Poor Larry Hogan. Just when he thought he was “America’s Favorite Governor” he had a huge wake up call. Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas, who should be reeling from the effects of the winter storm that decimated Texas and the ERCOT scandal that has ignited the anger of Texans, opened Texas. He joined the ranks of South Dakota’s Governor Chrisy Noem as some of the most popular governors in the country. It must be heartbreaking for Larry who had his eyes focused on the 2024 election. Certainly, with his actions during the scandemic, he was the frontrunner. And now he isn’t. CNN won’t even answer his phone calls.
The easy solution would be for Larry to open up the state with a great deal of pomp and celebration. Except he can’t and here’s why.
Let’s remember that when the scandemic hit a year ago, Larry was mired in the mud of mediocrity in the state. Even though he was a Republican Governor in a majority Democrat state, Larry wasn’t making much impact. Outside of lowering bridge tolls and canceling a mass transit project outside Baltimore, Hogan’s actions were barely noticeable. ( And, to be honest, that project cancelation actually benefited Hogan’s old business by allowing land it owned to be in the conversation for a profitable sale to the state for another projects triggering some criticism from many.)
Even Republicans who were excited to have a Governor from their party, were underwhelmed.
And then the scandemic hit.
Like most Governors, Hogan was cautious at first. So little was known about the Covid virus that the decision was made to “close down for fourteen days to flatten the curve.” He closed most small businesses, leaving larger stores and “essential” businesses open. At the time, he didn’t even seem sympathetic to businesses for whom this was a tragedy. Maybe he really DID think it would only be fourteen days.
But, as the time came to make decisions about how to move forward, it seems as though Larry did something any good Leftist would do. He decided not to let a disaster go to waste. He upped the ante with a state of emergency, a mask mandate, continued closings, etc. And he used all of his actions to bash President Trump. As the summer went on and businesses realized they couldn’t survive this way and as people got tired of the mask mafia screaming at them with every opportunity, Larry must have realized that he needed to do SOMETHING.
He looked to his big brother Governors, Cuomo, Northam, and Wolf. He saw how strict they were, how totalitarian, and how newsworthy their actions were. He girded his chubby loins and decided to out do them. He was mean. He was threatening, he told them to “follow the science.”He didn’t care about the businesses, it was about saving lives. ( Although it seems the lives of nursing home patients didn’t figure in that statement.) He made sure that he worked closely with Johns Hopkins, the Maryland Department of Health, and the CDC to be proactive in calling many deaths Covid deaths whether they were or not. Faulty false positive test results provided support for his actions.
He thought he’d make himself look really heroic and order Covid tests from Korea, even though the President was offering them from domestic companies at a cheaper price. The Korean tests were an oppotunity to show how he and his wife would do anything, even flying to Korea first class, for the people of his state. He spent 50 million dollars to show the love to Marylanders, disregarding that it was actually their money he was spending.
CNN called. MSNBC called. All the mainstream media clamored for an interview, especially when they discovered how much Larry hated Trump. They hailed him as the next coming of Ronald Reagan, the savior who would come riding in to save Republicans. He wrote a book in two weeks and had it published. The quick turn around on that was a miracle, sort of like those Korean tests. He got a front page article in Rolling Stone as “America’s Most Popular Governor.” He was a ROCK STAR!
Then something bad started happening. The citizens of Maryland said, “Not so fast, Larry. We are kind of tired of your nonsense.” The tests from Korea had to be sequestered because they were faulty. All that money and his wife’s valuable time wasted. And Trump just stood there smiling at Larry’s folly.
Again, Larry looked to his role models, Cuomo and Wolf. They were telling people to stay home over the holidays. And they weren’t very nice about it. So, Larry did that too. He was surly, even mean. He told people that HE would not be with family over the holidays. So there! Again, CNN and MSNBC were there to stroke his ego. They loved him even more when he said he would do a write in vote for President rather than vote for Trump.
He was sure the Covid numbers would spike over the holidays. After all, Fauci had said so, and Fauci was a god. Larry donned his military garb like he was a soldier against Covid. He made a commercial and chose the best tagline of all times, “Wear the damn mask.” Who wouldn’t love him?
The people of Maryland didn’t seem to get the message. They wrote mean things on his Facebook page. They sent him mean e-mails. They made fun of his weight. So, the man who called Trump crude and rude, responded to his citizens with rude responses that not even Trump could top. He banned people from posting on his public Facebook page. And, while gyms were closed to the common folk, he worked out with a trainer and lost weight.
But, he didn’t relent. He gave small crumbs of freedom back to his subjects. And, when Biden was installed, Larry cozied up to old Joe with the adoration of a fan boy. He even sent the National Guard to D.C. for the “installation” of the Biden administration. ( Which was funny because he wouldn’t send the National Guard to Baltimore when it was burning down in 2015. But I digress.)
And now, as Covid numbers “fall” and other Governors defy the increasingly unpopular gnome Fauci and open up, Larry is at a loss. He has no big brothers to look to for models. Mario is up in New York collecting sexual harassment charges and Wolf, well, who knows what he is doing. So, Larry opens up “a bit” releasing confusing and poorly written guidelines.
Why not just open up? Many Americans are realizing that this whole Covid event is a scheme. It’s a scheme to ruin the American economy, to justify grossly extravagant spending bills and debt, and to promote the theft of an election. Wouldn’t this be a great time for Larry to “be the bigger man” and stand up for Maryland?
The jobs would come back, businesses could come back, people would be free again.
Despite all it would do for our state, he can’t do it. To open up now would not only cancel the State of Emergency money and powers, it could possibly earn disfavor with Biden, Pelosi, and the great Blue Mafia. And that would mean the loss of money, tons of unaudited money. Trump would be right.
Even more important, it would show that Larry is either the biggest fool on earth or the biggest self serving fraud, or both.
He would have to make a statement like this, ” Wow, was I wrong. We did all this when we didn’t have to.”
Imagine the lawsuits. Imagine the derision among Democrats. Imagine the phone messages to CNN and MSNBC not being returned. Imagine his book on the sale table at Dollar General.
And imagine a political commercial, as he runs for higher office in the future. The tagline “Oops, my bad” doesn’t work very well.
