Union rights eroded
Last Tuesday, Republicans passed a bill in the Maine House of Representatives that would eliminate the right of workers at the former DeCoster egg farms to unionize. According to Republican Rep. Dale Crafts, no other farm workers in Maine or the U.S., other than in one county in California, have the right to unionize.
Perhaps I’m naive, but when in America did any group of workers lose the right, if they so choose, to organize?
Tony OBerst
Princeton
The truth about Obama
Where’s truth in media about the Obama administration’s failed promises? Similar to the movie “The Two Faces of Eve,” the two faces of Obama have to do with his far-left partisanship while falsely presenting himself as a moderate. His skillful campaign-mode rhetoric is appealing but his administration’s actions limit liberty.
For instance, Obama’s false promises are as follows:
Obamacare would lower health costs; since Obamacare was dictated into law by the then-Democratic Party majority in Congress, according to the CBO the rate of health care cost increases are growing faster since before Obamacare was passed.
Obama promised investments in green energy would lower consumers’ overall energy costs; price for a gallon of gas in Maine was approaching $4.
Obama promised that by spending nearly $800 billion of the taxpayer-funded treasury bailing out investment banks and General Motors, giving control to the UAW, would keep unemployment beneath 8 percent; since Obama was inaugurated, national unemployment has averaged at about 8.3 percent.
With U.S. investments in the Arab Spring, Obama promised greater democracy and peace within the Middle East; 16 Americans are currently being held hostage by the Egyptian government.
Also, Gitmo recently received a taxpayer-funded, multimillion-dollar soccer field for its radical detainees; Obama promised to close Gitmo.
Under Obama, the Democratic political party is the party of central government tyranny. Don’t tread on me. Come this fall, don’t allow Democrats to continue to tread on all of us.
Dale Ferriere
Lubec
Yellowstone ideals
It was 140 years ago — March 1, 1872 — that President Ulysses S. Grant signed an act creating Yellowstone National Park. Creating and safeguarding national parks and preserves are acts of humility, maturity and patriotism.
Those of us who truly respect and love creation should be the very best and most devoted supporters of our national parks, all preserved lands and all native wildlife across the land.
Our country needs many more such parks, including a Maine Woods National Park, for the very survival of our natural heritage, as havens for beleaguered wildlife and for the physical and spiritual health of human beings. And as most folks know by now, national parks are significant job and income generators for those states that are wise and generous enough to host them.
So, happy birthday, Yellowstone!
May you forever be there and flourish and provide a true haven for all of the region’s wildlife: wolves, bison, grizzlies, wolverines, elk, eagles, coyotes and all other native creatures.
And may love and respect for such special places and all native wildlife grow and grow until the ideals that created Yellowstone are fully realized around the country and across the world.
Robert Goldman
South Portland
Searsport not for sale
Contentious issues are nothing new to Searsport. Just in the past 10 years we’ve seen disputes over a proposed LNG facility, what to do with Sears Island, and whether or not to adopt zoning. All issues had proponents on both sides and were often divisive, but they were eventually settled by the people of Searsport.
Now we are faced with another contentious and divisive issue: whether or not to support a moratorium that will give the town an extra two months of breathing space in order to see if we have adequate protections in place.
But this time, there is a very important difference. The elephant in the room is a huge multibillion-dollar oil company from Denver which is attempting to influence a local election by paying people to solicit votes and lobby against the moratorium and by using smear tactics and dirty tricks.
With the recent Citizens United decision by the U.S. Supreme Court equating corporations with people and the consequent advent of Super PACs, there is a very real possibility of corporations and hugely wealthy individuals being able to buy elections to an even greater extent than in the past.
This is Searsport, Maine, not Washington D.C., and yet a corporation with very deep pockets is a major player here, attempting to usurp local control.
On March 10 the residents of Searsport can send a clear message that we cannot be taken in by Big Oil’s propaganda, and our votes are not for sale. Vote yes on the moratorium.
Anne Crimaudo
Searsport
Good government
Last week, Sen. Susan Collins led the pellet heating industry to an important milestone. In a hearing with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shawn Donovan, Sen. Collins pointed out the extraordinary technological advances in pellet central heating and bulk pellet transportation and the importance of the fuel source to the oil-dependent Northeast. She implored Secretary Donovan to consider listing pellet boiler systems as “conventional primary heat sources” for FHA purposes.
Secretary Donovan said he appreciated Sen. Collins’ alert on the rapidly growing technology and its importance to the Northeast and announced that HUD regulations had been modified to include pellet boiler systems as “conventional primary heat sources” when they meet the same requirements as other central heating systems.
Sen. Collins’ efforts on behalf of the people of Maine and an emerging New England industry exemplify what can be good about government. That the senator was quickly able to convince a substantial Washington bureaucracy that it needed to modify its regulations in light of technological change speaks well for both the senator’s abilities to persuade and the secretary’s willingness to hear.
I very much appreciate this work.
Harry “Dutch” Dresser
President, Maine Pellet Fuels Association
More reason, less dogma
In response to the recent OpEd column by Carroll Conley of the Christian Civic League opposing same-sex marriage, I wish to take issue with his fear that gay marriage will adversely affect society by forcing people and business to accept homosexuals.
“What about a florist that objects on religious grounds?” he asks.
Well, what about that florist? I’m sure at this very moment even the most Christian florists are currently serving women who use contraception, as well as divorced people, girls who have had abortions, atheists, members of different religions, people who take the Lord’s name in vain and adulterers.
And would it be OK to stone to death that same florist if he chose to be open on Sunday? The Bible clearly says I should.
My point is, the road forward should consist of reasonable conversation, not unbending dogma.
Mark McCall
Brewer
Dale, your alleged truths about the Obama Administration are nothing more than poorly researched misinterpretations of fact. It is clear that you began with a bias and molded the conditions of the minute to suit that bias. The issues you claim as policy failures are anything but policy or failures. President Obama is possibly the most intelligent man to reside in the White House dealing with possibly the most complex issues an American President has ever had to deal with. You over simplify and obfuscate for the sake of your own simple-minded rhetoric, which is to say, you have played into the hands of the most dangerous republican party since the red scare.
He is very far from being the most intelligent in the white house. He is the most inexperienced president this country has ever had and he lets us know that every day with his actions and broken promises. Do your own research and see the real numbers they dont lie. His policy of trickle up poverty is not working that well for working americans
William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover, and…George Washington….zero electoral experience.
UndertaxedUnderObama, I would rate President Obama among the five brightest to serve as President, the other four being Jefferson, Madison, Lincoln, and Wilson.
As he had twelve years of political service before his inauguration, he is hardly the “most inexperienced” President we have ever had. He spent more time in elective office than Washington or Lincoln, and more time than your two heroes, Bush II and Reagan. Private sector employment will have grown for 24 consecutive months as of this Friday’s jobs report, the Dow is up substantially since his inauguration, Osama bin Laden is dead, the troops are home from Iraq and beginning to head home from Afghanistan, the American auto industry has been saved, and Wall Street is regulated again. Boy you must miss those days of recession and war under Bush II!
Learn to say it: “Four more years!!”
The country does not have the capability to suvive four more years of Obama tax and spend and print presidency. I truly have a hard time believing that people are stupid enough to believe the ficticious numbers you throw out there
UndertaxedUnderObama, since you posted earlier your demonstrably false belief that President Obama had raised your taxes (when in fact he had lowered them), I gently suggest that there is a huge gap between what you believe and reality. It may be a Grand Canyon of chasms.
Pray tell me what number that I have posted is “fictitious?”
I am well researched. Historically and statistically, our most effective Presidents have also been our least experienced. The failed application of trickle-down economics theory is one of many reasons our nation is struggling today. Need an example? Look at the tax system. Middle class Americans are suffering while millionaires pay fewer taxes than those working for them. You think this new? It’s been happening since the Reagan Administration. What exactly is it that is supposed to trickle down? Pretty sure it isn’t money or prosperity. As for your rhetoric on the Obama Administration, it just that, rhetoric…what are those “real” numbers you refer to? The 1.4 million jobs the Obama Administration has saved in Detroit? Americans working…yeah, thats a real screw-up…and what are the “broken promises” you refer to ? The only republican promises that ever seem to get fulfilled are those of the big business lobbies. Take your own advice on research. You can start by learning the difference between fact and rhetoric.
Most Intelligent; Nobama can’t speak without a telepromptor. Most manuplative and anti-American absolutely but most intelligent; he only speaks when his union masters allow it.
The ability to speak before an television camera has nothing to do with intelligence. The fact that someone is able to speak without a teleprompter doesn’t mean he IS intelligent, either.
As for manipulative, wouldn’t you say that most, if not all, politicians are manipulative to some degree?
He certainly can speak better than Romney with or without a telepromptor. Romney has had his foot in his mouth so many times his toes are parboiled. He lies continously about not wanting the Affordable Care Act yet he said on Meet the Press it would be a great thing and that an individual mandate was necessary, that is sure to help him in the general election. NOT!!!
I’d like to add:
“Obamacare” hasn’t been fully enacted, so it’s impossible to judge the cost savings yet.
The types of investment described don’t necessarily result in lower energy costs this soon. Also, judging the success of such investments by listing the price of gasoline is disingenuous. The price of gasoline has more to do with world demand than green energy investment in America.
The buzzword “UAW” shows that this simplification is just a way to attack the union. The bailouts of the auto industry worked.
No one man can guarantee peace in the Middle East and blaming him for the hostages is just plain ridiculous.
I hope others can see the falsehoods and misleading nonsense in this simplistic letter.
Never the less, most people when asked if they favor complete repeal of the ACA over 50% say yes.
But for different reasons.
Some want it repealed because they think the ACA is the first step to socialism and others want it repealed because they believe it does not go far enough to help fix the problems with the US Healthcare System.
Who knows how many of each camp make up the total.
That is actually not true. The question asked is do you favor repeal? Not do you want to see a national healthcare plan.
The number of those that favor repeal now is approximately the same number that previously opposed Obamacares passage to begin with. That number has not changed appreciably since.
Dale Ferriere – You are right on all points. The sad thing is that he’s got a very good chance to get elected for a second term. I guess that tells us a lot about his supporters. They don’t care how much he breaks his promises or lies to get his way as long as his supporters get their palms greased with other people’s money.
Mark McCall – If you’ve followed these threads for any length of time, you’ll realize that the supporters of SSM are incapable of anything close to “reasonable conversation.”
Interesting that you slam supporters of SSM in your reply to Mr. McCall, but don’t comment on what he said about stoning the florist. Is he correct? Does the bible have such an instruction?
I don’t remember any florists being stoned in the Bible.
Probably not. But seriously, folks…
Is there a directive about stoning people who work on the Sunday? The sabbath? The day of rest…whatever it’s called in said book?
Ah, EJ, I must again instruct you on the Bible. Numbers 15:32-36 describes the stoning of a man, at God’s command, who gathered sticks upon the Sabbath. As our Sabbath is now Sunday, not Saturday, any true believer has a duty to stone to death a person who works on the Sabbath.
The Bible talks more about stoning than it does about homosexuality. And it is not stoning in the sense of Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35.”
Mythological texts such as the Bible belong in fairy tales. Sheesh. This is the 21st century. Let’s get beyond mythology and into reality.
I agree with you 100%. The sad truth is that I am more familiar with the Bible than Bible-thumper EJ. When I asked him this weekend whether Jesus would support Limbaugh’s and EJ’s vicious attacks on Sandra Fluke, he said yes. Thus, I had to take him through two different parts of the book of John which proved EJ wrong.
I read Einstein and Darwin when I want an explanation of the world that surrounds us. I recall what I read from the Bible as a child when I find a religious hypocrite on the other side of a debate.
Since you believe the Bible is myth, then do us all a favor and refrain from using it. By the way, you’ve used the Bible more than I over the past few weeks. So who’s the Bible-Thumper?
Just using the same source you cite to contradict you and point out your hypocrisies. Seems fair.
Turnabout is fair play.
EJ, myths and fables remain important as teaching tools. The myth of Prometheus and the gift of fire is an instructive tale about man’s relationship with nature. Aesop’s fables tell us much about human nature. Jesus’ parables and the stories told about him can be educational. It is when we confuse myth with reality that we run astray.
I am constantly amazed at educated people insisting that every word in the Bible is true, that the earth is less than 10,000 years old, and that the sun stopped in the heavens during the battle of Jericho.
I am also amazed at professed Christians, such as you, being less familiar with Biblical text than an agnostic such as I. I don’t thump the Bible, which describes someone who sanctimoniously professes his faith (and implicit superiority), I think through it.
You use what you consider mythical texts to build your ego and demean those that you use it against. You consider Christians easy targets, but all you’re really doing is stirring up interest in your book of myths. So, go ahead and put the Bible and me down. Go ahead and build your ego. It’s all right with me. I’m not a perfect Bible scholar. And I don’t set here with it on my lap digging through it in an effort to make you, or anyone else, look like a fool. I wouldn’t stoop that low.
One of these days, we’re all going to meet our Maker. I just hope that before that final judgment, you return to what you were taught as a child and realize that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Thank you for your input.
EJ, you are obviously more comfortable with the Old Testament God of vengeance than the New Testament God of forgiveness.
I don’t have a Bible on my lap, but my memory is such that a quick google search will confirm it.
This conversation began with you denouncing Sandra Fluke and endorsing Rush Limbaugh. I quoted the Bible to you to try to reach you on your terms. I was stunned at your response, stunned that you were more loyal to Rush than to Jesus. This is sad.
Sandra Fluke deserves your praise, not your vengeance. Rush passed off the lie that she was talking about her own need for contraception, that she was immoral, and you bought that lie, hook, line, and sinker. Had you read her testimony, you would have realized that she never once talked about a personal need for contraception.
Pride goeth before a fall. I won’t google that biblical quote to give you chapter and verse, but your prideful refusal to tender Ms. Fluke an apology and your party’s prideful refusal to denounce Rush will have terrible consequences this fall.
Ms. Fluke deserves pity for her letting Pelosi and the Dems use her for their own political gain. And, if you actually followed the real news, Limbaugh has been denounced by his peers and he has not only published an official apology, he reiterated it on his radio program. Ms. Fluke refused to accept his apology, just as most on these threads have. Forgiveness does not seem to be a trait of the left.
And, yes, there is much about forgiveness in the New Testament. But, that forgiveness comes with acknowledgment of ones own sins and a desire for repentance. It is offered freely to all that believe in Christ and seek out God. It is not automatic, like so many think, but that’s what so many modern-day preachers will tell you. The Bible is very clear, as long as it is read in its entirety.
And when might we read your apology for accusing Ms. Fluke of “sleeping aroung (sic)?” Where might we find your statement as to whether you ever engaged in pre-marital sex? Where might we find EJ saying “Let he among you who is without sin cast the first stone?”
If it was Mythology, the United States would not be here, now would it.
Um, yes it would be.
Hey Brucefl56, would you please explain your comment? I imagine I am not the only one who is not sure of your point. Thanks.
The comments “Mythological texts such as the Bible belong in fairy tales” Our Forefathers came here in large part for Religeous Freedom did they not.
Some came for religious freedom, some to excape religious persecution, some to make money, some to start a new life, some were even criminals released from overcrwded jails.
There were many reasons for coming to the New World and most did not come for religious reasons.
ahahahahahah (gasp) bwahahah
Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female provided they are from neighboring nations. I’m thinking maybe I should find some Canadian slaves. :-)
Christians follow Christ, not the Old Testament. Christ brought a New Covenant.
Does that make the bible flawed? I thought god was supposed to be perfect. Was not the old testament his word? How come Christ can suddenly come along and essentially say “Oops, my bad…we’re going this way now”.
The bible is a pretty weak argument against marriage equality.
Perfect like EJ Parsons
The Bible is but a confusing mass of nothingness to those that don’t believe.
Not a very compelling argument for taking it seriously. I mean, as a gay person, I must endure people calling me immoral because they take their marching orders from what a nonbeliever would see as a “confusing mass of nothingness”, as you put it.
See, to me, what needs to happen to make this a conversation worth having, is for you to answer…in real-world terms…the questions I asked earlier, beginning with “Is the bible flawed”. Not just blind faith. Not lines that might have been written for “Children of the Corn”.
If you can’t answer those questions, I think you should ask yourself a few.
Is the Bible flawed? To a non-believer, yes. To a believer, no.
I hope you realize that your answers are starting to get into the realm of the brainwashed. I mean, why do you believe in such a thing if you think the unconverted see it as a flawed, confusing mass of nothingness ?
Think about it…if the bible is flawed, then so is your whole belief system. You just see it as true because you’re not capable of stepping away from it. You believe in something you can’t even explain.
At least you have that in common with the followers of the gazillion other religions and cults out there, each thinking their own is somehow special.
The only reason I care is because of how religion is used as a veil for arrogance and bigotry.
But, to me, a believer, the Bible is not flawed. So that means, at least with your logic, that there are no flaws in my belief system.
But to you, which I will assume is a non-believer based on your comment, the Bible is flawed. Therefore, to you, the belief system based on the Bible has to be flawed.
I would say that we have two completely different worlds of thought on the Bible and on God. And since you can’t convince me otherwise, and I can’t convince you otherwise, then we are at a stalemate.
The Good News is that if you truly accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, there’s a very good chance you will see the truth of the Bible. I hope you will.
It’s not flawed to you because you pick and choose what parts to adhere to. Seems to be much easier for you to hold others to a standard you don’t hold for yourself. That’s pathetic.
Thanks, but I’ll pass. I see every day what surrendering ones mind to religion does to people. Your last paragraph is more scary than appealing.
Yes, and I see every day what surrendering ones mind to the liberal world does to people. But, I still pray for them.
I don’t surrender my mind to anyone’s ideology. I agree or not, based on the facts presented. I will challenge those facts, if need be. And perhaps my opinion will change.
Religion doesn’t work that way. You can’t challenge it. It’s set in stone. It’s the ultimate case of “Take my word for it”.
That’s not how I approach reality.
Who did Cain take as a wife?
Agreed: it is a confusing mass of nothingness. Words, written by some long dead men.
And : I do not believe in your carpenter, or his magic friends in the sky, or anyone else’s magic friends for that matter.
So glad we can agree, EJ.
You will believe one of these day. Just hope you see the Light before that day comes.
Oh, I so want to be there when people like EJ hit the pearly gates.
Ah, reminds me of the great Tony Bennett song, “I Wanna Be Around.” So-o-o satisfying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s0uFWsPRyQ
Your wish just might come true. The question is: which side of the gates will you be on?
I would definitely not choose your heaven.
And it is your choice.
Thought you don’t believe in the pearly gates.
To watch that scene, trust me, I’ll convert. LMAO
The Bible should be read “poetically” and not literally.
There are many poetic passages throughout the Bible. But, in your effort to read it “poiitically”, don’t overlook the truth and guidance it contains. If you miss the eternal boat, you just might wish you’d taken it seriously.
He came to fulfill the Law not destroy it.
Seems fair to me, the Irvings seem to have bought their share of Maine slaves.
And I still don’t remember what Jesus said about homosexuals. Can you refresh my memory? What did Jesus say about homosexuals?
Nothing.
Jesus said to his apostles, “I assure you, whatever you declare bound on earth shall be held bound in heaven, and whatever you declare loosed on earth shall be held loosed in heaven. (Matt. 18:18) He also assured them He would send the Holy Spirit to guide them “into all truth” (John 16: 12-13). So to answer your question, what his apostles said about homosexuality is what Jesus told them in person or through the Holy Spirit who guided them. Here is what apostle Paul had to say about homosexuality: “For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another…” These words of Paul therefore are indeed attributable, if not directly, to Jesus in their content.
By the way, homosexuality was widely condemned by the Christian leaders in the early centuries. It’s very doubtful that that condemnation was not part of Jesus’s teachings.
One thing I don’t understand thought is why you seem to accept the teachings in the gospels, but apparently not in the rest of the New Testament.
whawell the answer to my question is below from EJParsons. Jesus said “Nothing” about homosexuals while he walked the earth. He said far more about passing judgement about others and those without sin casting the first stone.
Jesus also said that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He came to the world to save the world. He healed. He forgave. And He loved everyone, even those that crucified Him.
To many, Christ was a prophet. To others, He was a fool. But to me, He was, and is, the Messiah, my Lord and Savior, come to save the world from sin and an eternity separated from God. His time as a preacher and teacher was short compared to many that walked the earth at that time, but His influence on mankind is unparalleled in all of time. Why? Because He is the One and Only True and Living God. All others are creations of man’s desire to live as they wish. And all others will get you nowhere.
Granted, Christ did not address homosexuality directly, but does that make it right? Christ forgot to mention incest. Does that make it right? He forgot to condemn crack or meth. Guess that can be used for an excuse to get high. The argument about homosexuality being all right because Jesus didn’t mention it is empty at best.
whawell got it right. But since his answer doesn’t fit the question, according to SSM supporters, it’s dissed. Be careful what you believe. It may haunt you for eternity.
Putting words in Jesus’ mouth or trying to attribute (unspoken) thoughts to Him is blasphemy.
In two gospels Jesus addresses a question concerning marriage. It’s obvious from the readings that Jesus considered marriage as a sacred (or God ordained) bond between a man and a woman, not between any two people.
Also, we can’t assume Jesus did not make any direct mention of homosexuality in his public ministry just because direct mention of it is not found in the gospels. But we do know his disciples to whom he passed on the torch did. Also, He certainly spoke about the need to obey God’s commandments. If obedience to these is not a necessary element for our salvation, Jesus would have said so, or, at least would not have bothered to mention the necessity of obedience.
Nobody cares what the fake apostle Paul said.
Thank you for your input.
Ah, nice selective answer. The bible states that any one who works on the Sabbath be stoned to death.
Seeing as there were no’florists’ at the time of writing of the bible you are technically correct but you are still wrong with with the spirit of your answer.
Somehow I doubt that, even if florests existed in thecenturies before Jesus, anyone would hold that it violated God’s Law. But an individual florist could violate God’s laws and deserve stoning.
Today the only place that could happen today is in the Muslim extremist world, and I doubt the stoning would be over choice of profession but for other “violations” of God’s Laws.
The comment was originally about working on the sabbath and biblical punishment for doing so. The florist was simply an example.
The President will be elected to a second term because Dale’s comments are not worth the paper they were written on and because the good majority of the American people are done listening to GOP TeaNut nuttery and because the GOP candidates should be in a circus wearing clown suits and throwing pies at each other.
“supporters of SSM are incapable of anything close to “reasonable conversation”?
That’s very funny. I guess you haven’t been following the threads from Friday and the weekend. The unreasonable conversation comes normally in the form of Bible quoting, you are going to burn in H___, they are going to teach it in schools, etc….
I’m glad I didn’t say any of that stuff. That’s mean.
EJs lying again.
All in a day’s work.
Haven’t mentioned hell. Haven’t mentioned school. And haven’t directly quoted anything from the Bible. So, I am not lying.
Very well said Mark McCall. People have to pause, take a deep breath and realize that all things evolve including religion and marriage.
Dale Ferriere: President Obama is a calm, intelligent voice in the middle of the incoherently howling wilderness of Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Pamela Geller, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and other crazies wanting to destroy the Affordable Care Act, ban unions, create a theocracy, isolate the US, ignore international relations, start a war with China and carpet bomb Iran.
Is he a perfect president? No president, so far, has been perfect. Is he a better bet to keep the US on an even keel, slowly progressing toward prosperity and out of bullying fights in foreign countries than the bloviating serial adulterer, the 18th century religious nut or the job destroying flip-flapper unable to make eye contact that the Republicans have fielded? Yes!!
Here’s to President Obama, may the howls of the incoherent not distract him from his job or his wonderful family.
Perfect? So, he is your messiah.
EJ, simply because we critique your Messiah, Rush Limbaugh, do not think that we consider President Obama a messiah.
President Obama should have had the boldness to insist upon a public option as part of the Affordable Care Act and should have ended the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy in December of 2010. However, the left’s criticism of President Obama is having the same effect of its criticism of Presidents Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. By January 1, 1863, Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation; by August of 1935, FDR had signed the Social Security Act. Since last September President Obama has turned to the left in both his rhetoric and his policies. His numbers have steadily risen as a result.
Luckily, your party continues its food fight in the clown car. The latest jihad against birth control is but one of your party’s self-inflicted wounds. I will take out the popcorn tomorrow night as I watch this food fight go on endlessly in the Tuesday night election follies.
The embarrassment of your party’s candidates has caused it to cancel all future debates. But the embarrassment cannot be hidden from the media, who will dutifully report every thrust and parry of the woeful campaign.
Short of hiding all four candidates under burqas, I don’t know what your party can do. Regrettably, it feels burqas are only for women.
Haven’t you heard? Limbaugh and O’Reilly say the Republicans came unglued over birth control because the Democrats made them fight. Oh, and Mr. Limbaugh’s crude three day rant was all the Democrats fault also. They made him do it.
Here’s a thought: A party so stupid that it can be easily duped into, as Chenard cleverly noted, “a food fight in the clown car” is not smart enough to run the country.
But they are able to ruin the country. That one letter, I, reflects how the Republicans’ egoism converts running the country into ruining the country.
So is Rush, Ann, Pamela, Glenn or Sean yours?
EJ definitely worships at the feet of Rush. Rush can’t see his feet, due to his girth, and EJ has to tell him where they are.
Rush is wrong because he is large? That is certainly biggoted of you.
Rush is wrong because he is a money machine marketing misogyny, misanthropy, and malice. He is large because he is large. Bigoted has but one g.
EJ can’t see his feet either.
His own feet or Rush’s?
His own feet!
Are you suggesting that that Florida sun has made EJ a little paunchy?
Let’s just say the Florida sun seems to have little effect on his disposition.
When I listened to Rush regularily I did not see any “misogyny, misanthropy, and malice”, he said things that made some people mad, yes, but the only malice that I saw was directed at him not by him.
Is being sucessful now a sin?
Yea there is only one “g” in bigoted, but how is a typo relevant? Is it just your elitist way of proving that I am ignorant?
If calling someone who opposes your viewpoint a “sl*t” is not misogyny, if defending the Lord’s Resistance Army, despite its campaign of murder and terrorism in Uganda and surrounding countries, is not misanthropy, and if calling Chelsea Clinton a “dog” is not malice, then we need a serious talk about the meaning of words.
George Will and Ross Douthat have had scathing criticism of Limbaugh, but Romney and Santorum have not had the courage to speak truth to power. Sadly, you apparently lack that courage as well.
Being successful at some things is a sin: running weapons to terrorists, running drugs to schoolchildren, or running hate to fervent believers.
By correcting your spelling I am hoping to improve your posts.
Continue singing Rush’s praise. You may help drive Romney’s share of the popular vote below 40%.
I think that the word “sl*t” has been used by
commentators on the left to describe women on the right and never apologized
for. So the use of the term for someone on the left is not a big deal.
Limbaugh’s “defense” of the Lord’s Resistance Army was
really a statement about our Commander in Chief sending US troops to Uganda to “remove them from the battlefield” claiming
that the US has some national interest in doing so. See this link to what was
actually said http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2011/10/14/obama_invades_uganda_targets_christians.
I am not sure how voicing a negative opinion of someone’s
physical attractiveness can be termed either malice or hatred, if it is many on
the left are guilty of the same thing.
As to improving my posts all you have done is show your
own snotty self importance.
I have not sung the praise of Limbaugh, so don’t label me
falsely.
Point me to a single use of the word “sl*t” by “commentators on the left to describe women on the right.” That you “think” this happened is no proof at all.
Any reader of your link to Rush’s website will see that he characterizes the President’s actions with respect to the Lord’s Resistance Army as a war on “Christians.” Google the Lord’s Resistance Army: it has a history of murder, mutilation, sexual enslavement, kidnapping children and forcing them to fight, terrorism, and a series of indictments by the International Criminal Court of its leaders for crimes against humanity. Yet Rush describes them only as Christians!
Calling Chelsea Clinton, who was 13 or 14 at the time, a “dog” was despicable. Had you a 13 year old daughter, would you wish some bozo on national TV to call her a dog?
I won’t waste my time looking for your praise of Rush in prior posts. You have done something worse than praise him in your most recent post. You have defended him for indefensible conduct.
I have criticized Democrats who have said or done the indefensible: two examples are Cynthia McKinney for saying Bush purposely let 9/11 happen and Anthony Weiner for his folly. That wasn’t difficult for me: it was a matter of common decency.
Have you no common decency?
Only got one Messiah, and He’s the One and Only.
Who gave you the authority to then mock others and determine messiahs for them?
It’s called talking the talk but not walking the walk.
And who would yours be jd? Bob Carlson?
It seems that you have an obsession with Bob Carlson. But what does Bob Carlson have to do with an letter to the editor on same sex marriage. Bob Carlson was married to a woman no?
You were a fan of the man. And now you defend SSM. Sometimes marriages are not as they appear.
“Fan”? That is a bit of a stretch. Did I know him? Yes. My association with Bob Carlson was a professional one where he served on a board of an organization I worked with (please note I said worked with and not for). Since his retirement from the EOCC (and I didn’t attend EOCC either) I saw him maybe 3-4 times a year over the past 4-5 years.
So to answer your “question” he was not my “Messiah” nor was I a “fan” of the man.
Ah yes, the Limbaugh disciple parroting the sacred words of the Master . Does your vespers song ” Magic Negro” pleasure your Messiah?
Some people are just repulsive purveyors of filth. Others work diligently at legitimizing racist instincts. While others use hate to create ignorant followers. In Mr. Limbaugh you get all three, filth, racism and hate filled sycophants in one convenient nasty package.
The “magic negro” was coined by a left wing journalist in a west coast newspaper, not Limbaugh.
Another EJ Parsons lie
EJ is sort of right. However the song was created as an example of a literary device used in American storytelling. What EJ is trying to avoid acknowledging is that Mr. Limbaugh took the song out of context and used it to appeal to, legitimize and encourage the racism of his listeners. For EJ just another reason to fawn at the feet of the Great One as he calls himself so often. Looks like EJ may be serving two masters.
Sounds a lot like what he and men like him have done with the Bible for centuries. Thank him for his input and go and do good in the world. The time wasted talking to him could be spent doing good.
A literary device? such drivel.
May I refer you to this link. I think it will help you understand what is meant by literary device and how the Magical Negro is such a literary device.
http://www.strangehorizons.com/2004/20041025/kinga.shtml
“Barack the Magic Negro” is a song by American political satirist Paul Shanklin who wrote and recorded it for the Rush Limbaugh Show as satire after it was first applied to presidential candidate Obama by movie and culture critic, David Ehrenstein, in a Los Angeles Times op ed column of March 19, 2007. Shanklin impersonates black activist Al Sharpton, who regretfully sings that white people will vote for Barack Obama for President instead of Sharpton, because Obama is a magical Negro (a term previously popularized by Spike Lee[3]), not a real black man from the “hood”.
I see you’re selective in your responses today as usual.
huuh?
As usual you falsely call someone a liar.
The term was first used by David Ehrenstein in an Op-ed in the Los Angeles Times.
Why tell the whole truth when a half-truth will do?
if you actually read sally’s post you would see that she said no president is or was perfect, just better than anyone in the Republican field.
Perfect President, distract him from his job. Well hope he starts doing something soon. Fights, I am sure you will say that it was Bush’s fault when he goes in to Iran.
As to crazies, you missed a few. Maddow, Bechtel, O’Donnel and many others on the left.
Obama is in the middle? Certainly not the political middle, or are you refering to middke as in the middle of the economic problems we face? maybe the moral problems we face? or even the foreign policy problems we have? I would agree with those “middles”.
RE: Yellowstone Ideals
Mr. Goldman, we have a great National Park System and having visited Yellowstone (and many, many others), I have the utmost concern for the well-being of our great National Park system. Respectfully sir, we are in the midst of an economic crisis and are having great difficulty funding the system we have. We are having difficulty feeding our fellow Americans; we are having difficulty providing appropriate shelter and sanitation to those in need; some of our great American cities such as Los Angeles are not recommending consumption of tap water.
It is reprehensible that some of the same Americans routinely castigating the conservative movement (conservation=thrift and sustainability movement) for their (the thrift and sustainability movement) lack of concern for the poor and less fortunate in our great nation simultaneously focus so much time, energy, and financial resources sheltering millions if not billions of dollars stripping land rights from people who would otherwise produce resources and jobs through the fruits of their hard labor.
Furthermore, your locale (South Portland) would indicate you would not be directly affected by the establishment of a Northwoods National Park; we realize the creation of such a mass would reduce your heating bills via the warmth it would bring to the cockles of your heart. However, we who live and work up here prefer the btu value of the firewood we cut and burn in our stoves while we share tales of hunting, fishing, roaming via foot and machine, skiing, snowshoeing, trapping, and just generally purveying the landscape proximate to our humble and quite amenable abodes.
I might add, at times we also play fiddles, guitars, drums, and other such objects bringing great delight to our ears as well as others. We carve and make use of the animals we hunt and trap. We even eat them; we grow our own food in many cases and we even barter and trade with each other. We imbibe in beverages brewed locally and some more exotic from afar. What we do not understand is why you spend so much money at events such as the American Folk Festival, the Yarmouth Clam Festival, etc to see Maine people express their culture and then promote it’s destruction by allying yourselves with those bent on destroying the very aspects of rural Maine life that inspire all of those things you otherwise admire?
Pray tell you can come up with a reasonable explanation for these policies so that we who live in the north can comprehend this enigma?
I don’t see how the creation of North Woods National Park prevents you from doing all the things you listed.
How many people really live (year round) north and west of Baxter? Actually, I don’t know that answer and would like to know.
Typical southern Maine attitude from LTGV.
Hasn’t been there, doesn’t know what or who is up there, but thinks it’s a great idea to introduce federal control to northern Maine.
Seems as though you either cannot or will not respond to LGTV’s observation and question. Why not nopark? You are one of the most predictable and repetitive comment posters here, always banging the same little drum. Get your head out of the wood pile and look around at Northern Maine as a totality. Forest products have a role to play, but Maine’s “Big Timber” days are long gone and will not return. Adapt or die out. Preferably the latter.
My banging the same drum in a predictable way is proof that the truth bears repeating.
When YOU see federal control looming on your horizon, you will feel the same.
TONY,
Workers are just that, workers, and they never have a right to unionize. If you even thought about unionizing at my company I’d fire all of you on the spot. A business belongs to the business owner, and the employees have no say unless asked. Where do you all get off thinking workers can dictate how a person operates their business? Be thankful I or someone else has given you the chance to work.
DALE,
Don’t forget he promised he was a US citizen, and we know that’s a lie.
MARK,
Here’s my reasonable conversation. NO GAY MARRIAGE, or civil unions or anything else that resembles a relationship acknowledged by the government.
I can’t tell if you are being sarcastic or not in your reply to Tony, but I can tell you this: firing workers because they are trying to unionize is guaranteed to bring you nothing but trouble with the National Labor Relations Board. You may not like unions, but if they come knocking you’d best contact a labor lawyer to help keep you out of trouble.
Not a U.S. citizen? This is exactly why the GOP TeaNuts are going to get smashed into electoral oblivion at the voting booth in November. The people of Maine and America are all done listening to that kind of utter insanity.
amconservative,Here’s my reasonable conversation. NO MARRIAGE, or civil unions or
anything else that resembles a relationship acknowledged by the
government.
Get government out, end the benefits extend only to some and problem solved.
You might want to take a look at the article by the Reverend Michael J. Seavey entitled ‘Egg farm worker’s rights shouldn’t have an expiration date” which appeared today in the Portland Press Herald. Or do you only listen to views which already match your own? I thought so.
Happy trolls to you
Until we meet again
Happy trolls to you
You at your game again
LOL
Yes, clearly a troll, but what’s sad is that there are people who take him/her seriously and hit the “like” button.
People like EJ Parsons.
Yes but most if not all of them are trolls too. In fact I think of the “likes” under am’s posts as the troll counter.
Well, you managed to get wrong three for three.
1. The National Labor Relations Act gives workers to right to engage in concerted activity, including the right to organize into a union. In fact, the state legislator who says that only one county in California allows farm workers to organize is just flat out wrong. The California Agricultural Labor Relations Act allows farm workers to organize statewide, and they are, for the most part, represented by the United Farm Workers. It just isn’t pursuant to the NLRA. Trust me, I know about this stuff.
2. He’s proven that he’s a U.S. Citizen. Just because you don’t believe it doesn’t change that fact. Having the Queen of the Birthers, Orly Taitz, leading the legal challenge makes it clear that it is just wacky. Even the former Republican Governor of Hawaii confirms his certificate’s authenticity. And yes, the long form has been produced. You really should tilt at some other windmill.
3. The reality is that same sex marriage will, indeed, come to pass, whether you like it or not. The Prop 8 trial made clear that there is no state interest that must be protected by banning same sex couples. Accordingly, without that state interest, then the state must treat all individuals equally, in that two people, whether they are in an opposite or same-sex relationship, must be treated the same.
I know, I know, you’re going to go all wiggy on me and probably call me a pinko leftist. Frankly, disdain from your ilk is remarkably affirming.
DEAR BOB,
Is this why Walmart tells the unions to take a hike at every turn? Why would they choose to close a store before allowing union employees ?. As we discuss the issue,the fangs of the unions are being torn out, and if we can get a conservative president then we’ll close your precious NLRB. I’m sure you know nothing of unions and communism, but none the less both are out to destroy America one brick at a time, and may I add that your profession does quite a good job of it by itself.
Legitimate investigations have shown obama’s records to be fabricated as well as pieces missing, and that’s enough for me,but none of that has anything thing to do about what he’s turning this country into, and so next fall we’ll elect to get him out out. He has been nothing more then a failed experiment.
On your SSM issue I feel you are correct, but allow me to step out with confidence and say that as went Sodom and Gomorrah so will go America.
PS: Please continue to serve California as I feel they need you.
Ah yes, Walmart, that great protector of American capitalism. So devoted to the American way of life they buy from China, the bastion of….communism, where unions are outlawed. Now isn’t that odd, that you would use Walmart as an example. They pay their employees so poorly that many must drink from the public trough just to survive. Seems you and Walmart must have a lot in common.
Maybe you should have used some company from the former Soviet Union. Oh wait, unions were illegal there too.
He worships the ground the Waltons walk on. The fact that they are a large contributor to our trade deficit of $350 billion, last year alone, and a total debt of over $ 1 trillion to a communist regime is not seen by him. Just the MONEY they have hoarded.
Yes, and AMC forgets the demise of communist authority in Eastern Europe started with Lek Walesa and the shipyard workers’ union in Poland. Just think what could happen in China if the workers there managed to organize.
Yes, they may start to get a living wage and then American workers could compete on a level playing field. Perish the thought! You have to question why anyone, other than a trust fund baby, would be against the working men and women of America earning a living wage and having access to affordable health care?
Did you see where Walmart warehouses are being sued by our government for worker abuses? Finally! Walmart denies any wrongdoing, yeah, just like Apple. Do they think we are all stupid? Belfast kept Walmart out. Their city councilors could not be bought. That is the kind of community I want to live in.
Yes, it is much better to have people like the Waltons hoarding billions while paying their employees half the federal poverty level. Private union membership is down to 7% in this country AMC, it is okay to stop fearing the scary union monster hiding under your bed. Unions have always been a buffer between the workers and the greed. One just needs to take a look around to find out what happens when that buffer disappears. Kind of ironic when you consider that the majority of our founding fathers were members of the world’s oldest union, the brotherhood of Masons. I am glad that I have never worked for a skin flint like you. I would detest the thought of contributing to your delinquency or feeding your greed.
Has the Masonic lodges changed their names to the Intrenational Brotherhood of the Masons? Somehow I doubt it.
Once again, am, your comments secure your position on the far left side of the bell curve. You leftist, you!!
LOL!!! Has there ever been a right wing nut job to claw their way past the crown of the bell? To put it in nautical terms, they are all hard to port! lol.
If they’re hard to port, assuming your using a tiller, that means they’re headed hard to starboard… Seems appropriate.
LOL, that one probably went right over his head.
No doubt about it. Everything does. Not at all surprising, considering the dark, narrow, odoriferous canal in which old am’s noggin is always lodged.
Thank you for your input.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is how we should handle people like this man. Thank them for thier input and move forward. They will be left behind. Please. Do not continue to argue with these people. They are only holding down progress. Move forward and say goodbye to them.
I agree with you but it won’t work.
But it will show others what we are….Better. This is how we will win. We cant change him. We can change others who are wavering. By acting like his we are nt helping. He is not worth our time. Remember, just because I turn and walk away does not mean you have won, it means you are no longer worth my time.
If you turn and walk away, it means you gave up. Winners don’t give up.
Which Gospel is that from?
The Gospel of Knute?
Thank you for your input.
No, sometimes you just need to walk away from stupid arguments.
Can you tell us where you want to progress to?
Like “change”, “progress” means different things to different people. I think that things need to be changed in the US and the world, but I suspect you would oppose the changes I would want.
You must have received the information from the “Donald” that his investigators dug up, before the rest of us are scheduled to receive it. Would you let us know when we can expect to receive the information. My guess is never as there is none of the bull you profess that has been found.
Now you are being silly or have historical, or should I say hysterical, amnesia. It was unions that built the middle class. They hardly destroyed this country. And, if employers are not ‘doing the right thing’ they will gain a foothold once again. Though I would rather keep them local groups. Enough with these large national power hungry entities on both sides of the equation.
If an individual did good things in the past, does that excuse excess (evil?) later in life?
Yes, unions did much good for the US in the past, but now? Anything, no matter how good it is, can be taken to dangerous extremes.
Cite me one “legitimate” investigation that proves your point. Every single judicial or administrative attempt to validate your claim has failed. Miserably. The reality is that the birther argument is like a little dog yapping in the distance; it’s annoying, but ultimately one learns to ignore it. Google Orly Taitz, your birther queen, and watch her on during interviews or during hearings and see how utterly ridiculous the birther argument sounds.
As for unions, well, I happen to know a lot about them since I’m a management-side labor and employment attorney. I wasn’t advocating for them, I was simply pointing out that you were dead wrong on the law, nothing more. Yeah, I represent employers against unions. Surprise! See what happens when we assume? I also have a degree in comparative governments. If you think we even come close to a socialist or communist country, then you know nothing about these forms of government.
As for Sodom and Gomorrah, well, you’re dead wrong on the Biblical interpretation. Lot had certain obligations to the city, and entertaining visitors was not one of them. When he took the two angels in, he did so based on the Hasidic laws of hospitality, which violated the city’s laws. The whole “know” thing isn’t about sex; it’s about determining who these strangers were. Also, look at the way “know” was used in the Old Testament. It on only four instances could be interpreted as sex, and then, it was always heterosexual.
Moreover, if homosexuality was such a ginormous sin, where does Jesus warn against it? Oh yeah, nowhere. Divorce, on the other hand, well, he talks a lot about that. But you just keep living in your polarized world and listen only to things with which you’re comfortable.
And now, picking up the cue from a poster far wiser than I:
Thank you for your input.
Hey Mr. amconservative – – – tell us where your company is big boy – – I know a Union organizer that would love to pee in your corn flakes!! You take the cake.
I have read your comments for some time now, amconservative, and I notice that they are becoming more agitated, more angry, more “freaked out”. Is it because you and your fellow reactionaries are starting to get to the knotted part of the rope with which you will be hanging yourselves?
Thank you for your input.
That is one of the 10 things bad managers say amc. You proved that point very well. And, if you paid your workers well, provided reasonable working conditions, obeyed labor laws then there would be no need to unionize. If you did not, then power to your people to right these wrongs!
Good points. I was thinking that his managerial techniques sounded despotic. Who’d even want to work in such a climate?
Since, here in Maine and today’s USA, workers are free to relocate or not work for ANYONE, is there any reason for the government to cohearse an employer on the issues of wages and benefits?
Tony:
Agricultural and domestic workers have not been covered by the National Labor Relations Act since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
At one time it was legal to own slaves, women couldn’t vote or own property, only property owning men were allowed to vote. Does that make it right?
I am not aware of having stated an opinion. All I did was state a fact – nothing more, nothing less.
I know that. I stated my opinion and facts. I asked you if it was right. You declined to answer. End of story.
I wonder if that is why National Parks are in such a financial disaster and mess.
How are the national parks in a “financial disaster?” I’m sure they’re on a tight budget these days (who isn’t). And a “mess?” What does that mean?
I shoudl of book marked the page. A lof ot the parks need a lot of repair, they can not take care of the ones they have now. I believe the facts on on the Park Services pages themselves.
Tony Oberst, don’t ever expect any legislation from the Republican/MHPC/ALEC/Tea Party to favor working people.
Yes Dale…There is a reason nobody bothers going to Lubec…Thanks for reminding all of us.
Dale Ferriere, if we had let GM and Chrysler go down they would have drug Ford with them. There would have been an immediate loss of well over a million jobs. Good paying jobs, with benefits that allow people to raise a family and send their children to college. Would you rather have had them gone? If so what would you do for the country?
If I’m not mistaken, Obama Care hasn’t even been fully implemented as yet.
Just exactly when would you like to start investing, if ever, in green energy or innovations? Wether you like it or not, this earth has a finite amount of fosil fuel. I would think that almost the densest amongst us know that. At some point in time we as a world are going to have to find an alternative or combinaton of alternatives to our current addiction to oil, coal and LNG. Too bad we didn’t follow through on Jimmy Carters plans. Just think how much progress we might have made in the last 30+ years.
Arab spring. hmm, what’s your plan there? I say let’s let the rest of the world worry about them and keep our hands off the whole middle east. Solomon in all his wisdom would probably washed his hands of trying to make sense out of the people of the middle east. It’s just another ongoing thing that every president since Truman has had to deal with.
Gitmo should be closed and all the alleged terrorists should be brought before the world court in the Hague.
You haven’t seen tyranny until and unless you allow the Extreme right Republicans have full control in Washington. God help us if that happens.
Well said Mark.
Thank you.
I’m posting my comment here, as I posted it on the BDN Editorial, because I agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY w/ Ms. Crimaudo’s letter. THANK YOU.We who have unanswered questions about the tank and the implications of sighting such a behemoth in our community, appreciate that a citizen’s group, TBNT, stepped forward on their own, and has taken a lot of criticism for their efforts, to shed daylight on DCP’s proposal. Had town and state officials, both elected and appointed, involved us in the first place, we would not be in this mess now. Where were they when we needed them? Looking at the BDN aerial photo of the existing tank farm confirms why adding another tank of the scale DCP plans, needs further exploration. I hope I will not see DCP ads in the BDN in the next few days as the moratorium vote approaches. Were this to happen, it would certainly compromise BDN’s editorial stance. Searsport citizens, support a “YES” vote on Saturday to get two more months for a closer look at this project. This is not a lot to ask. I wish the BDN editorial had supported us, Maine citizens, rather than aligning themselves with DCP, who has shown themselves to be , at the least, not particularly good neighbors to the community whose citizen’s initiative they are working mightily to defeat.
Great letter Mrs. Crimaudo!
Vote YES for the moratorium!
I was surprised to learn that agricultural workers were not allowed to unionize. How was Caesar Chavez able to unionize the grape workers? Is there a site that explains this? I can’t find one that names the exact laws covering this. Thanks
Looks like farm workers organized illegally until passage of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act (CALRA) on June 5th, 1975. I didn’t know they couldn’t until you mentioned it.Thank you, I guess…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Agricultural_Labor_Relations_Act- CALRA @ wiki
http://farmworkermovement.com/essays/essays/history%20of%20farm%20labor.pdf – “Farm Labor Organizing 1905 – 1967 A Brief History”
Dale Ferrier . . s-o-o-o which occupant of the GOP Presidential clown car do you recommend to replace President Obama?
Romney? He continues to lie and lied again yesterday about Romney Care in Mass!
Sanctum Santorum? You want this guy in YOUR bedroom? If yes, please turn your clocks back at least 60 years!
Gingrich? OMG, where do I even begin?
Ron Paul? Just NOT gonna happen.
To all: please do not argue with WhaWell or EJ or amconservative, remember the saying: Just becasue I turn my back and walk away does not mean you have won, it means you are not worth my time. Please lets put our energy into doing what is right. We are not going to change these ignorant people. Let us focus on what is good, and right, and helpful to others. Negative energy will bring negative energy. Let us bring forth positive energy and walk away from the ignorance and negativity. Be kind to eachother. We can only tell them they are wrong and then walk away. It is not our job to change them.
There is a problem with walking away.
In ordinary times those promoting anti-social
behavior have little more power than the raving lunatic standing on the corner
crying doom.
Today we have churches, universities, think
tanks, media, wealthy donors and politicians haranguing the nation further and
further into racism, sexism, religious bigotry, and political divisions so wide
that the Congress is nothing more than a battle ground. The antagonism towards
women, education, workers rights and President Obama is palpable in this
country.
In calmer times “walking away”
represents intelligent action. Today’s conservative anti-social
behavior should be called out for what it is; an attempt to deny workers
rights, bind state to church, substitute private education for public
education, reduce the wealth and power of the middle class and democracy,
enhance the wealth of the very rich and use the military to protect private
commercial interests abroad.
All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good
men to do nothing.” -Edmund Burke
I dont mean to walk away from the fight. I mean to walk away from those who dont matter. Just keep speaking the truth and the lies will be seen. I am saying that people are spending so much time arguing with fools when they could be spreading the truth. Never stop the fight for what is right just avoid the speed bumps that slow our progress. Call out the behavior but not the person. We need more facts put here not viscous attacks. Dont give them what they give us.
OK, I see what you mean. Agree!
Brava, Brava!! msallyjones. You nailed it! And many thanks for the Edmund Burke quote. So very true.
” The antagonism towards women, education, workers rights and President Obama is palpable in this country.”
Let’s start with women. How much chance does a man stand in divorce court. Until recently, if he was lucky he got visitation rights every other weekend so his ex could enjoy her “space”. He also paid child support, the same amount even when his ex returned to the workforce. If his ex decided she wanted him out of her life, she simply gave him a hard time by calling DHS or by filing an order of protection. This way, he didn’t even get to see his children and still had to pay child support. If she decided to get real ugly with him, all she needed to do was make a complaint of abuse at the local PD and the PD would arrest him and jail him for 48 hours on a mere allegation.
As to the attempt to deny workers their rights, in some non-right-to-work states if a worker refuses to pay union dues, he loses his job or is not hired to begin with. Who’s being denied a job here? It’s certainly not the union.
Right now I see an attempt by the state to bind itself to the church through Obamacare. The state is trying to force individuals and institutions to pay for unrelated health insurance coverage against their consciences in direct conflict with the first rights guaranteed under 1st Amendment. Just recently in the State of Washington, a federal court declared as Unconstitutional an attempt by the state to control the hiring and firing of ministers.
Public school education is now being used as a tool by the government to brainwash our children over their parents’ objection. Matters such as sex education is none of the government’s business. Government needs to keep out of people’s private lives. Also, our tax money is being used to fund a lot of failing public school. If you’re child happens to be in one of those schools, there is no way to transfer your child to another school because of the state’s tight monopoly on education decisions. The obvious solution to this encroachment is to give parents school vouchers. But no, the government insists on controlling our lives by using our tax money and restricting our freedoms.
If you think Obama is facing a lot of criticism and opposition, you forget he had two years to work with a filibuster-proof Senate and House to help him to get his agenda through. Instead of concentrating on the economy and jobs like voters wanted, he focused his energies on a wide range of social issues. Now the economy is not better off than it was, the country has nearly twice as much debt, our trade deficit is still widening, and we are far from being energy independent. We have 16 of our citizens being illegally detained in Egypt and several Islamic countries that are destabilized on account of his meddling, not to mention how his policy of announcing a withdrawal deadline in Afghanistan is turning the war efforts there in favor of the enemy.
Obama has been trying to increase the wealth of the “poor” by decreasing the wealth of job creators and investors and introducing crushing regulations. As a result, investors became fearful and jobs were lost instead of being created. Also, industries have moved elsewhere where the business climate is more favorable and less hostile. So how has Obama helped Americans?
Tony you spoke my thoughts exactly. I am not pro-union across the board as I think many times unions are as much of a problem as corporation when it comes to politics, BUT they do have a role in protecting workers from corporate enslavement. How can anyone forget the pictures from the DeCosta farms. They were unconscionable. And, finally I get word that our federal government is acting on behalf of workers by suing warehouse employers who disabuse workers. Finally this government is doing something for the workers!
Also, Gitmo recently received a taxpayer-funded, multimillion-dollar soccer field for its radical detainees; Obama promised to close Gitmo.
Acutally, it was being proposed to build one for 744,000. Still a dumb idea, but lets try using actual numbers, not made up ones.
Bob Goldman.
We in northern Maine do not want a national park. PERIOD.
And while I’m replying to your letter, don’t you think that you should have filled readers in on your affiliation with EarthFirst!, the enviroterrorist organization that was responsible for terrorizing the logging communities of the Pacific Northwest by tree spiking, and burning working people’s equipment?
http://maine.earth-first.net/
Anyone that thinks this is destined to be a “sweet little park up in the northern Maine woods” is either totally blind or in on the deception.
This is, and has been a long term project for each and every environmental organization that is in the environmental industry, all across the world.
The environazis want to lock up tens of millions of acres of forestland from the Adirondacks to the St. John River, and beyond if possible, which would put a virtual halt to all wood products harvesting and manufacturing in the north woods.
These people need to be stopped.
LURC needs to be taken back from these people as well.
Calm down, Nopark. Maybe a leisurely stroll through a national park would settle your nerves.
Bangor Daily News: Thanks for the idea for my niece’s birthday card (“On This Day in History” , Editorial page, A-4).
Hi Dale. Enjoyed your letter so thanks! But it’s time to wake up and smell
the freedom:
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/hist/n3010me3m.htm – In
June 2008 Maine price of natural gas was $21.60 / cubic feet.
In June of 2011 the price of natural gas in Maine was $13.94 / cubic feet.
http://www.eia.gov/electricity/state/maine/ –
Maine’s primary electicity source is natural gas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_Maine –
479.3 megawatts of wind energy have been added in Maine since 2008.
http://www.tiogaenergy.com/industry-news/obama-signs-stimulus-plan-touts-clean-energy –
Obama signs Reinvestment and Recovery act bill stimulating clean energy
production Feb. 17, 2009.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/901/we-will-kill-bin-laden/ –
Obama campaign promise in 2008 to “take out” bin Laden.
~And Obama found Osama~
Loving the comments below, keep up the good work..
Damn Right Wingah’s. Stop bullying the Lefties around…LOL…
Ferrier:
The most important part of the Affordable Health Care Act – the state insurance exchanges – will not be up and running until 2014.
Fail Strike 1
GOP-enabled oil speculators (hedge funds, financial institutions) and events in the Middle East are responsible for the spike in oil and gasoline prices.
US oil production is UP under Obama, gasoline and heating oil consumption are down – n the absence of speculation – oil prices would be stable.
Who proposed deregulating the oil futures market?
Why the GOP.
Who is opposed to re-regulating the oil futures market to lower gas prices?
Why the GOP.
Who doubled CAFE standards to 55 mpg?
Obama.
Obama’s green energy programs are focused on renewable sources of electricity – not motor fuel.
Fail Strike 2.
In the last days of the George W. Bush regime, the US economy was losing 818,000 jobs a month, the stock market was crashing and GDP was collapsing at 8.9% per quarter.
Unemployment has dropped from a high of 10.2% to 8.3% today. The DOW is near 13,000. Job losses have declined to 350,000 per month and Obama engineered 23 straight months of private sector job growth.
Fail strike 3.
yessah
“The most important part of the Affordable Health Care Act – the state insurance exchanges – will not be up and running until 2014.”
– But, in 2011, the startup costs were about 150 billion, and this year there is another 130 billion slated to cover costs. Of course, these startup costs weren’t included in the original cost estimates. How do you suppose they missed that?
“GOP-enabled oil speculators (hedge funds, financial institutions) and events in the Middle East are responsible for the spike in oil and gasoline prices.”
– Bush put the screws to the speculators during his adminstration, but when the Dems regained the House and Senate, they were set free once more. And Obama hasn’t done a thing to slow them down. And much of the reason for the high price of a gallon of gasoline is the deflation of the currency due to the overproduction of dollars being injected into our ailing economy. The value of the dollar is down worldwide.
“US oil production is UP under Obama, gasoline and heating oil consumption are down – n the absence of speculation – oil prices would be stable.”
– Obama closed off all East coast and West coast off-shore drilling when it got into office. The upward trend in US oil production is due to actions taken by both Clinton and Bush, not Obama.
“Who proposed deregulating the oil futures market? Why the GOP.” And for good reason.
“Who is opposed to re-regulating the oil futures market to lower gas prices? Why the GOP.” Again, for a good reason.
“Who doubled CAFE standards to 55 mpg? Obama.”
– And we consumers will be paying much more for these new vehicles.
“Obama’s green energy programs are focused on renewable sources of electricity – not motor fuel.”
– Under the Bush administration, all energy sources were being worked.
“In the last days of the George W. Bush regime, the US economy was losing 818,000 jobs a month, the stock market was crashing and GDP was collapsing at 8.9% per quarter.”
– For the last 2 years of the Bush administration, who was in charge of the House and Senate?
Lordy, Lordy – Absolutely the greatest exhibition of tunnel vision I’ve ever seen. Wish I still had my trophy business.
Just presenting the other side of the issues.
Dale Ferriere – You letter headline should have read: “The World According to Garp”