Betrayed, as usual

It didn't take long for Larry Hogan to run to the left.

If you look closely, you see my Congressman (back when I still lived in Maryland) in this picture. But there was a governor who should have shown up as well.

Having lived in Maryland for the larger part of his term, I know that Larry Hogan has a tendency to say one thing and act another way. We saw it almost right away with the phosphorus regulations, a couple years later with his reversal on fracking in Western Maryland, and overall in his maddening lack of use of his veto pen to at least delay bad legislation for a few months.

Yet when he ran for Senate - and notice that he didn’t run against the incumbent Chris Van Hollen immediately after his gubernatorial term expired, instead waiting until Ben Cardin decided to retire, not to mention filing at the last possible moment after others got into the race - he skated on his name recognition and really didn’t say what he was going to do aside from the mealymouthed big-government bipartisanship garbage he’s always spewed. Yet we were assured by the state’s establishment Republicans that he would more or less toe the GOP line and provide a needed vote for Republican priorities.

Well, that lie lasted less than a week:

“I’ll support legislation that makes Roe the law of the land, in every state, so every woman can make her own choice,” Hogan continues. “I’m Larry Hogan, and I approve this message, because no one should come between a woman and her doctor.”

But we shouldn’t be surprised, should we? According to The Washington Stand:

During his two terms as Maryland governor, Hogan defined himself as personally opposed to abortion but said that he would neither “try to change Maryland’s laws protecting women’s rights to the procedure nor to limit access to contraception.” He called a 2018 Democrat-led effort to enshrine abortion as a constitutional right in Maryland unnecessary, but said that he would not oppose it if Maryland voters backed it.

“Hogan the Horrific” seems to be an apt moniker.

The pro-life majority worked hard for 50 years to put the conditions in place for the question of abortion to be placed where it belongs - at the state level. Some of our more progressive states have already outlawed the practice, while others, like Delaware, lag behind. We had a reasonable law until 2017, when those who would deny God-given rights to our most vulnerable population changed the law knowing the Roe v. Wade dam would finally and properly break. But it’s easier to change the hearts of a few thousand voters than many millions.

So we are not interested in going back to a time of black genocide and encouraging a culture of death. There comes a time when having a temporary majority in one-half of one-third of our political system isn’t worth selling our soul over. Moreover, as I always say, why should liberal voters vote for liberal-lite when they can get the real thing?

If I were still in Maryland, I’d probably vote Libertarian again like I did the last time Hogan ran. And if people say, “all you’re doing is electing the Democrat” I would have to point to this example and say “what’s the difference?” (By the way, the Libertarian Senate candidate in Maryland is Mike Scott.) If Lockdown Larry is going to cave and vote with the Democrats on this issue, how many other issues will he do the same with?

And then we have Delaware, where our leading Republican candidate for governor just bucked his party and voted to “require all health benefit plans delivered or issued for Medicaid to cover services related to the termination of pregnancy.” Nice vote, Michael Ramone. Again, why should Delaware voters go for liberal lite when they can get the real thing?

In truth, I’m caught somewhere in the middle on this one. Obviously I was involved in the Republican Party for a number of years, but the problem with them is that, even when they win, they don’t govern like Republicans. They always try and “reach across the aisle,” which in this political climate is a sure way to get your arm ripped off and them to start beating you with it. Here’s an example of a Democrat crossing the aisle properly - and he’ll probably get primaried for it because they don’t play.

Government should have one function and one function only: protecting our God-given Constitutional rights. The sooner one party (and enough voters) figure it out, the better off we will be as a nation.

Until next time, remember you can Buy Me a Coffee since I have a page there.