More Proof that Nancy Pelosi is Either an Idiot or a Liar

Jonathan Gruber is making news by basically saying that Obamacare got passed because the American people are idiots and the government intentionally withheld the truth.

So watch this first:

Now watch this:

Politicians really hope that Americans are stupid.  Too bad that they forget that the Internet exists and people record and archive everything they say.

Too Many Wires in Eldersburg

Have you ever noticed how many wires are strung from pole to pole around Eldersburg?  This is mainly evident down the Route 26 and Route 32 corridor. This seems a bit crazy to me.

Here is the intersection of Route 32 and 26 in front of the Exxon station.  I count 31 wires.  I think there are enough wires strung across the road to stop a moving ship. Perhaps there should be a project to start burying our wires.  They are as unsightly as the DVD cover of any Melissa McCarthy movie.

Anthony Brown - What's Next?

As much as I've bashed New York-born Anthony Brown over the years, I do feel bad for him.  Let's consider the facts.

Anthony Brown served in the military, rising to the rank of colonel and serving in Iraq.  I have a lot of respect for people that served in the military and sacrificed a part of their life, giving up time with their families, their jobs, and life as they know it.  I can't imagine what soldiers goes through to make the sacrifices they make.  However, in the end, an impeccable military record does not qualify you to be a governor.

In 1998, Anthony Brown started serving in the Maryland House of Delegates representing Prince George's County.  Delegate Brown then gave up a safe seat and perhaps an opportunity to rise to the Maryland Senate in order to run as Martin O'Malley's Lieutenant Governor, which at the time was not a sure thing.  Fortunately for Brown, O'Malley won, then won again.  I think Brown dutifully served Martin O'Malley for those 8 years, even if I totally disagree with the direction they took this state and the changes they made.  However, in the end, dutifully serving a governor does not qualify you to be the governor.

Near the end of this second term, Brown most likely became the fall guy for the failed Maryland Health Exchange.  The "state" used over $200 million of taxpayer money to create a website that didn't work.  They then had to buy another website for God-knows how much more money.  Brown put his name on the project, but I honestly don't think he actually did anything other than promote it.  He certainly would have taken credit had it been a raging success. Howeer, it was an abominable failure, therefor he gets credit for that outcome, too.

Now Anthony Brown is out of a job, as far as I know.  Will he go back to a lesser political job?  Will he get his first job (?) in the private sector?  Will he become a lobbyist?  Perhaps he'll be O'Malley's campaign manager.  The future may be unclear for the Lt. Governor, but in the end I'm glad he's not going to be our governor.

That Old Abandoned Farm House Revisited

Three years ago I wrote a post about the old farm house owned by the Patton family on the farm just prior to crossing the Morgan Run bridge at the Liberty Reservoir.  The house has not been renovated.  It continues to get more run-down.  The only thing that really changed is that the tree in the front yard fell during a storm. I think the owners are waiting for the house to also fall down so that they can sell the land for billions of dollars.

Here's what the house looked like 3 years ago.  What do you think of abandoned properties like this?  What do you think should be done?  Anything?

Martin O'Malley - What's Next?

In the wake of the 2014 election, many are wondering what is going to happen next with Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley.  Republican Larry Hogan defeated heir apparent Anthony Brown, the current Lt. Governor.  Now that O'Malley is a true lame duck, what next?

It was thought by many that O'Malley was building a new Democratic machine that would promote the policies he established and continue Maryland down his road of liberal ideology for many generations to come.  Anthony Brown has been his puppet-in-training for many years and he would continue without missing a beat, through with fewer strings.  Then Ken Ulman would follow after that.  However, Marylanders solidly rejected another 4 years of higher taxes, anti-Constitution, and anti-business climate.  And did you know that no Lt. Governor in Maryland has ever been elected as Governor?  It's true!

Martin O'Malley being a dork.

Martin O'Malley was going to run for President. Heck, he may still run, but he's got his problems.  He repeatedly comes in 5th places in name recognition polls for candidates for the Democrat ticker.  He's been selling himself as the sole leader that can ambiguously move everything forward. Remember when he made an ass of himself at the 2012 Democratic National Convention?  "Move...?" and the crowd was supposed to yell, "Forward!", but most of them had no idea where he was going with that. The Maryland delegation tried to lead the chant, but it was so awkward that it eventually petered out.

Now, how can O'Malley sell his celebrity and success if his successor couldn't even get elected?  "Hi, I'm the guy whose policies were rejected by the electorate and the guy who was going to continue my legacy is now unemployed."  That's not a great campaign slogan.

And the best part is, the Presidential election is in 2016.  O'Malley is out of Annapolis in January of 2015.  He'd have to run for President as a civilian, though at this point, so would Hillary Clinton.  But that's another point - what Democrat would vote for O'Malley when they could vote for another Clinton?  What's Marty going to do between now and then?  Campaign?  He can't do it on the Maryland tax-payer's dime anymore.  That's right - all those trips he's been taking - you and I paid for those.  Will he get a no-show job that can fund him for a year and a half so he can prance around Iowa and New Hampshire at every backyard barbecue and Democratic award ceremony?

And the most important question of all - what happens if O'Malley fades off into oblivion?  Will I be forced to shut down this blog and start a new one?  I'd be more than happy to do that!

Harvest Inn Getting New Parking Lot

The first restaurant I ever visited when I moved to Eldersburg 15 1/2 years ago is getting a new parking lot.  The age-old over-sized brown Harvest Inn, after years of decay, is getting new curbs, new sidewalks, and a resurfaced parking lot.

I think it's also worth noting that my first visit to the Harvest Inn was also my last.  I thought the food sucked.  The service definitely sucked.  It could have been a fluke.  I hear the breakfast is great, but once you've had a bad experience, it's difficult to convince someone to try again.

If anything else, at least the parking lot will be less of an eyesore.

Election Results - The Breakdown

Unless you've been watching a Honey-Boo-Boo marathon, you know that there was an overwhelming Republican clobbering of Democrats across the country.

Perhaps the biggest surprise (to some, but not all) was Republican businessman Larry Hogan's defeat of Lt. Governor Anthony Brown to succeed outgoing (thank God!) Governor Martin O'Malley.  Honestly, I thought the election would be close, but I was convinced that Anthony Brown would pull out the win.  Late season polls indicated that Brown's lead was somewhere between 2-9%, though a poll commissioned by Hogan indicated that the race was dead even.  Brown dismissed the poll because Larry paid for it.  End result - EVERYONE was wrong.  Not only did Anthony Brown lose, but he lost Big Time Rush.  I've never been happier to be wrong.

Larry Hogan got in the lead with about 15% of the precincts reporting.  Conservatives across the state muddled around waiting for the other shoe to fall and for Brown to take the commanding lead.  And they waited.  And waited.  And that moment never came.  After midnight it was clear that Hogan was going to win.  WBAL's reporting showed the Brown headquarters filled with morose lethargic followers.  The Hogan headquarters, on the other hand, was handing out alcohol and jubilantly celebrating and singing and jamming to the music as if the Berlin Wall just fell.

Larry Hogan speaking at a rally on Sunday November 2nd, 2014.

So how did Hogan win?  Here are some numbers.

Without absentee ballots, Hogan received 51.48% of the votes, while Brown only got 46.82%.

Hogan's largest margin of victory was in Carroll County (no surprise there).  He received 82.41% to Brown's 15.88%.  The Brown voters in Carroll County are currently being rounded up and sent to reeducation camps.

The closest contest for Governor was in Howard County where Hogan won 51.74% - 46.5%.  There Hogan won by 5,000 votes in blue Howard County.  Wow!!!

Blue-leaning Charles and Somerset Counties all went to Hogan, as did purple Baltimore County and Frederick County.  In fact, Brown only carried Montgomery County, Prince George's County, and Baltimore City.

Of Brown's 3 victories, his largest margin of victory was in his front yard of Prince George's County where he got 84.35% to Hogan's 14.76%.

In his backyard of Montgomery County, the most populous county in Maryland, Brown won, but Hogan got almost 40% of the vote, which is HUGE!!!  That's 90,000 votes to Hogan from Montgomery County alone.  In fact, Hogan's votes from Montgomery County are the 3rd most votes by county after Baltimore County (150,000 votes) and Anne Arundel County (114,000).  So in a manner of speaking, Montgomery County put Larry Hogan in the Governor's mansion.

Outside of the governor's race, the next most interesting race was in the redrawn Maryland 6th Congressional district where Democratic incumbent John Delaney is on edge with his battle with perennial Republican challenger Dan Bongino. Without absentee ballots, Delaney leads 49.59% to 48.39%, separated by a mere 2,160 votes.  If Delaney ends up winning, this should be a clear message to him that he needs to vote closer to the center than with the hard left-wing extremists like Nancy Pelosi.  I don't think the good folks of Western Maryland want to be represented by the fringes of the despotic left.

Another interesting race was for the County Commissioner of Howard County, the seat being vacated by the jeans & sneakers wearing Ken Ulman, who boldly decided to go with Brown on the gubernatorial ticket.  Legendary State Senator Allen Kittleman faced local mom Courtney Watson.  I think any other year this would have been a cakewalk for Mrs. Watson, but in this year of voter rebellion,  Kittleman came out on top, but barely.  I've known and watched Kittleman for almost 10 years.  He definitely thinks and votes right down the middle.  He reminds me a lot of Eisenhower.  Unfortunately in politics, the middle road is the road less taken.  I think Kittleman will do a fine job in Howard County and I hope the good residents there will reward him.

In Maryland's gerrymandered 8th district, which snakes through 45 counties and down some alleys, Montgomery County incumbent Chris Van Hollen won, though by a much smaller margin than most anticipated.  The 55 year old who was born in Pakistan had his closest battle since 2002 when he faced a newly redrawn district against Republican incumbent Connie Morrella.  Challenger Dave Wallace received almost 40% of the vote to Van Hollen's 60.1%.  This is the 4th consecutive election where Van Hollen has seen a reduction in his percentage of votes.  If all goes well, in 3 or 4 more elections he can finally be defeated.

I think the remaining elections across the state ended as expected.  Racist Steny Hoyer handily beat Chris Chaffee.  Just Call Me Dutch Ruppersberger defeated David Branch.  The other results were boring.

What do you think about the election results in Maryland?  Any race in particular worth noting?