The Great Delegate Dwyer

Back in 2009, I laid down the following rant concerning Maryland Delegate Don Dwyer (R-Crazytown) and his quest to ban being gay:

Congratulations, Delegate Donald H. Dwyer, Maryland state delegate from District 31. You have won the Hero of the Millennium Award. And you certainly deserve it.



You are one of the few Americans who realize that the American Dream has nothing to do with being successful and raising your kids into a world that will accept them for who they are; it’s about going on a crusade against equal rights for same-sex couples. Upon hearing that Conaway v. Deane & Polyak, which would have granted marriage licenses to nine Maryland couples, was being heard by the Baltimore Circuit Court, you flipped your lid. You introduced countless proposals into the state legislature which would have blocked the attempt altogether. After the judge ruled in the plaintiff’s favor, you sponsored a bill which would have banned same-sex marriage in the state. That’ll teach those pesky gays!
When the state Court of Appeals finally ruled against Conaway, you didn’t even stop to party — you introduced a resolution to impeach the circuit court judge for daring to find in favor of Marylanders seeking equality. You have also averaged two amendment proposals per year, and it shows your perseverance, especially since they are consistently defeated with greater and greater margins (13-6 for your latest 2009 attempt, which had the added perk of banning the mere discussion of same-sex marriage in public schools).
Sir, you know what it takes to be a true American. You are role model for conservative Republicans and homophobes throughout the world. Maryland is proud of you.

That was three years ago. Of course, this year, Maryland finally passed an equal-marriage law (subject to a popular referendum this November). Dwyer can't have been pleased, and maybe he just missed the spotlight.

Then, in late August 2012, this happened. I put it in caps because it's absolutely ridiculous, and gets more so after every word.

DWYER GOT DRUNK AND CRASHED HIS BOAT.   INTO ANOTHER BOAT.   INJURING FOUR ADULTS.   AND FIVE CHILDREN.

The youngest child, a 5-year-old girl, had a fractured skull.

This coming from the hardcore "Christian" Delegate Dwyer.

Dan Rodricks of the Baltimore Sun wrote an excellent article about the effects of the crash on Dwyer's political career. It also contains some lovely tidbits about his anti-equality crusade:

"my memory of Dwyer from that conversation was less the devout Christian than middle-age homophobe, obsessed with the sinister advance of gay rights."

"For one thing, [gay men and women] would demand that homosexuality be taught in public schools"

"Dwyer made it sound like some sort of indoctrination process, or gay recruitment. The man was pretty serious about that."

"In the State House, he handed out a pamphlet with explicit descriptions of gay and lesbian sex acts, claiming that similar material had been passed out to children in Massachusetts, where same-sex marriage is legal."

"Dwyer opposed everything gay, including a bill granting certain benefits to unmarried couples, such as medical decision-making and hospital visitation rights"

"He also called for the impeachment of Doug Gansler following the attorney general's opinion that Maryland could recognize same-sex unions legally performed in other states."

And he closes with a very, very good point:

"Gays, lesbians, transgender and bisexual people — how do they impede or harm Dwyer's life?"

Source article: "Will travails of Del. Don Dwyer 'gentle his condition'?" Baltimore Sun, August 29, 2012.

And finally, some humor:

(From DWI Hit Parade)

No Comeback for Congressman Gilchrest

By now everyone knows that Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives in Maryland's 1st district, Wendy Rosen, has withdrawn from the race over allegations of voter fraud.

Why she thought she could vote for candidates in Maryland and Florida at the same time, I do not know.

In any case, Andy Harris (R) will be the only candidate on the ballot, since the Democrats are too late to put forward another candidate. Some would say the race was decided anyway, even with Rosen. The 1st is a very red district, with the entire Eastern Shore, and the Republican strongholds of Bel Air and northeast Baltimore County.

There was speculation that former Republican congressman Wayne Gilchrest might try to win his old seat back by running a write-in campaign, but he shan't. Instead he's endorsing John LaFerla, the Democrat who lost to Rosen in the sickeningly close primary election.

Why sickening? Because we were 57 votes away from having a Democrat on the ballot in the 1st district.

For the last time, the price of gas is not Obama’s fault!

One of the side effects of having a predominately Republican family is seeing painfully incorrect pictures show up on my Facebook news feed:

My question was: when exactly did Obama raise the price of gas?

This was almost as hilarious as the time Michele Bachmann campaigned on the platform of lowering gas prices 

If you weren’t aware, the price of gas is based largely on the price of oil, while most of the rest comes from costs the gas companies incur such as refining costs and distribution. The price of oil is the same globally and is affected mainly by supply and demand … just like every other commodity.

Refining costs are higher in warmer months, which is why gas on, say, Inauguration Day in January costs more than it does in the summer before a major election.

There’s something else special about January 20, 2009. Gas prices had just tumbled… is “tumbled” even the right word?

See: http://gasbuddy.com/gb_retail_price_chart.aspx

Gas prices were at a 6-year low in January 2009; it had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with a certain recession which was at its worst in the first quarter of 2009.

By gas-station-sticky-note logic, there is EVERY reason to re-elect Obama because last time he was elected, gas prices fell from $4.12 to $1.61 per gallon.

This is not to say that we shouldn’t continue to develop energy independence and invest in alternative energy sources. But this isn’t the result of Obama’s evil scheme to convert all Americans to Islam. People tried to pin high gas prices on Bush too, and I’ll say now what I said then: the President may not be perfect, but this time, he's not the culprit.