After all else failed — the naked partisan trickery; the cartographical sleight of hand; the threats of months of litigation — Maryland’s political tribes finally agreed on a redrawn congressional map. What a waste of time. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) had pressed for years for redistricting reform that could have ended the decennial brawls in Annapolis over electoral-district line-drawing by turning it over to a bipartisan commission. That might not have been a panacea, but it would have rated as an improvement, because almost anything would have. Democrats who rule the legislature refused, repeatedly.
