Truth

Some of the bravest people in the world can be found at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport. Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic. Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. The Dalai Lama. These and many other figures are featured in a photo exhibit organized to honor human-rights defenders around the world. Part of the airport's upper concourse, just off the main atrium of the international terminal, has been transformed into a photo gallery to display the traveling exhibit "Speak Truth to Power," which runs through May 31. The exhibit was organized by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that was formed in 1968 in memory of the former U.S. senator and attorney general, who was assassinated that year at age 42. It is based on a book written by Kerry Kennedy, a daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and president of the RFK Center.

Five weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, Osama bin Laden publicly commanded his foot-soldiers to ramp up the violence against American civilians. But five weeks before his death, he privately instructed his lieutenants to refrain from killing any civilians. Did the world's most notorious terrorist have a moral awakening and grow soft? Hardly. His unheralded tactical shift was purely strategic. This month, the Combating Terrorism Center at the West Point Military Academy released 17 declassified documents that were seized from bin Laden's Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound in the targeted killing last year.

Are the French getting their Tea Party on? That's what an outsider looking at the country's first-round presidential voting results might have been led to believe. But, as with many things French, the reality is très compliquée . The weekend vote knocked out all but the two candidates long expected to square off in the May 6 final: Socialist Francois Hollande (28.6 percent) and incumbent center-right President Nicolas Sarkozy (27.2 percent). This isn't the story, though. The most striking news is the 17.9 percent score by Marine Le Pen's National Front party.

To be Mike Miller, it seems, is to be misunderstood. The Senate president and Annapolis institution has been getting most of the blame (including from this editorial page) for the failure of key budget and tax bills at the end of the General Assembly session last week. The general impression had been that he was holding up consideration of the budget as leverage to get what he really wanted: a referendum to allow a casino inPrince George's County, and, as part of the bargain, table games at all of Maryland's slots parlors.

In response to the article about the Defend Life protesters and their signs (""Law, order, free speech," March 25), I can't believe the reaction of the people who are "victims" of having to look at such horrible images. Did people say that about the images we saw during the Vietnam war? Didn't that help to bring the war to an end? What about images of the starving children and refugees in Africa and Haiti? How do you think the world is able to respond to those kinds of crisis if they don't see the truth?

Ouch! Apparently the truth hurts, as evidenced by the visceral reaction to last week's "Doonesbury" cartoons. The strip dealt honestly and pulled no punches about the utter hypocrisy and lack of morals of the so-called "right to life" zealots. They're upset that Gary Trudeau dared to utter the truth about anti-abortion fanatics - that they don't so much hate abortion as they hate women, especially women who refuse to live their lives barefoot, pregnant and chained to a stove.

The movie "Game Change" was designed to depict the narrative from the left about Sarah Palin as being true. The movie was about the narrative. The progressive/liberal left must be terrified of a Sarah Palin resurrection, as they are re-crucifying her with this movie. The truth cannot be stopped and cannot be silenced. For that reason, Sarah Palin will emerge like a stainless steel alloy from the forge of politics. As the American people realize the lies behind the various narratives from the Obama administration, elected and appointed progressive/liberal government officials and delivered by a complicit mainstream media, both the political left and the media will lose credibility, support and relevance.

— Outside the courthouse, the day went from spring-like sunshine and blustery winds to a dark night of cold, hard rain. Inside, a jury plowed straight through a marathon day of deliberations Wednesday — nine hours to find George Huguely V guilty of second-degree murder and grand larceny, two more to recommend he serve 26 years in prison for the death of Yeardley Love. It was a workmanlike resolution to a case that had seemed like anything but, a compressed day of behind-the-scenes activity for a high-profile crime — the May 2010 murder of the 22-year-old Love, who grew up in Cockeysville and was fulfilling her childhood dream of playing lacrosse at the University of Virginia.

An Orioles official said today there is “absolutely no truth” to fresh rumors that owner Peter Angelos is shopping the club. Eric Bickel, a radio host on 106.7 The Fan in Washington, said Tuesday that he had heard Angelos was quietly discussing a sale of the Orioles. Bickel said Angelos was looking to sell the team but not his majority share in the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which broadcasts Orioles and Washington Nationals games. MASN is probably worth more than the team, and the Orioles would be a significantly less appealing purchase if the network was not included, according to investment bankers familiar with the baseball industry.

“It took every freaking fiber of my being to not spring across the room and punch her in the face.” For the past few weeks, ABC has teased us with previews of the ladies ganging up on Courtney (“The Model”) and tattling to Ben about her fishy behavior. It's finally happening - this is the episode! At Least They Jumped Sarah: Ben picked up Lindzi (“Horse Girl”) - on a helicopter - for a tour of Belize. They upped the ante this time and jumped out of it, though they landed in the ocean instead of a live volcano.