I need to give credit to Paul McCardell, able-bodied Baltimore Sun librarian, for his service in the development and fact-checking of the Maryland Political Quiz that appeared on-line over the last five weeks and in the print edition Sunday. Thanks, Paul!
Thanks to Judge Edgar Silver (retired), who pointed out a missing name in the answer to one of the questions. While Verda Welcome was the first African-American woman elected to the Maryland House of Delegates, she wasn't alone in that distinction. In 1958, Welcome and Irma George Dixon became the first African-American women to be elected to the House of Delegates, and, in 1962, Verda Welcome became the first African-American woman elected to the Maryland Senate.
Also, Frank DeFilippo called to say that his old boss Marvin Mandel -- and not Harry Hughes -- was the first governor to visit the Peoples Republic of China. Sorry to spoil your gotcha-fun, Flip, but while Marvin might have been the first Maryland governor to step foot into the PRC after Nixon's visit in 1972, Harry Hughes was the first American governor to do so after normalization. That's what my question asked. The U.S. and the PRC announced that the two governments would establish diplomatic relations in '78. In January '79, the U.S. transferred diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing. Hughes visited in 1980.
Thanks to all the e-mailers out there for the many compliments on the quiz, and for yesterday's small flood of comments on Sunday's column. It is clear to me that John Kerry haters just hate John Kerry -- ever since he came home from Vietnam and worked to end that war -- and that, no matter what, you're convinced that he meant to denigrate troops with his botched joke last week. It's OK. Believe what you want to believe. It's a free country. Most of you probably believe that the war in Iraq was justified and that the president has ably handled it, too. If you want to live in that world, fine. Good luck.
