Tag Archives: Justin Alfond

Dec 13 2013

One Trick Pony

 

 

Ah, to be young again.  Why the nostalgia you ask?  Is it the season, the holly and the berries?  No, quite frankly, it’s the nuts, the fruitcakes and the bologna that has me wandering down memory lane.  Specifically, I remember a trip as a boy to the fabled Santa’s Village in Jefferson, N.H.

There I stood entranced by the jerk-stop movements of the animatronics elves as their mouths squeaked and groaned in motion only a half-step behind the lyrics they were supposed to be singing.  It was a wonderful mechanical, robotic choir singing the great songs of yuletide, clanging and grinding each painful note for their young breathless audience.  One song, I particularly remember was a song by an elf, who was an Elvis impersonator, named, yes, …Elfis.  There is a rumor that the originator of that idea was also the engineer behind the ObamaCare site, but that’s just a rumor.

Elfis, yes, Elfis “sang” his version of “Blue Christmas”.  The lyrics being “I’lla hava aha bluuuuu Christmaaaass without me,” much to the laughter of those of us in the audience. Why is this very odd and strange memory coming back to this columnist?  Well, it was prompted by some very odd and strange behavior coming from our old friends, the Democrats.

You see Democrats are, if anything, consistent – the one trick pony.  No matter the situation, no matter the problem, and no matter the event, it is really all about them.   So I have decided to start a yearly tradition like none other.  Inspired by the photogenic leader of the Democrat Party, I hereby announce the First Inaugural Presentation of The Maine Conservative Voice Selfie Awards.

 

The First and Magnanimous Selfie goes to the Selfie-and-Chief himself, Barack Obama.  There is not a camera you don’t like and not a moment that shouldn’t be about you.  Thanks, Mr. President, for being our inspiration.

 

A Dopey Selfie to the people of South Africa who used the funeral of a revered leader to boo the U.S. President, George W. Bush, who worked with Mandela to initiate the PEPFAR program, and spent millions to eradicate aids in South Africa, and then cheering the U.S. President, Barack Obama, who defunded the PEPFAR program and cut millions of dollars to aids research worldwide.

 

A Regal Selfie to Maine’s own monarch, Angus King, who is showing his “independence” to Mainers by joining a Democrat taskforce, emphasis on force, to “sell” ObamaCare to the people, because whether you want it or not, Obamadoesn’tCare.  He also voted with Democrats to kill the filibuster and violate the rules of Democracy.  He also doesn’t seem to mind that his windmill conglomerate now has a waiver from Obamadoesn’tCare to kill Bald Eagles, the National Bird.  It’s always been about the King, hasn’t it?

 

A Wholelotta Selfie goes to the one and only Justin Alfond.  There have been so many selfie moments in the mystical reign of the Senate President, but the grandest of all must be his most recent claim that the Democrats are responsible for paying the hospitals back, not the Governor.  Wow!   Other Selfie moments include blocking a bill to aid victims of sex trafficking because it wasn’t an emergency, but promoting his bill for wine tasting because it was…?

 

A Wingman Selfie to House Speaker Mark Eves for being Alfond’s partner in crime and pushing for MaineCare expansion, while a company he represents will directly benefit from those monies.

 

A “Wha..?” Selfie goes to N.H. Representative, Ann Kuster, who didn’t want to talk about Benghazi because she was there to talk about the Middle East.  She also receives a complimentary geography class from the local fourth graders.

 

A “Whaaat?!!” Selfie to Maine State Representative Brian Bolduc who sent an expletive laced email to announce, in no uncertain terms, that truck drivers do not have brains.  As a former truck driver myself, I am so pleased to announce he will receive, in addition to his selfie, a complimentary blast of the air horn every time a truck driver passes his house.

 

A “What the…?” Selfie to the Maine Democrat Party for sitting by silently while a member of your Party railed against and insulted the hardworking people of Maine.  Your silence was deafening. You waited to hear what your advisors and strategists had to say before doing the right thing and standing up for the people of Maine?  Once again, to the Alfond led Maine Democrats, thanks for absolutely nothing. It’s all about you and your selfies, isn’t it?

Nov 21 2013

The Red County Firewall

The people of Maine endured a political firestorm in this past legislative session from the Democrats.  From the moment they took their majority, they embarked on a partisan mission to undo every legislative accomplishment of the Republican Party.  This narrow minded approach to governing was best exemplified recently as Maine Democrats voted down party lines against a bill to aid victims of sex trafficking, but then passed a Justin Alfond bill to promote wine tasting.

This “blind leading the blind” mantra practiced by the Alfond/Eaves Democrats is simply a parrot of the “my way or the highway” dogma preached by the Reid/Pelosi Democrats at the national level, where reaching across the aisle simply means to reach and pull Republicans to their side.  All must obey.  All must march in lockstep to the stamp of Nancy Pelosi’s stiletto heel or feel its sharp point in the back of their neck.  One can then understand why Maine’s own whimpering Mike Michaud, Pelosi’s Puppy, meekly obeyed and voted against his own people, preventing them from keeping their health insurance.

The Alfond “subvert the people at all costs” tactics left the Governor sharpening and resharpening the quill on his veto pen.  Governor LePage set a record for vetoes sustained.  He would not have been able to defend the people of Maine with such tenacity had it not been for the strength of conservatives in the legislature who worked hard to sustain those vetoes.

In a recent conversation with an influential political operative and good friend, Jason Savage, I asked him what percentage of those vetoes sustained had been sustained by two or less votes.  He didn’t have exact numbers with him but acknowledged that the percentage was pretty high.  I further pressed him by asking which County was the most consistent in their votes to stop the overreach of the Alfond Democrats.  Jason smiled because he knew where my questions were leading.  He replied with this simple answer, “This is why we call Piscataquis County, ‘The Red County Firewall’.”

Paul Davis (R-Sangerville) and Pete Johnson (R-Greenville) are the two representatives from Piscataquis County.  Their two votes have made up what has become know in political circles as “The Red County Firewall”.  Their votes have been about more than sustaining the Governor’s vetoes; they have been about defending the common sense of Maine people.  It has been about demanding that our State government pay its bills just like Maine residents do.  With the support of “The Red County Firewall”, Governor LePage was able to pay the hospitals the money due them, something the Alfond led Democrats fought desperately to block.  If you see Paul Davis or Pete Johnson, thank them for having the courage to hold the line against the firestorm of big government and selfish politicians.  Thank them for being “The Red County Firewall” for the people of Maine!

Aug 9 2013

Redunculous

 

No, it is not a spelling error…really.  And, no, it’s not a word… yet.  It’s just one of my specialty.  A word coined to help find the appropriate emotion to attach to a situation.  This, the latest of my installments to the Webster’s dictionary, is the combination of the words redundant and ridiculous. I did this all by myself.  For some reason, Webster keeps sending back my offerings of literary coinage and asked that I please stop, as it has caused the great patriarch of the book, Noah Webster himself, to turn incessantly in his grave.  I guess that would be rather unsettling.

But I like the word.  It has an essence to it, the essence of economy.  Oh yes, I economized.  We all have to nowadays.  I took the two most prevalent manifestations of the liberal mind, redundant and ridiculous behavior. I combined them into one word and, now, I can respond to them both at once.  I….I….feel so focused.

And quite timely, I might add, because we have had a slew of redunculous behavior swirling around the State of Maine.  We just had the Senate President, Justin Alfond, make a speech assuring State workers an increase in the pensions and wages, while the those in private sector, who pay for those wages and pensions with their taxes, can barely put food on the table for their families.  This was a follow up to his speech attacking private schools.  The Senate President doesn’t seem to be fond of the private sector.

Mr. Alfond suffers from the liberal illusion that Maine people have an unlimited supply of revenue and that we work at our jobs simply to give it to him to disperse amongst his government allies.  I have to agree with the great conservative apologist Thomas Sowell who asked, “…why it is ‘greed’ to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take someone else’s money.”  Alas, I fear Alfond and his allies think its good policy; that is, if you look at the budget they passed. Tax increases to pay for those government employee raises.

Strange, Maine is looking at a $58 million surplus for the closing fiscal year, before these tax increases.  So, why, Mr. Alfond, would you want to increase taxes on a struggling economy when you don’t need to?  Oh, is that my “greedy” old self, wanting to keep my money in my wallet for my family to use.  I’m just so greedy that way.

That leads me to another issue to be resolved.  Recently, I criticized those activists, who seem bent on telling people what to do in their own backyards.  I feel very strongly about the sanctity and privacy of a person’s private lands.  I have been rebuked by some of those activists, saying that if I don’t want anyone to tell me what to do in my backyard then I shouldn’t criticize public government officials.

Let me try to help and clarify the issue.  There is a huge difference between private and public issues.  I do not criticize any official on what he does in his private home and on his private lands.  I have, and will continue to do so, criticized public officials on the actions or inactions in the public tax funded sector.  It is the taxpayer’s job, since our dollars fund their public decisions, to critique the exercise of their representative duties.

Secondly, I have been admonished that, because I am a Christian, I should not publicly criticize or rebuke public officials.  This individual obviously did not read the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple, nor has he read the accounts of Paul the Apostle rebuking Roman leaders to their very face, also of rebuking Peter to his face.  The idea that I should abdicate my God-given liberties for the sake of some contrived sense of propriety and allow myself to be relegated to the doormat of society as a reflection of my faith has no intellectual, Constitutional or, for that matter, Biblical merit.  The very conception of such an idea is utterly and unequivocally redunculous.

Jun 17 2013

Perception and Truth: The Curve of Knowledge

 

 

 

The tales of irony that have proceeded out of the not-so-hallowed halls of the Augusta legislature are enough to bring even the most stalwart of Mainers to tears.  The only semblance of bi-partisan agreement in Augusta is that Justin Alfond will go down in the annals of Maine history as the most inept and incompetent Senate President that has ever tripped through the corridors of the Maine State legislative chambers.  The complete and unabashed abdication of common sense by the Alfond Democrats is shocking even for the subterranean standards normally accommodated by the liberal left.

The Republican Party brought forward a bill, which would have required minors to inform their parents if they intend to get an abortion.  Democrats killed the bill, contending that a minor is capable of making such decisions in life on their own without parental input.  In the very same legislative day, the Democrats passed a bill that will require minors to have parental consent before purchasing an energy drink…  Did I mention irony, sad irony?   But this shows the perception and value that those in Augusta place on life.  Yes, to our legislators, a beverage product has more value than the question of life.

The Curve of Knowledge has three layers for the purpose of this article.  There is the top layer of fact and proven science.  The next layer is public perception, which is effected to varying degrees by the first.  The final layer is the Puppets of Perception: politicians who are completely governed by perception.

The science on the abortion issue, day by day, is steadily and continually proving that life begins at conception.  Slowly, public perception is turning to align itself with proven science.  Many of the public polls are beginning to prove that out, even as polls are usually slow to pick up the change in public feeling.

Politicians will always stay behind the Curve of Knowledge because they base their decisions on public perception rather than fact and proven science.  Therefore it is easy to see why these puppets can still remain in the dark ages of the 60’s and 70’s, believing nothing is sacred and parental control is dysfunctional.  This explains the ludicrous distinction between a beverage and human life.  Liberals are floundering because they have no mooring.  Public perception is changing and they are not sure where it is going.  They refuse to acknowledge fact and proven science because it now, with new advances, refutes their agenda.  So, they are left with only the ragged hope that public perception will swing back their way.  Old propaganda is dusted off and tired mantras are once again invoked.

This is why our Founding Fathers so wisely advocated for a small limited government as indicated by this quote.  “ The truth is, that, even with the most secure tenure of office, during good behavior, the danger is not, that the judges will be too firm in resisting public opinion, and in defense of private rights or public liberties; but, that they will be ready to yield themselves to the passions, and politics, and prejudices of the day.” –Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833.

The historical and contemporary evidence is staggering.  Government is inherently incompetent.  That is why its influence must be limited.