Category Uncategorized

Aug 4 2014

Crude or Crud

 

 

Some weeks ago, I had a rather pointed conversation with an individual who could no longer abide by what he characterized was the “crude” behavior of the Governor and, as a consequence, was determined to vote a straight Democrat Party line. While I was not convinced that this bluster was necessarily a true deviation from past behavior, it provided a study in contrasts that demands a public exposition across our fair State. So, just in case there are any more individuals who are more than a little flummoxed by the juxtaposition of the, at times, grouchy Governor, who figures if he has the title, he might as well govern and fix some things, against the quiet, pliable and placid forklift-driving doormat, who has spent most of his time in Washington in the shadow of Nancy Pelosi, pinned beneath the sharp point of her high heel, let’s compare the two, shall we?

 

Governor LePage has been criticized by the media and the Democrats for being pushy and demanding. He wants things accomplished. He says so in no uncertain terms. His forward ways may offend some, but the accomplishments speak for themselves.

 

The Governor demanded that the hospitals be paid and, after a long, bitter fight with Democrats, he was able to pay the hospitals. There may be some other organizations that would like some of that uncouth behavior in their ledger books. Yet, the Democrats, with their delicate constitutions in tow, would like to send our hospitals back to the days of trying to administer care under a mountain of mandated debt.

 

In his rough and caustic way, the Governor has ordered that the welfare system of Maine be reformed so that our seniors and most needy will not be left vulnerable. His quiet congenial opponent, Mike Michaud, once voted in the Maine State Senate for a bill that would have raised taxes on seniors’ social security benefits to fund tax breaks for State employees. The bill was so egregious that even liberal Governor Angus King vetoed it. When asked why he voted for such a thing, the pasty politician just walked back into the shadows and ineffectively mumbled that he basically didn’t know why.

 

In 2003, Michaud voted against Medicare Part D, voting, again, against Maine seniors who have used that benefit to afford costly medications. In 2009, he voted for ObamaCare, which has cost seniors $716 billion of Medicare funding in order to fund able-bodied adults. What does Mike Michaud have against senior citizens? At least he speaks quietly and kindly, while he takes benefits from them.

 

While we are on the subject of crude, Mike Michaud has on his staff a man who specializes in crude tweets about women and talks repeatedly about the elimination of Christians. Yet, Mike Michaud has not found the intestinal fortitude within his meek and placid persona to fire this vile person. Hmmm, I wonder how the Governor would handle that? He might just say something crude to him while he was kicking his perverted behind out the door.

 

The contrast goes on. The brash temperament of the Governor stands alongside his passion to reform the State of Maine to a prosperous economy once again. Maine continues to add jobs, in spite of the obstruction of the Democrats, because of the Governor’s tenacity. Do you want strong leaders with the boldness to stand for change, or puppets clothed in temerity; willing to sacrifice brave men in Benghazi, secretly spying on you, and who leave our brave veterans to die in waiting rooms? If you are willing to embrace such failures in leadership simply because the Governor’s rough exterior offends, then there is no nice way to say it; that’s just plain crud!

Jul 21 2014
Image

The Last Beachhead Insurmountable

We have all watched with awe the old war footage of our great American heroes.  Our hearts have broken, yet swelled again with pride, at the courage displayed by our veterans, who charged beachheads straight into withering gunfire, forging through jungles with an enemy lurking behind every frond and tree, surviving the stifling desert heat in the midst of great tank battles, and sloughing through rain and mud to liberate millions around the world.  What has made our military the greatest in the world is the ability of its soldiers to adapt in the field of war to every obstacle, terrain, and tactic the enemy presents, then overcome and move on to victory 

These stories are the legacy of our greatest generation, such as the taking of metal barricades off the beaches of Normandy and welding them to the front of tanks to plow through the giant hedges of France or the Red Ball Express, which became the lifeline to our troops who were pushing into Germany.  Soldiers from sleepy Midwest towns, who probably never dreamed of a jungle, found themselves deep inside the jungle islands of the South Pacific.  No matter the situation, these brave men and women found a way to adapt, survive, and win.

Oftentimes, when fighting on foreign soil in a terrain familiar only to their enemy, the challenge was compounded by the miscalculations of their commanding officers.  Yet, they did not quit. They never gave up.  They found a way to win. There was no challenge, no beachhead, no cliff, and no bulwark that they could not scale and defeat.

The great pride in which we speak of their feats of courage is now shadowed by the grief and knowledge that these veterans of indomitable fortitude have met an obstacle they cannot overcome, a beachhead insurmountable.  This wall impenetrable is the very government they fought to defend.  This jungle of deafening silence is the very Administration that was formed to provide for their quality of life; the Veterans Administration.

The ranking Democrat on the VA is Mike Michaud.  Yes, the Mike Michaud that wants to be Governor of this great State.  He somehow wants us to ignore the deaths of these stalwart veterans, who have died in waiting rooms waiting for a doctor.  This happened on his watch.  He did nothing. 

Mike Michaud expects us to accept his weak explanation of the incompetence of his leadership in the VA and then hand him the reins to our State, which is just beginning to show signs of economic recovery, due to the strong leadership of Governor LePage.  A man voted the most obscure politician in the United States, whose mute leadership in the one bureaucracy to which he was given authority resulting in the deaths and mistreatment of so many of our Country’s finest, is flaunting his negligence in the face of the Maine people, demanding that we somehow turn a blind eye.  This is at best preposterous and at worst reprehensible.

These men and women that we revere sacrificed and overcame so much under such duress only to come home and face that beachhead insurmountable, a bureaucracy under Mike Michaud’s leadership, that no amount of adaptability, bravery, and tenacity could overcome.  They gave so much to defend our freedom that we enjoy.  I think it’s time we defend our veterans and utilize that freedom by voting against Mike Michaud. Let’s make him keenly aware that you can’t treat our veterans in such a deplorable manner and hope to get away with it.  Maine needs a strong, principled leader.  Maine needs Paul LePage!

May 22 2014

The Thomas Constitution, The Boiling Pot, and Freedom

 

 

It has been said that we can judge the character of an individual by how they handle adversity. Through times of confrontation and criticism, warranted or unwarranted, and whether they be truth or lies, our responses in the harsh and uncomfortable times reflect the core of who we are and what we believe. I was often taught, as a boy, that heat makes the pot boil and whatever is in the pot, good or bad, will bubble to the top.

 

A few weeks ago, while attending the Republican Convention in Bangor, I was waiting for my wife in the concession area just outside the auditorium hall. Suddenly someone grabbed me by the shoulder and whirled me around. I came face to face with a very red faced and angry Senator Doug Thomas. He shook his finger at me and said, “One of these days, I will have my turn” and then stormed off.

 

This wasn’t a total surprise. In my tenure as County Chairman for Piscataquis County, I have had to deal with many a tantrum from Senator Thomas. Politics is a high-pressure occupation and some handle it better than others.

 

The reason for the Senator’s anger with me, at this point, has to do with the columns I have written about him in The Maine Conservative Voice. He has accused me of using my Chairmanship in the Republican Party as a platform to advocate for Paul Davis. This is absolutely untrue.

 

Four years ago, when I was first elected to Chair the Piscataquis Republican Committee, I was already writing this column. I stated very clearly to the committee that I would not have TMCV muzzled. I promised the committee that I would not be controversial using the title of Chair of the committee, but that I would keep all of my activism and controversy to my column and not drag the committee into those issues. I have kept my word.

 

Senator Thomas has claimed that this agreement between the Piscataquis Committee and myself did not happen. There are three reasons why the good Senator is mistaken in his accusations. Here they are:

 

First, both of my elections were held at conventions and since Senator Thomas is not from Piscataquis but Somerset, he would not have caucused with our committee and therefore would not have been privy to any of those conversations. Second, the by-laws of the committee clearly states that county committee members are not to use the committee to advance their own agenda or activism, which I promised to do simply in keeping with the by-laws. Thirdly, there is a little thing called the First Amendment, which states that I can express my opinion free from the confines of any committee or any threats from pompous Senators.

 

So, we see that my arrangement with the Piscataquis Republican Party was simply a reiteration of rules already in place. It’s more than ironic that the Honorable Senator Thomas has no problem with Deb Plowman, Chair of Penobscot County, fundraising and supporting his campaign. This double standard seems to imply that he fears the impact of this column.

 

After the misdeeds of Senator Thomas began to pile up, I knew I could be silent no more. I could not speak as Chair, but I knew if I put the heat on him through The Maine Conservative Voice, his true nature would boil to the top. And now the tantrums, threats, and vindictive behavior have been exposed for all to see by the heat of confrontation.

 

I was told to be silent or there would be a price to pay. I have paid the price. Senator Thomas has succeeded in removing me from my Chairmanship. But I will not be silent. I will speak and write all the more.

 

Senator Thomas seems to think that Republicans should only speak what he sanctions and agrees with. Rumor has it that the County Chair for Somerset, Cynthia Izon, is next on his target list. Her crime? She was seen speaking with Paul Davis at a fundraiser. Call out the hounds.

 

Senator Thomas, I’m quite sure The Maine Republican Party does not share your affection for the monarchy, despotism and totalitarian rule. As for me and The Maine Conservative Voice, my response to the Thomas Constitution, your attempts to silence me and remove me from the Republican Party is this: Be careful what you wish for!

May 14 2014

The Trashy Truth

 

 

One of the reasons I hold Paul Davis in such high regard is that he does not dive headlong into situations and issues without waiting to see how the facts will unfold. I have tried to emulate his patience as I have studied the East-West Highway issue. While there are certain edicts of conservatism that I cannot compromise, such as private landowner rights and the rights of the individual, the secrecy that has shrouded the highway has kept me suspicious at best.

 

It is no secret that Doug Thomas and I do not get along. I feel Senator Thomas is a dishonest man. He changes his positions on issues with the regularity of a chameleon. I have had first hand experience in seeing that the good Senator has all the listening skills of a bullhorn. He is one of those types of individuals that Ronald Reagan once said, “Listen with their mouth, not their ears.” I do not trust Doug Thomas.

 

So with this mistrust, I continued to quietly investigate the corridor issue. I recently attended a meeting in Alton, Maine. The meeting had been explained to me as a East-West Highway informational, but when I got there, I found it was about a different issue, but not entirely separate from the highway.

 

You see, Alton has a trash problem and it is a growing problem. Alton is the spot for the Juniper Ridge Land Fill. It sits along I-95. The problem with trash is that once you fill the land with it, you need more land. Juniper Ridge is expanding and there are other interests that want to create another landfill, for more trash.

 

Trash by the truckloads from out of State, coming up interstate to the landfill and, now we learn the corridor is going to cross I-95 right there in Alton. Coincidence? I think not.

 

How did the residents of Alton end up with this trashy problem? It’s the small town dilemma. Not enough votes, not enough voice and not enough clout. So the trash continues to spread up the corridor.

 

I live in Piscataquis County in the foothills of the 100-mile wilderness. We have heard the arguments for this large structure destroying the fabric of the Highlands that we love so much, but the struggles of our friends down in Alton exposed for me a whole new danger that I hadn’t heard before. The more we learn about the Corridor the more it smells, well, like trash.

 

Landfills eventually run out of land and they need more. Remember, they are shipping in trash from other States. As the appetite for more land grows, where do you think they will find it? Where can they find more little towns with a small voice, no votes and no clout? How about Atkinson, Ornville, Charleston, Garland and so many others along the shrouded route? We don’t know, nobody knows, but the trash keeps growing and demanding more land.

 

Have you ever driven through the New Jersey turnpike? God didn’t create those mountains, man created them. We live here in the Highlands for a reason. We love the wild beauty here.

 

The biggest question raised about the highway was how would it be paid for? Trash is a lucrative business. If the answer is to bring in mounds of trash from all over the United States to deposit in our beautiful backyards and contaminate our lakes and streams, then this answer stinks! If you are tired of the trashy truth of Thomas’s rotting lies that keep turning up the more we dig, then its time to clean out the garbage and vote Paul Davis in!