Tag Archives: Larry Hogan

Who Was That Masked Man?

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Beginning at 7 am on Saturday morning, the answer to that question here in Maryland could be anyone riding on mass transit or patronizing a food service or retail establishment. Governor Hogan has ordered that a face covering that covers both the nose and mouth shall be worn by anyone using public transportation or by anyone older than 7 in a food service or retail establishment until the end of the current Wuhan virus emergency. Willful failure to comply will be a misdemeanor punishable by a year in jail and/or a $5,000 fine.

It seems to me that this sort of public health intervention makes more sense than some parts of the stay-at-home order, particularly as we pass the peak in the pandemic curve. Going to about our business wearing masks will be less economically disruptive than hiding. Perhaps this can be a first step to easing up on some restrictions as it becomes more obvious that some are doing more overall harm than good.

The Lesser of Two Weasels

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I don’t agree with Larry Hogan on several issues that are important to me (i.e., Second Amendment rights), but the alternative is Ben Jealous, a politician with whom I have essentially no common ground. While the choice may not be as bad as Trump v. Hillary, it still stinks.

Once again, I’m faced with Jerry Garcia’s Dilemma (“Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil.”), but I’ll vote for Hogan for governor.

The Maryland Governor’s Race

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There’s been a lot of analysis about how Larry Hogan beat Anthony Brown. Governor-elect Hogan worked hard for his win, and I don’t want to minimize his efforts, but Brown actively lost the election.

Brown has been singularly ineffective at any management role he was given while serving as Lieutenant Governor with Martin O’Malley. The disastrous rollout of the state’s nonfunctioning Obamacare website is the prime example.

This lack of basic organizational skills propagated through his campaign. The Gentle Reader may remember a story from a few weeks ago about folks walking out on Barack Obama during a campaign rally for Brown. I spoke with a Brown campaign volunteer who described the event as disorganized and running late. The crowd’s mood turned a bit surly. When the Democrats can’t get a crowd in Prince George’s County, Maryland, to stick around to listen their President, something has gone very wrong, and I began to suspect that Hogan had a chance.

Then, a few days later, Hillary Clinton spoke at a Brown rally on the University of Maryland campus—to a room with a lot of empty seats. At that point, I figured that Hogan would squeak by.

The big surprise was Hogan’s margin of victory. I put that down to his hard work that got the Republican base in the suburban and rural areas of the state out on election day.

Now, we will see how he can govern.