| Chris Van Hollen was just appointed a member of the Order of Orange-Nassau, a recognition given out by the Dutch monarchy. Not only does he have Dutch ancestry, but he's the head of the congressional caucus on the Netherlands, which apparently rates the appointment. One question the politicker article doesn't answer: whether this makes him Congressman Van Hollen of Orange-Nassau, because that's a pretty sweet title. But in the area of funny recognition, Van Hollen didn't win the day. No, the title went to Martin O'Malley, who was given an honorary doctorate by the National University of Ireland, Galway. Which isn't really funny in itself, until you see this picture: 
That's our Governor, back row, second from left, wearing the greatest hat ever in the history of the world. He's going to need to watch out, though, because if that picture ends up in an ad during the next election, the whole cool guy image he picked up from his band is going to be completely burst. |
