It's a "time of great peril" indeed. Martin O'Malley, as usual, found eloquent words to describe the beginning of a new era in Maryland. One that will involve higher taxes, bigger government, and greater control over our lives. Prepare for a Bill Clinton-style speech in 2008 about how they've examined every other option, and now we'll have to raise your taxes. Anybody remember that classic? In a weepy voice, no less. "I worked harder than I've ever worked on anything in my life," and I've concluded we must raise taxes, he said. Vintage.

Our Republican counterparts in Virginia have apparently pulled a Benedict Arnold, and jumped ship from the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan to get aboard the S.S. Tax And Spend. They will find that after discarding the most basic Republican - American - values of limited government and less taxes, that Captain Kaine and Virginia voters will make them walk the plank this November anyway. That's what happens when you sell out your beliefs simply to get reelected.

Republicans in Maryland had best not follow suit. Joining the tax and spend crowd in Annapolis is a recipe for total destruction. The amount of wasteful spending I found in my own audit of only part of our County school system simply boggles the mind. Our State government does not need to get any bigger. And what of the liberals who say that only a woman can make decisions about her body, not the government? Those same liberals are now mandating a forced vaccination of every female student in the state of Maryland with a fairly new vaccine. The arguments about that particular vaccine aside, I just find it fascinating that the same people who say government has no business in a woman's health decision can turn around and forcibly vaccinate those same women, possibly against their will.

And, finally, Mr. O'Malley said it best: We are in "a time of great peril." Not just in Maryland, but internationally. China has just flexed its military muscle, and now we are under the threat of any vital satellite being shot out of the sky by Beijing. I would hope for a firm response and plan of action by President Bush. And, clearly, 2008 is no time to turn our national security over to an inexperienced, Democratic media celebrity. The times call for a strong Republican leader whom the American people can trust to protect us and our national interests. And we need no more convincing argument for a major increase in our defense budget and in the size of our military forces. Even as the Democratic Congress moves in outrageous fashion to risk the lives of our troops, we need to ensure that our military grows in size and has world class equipment and quality of life. Anything less, and we surely will find our nation in "great peril."