Dayhoff Westminster Soundtrack: Watching Gov.-elect Larry Hogan pick a team

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Watching Gov.-elect Larry Hogan pick a team

My notes from the porch

By Kevin E. Dayhoff Friday January 17, 2015

Labels: Carroll Co Republican Central Committee, Commissioner Haven Shoemaker, Commissioner Robin Frazier, People Ready-Justin, People Shoemaker-Haven

I will readily admit that sometimes I am not the brightest bulb in the pack and can be terribly tone-deaf to the dog whistles. These are the times when I take my keyboard in hand and hide under the lounge chairs on the porch – and just watch.

What I do know, to paraphrase the famous quote attributed to Pres. Lyndon Baines Johnson around 1960 – and put it in this context: “The difference between Cannibals and [Conservatives] is that Cannibals eat only their enemies.”

Thankfully my colleague Joe Steffen has written a thoughtful and cogent analysis, “In Defense of Mark Newgent” which in part begins to address some of my concerns and those of some of my friends… Mr. Joe Steffen has given us some pause for thought. Find it here: https://darknessrevisited.wordpress.com/2015/01/17/in-defense-of-mark-newgent/

And I say this not because I totally agree with him. Senator David Brinkley is a great pick for budget director. The criticism that the senator, who, if I am not mistaken was the ranking member of budget and tax, “voted for 6 of 8 of Governor O’Malley’s budgets,” is unfortunately tribal and surprisingly over simplistic. It is not like his vote was the critical vote that passed the budgets, they were not. For the many who understand the political process and the byzantine ways of a heavily democratic-controlled feudal Maryland General Assembly; holding one’s nose and voting for a budget that was going to pass anyway was a necessary evil in order to have a seat at the table across the aisle in order to get some things accomplished…

As has already been developing, the ascendancy of Gov.-elect Hogan has made for some strange-bedfellows and more than a few toxic personality mixes.

But it is paramount that we all work together…

Already several have looked upon the election of Gov.-elect Hogan to be a pathologically narcissistic opportunity to promote themselves – instead of coming together to become part of a team that collectively is greater than the sum of its parts – to make a for a better state for everyone, conservatives, liberals, independents and the growing number of folks who don’t like either party.

My employer, The Baltimore Sun, said it well in an editorial published January 12, 2015 Monday, “Hogan's fringe flank.” “… It's almost as if they don't want the governor to succeed..." http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-gop-extreme-20150112-story.html

“Mr. Hogan won election by avoiding divisive social issues and focusing on a centrist agenda of fiscal conservatism and economic growth.

“But apparently that memo hasn't trickled down to all corners of the state GOP just yet. The governor-elect has a golden opportunity to build a competitive Maryland Republican Party, so long as his fellow Republicans don't get in the way.”

I for one will be curious as to whom survives the exposure once the toxic fumes begin. Sometimes Republicans are their own worst enemies. For example - towards the end of the Ellen Sauerbrey (R) Campaign for Maryland Governor in 1994 – a portion of the Republican Party decided that Ellen Sauerbrey was moderating on some core conservative values.

That series of events was quite an awakening for me. No one will ever know for sure - but I have determined that it was the hard, uncompromising and inflexible elements of the right wing of the Republican Party that elected Governor Glendening (D) for the last eight years. Whether you are a republican or a democrat - you have to admit that this is quite a paradox.

I am reminded one of David Horowitz's books, "The Art of Political War and other Radical Pursuits." It begins by saying: "Politics is war, but in America the left is doing all the shooting. Shell-shocked conservatives blame their failures on the media or unscrupulous opponents, but they refuse to name the real culprit – themselves…”

Treading lightly here so as to not totally shatter the shatter the complacency of establishment conservatives, but Maryland Democrats have mastered the art of political war, and spent the last ten years clobbering conservatives in and out of government.

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” FRIEDRICH WILHELM NIETZSCHE 1844-1900

Kevin Dayhoff, a slave to the masters of the page - the little soldiers in my life – words

People who do not understand your silence will never understand your words.

For some balance, find a January 15, 2015 letter to the editor in the Carroll County Times by Scott Hollenbeck here: “Frazier uniquely qualified for Senate seat” http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/opinion/ph-cc-hollenbeck-letter-01172015-20150117,0,4211336.story

And many more here…. It is a regular lollapalooza… http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/

People who do not understand your silence will never understand your words.

Related: Robin Bartlett Frazier nominated to State Senate seat - by Carroll County Times staff writer Jacob deNobel http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2015/01/robin-bartlett-frazier-nominated-to.html January 10, 2015 http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/local/ph-cc-rcc-frazier-20150110,0,151714.story

Carroll County Republican Central Committee Selects Robin Bartlett Frazier to Fill Opening District 5 Senate Seat http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2015/01/carroll-county-republican-central.html

Del. Justin Ready, R-District 5 is the clear choice for Carroll Co. Md. Senate vacancy http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2015/01/del-justin-ready-r-district-5-is-clear.html By Kevin E. Dayhoff January 11, 2015 By Kevin E. Dayhoff January 11, 2015

Or – food for thought; if Carroll County Delegate Susan Krebs had applied with the central committee, she would be the appropriate choice because she is the ranking senior member of the Carroll County Delegation to Annapolis. That said, the word is that she did not throw her name in the hat…

Labels: Carroll Co Republican Central Committee, Commissioner Haven Shoemaker, Commissioner Robin Frazier, People Ready-Justin, People Shoemaker-Haven

Del. Justin Ready, R-District 5 is the clear choice for the Carroll County Republican Central Committee to fill the vacancy in the Maryland State Senate left by outgoing Senator Joe Getty

Last Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015, the Carroll County Republican Central Committee chose former Carroll County commissioner Robin Frazier as its recommendation to fill the vacancy in the Maryland State Senate left by outgoing Senator Joe Getty. http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2015/01/del-justin-ready-r-district-5-is-clear.html

Hogan wants more openness, more names in filling legislative seats - Maryland Reporter: By Len Lazarick http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2015/01/maryland-reporterby-len-lazarick-hogan.html

According to an article in Maryland Report by veteran political reporter Len Lazarick on Thursday, January 15, 2015, “In filling the three legislative vacancies he has created in building his new administration, Gov.-elect Larry Hogan said he’d like to see a more open nominating process used by the Republican central committees and more candidate names for him to fill the seats…”

[…]

It is a must-read article for anyone who has followed the controversies “In Frederick and Carroll counties, [where] the small Republican Central Committees have already named one person for each seat, creating controversy in both counties…” http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2015/01/maryland-reporterby-len-lazarick-hogan.html

Art. III Sec 13 of the Maryland Constitution http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2015/01/art-iii-sec-13-of-maryland-constitution.html

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