Delegate Don Dwyer, a Republican from Anne Arundel, told The Capital of Annapolis that his drinking increased toward the end of last year’s General Assembly session.
Dwyer said he felt sold out when colleagues voted last year for same-sex marriage, an issue he spent years working against. Voters affirmed gay marriage in the state in November, leading to the first same-sex weddings in the state on Jan. 1.
Dwyer also separated from his wife in November 2011.
He has acknowledged that he was under the influence of alcohol when his boat collided with another vessel on the Magothy River in August. Several people were injured.
If your using people getting equal rights as an excuse to drink yourself so stupid that you're injuring several people, you have bigger problems than you realize.
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo is pro-gay marriage. Maryland politician Emmet C. Burns Jr. is not. After Ayanbadejo expressed his beliefs to Burns, Yahoo Sports published a letter that Burns wrote to Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, calling Ayanbadejo’s actions “injurious,” and asking him to “inhibit such expressions.”
That did not sit well with Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, so he wrote an open letter to Mr. Burns(Not necessarily suitable for young children):
Dear Emmett C. Burns, Jr.,
I find it inconceivable that you are an elected official of the United States government. Your vitriolic hatred and bigotry
make me ashamed and disgusted to think that you are in any way
responsible for shaping policy at any level. The views you espouse
neglect to consider several fundamental key points, which I will outline
in great detail:
1. As I suspect you have not read the Constitution, I would like to remind you that the very first
amendment in this founding document deals with the freedom of speech,
particularly the abridgment of said freedom. By using your position as
an elected official (when referring to your constituents in order to
implicitly threaten the Ravens organization) to argue
that the Ravens should silence Brendon Ayanbadejo from voicing his
support for same-sex marriage, not only are you clearly violating the
First Amendment, but you come across as a narcissistic fromunda stain.
What on Earth would possess you to say something so mind-boggingly
stupid? It baffles me that a man such as yourself, a man who relies on
that same First Amendment to pursue your own religious studies without
fear of persecution from the state, could somehow justify stifling
another person's right to free speech. To call that "hypocritical" would
be to do a disservice to the word. "Mindfuckingly, obscenely
hypocritical" starts to approach it a little bit.
2. You wrote,
"Many of your fans are opposed to such a view and feel it has no place
in a sport that is strictly for pride, entertainment and excitement."
Holy fucking shitballs. Did you seriously just say that, as someone who
is, according to your Wikipedia page,
"deeply involved in government task forces on the legacy of slavery in
Maryland"? Have you not heard of Kenny Washington? Jackie Robinson? As
recently as 1962 the NFL still had segregation, which was only done away
with by brave athletes and coaches daring to speak their mind and do
the right thing, and you're going to say that political views have "no
place in a sport"? I can't even begin to fathom the cognitive dissonance
that must be coursing through your rapidly addled mind right now; the
mental gymnastics your brain has to tortuously contort itself through to
make such a preposterous statement are surely worthy of an Olympic gold
medal (the Russian judge gives you a 10 for "beautiful oppressionism").
3. This is more a personal quibble of mine, but why do you hate
freedom? Why do you hate the fact that other people want a chance to
live their lives and be happy, even though they may believe in something
different from what you believe, or act differently from you? How does
gay marriage affect your life in any way, shape, or form? Are you
worried that if gay marriage became legal, all of a sudden you'd start
thinking about penis? ("Oh shit. Gay marriage just passed. Gotta get me
some of that hot dong action!") Will all your friends suddenly turn gay
and refuse to come to your Sunday Ticket grill-outs? (Unlikely. Gay
people enjoy watching football, too.)
I can assure you that gay people getting married will have zero
effect on your life. They won't come into your house and steal your
children. They won't magically turn you into a lustful cockmonster.
They won't even overthrow the government in an orgy of hedonistic
debauchery because all of a sudden they have the same legal rights as
the other 90 percent of our population, rights like Social Security
benefits, childcare tax credits, family and medical leave to take care
of loved ones, and COBRA health care for spouses and children. You know
what having these rights will make gay Americans? Full-fledged citizens,
just like everyone else, with the freedom to pursue happiness and all
that that entails. Do the civil-rights struggles of the past 200 years
mean absolutely nothing to you?
In closing, I would like to say that I hope this letter in some small
way causes you to reflect upon the magnitude of the colossal
foot-in-mouth clusterfuck you so brazenly unleashed on a man whose only
crime was speaking out for something he believed in. Best of luck in the
next election; I'm fairly certain you might need it.
Sincerely,
Chris Kluwe
P.S. I've also been vocal as hell about the issue of gay marriage, so
you can take your "I know of no other NFL player who has done what Mr.
Ayanbadejo is doing" and shove it in your closed-minded,
totally-lacking-in-empathy pie hole.
Follow Chris and Brendon and tell them thank you for speaking up on Twitter - @chriswarcraft and @brendon310
Editors Note: One of the things that set the blogosphere on the left apart from the right is the willingness to correct mistakes. I was mistaken in calling Mr. Burns a republican as unfortunately he is a member of the democratic party in Maryland(that mistake has been corrected). Another thing that set's us apart from our friends on the right is our ability to take someone to task for doing the wrong thing irregardless of party. i stand by the rest of the story! Jeff
Employees of MARC -- part of the Maryland Transit Authority -- can now organize into bargaining units, according the legislation passed last month.
As the Maryland General Assembly session came to a close in April, legislators passed a bill that gives state workers in four previously excluded executive departments collective bargaining rights already enjoyed by their sisters and brothers in the state service. AFSCME members across the state worked with Gov. Martin O'Malley as he led the charge to get this critical expansion of workers’ rights through the legislative process.
The new law will, set to take effect on July 1, will give workers at the Maryland Transit Administration, the State Board of Education, the Office of the Comptroller and the Maryland State Retirement Agency the right to organize into new bargaining units. AFSCME activists are working every day on an organizing campaign with the 2,000 employees covered by these new bargaining units.
AFSCME members lobbied hard for this ‘Freedom to Vote’ legislation. At a time when far too many governors and legislators across the country are trying to diminish workers’ rights, Gov. O’Malley and legislative leaders fought and won a battle to expand the rights of public service workers in the Old Line State. Together we have helped workers gain more of a voice in the workplace and at the bargaining table.
I'm trying to imagine what it would be like to live in a state where the people are given more rights as opposed to here in Fitzwalkerstan where people lose their rights in favor of corporate overlords. It sounds almost too good to be true, doesn't it? I betcha they even have job growth there too!
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