This last week I came across an old article I had wrote that may or may not ever have been printed.  I thought it appropriate to this time in our State’s history.  Whatever the result of the election, we as the people of Maine will have to remain vigilent in our responsibility to hold our leaders accountable.  Kennebec Fever has been known to infect even the hardiest of Conservative souls.  It is our job as residents to continue to inoculate the residents of the Blaine House and the Capital Building by our incessant, persistent demanding of behavior that is representative of the people.  In other words, we need to be a pain in the butt.

It is the same scenario played out in every restoration project that I can recollect being a part of.  Should we or should we not pull the doors, hinges, and other obstructive hardware in the room before we paint?  The correct answer is yes!!  Now be honest…. How often do you use the correct approach… Come on, be honest… I know, because I’m the poor sap how has to come behind you and fix that STICKING PAINTED IN DOOR!!! (phew! I feel better now.)

Sooo… last week my friend I work for (who wishes to remain anonymous) and I were renovating two rooms in one of the older homes here in Dover.  When it came time to “paint out” the rooms, I proceeded to begin removing doors and hardware.  The transom windows above the doors intrigued me.  My attempts to work the window linkage quickly produced frustration, as the windows were painted shut.

I became somewhat obsessed with repairing these windows to working order; possibly, in retrospect, to the chagrin of my friend who still wishes to remain anonymous and who pays the labor budget for the project. (Ahem, he writes my check.)  This old house still used registers for heat, which were in the hallway.  The transoms were necessary for heat transfer if the doors needed to be closed.  That’s my excuse.

I was soon reminded how difficult it is to extract screws from hinges that have a gazillion layers of paint which, I am sure, can be carbon dated back to the fall of the Roman Empire.  As my hands fairly shook with the effort to maintain my composure, I was reminded of your friends and mine…. Liberal Democrats/Republicans or “Demblicans”.

The “Demblicans” in Maine have been using the same “justpaintoverthehinges” approach to fiscal policy for years.  As the years of socialist paint began to accumulate, doors ceased to operate, sticking and rubbing.  Windows began to bind in their tracks and linkages refused to work.  Now, across our State, the hinges of our economy are moving stubbornly or not functioning at all.

The “Demblicans” answer to all this is another coat of fresh paint.  The same tax burden…. or more!  It just looks a little different.  As more of the windows and doors of opportunity in this State are painted shut, I ask my fellow Mainers, “When will we fight back?!”.  If we wait too long, all the doors, windows, and their hardware might not even be worth salvaging!