"I was just thinking about the words 'conservative' and 'liberal,' and somewhere along the line, I think they've gotten confused. I consider myself a liberal. I'm pro-choice, and I'm not much for gun totin'. Yet if you're a conservative, you like to tote those guns, and you have that baby whether you can afford to take care of it or not. Call me crazy, but somewhere, these two words have gotten confused."

"Calling about all the smokers complaining about not being able to smoke in bars, and the people who are calling and saying 'I'm so happy, now I can go to bars, blah blah blah', and people who are saying 'Well, I'll just stay home and smoke my cigarettes,' and they say they're saving money and everything. What did you do when you went out? Did you just go tothe bar just because you could sit there and drink? That is pretty pathetic. Didn't you go out to socialize and mingle and meet people, and do things like that? You could still do that without smoking." - Hagerstown

"I object to calling the Berkeley Commissioners our 'leaders.' They are our public servants, and the arrogant enemy to many of us." - Martinsburg, W.Va.

"Sen. Munson would most probably be the senior Republican on any committee on which he sat in the General Assembly, but as a Republican, he cannot possibly be the head of that committee. Only ... if it's a Democratic assembly and a Democratic majority, and only Democratic heads of committee." - Hagerstown

"Mr. Donoghue, you slapped a lot of correctional officers right in the face with your ideas when it comes to retirement. Don't you realize that in my institution alone, we don't have enough supervisors? Lower ranks are doing supervisors' jobs. Where have you been?" - Hagerstown

"I'm calling about the smoking ban. I feel it's a great idea. The smokers leave their cigarette butts lying all over the ground, no matter where they go. They toss them out their windows of their cars as they're going down the roads. I have the right, as to serving my country, to go into a smoke-free environment." - Cascade

"I wish businesses would, when they're encountering a woman they don't know, don't assume that the woman is married and call her 'Mrs.', because there are women who aren't married today." - Hagerstown

"Good luck to bar owners. I pray your business survives the smoking ban." - Hagerstown

"Just wanted to let you know that the State of Maryland did it again - they got me for 42 cents on my Maryland state tax return, because of the rounding-off process. I mean, that's just one person. It all adds up. Fleecing of Maryland by the tax representative." - Hagerstown

"I just want to say that I think it's great that we can go into restaurants and not come out smelling like we just spent all night at a bar. Hats off, because that is just the best feeling, to not come out smelling like a stinking cigarette. And for these people who are complaining about the veterans not being able to smoke at a bar, well, sorry about their luck, but think about the people around them who don't smoke and who don't want their stinking secondhand smoke." - Hagerstown

"I'm calling in response to the comment in Mail Call, Feb. 8, Friday, about people throwing their cigarette butts around, being that they can't smoke anymore in certain places. They've done it now. I'm always cleaning cigarette butts up. Everywhere you go, you see people smoking, and they just flip the cigarette, whether they're going in a car, vehicle, or whether they're walking. There could be an ashtray 10 feet from them, but they're not going to put the cigarette in there. Cigarette smokers and people who drive and drink at the same time are the biggest litterers I think in this country."

"This is about the Community Free Clinic. I think that if two people can afford to drive two expensive brand-new vehicles and make payments on them monthly, that they should ... that should be for poor people, I would think." - Hagerstown

"At the CPWC forum, BOE forum, the candidates were asked to discuss a problem due to increased growth in the schools in Washington County at or above capacity. Possible approach would be to build new schools, with an overall increase in property tax. One of the candidates does understand that the BOE could impact increased property taxes, due to budget demands that the county might have to fulfill for the Washington County schools."

"Sometimes after reading my paper every morning, I sometimes wonder if there are any good people left in this world. I was at Martin's on Wesel Boulevard a couple weeks ago and let my pocketbook in the cart. An employee let me know there still are very good people in this world. Thank you. God bless you and your family." - Falling Waters, W.Va

"I was just reading in Letters to the Editor about some people who attended 'Smokey Joe's Cafe.' It was a play - well, it was a production down at Williamsport. The woman that wrote in said she enjoyed the two hours of the Smokey Joe Cafe's production in Williamsport. I went to that, too, and it was good, but it was only one hour. I don't understand how she saw two hours." - Hagerstown

"Voters are telling the poll takers that the economy is their No. 1 concern. How about Iraq? Don't forget what is going on in that country. We are still there killing, being killed and spending money." - Greencastle, Pa.

"Let's talk trickle-down effect of the Maryland Indoor Clean Air Act. First the state decides to raise sales tax, which doesn't have anything to do with the air. Then Maryland decides to raise the tax on cigarettes $1 a pack. What happens? Some people decide to quit smoking, which is good for their health, but bad for Maryland. Less tax money coming in. The people that keep smoking go out of state to purchase cigarettes. Bad for Maryland, less taxes coming in. What happens now? Some other tax gets increased. Good move, Maryland."

"At last a Republican presidential candidate I could vote for. All the conversation about John McCain not being conservative enough makes me want to vote for him. I think the Republicans who have been left out since before Reagan are finally getting to speak, and I love it, all thanks to President Bush."

"To the person who called in and said he and his wife of 31 years are gonna smoke their Virginia-bought cigarettes and drink their Virginia beer and play their Pennsylvania tip jars: Make sure Virginia or Pennsylvania pays for their chemotherapy." - Hagerstown

"I was talking to someone the other day who works at the prison complex south of Hagerstown, and they commented about how cold it had been in their buildings. I told them there wasn't any use to complain, but if the prisoners complained, the staff would do something about it. Also, to show you how tough it is on the staff, they can't have a coffee fund anymore." - Sharpsburg

"So many Americans are clueless when it comes to government and public affairs, is it any wonder that political campaigns are so shallow? Or that the candidates speak to voters primarily through TV spots intended to malign the other candidate's reputation? Or that the presidential 'debates' limit answers to 90 seconds, and bar the contenders from engaging in actual discussion? When voters are unwilling to put any effort into learning about the issues of the day, it should come as no surprise that campaign discussions rarely move beyond sound-bites: 'time for change,' 'tax breaks for the rich,' 'freedom is on the march,' 'wrong war, wrong place, wrong time.' Candidates who speak wonderfully, but do not say anything. It is time for the voters to wake up (if they can) and realize that the very future of our country is at stake. God help America, for we know not what we are doing."

"I'm calling - the Washington County school system has done some absolutely appalling things in the past, but today has got to be the worst - allowing their teachers to go home as an early dismissal, but requiring the ... other administrative staff to stay, and to use personal or sick time in case they felt it unsafe and needed to leave because of the weather, was absolutely ridiculous." - Hagerstown

"I'm calling in regards to the state policeman who was convicted of five charges of child pornography, but was sentenced just to probation and no jail time. The judge - everybody that has a good record, they can be picked up for child pornography but not serve any jail time because they have a good record? I don't think so." - Boonsboro

"I live at Potomac Towers. It's a crying shame that people will park in handicapped parking places that have no handicap, and they block other people's handicapped spots. I think it's a crying shame. I think something should be able to be done about it. If not, then Potomac Towers ought to take them down, and everybody fend for themself."