Larry Hogan was a good governor, left office after two terms with very high approval ratings, worked bipartisan, and in normal times would have almost certainly run for the open Senate seat despite a large Democratic Party lead. I say “normal times,” but the thing is, we’re far from normal times. It’s pretty much common knowledge these days not to talk politics unless you know the person really well.
We have people who share our political views, and when we “socialize” (my wife and I often take cruises out of Baltimore), we speak in hushed voices and use coded messages, like in the novels I’ve read about the French Resistance during World War II.
At the start of Hogan’s term, I was a local independent elected official, though I was a registered Republican. My wife is a Democrat. My colleagues, who spent their time lobbying local governments in Annapolis, used to tease me: “Aren’t there any Democrats in hard-right Carroll County?” I would reply, “Of course I sleep with Democrats.”
I think once you lose your sense of humor and can no longer take a joke, the game is over. I think politicians (including me, though I was a “politician” at heart) are narcissists, but humor makes us human and relatable. I would never dream of sending a former political opponent to prison or causing irreparable harm.
Is the current political climate a coincidence, or was it “engineered” by someone determined to become a dictator? Our current two-party system, while not enshrined in our Constitution, has functioned for over 200 years, surviving a brutal Civil War and the threat of nuclear annihilation during the Cold War.
Why is there such polarization and discord now? If we study world history, we know that cycles are common: one dictator overthrows another. Wash, rinse, repeat. Democracy emerges with some civilization, lasts perhaps for centuries, then fades away. Life goes on.
We are on the brink of an inevitable transition, hopefully not now. Democracy is a precious gift to humanity.
Hopefully, after we get through this next election, I can relax a little, I have a huge bank of political jokes that I’m going to use on a family trip, and I’ll reminisce about all the good times we had as Governor Larry Hogan and give him the respect he deserves, whether as a senator or just as a Marylander.
Dave Piatt writes from Mount Airy.