. State officials said they expect Washington's Dec. 23, 1783, speech and an accompanying letter from a witness to be the centerpieces of the State House's history collection.

Gov. Martin O'Malley has postponed his State of the State address Wednesday to avoid a conflict with President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech planned for later that day. O'Malley becomes the second governor to shift his annual address because of Obama's schedule. Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio, a Democrat like O'Malley, made a similar decision earlier in the week. O'Malley's address will now be Feb. 4, rather than Jan. 27. Asked about the conflict earlier in the week, O'Malley's office said the date would not be changed.

WASHINGTON -- As yesterday's inaugural ceremonies were about to get under way, Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski stepped to the side of the platform where President Clinton would soon take the oath of office and gazed down at a quarter-million people spread out before her."Hi, everybody," she shouted, grinning, to no one in particular.Then the Democrat from Baltimore, clad in a purple wool coat and red beret, pulled out a tiny camera and started snapping away.She wasn't the only shooter in the official crowd.