Tag Archives: Angus King

Jul 10 2012

The King and Ice-balls

 

It was an olive branch, or so it seemed.  Young warriors locked in a battle for supremacy; we sat feverishly forming our weaponry out of snow.  Then high from the battlements of the ice castle came a call for civility and fairness from the evil tyrant we wished to depose.  Well actually, the evil tyrant was my pain-in-the-butt kid brother and the high battlements were the walls to their snow-fort built on top of the mound of snow pushed up by the plow in the parking lot of a neighboring tech college.  Things seem much bigger to you when you barely top four feet yourself.

We were surprised, to say the least, by my brother’s call for moderation on the eve of the impending carnage.  As we halted our production of lethal projectiles, or snowballs, my brother, a.k.a., The Despot, gave his terms of war to the throngs below, who laid siege to his fortress, well, okay, myself and a couple of friends.  The normally vicious and inhumane despot, a.k.a my brother, now gave a perplexing call for honor.

No more ice-balls.  The despot decried their use and cited many convincing reasons.  They really, really hurt when they hit you and Mom and Dad said they are too dangerous.  On the subject of Mom and Dad, they had specifically said, “No, Ice-balls!”  Also the despot reminded us that our little sister was watching.  If she caught us throwing anything illegal, she would inform on us.  Then we would face the judgment of Dad, which at that age seemed worse than the hand of God Almighty.  And, besides, ice-balls really, really hurt. We should do the right thing and just not make anymore.

Unfortunately for me, I had just received the umpteenth lecture on being the older brother and providing an example to my younger siblings.  So, in an effort to be mature and good examplish (today, that’s a word) I seconded the motion and we all agreed, “No more ice-balls”.  So back to snowball making we went and then prepared to charge. With a cry and a hue that would have made Joshua Chamberlain proud, we charged the despot’s castle….straight into a hale of well-aimed, well-packed and extremely painful ice-balls.  We beat a hasty retreat holding our head, back and unmentionables, roaring in pain.  As the despot cackled in glee, we shouted back that we had all agreed not to make ice-balls.  He chortled back that they hadn’t made any more; those were already there from the last battle.

Angus King, in an effort to look diplomatic and to shame his opponents into following his “example”, has sent out a call for moderation in this campaign. He has asked that the campaigns not take any more donations from SuperPacs.  He has decried them as a detriment to the political process and called on his opponents to shun their influence.  What he has not told his opponents is that quietly behind the battlements of his campaign, with his lucrative friends and supporters, he has built up his own “stash” of SuperPacs.

My father often admonished me as a boy that, “A word to the wise is sufficient.”  Well here is my word to the wise and hopefully it is sufficient.  If Governor King’s opponents are foolish enough to believe his “SuperPac diplomacy”, they will find themselves running straight into a hale of ice-balls this November, to the cackling delight of one very fiendish King.

Jul 4 2012

The King and Lie

 

The King and Lie

 

“For a better guarantee of public safety, the post 9-11 world is one of constrained liberties.”  This quote from Angus King, in itself, should be enough to cause every freedom-loving Maine resident to recoil in disgust from the very thought of voting for this man.  It shows the foundational core of the former Governor’s thought process as it relates to the public.  For all his clamor and show to promote his façade as a centrist and independent, Angus King, to be sure, is no centrist and neither is he independent.  He subscribes to the same tired, liberal and leftist worldview that the public is simply the masses that need to be herded and constrained like so many cattle until they have been prodded by government into a place of “safety”.  This is the same Governor who, after the Maine people had voted overwhelmingly against gay marriage, said the people had spoken and it was obvious they were in need of more “education” on the matter.  As one looks through the annals of history at the different public leaders who have sought to “educate” the masses one begins to feel uncomfortable with the constraints of a “guarantee of public safety”.

With statements like these, it’s bewildering, at best, to try and understand the Governor’s appeal to so many good and grounded Maine people.  What is even more surprising is the success that Mr. King has enjoyed in the Northern and Central regions of Maine, rural areas known for the demand for common sense and low tolerance for dishonesty they place on leadership.  So how does a man so disdainful of personal liberty pull the proverbial wool over the eyes of so many normally shrewd and discerning individuals?  It’s all in the art of lying.

A firm handshake, a direct, unwavering look in the eyes and a measured, sincere tone of voice has always been the standard of honesty.  This hallmark has stood the test of the ages and has passed from generation to generation.  For those of us who work with our hands and the sweat of our brow, this has been a nearly foolproof way to take stock of those you could trust and those you could not.  For we all know that it is almost impossible for a dishonest man to stand in the grip of an honest man, gaze unflinching into his piercing stare and tell a lie…almost.

There are some that can and Angus King is one such man.  How else could one have so many thinking he is an environmentalist and all the while blowing the tops off mountains to accommodate his windmills?  How could a man convince so many that he has acquired his wealth through hard work in the private sector, when most or all of his wealth has come off the backs of hardworking Maine taxpayers through public subsidies and grants?  And how could he claim to Maine people that he is true independent when he has overwhelmingly supported the Democrat Party with his wealth?  Deep inside this man beats the cold, icy blood of an opportunist.  He can grasp your hand, look you straight in the eye and, with sincerest of voice, lie like a thick, shag rug.

Ah, you wonder, where is my proof?  You think I am, perhaps, blinded by my Conservatism.  These next few weeks we expose the “Honorable” Independent Governor to be the not-so-independent fraud that he is.  But in closing, consider this quote from Benjamin Franklin as a comparison to our introductory quote from Mr. King.  “Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.”

May 28 2012

Enthralled? Who’s Enthralled?

 

The endorsements for State Treasurer Bruce Poliquin keep rolling in making the likelihood of a Poliquin/King match up in the general election more of a realistic proposition with each passing day.  The FreedomWorksPAC, a national conservative organization, has joined the chorus of conservatives across the United States imploring the voters of Maine to send this fiscal hawk Washington D.C.  But more importantly, Poliquin has been picking up many endorsements from conservatives throughout the State.

Representative Peter Johnson, a well respected conservative from Greenville, who co-chairs the education committee, has enthusiastically endorsed the Treasurer.  He states his reasons as follows.   “I have been most impressed with Bruce as our State Treasurer.  He came to the job with a great understanding of the fiscal problems our State faces.  He has been tireless at addressing the problems of excessive cost in bonding, the unfunded pension liability and several issues with the wasteful spending of the Maine Turnpike Authority and the Maine Housing Authority.  His dedication to protecting the taxpayers of Maine and eliminating wasteful and unsustainable programs have saved our State millions of dollars and I am certain he will do the same in Washington.” The Maine Conservative Voice could not agree more.

Mr. Poliquin has also received the endorsement of several Tea Party groups throughout the State.  Perhaps Bruce Poliquin’s candidacy will have a unifying effect, after the near splintering the Party has weathered through the Convention period.  What has become increasingly clear is this, with ads running on television and radio, polls which show him the frontrunner in many cases and a ground game that is functioning at a high level, the Poliquin campaign was off and running early with plenty of traction while the others still seem to be trying to gain their footing.

Which bring us to the Treasurer’s inevitable foe this election season, Angus King.  The former Governor has written an opinion piece in the Bangor Daily in which he quotes Abraham Lincoln.  This seems to be the pattern as of late for liberal leaders. He insinuates in the piece that those of us who are clamoring for a return to small government and fiscal responsibility are somehow “enthralled” with partisanship.  He touts his title as an “independent” as proof that he is above the perceived pettiness of those who want reform.  He brags that he will choose at some appointed time, in the later to be named future, whom he will caucus with.

What the Honorable former Governor does not explain in his piece is how being an “independent” has become the method of choice for liberal politicians to circumvent the political process and expense of a primary, while jumping ahead of all the other candidates who compete in the primary, i.e. Eliot Cutler and Angus King.  Mr. King also made a sizable donation to the Democrat Party immediately after Olympia Snowe announced her retirement, effectively buying Chellie Pingree’s withdrawal from the U.S. Senate primary.  As for his being above the partisan fray, Mr. King had repeatedly made large donations to Barack Obama’s campaign, the most divisive and partisan leader this country has ever had; in fact, all of King’s donations have been to the Democrat Party and their allies.  So much for whom he is going to caucus with, he’s already started!

And now for his derision of those who fight steadfastly for a return to a constitutional government as being “enthralled”.  Governor King, you may think yourself witty by using the words o f a revered Republican against conservatives, but we are not “enthralled”, we are engaged.  We are not enthralled with partisan deadlock but we have drawn a line in the sand and said “thus far and no further”.  We are tired, Mr. King, of having leaders, such as yourself and others of the forty years of past liberal domination, exploit our love of peace and tranquility as the means to your end.  But it is more than ironic that every time a liberal leader is faced with a crisis that needs a real solution, they always start quoting conservative Republicans.

May 21 2012

The MCV endorses State Treasurer Bruce Poliquin

Through the Looking Glass of Adversity

The primary is nearly upon us and ‘tis the season for endorsements.  The Maine Conservative Voice has decided to endorse Bruce Poliquin for United States Senate.  Here is why.

Since the Lepage administration took office, bureaucratic elites have been running for cover as accountability’s hot light of scrutiny has been scouring the landscape of Maine State government in search of every misappropriated fund.   The flippant, frivolous and spend thrifty culture of past leadership has found that a new sheriff’s in town, who views every tax dollar as a precious commodity, the charge and the carriage of which is a sacred trust.  Governor Lepage could have found no better an individual to administrate his new culture of frugality into the bureaucratic labyrinth of Augusta than Bruce Poliquin.

From the moment he was appointed to be State Treasurer, Bruce Poliquin has executed the duties of his office looking through the prism of guardianship.  Like a bloodhound on a scent, he has demanded that every penny be accounted for, not because it is his money but because it is not his money.  Unlike administrators of the past, this treasurer understands that it is an awesome and sobering responsibility to be entrusted with the guardianship of the hard earned treasure of the many fine residents of this great State.  It is no small thing.  Thankfully, for Maine, this man has not viewed tax dollars as the means to an end, as was the callous and shallow approach for the past administrations.  He views these dollars as the means of working men and women and should be used effectively not wastefully.

Treasurer Poliquin’s dogged adherence to integrity and accountability has not endeared him to some in Augusta.  There are those that have lost their jobs.  Some are facing criminal charges.  Undoubtedly, many are trying to cover their proverbial “behinder parts” anxiously as Governor Lepage’s fiscal super sleuth keeps searching through buried lockers in search of more shady dealings.  Exorbitant credit card accounts, massages, magic shows, fortunetellers, and expensive luxury suites all on the taxpayer dime.  The media has called these revelations a “witch hunt”.  The courts have called it a crime.  It seems the courts take a dimmer view of misappropriation than Governor Baldacci and Governor King.  These administrations did not commit much capital or energy towards the ferreting out this criminal activity.  Governor Lepage and Bruce Poliquin have.

But the pattern continues at the National level.  Yes, credit cards and the like, again.  From Washington D.C, conservative legislators like Mike Lee have called on Maine to send them Bruce Poliquin to help in the fight against the mountains of corruption and redundancy in the U.S.  Capital.  His strength of will in the face of adversity is sorely needed in the halls of Washington.  I have seen this strength first hand.

I was at the Republican Convention in Portland when Bruce Poliquin was running for Governor.  Bruce was the last to speak.  Most had left the Convention floor to follow then candidate LePage out to the foyer.  The din surrounding the soon to be Governor was nearly raucous, which made it, I’m sure, difficult to speak.  I had made up my mind who I was voting for.  It wasn’t Bruce, but I stayed out of respect to hear each candidate.  What I saw left a lasting impression that I shall not soon forget.  In the face of inevitable defeat, Mr. Poliquin bravely gave his speech, with the same enthusiasm had it been a full auditorium.  He never wavered.  He was determined to finish the job.  I whispered to my wife that it takes a lot of courage to stand in the face of defeat and finish what you began.              A lot can be said about a man in victory.  But much can be said in defeat.  Everything Bruce Poliquin has done since that day has only confirmed what I saw on that convention floor.  He was a man willing to be measured by adversity.  He refused to back down against all odds.  So it is with great enthusiasm that The Maine Conservative Voice endorses our State Treasurer Bruce Poliquin for United States Senate.  His tenacity and refusal to waver on matters of finance and accountability is just the antidote to a corrupt, bloated and spend-addicted Federal Government. Please vote for Bruce Poliquin to be our next United States Senator.  Let’s turn the searchlight on Washington!