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Anthony Brown and Nancy Kopp spoiling your clambake fun? But you rock on just the same, Peter.

It's Maryland's Winners and Losers for July 4, 2008. CLICK HERE.

More from PolitickerMD.com:

• Will allegations curtail Dixon’s political future?
• Ethics, pumps and 'Choo’s'
• Dixon: 'I wasn't the mayor then.'

Better late than never. Well, some folks think so anyway.

The truth is, last weekend’s program featuring talk radio host Bob Ehrlich was pretty much a yawner. There was a half hour of the latest Republican talking point: “Drill Here, Drill Now. Pay Less – Drill off the Coast of Ocean City or right smack-dab in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay – We Don’t Care” (I made that last part up. But nobody said anything against it, either. Why is it always someone else’s backyard or beach off in the distance that needs to get drilled for oil?).

As best as anyone can figure opening up all this drilling might worth a few pennies off a gallon of gas – in five years. All this time BIG OIL already owns drilling leases over about 68 million acres of American land and they aren’t touching it, for some reason.

U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen: Getty Images PhotoThe state Republican Party is criticizing U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Kensington) for being one of the top “porkers” in the U.S. House.

An analysis conducted by the Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit group, determined Van Hollen was the second of the “top three porkers” in the U.S. House.

As we celebrate the 232nd anniversary of our nation's independence at Philadelphia tomorrow, today should be when we take note of what occured in Annapolis just prior to our country's declaration.

In case you missed it, Del. Rich Weldon posted two great diaries at TheTentacle.com on how he sees the 2010 Frederick County state legislative races shaking out.

It's not every day that the state Democratic Party's communication director and one of Maryland's most prominent Republicans agree on a party's political fortunes. But after former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele told a crowd of Republicans that "the Republican brand quite frankly sucks," David Paulson emailed PolitickerMD.com to express his empathy for Steele's idea.

"I don't disagree with Michael Steele on his low opinion of the Republican brand - it's in the toilet for a lot of reasons," Paulson wrote in an email to PolitickerMD.com. "But Republicans who think they only have a branding problem are fooling themselves. This isn't a public relations problem. This is a public trust problem."

And that's where the temporary agreement between Paulson and Steele ends.

U.S. Rep. Donna EdwardsLARGO – U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Fort Washington) Wednesday held the first in a series of coffee house discussions.

“I’ve been trying to figure out a way that as a member of Congress that we get out into the community where people are gathered,” she told reporters. Edwards said that the events would be held regularly at coffee shops and other venues throughout the 4th District.

“It’s a way for me to really hear from people directly,” she said. “I’m not just here for show.”

Consider this piece to be my no confidence vote in Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson (D). OK, to be fair, I never had confidence in Johnson in the six years he has been county executive. Thankfully for the first two years of his era, I lived on the Anne Arundel side of Laurel.

First let me discuss the main reasons that he was elected. In 2002, he was elected on his campaign to root out police corruption, in addition to being in a very crowded field to succeed Wayne Curry (D). Candidates that year included council member Jim Estepp, former delegate the Rev. C. Anthony Muse and then-delegate Rushern Baker III. Two years ago, Johnson won by running (literally) from Baker.

Gov. Martin O’Malley has ordered the Maryland State Flag to remain at half staff until sunset on Thursday. The order came after the death of Cpl. Richard Scott Findley, a Prince George’s police officer who was killed in the line of work on June 27.

According to the Associated Press, Findley was attempting to stop two suspects in a stolen pick-up truck when his cruiser was rammed. The officer was reported to have been stricken again while exiting his vehicle. The driver, 19 year-old Ronnie Lionel, unexpectedly died in jail earlier this week.