Overreaching

There's no way around it: Delegate Don Dwyer is getting a raw deal from Legislative Leadership and the media on his threat to impeach Attorney General Doug Gansler.

What is getting lost in the hub-hub about the gay marriage issue is that Dwyer's call to impeach has nothing to do with the gay marriage issue. Nothing at all. Yes, Dwyer is one of the most vocal opponents of gay marriage in the entire state of Maryland. But even above all of that, Don values the Constitution and the Legal Process just as much. Gansler has, in fact, tried to obfuscate the roles of government by trying to circumvent the lawmaking process by trying to influence the courts and influencing changes in state law without the will of the General Assembly. In Dwyer's words, Gansler's actions "show a clear disregard for Maryland and the legislative process by which it is enacted."

Face it; Gansler's opinion on the matter is substantially overreaching of the authority of his office.

Gansler's reaction to Dwyer's attempts at impeachment were also curious in and of itself. The fact that Gansler's office put out an opinion saying Gansler cannot be impeached seems to be a bit of political jujitsu to defend the flank, a political maneuver whose technical term is "CYA." The fact that Gansler's office felt it necessary to put out an opinion you can deduce on your own, but when you consider the shaky precedent that Gansler's built his case upon (on top of all of the other constitutional issues) and the fact that Gansler is running his office based on the judicial activist tradition without actually being a judge and you realize that there is some there there where Gansler could legitimately face the music.

Doug Gansler is clearly in the wrong here. I may be a minority in supporting the idea of gay marriage, but Delegate Dwyer is right to pursue this as he sees fit. I certainly don't think that Gansler will be impeached or removed from office, but sometimes the point of accountability has to be made.....

....but it's a point that doesn't have to be made. If Legislative Leadership would just let the issue of gay marriage come to a vote once and for all, this issue would disappear. The General Assembly cannot duck this issue forever. We all know why Maryland's Democrats don't want this to come to a vote; because it is political inexpedient for them to do so. The basically have the Hobson's Choice of ticking off half of their base, no matter how the vote turns out. The moral we should really take away from the Gansler's marriage opinion is the fact tat Legislative Leadership needs to show the moral turpitude to bring the issue to a vote once and for all....

So What?

A poster at RedState is all giddy that the Constitution Party may nominate a "big name" (big air quotes) candidate in 2008, namely being Roy Moore, Alan Keyes, or Bob Smith:

I'm less interested in who the Constitution Party nominates and wondering once more if Don Dwyer is going to campaign against the Republican nominee as he did in 2004....

District 31 Town Hall Meeting

The District 31 delegation (well, most of the District 31 delegation) held a Town Hall meeting at the North County Library in Glen Burnie. Senator Bryan Simonaire and Delegates Steve Schuh and Nic Kipke spoke on the issues and answered a number of questions from the audience on taxes and slots. Delegate Don Dwyer, as usual when facing the public, didn't bother to actually show up despite living a whopping third of a mile away from the North County library.

The crowd was a mix of Democrats and Republicans, with a few independents thrown in for measure. And just about every one of them was appalled by what the General Assembly is doing.

If the Democratic leadership thinks the people are going to forget about this anytime soon, they are sadly, sadly mistaken...

I Don't Get This

Why are ostensibly conservative Republicans sponsoring HB47 and HB48?

HB47 would require that a special gaming card be obtained in order to use slot machines, including the use requiring proof of identification to include a credit card, thumbprint, or social security number in order to operate a machine. It also requires that operators of slot facilities prohibit the use of machines by gambling addicts, and requires the facilities to collect taxes for the state.

HB48 inhibits commerce by prohibiting a slots operator to accept payment by credit card.

Call me surprised that Delegates Impallaria, Boteler, Dwyer, McDonough, and Shewell are sponsoring such legislation. Particularly Dwyer for HB47, since this would allow slot machine operators to collect social security numbers, in direct contradiction to a 2003's HB134, of which Dwyer was the lead sponsor. That bill would have prohibited "a person from requesting, recording, or distributing the Social Security number or a portion of the Social Security number of an individual who is seeking to obtain consumer goods or consumer services as a condition of providing the consumer goods or consumer service" and would have authorized "the Attorney General to institute a civil action against a person who violates the Act to recover for the State a specified penalty."

Can somebody enlighten me as to why these conservatives are sponsoring such restrictive legislation?

Beyond Ridiculous

Reports from our Super Secret Annapolis Bureau indicate that Don Dwyer was wearing a Hawaiian shirt during hearings at the Judiciary Committee today. All other members of the Committee, and a supermajority of the audience dressed appropriately for the conducting of public business, at least wearing a normal shirt and a tie.

And Dwyer wonders why everybody thinks he's a joke....

We're not this lucky

David Kyle has this:

It seems that Governor O’Malley had at Party caucus lunch today and announced to them all that Delegate Dwyer was going to be running for Governor against him. I almost fell out of my seat when I heard this new rumor. Where the Governor got this bit of news I have to wonder, as it seems to me that he must have someone on the inside of things. Hmm, who recently in the Republican Party has been leaking things to the papers?

Now I have to admit that I had this conversation with Dwyer several years ago but it was not something that we went into great detail on. As I am no longer close to him I don’t know if he has decided to do this or not, I guess time will tell.

This is fantastic news. First, it will give the Maryland Republican Party the opportunity to show that Don Dwyer is not the face of our party. There is no earthly way that he wins the nomination, as he is too far to the right, irritates too many people, and of course has not always supported the party.

And secondly, it would be nice to have a third Delegate in District 31 who actually, you knows, tries to do their job. I'm still pretty tired of Dwyer getting $43,000 a year to accomplish nothing. It's like a having a welfare recipient on the government dole instead of a Delegate...

AA GOP Central Committee: Don Dwyer Statement

Don Dwyer has made the following public statement which, though Brian Gill has already posted at RedMaryland, as promised, I will share with you here:

Saturday August 11, 2007

Dear Dear Friends, Club leaders and Fellow Republicans,

Regrettably the Anne Arundel County Republican Central Committee finds itself in somewhat of a sticky wicket. By that, I mean to say that it very unfortunate that Mike Collins (the current chairman) has opted to release confidential e-mails to the press in an attempt to stop the super majority of central committee members from removing him as chairman. Mr. Collins is simply grasping at straws by trying to drag others like State Party Chairman, Jim Pelura and me into the decision to remove him. (See the Capitol Article)

It is also regrettable and inexcusable that Mr. Collins would release the confidential State Party finances to the Sun (Baltimore Sun Article) in an attempt to discredit Chairman Pelura while all along hoping to build consensus against his removal. It should come as no surprise that the Party would struggle financially after loosing the Governors seat. Mr. Pelura seems to be addressing the financial issues and making the necessary decisions to keep the Party a viable force in Maryland.

In regards to Mr. Collins accusations that I am somehow involved, I would simply like to say that of the ten people who are supporting his removal, all have addressed individual issues related to his inability and unwillingness to lead the committee in a respectful, orderly and amicable manner. None of them are plotting (to my knowledge) as Mr. Collins alleges to see him removed. The reasons being offered for his removal have nothing to do with a agenda of any kind and simply have to do with Mr. Collins poor leadership skills, his lack of ability to hear the people he was suppose to lead, his lack of general direction, his constant infighting with the state party and his misrepresentation of the views of the committee. The opinions of the committee members is in actuality a mixture of many positions, backgrounds and beliefs and in the end I believe the committees simply desires to build a strong Republican base in Anne Arundel County.

I will admit that I will not be sorry to see Mr. Collins removed. I hope whoever succeeds him will work to build the Republican Party. It is my personal opinion is that Mr. Collins is not in concert with the values or beliefs of former president Ronald Reagan and that If he truly cares about the future of the Maryland Republican Party, that he should step down and put a stop to the public release of information intended to fracture what is left of the Party. This is no way for a Republican leader to act.

I respect the members of the Central Committee and have full confidence in their ability to deal with and address the internal issues of the organization. For that reason, I hope that Mr. Collins will respect the will of the majority of the committee and resign peacefully. I would ask that if you are concerned about the future of the Republican Party in Anne Arundel County, that you consider urging Mr. Collins to step down immediately.

Constitutionally yours,

Delegate Don Dwyer, Jr.

ps. Please feel free to reply with your comments

Back from the Dead

Anybody know why Don Dwyer's camp is spreading the revisionist version of history that Dwyer did not campaign against the Republican nominee and for Constitution Party candidate Michael Peroutka in 2004 despite photographic evidence to the contrary?


Why did this pop up from the dead all of a sudden?

Just Remember I Didn't Say It...

...Greg Kline did:

No doubt Don could always have been more subtle and picked his battles a little better but now, flush with victory, he is sounding more like a relieved incumbent wanting to never have another close race rather than the zealot who wanted to speak the truth regardless of the outcome. No good can come from this, can it?

On the campaign trail, Don would say "No one can do what I do and get reelected" Now that he has been proven wrong, he appears willing to give up what "he does".

Though it seems a little odd and probably a tad disingenuous to go from this to this in a period of 30 days.

Lawyer Up

Send in the lawyers...

Del. Donald H. Dwyer Jr. beat Del. Joan Cadden by 28 votes for the third seat in House District 31, the county Board of Elections reported after counting absentee ballots from overseas. And two-term county Councilwoman Barbara D. Samorajczyk lost to Annapolis jewelery storeowner Ronald A. George by 53 votes for the third spot in District 30....

...Though Dwyer and George declared victory yesterday, the Democratic candidates said they would not yet concede, leaving open the possibility of a recount. The Democrats also are questioning the rejection of more than 200 provisional ballots - some by people who claimed to have registered at the Motor Vehicle Administration. Cadden, a three-term legislator, said that a decision on how to proceed will be made next week, and that party attorneys are considering other issues as well, but she would not elaborate.

This is not entirely surprising given how close the races are and how large Cadden and Samorajczyk's margins were after Election Day itself. But I highly doubt that the results are going to change. More than likely, Dwyer will return and Ron George will take the oath of office in January.

Of course, this also shows the problems that exist with the Motor Voter law rammed down our throats during the Clinton years, but that law isn't going anywhere anytime soon, unfortunately.

Speaking of Dwyer, I got a message from a fellow District 31 resident who wanted me to pass this along as it relates to this post:

The phrase Katy bar the door! (also as Katy bar the gate!; sometimes written as Katie) is a very American exclamation, more common in the South than elsewhere, meaning that disaster impends—“watch out”, “get ready for trouble” or “a desperate situation is at hand”.

Dwyer is telling the world that either he is going to cause more trouble, or probably more accurately, that he is a desperate and disastrous legislator.

The reader said it, not me.

Lesser Than Zero?

I thought this was bad enough, but this is amazing...

Mr. Dwyer said he had faith that God was in control in the election, but that if re-elected he would continue to be an outspoken conservative.

"If you think I was ineffective before, Katie bar the door," he said.

I didn't know that you could be less effective than accomplishing nothing. That's like a student failing out of school and trying to say they aim to do worse next time.

Other very conservative legislators manage to put ideology aside and get meaningful legislation passed in a bipartisan fashion. District 31 does not need Don Dwyer wasting a seat in the General Assembly for the next four years not even trying to pass meaningful legislation. At that point, it's almost like giving him a $43,000 a year government handout; a one-man Don Dwyer welfare program.

I'm not asking Don Dwyer to capitulate and do the Democrats bidding; all I ask is that he try to do something that benefits his constituents if he does manage to get re-elected.