Stupidity

HAVRE DE GRACE -- Just as Republicans have long been known as the Stupid Party, not for what they believe but for their tactical incompetence, Maryland seems to go out of its way to earn its reputation as the Stupid State.The governor has had a lot to do with that, and his dismal popularity ratings reflect Marylanders' willingness to give credit where it's due. But the General Assembly made its own contribution to the stupidity quotient last week as it struggled to find yet more ways to shoehorn state government into private lives, and especially private automobiles.

Laurel. -- I save stupid questions. Which I suppose is just a head higher than collecting stupid answers.By definition a stupid question is one that really speaks for itself -- or should. For instance:Two of you are in a restaurant sitting at a table for four and someone approaches, put a hand on the empty chair and says ''Is someone sitting here?''What the individual really means is, will someone be sitting here? But there are mature and immature ways to answer the question actually asked.

In addition to making us miserable, the recent stretch of scorching weather seems to have affected our brains. The record heat — in the high 90s — not only makes it feel like the stultifying days of last summer, it also made some of us display the kind of brain-dead behavior usually reserved for the doldrums of August. How else can you explain these recent events: In the torpor of a 93 degree day, a 25-year-old Baltimore woman decides this would be a good time to teach her 14-year-old niece how drive by letting the teen wheel a van around Lake Montebello.

Regarding State Sen. Ulysses Currie's bribery trial, I was always told that ignorance of the law is no defense ("Lt. governor calls Currie 'a man of strong integrity,'" Oct. 25). Mr. Currie has been accused of playing dumb (the "stupidity defense") and we have seen an impressive list of associates willing to step up and verify that he is, as former Prince George's County delegate Tim Maloney testified, "right at the bottom of the smart scale. " That's why even if Senator Currie is found innocent he should be removed from office.

There's a debate swirling in the country right now about the War Powers Act in relation to the war/non-war/"squirmish" in Libya.  The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to cut funding for the Libyan war unless President Barack Obama seeks congressional approval 60 days after the start of hostilities, which the War Powers Act requires. About 60 percent of both House Republicans and Democrats supported this action, but the leadership of neither party did.  This move has sparked strong denunciations of the War Powers Act from the hawkish factions of each party, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)

I agree with Marc Kilmer's comments about the alcohol tax in Maryland ("Alcohol tax: Haven't we been here before?," Commentary, Aug. 13). The real question, however, is when will the politicians make this state more hospitable to the brewing industry? In the last 20 years, there must be close to a dozen microbreweries which have started in Maryland, only to go out of business a few years later. A simple Google search shows that Virginia has far more microbreweries and wineries than Maryland.

If you listen to Scott Wallace, it seems obvious that he was arrested for a ridiculous reason. He simply wanted his mail delivered.That's right. Like many residents of big cities, he is unhappy with his mail delivery. But unlike others, he was tossed into jail.It happened this way:Last January, Wallace, 32, a theatrical casting agent, and his wife rented a big rehabbed house on Chicago's Near Northwest Side.They had been living in an apartment about a mile away and filed their change of address with the local post office.

The Baltimore man, whom I will call Mark, got laid off thre weeks ago -- a victim of the current corporate mania for downsizing.Mark is 32 years old. He has a wife and two small kids and a fairly big mortgage. Mark had bought a new home just eight months before his company eliminated his entire division in an effort to reduce operating expenses and remain viable.But Mark doesn't seem to see himself as a victim."In a market economy you've got to expect these things to happen," he says with a shrug.

WHENEVER IT'S hazy, hot and humid outside, newspapers across the country offer "Tips for Beating the Heat," apparently as a service to their more dim-witted readers.This is something I could never understand. There is no question that the mental acuity of most citizens has plunged dramatically over the past 20 years or so. But are people really so stupid that they actually have to be told to drink fluids when it's hot?Yet that is always the first tip offered for beating the heat: Drink plenty of fluids.