Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012: Upsetting words from a BDN columnist and the future of the GOP

Brainstorming session?

I am disgusted by the “list of envelope-pushing ideas” that Portland columnist Chris Busby says he rescued from “the bottom of a dumpster behind Sea Dog Brewing Co’s Bangor pub” in his column, “LePage has a storm, possibly involving a brain.” He attributes this list to a “brainstorming session LePage had with his staff,” presumably “shortly before he addressed the beery donors and power-brokers” at an August 15 GOP event. Busby further noted that the list was “scribbled in black magic marker (a telltale sign of LePage’s authorship).”

Obviously, Busby’s column was written tongue-in-cheek but, in my opinion, some of the “ideas” he includes in his list border on slander, i.e., insinuating that Gov. LePage has a drinking or gambling problem.

I was in attendance at the Aug. 15 event and consider myself neither a “beery donor” nor a “power-broker.” I support the direction that LePage is taking the state of Maine. The fact that LePage came to this event, which was organized as an opportunity for local GOP candidates to meet and talk with potential constituents, allowed all attendees to meet the governor in a very informal setting.

LePage spoke briefly, maybe 10 minutes. When he suggested that he might be calling a special session, without revealing specifics, I’m sure he knew that this would be quoted in the media. But I feel certain he didn’t expect the type of media opinion that Busby penned, all under the guise of a “humorous look at Maine politics.”

Wanda Lincoln

Old Town

Republican party not the same

What a sad article by Olympia Snowe in the Aug. 28 BDN. She wishes the Republican Party were not what it is. The chance that presidential candidate Mitt Romney can reassure women that he “understands their reality” is zero.

The party of Nelson Rockefeller, Ed Brooke, John Lindsay, Mark Hatfield and Snowe herself is dead. Extremism killed it. What took its place is a group of people hostile to science, to immigrants, to gay people, to elders and especially to the poor.

Todd Akin is a perfect emblem for Team Tampa.

Peg Cruikshank

Corea

Worthy of second term

Who does Rep. Herbert Clark think he is fooling when he states in your newspaper that he voted for the feasibility study for the east-west corridor only because he thought Rep. Doug Thomas “had done his homework”?

In Clark’s OpEd in the BDN on Aug.19, he stated those words, as well as stating, “I was always taught that when faced with a complex problem, it makes good sense to study it thoroughly.” What a contradiction.

He makes it very clear that he did not even look at the bill. Rather he trusted that someone else had done the work we hired him to do. He then writes a letter that throws that colleague under the bus for his own failure to study the bill.

While I have not decided whether this highway is right for Maine or not, and I do not know Clark, I do know I would much rather trust a man who admits his mistakes and then tries to rectify them, than a man who would disparage his colleagues in the hopes of gaining votes for himself.

Rep. Doug Thomas has done an outstanding job for Maine. The fact that he has listened to his constituents and is willing to look at further sides tells me that he is well worth electing for a second term.

Hilda Mulherin

Dover-Foxcroft

Invasion of Southern France

One of the things I enjoy reading is the column on page 3, “Today in History.” So, I was surprised that no mention was made of the Invasion of Southern France, which took place on Aug. 15, 1944. Some people have said that they didn’t even know that there was an Invasion of Southern France. So I thought I would pass along the following.

While the fighting was nowhere as fierce as it was during the Invasion of Normandy, it did include three divisions of the U.S. Sixth Corp, namely the third on the western flank, the 45th in the middle and the 36th on the eastern flank. Also included in the invasion was a large group of French Commandos and U.S. and British parachute and glider combat teams. Naval gunfire from allied ships included one French battleship, one British battleship and three U.S. battleships. Also, a fleet of more than 50 allied cruisers and destroyers, including the U.S.S. Brooklyn, a light cruiser, and seven escort carriers providing air cover.

More than 94,000 troops and 11,000 vehicles landed on the first day.

Most of the above detail came off the Internet, but I was there, as a forward observer for the 36th Division, to direct gunfire from the U.S.S. Brooklyn.

Robert M. Files

Dedham

Why I’m getting involved

At the age of 16, I’m choosing to get involved in the election of 2012. This is going to be the future that I will become an adult in. When I’m older I want a place I call home, where I can raise a family and show them the things I did when I was younger.

For this to be possible we need strong voices in Augusta. Day after day, local farms, stores and logging companies struggle in Aroostook County. I believe that the voice to protect the future of District 7 is Troy Haines.

Having known Haines my whole life, I have seen the dedication he puts into his work and his business and how he truly cares about Aroostook. Daily struggles continue, and families are forced to move away to survive. With businesses closing, and families moving away how will there be a future for Aroostook?

Haines has a plan. When farms are forced to shut down their company due to high cost in traveling to get their cattle U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected, we lose something. Haines is working to have a USDA facility closer for farmers to access. This is an example of a real idea that would allow farmers to save money and create jobs, not just empty words that politicians use. It shows me that he is the right person to help create jobs for us.

I believe that if he is elected we will have a promising future. Aroostook County will be a place that I and many others can proudly call home.

Alexis Flewelling

Masardis