Vote against gay marriage
Legal means are available to ensure that gay couples can participate in a civil union. I hope you will vote against the gay marriage question just as we have previously done on more than one occasion.
Don’t let the media fool you. It is not about the love a family has for their gay son or daughter. How could a parent show anything but love for their own child. It’s also not about the acceptance in society by firemen or the military. If the job is done well, sexual preference should have no bearing. It’s nothing but an attack on conventional marriage.
Leo Mazerall
Stockton Springs
Volunteerism of all
Just because you support public responses to public needs doesn’t mean you don’t also believe in volunteerism. We believe government action can improve people’s lives, but we also believe in neighbor helping neighbor.
That’s why we founded Neighbor Care: a group of Brooksville residents offering help to those who need it, through services like shopping, dog walking and rides to the doctor.
But some projects are too big, complicated or urgent to handle with voluntary associations alone. Building roads, insuring medical care and offering universal education are among the activities that require the pooled resources of all our citizens to succeed. When those public resources are lacking, vital public needs can go unmet.
It’s possible to put off the day of reckoning for a while by borrowing. But in the case of the federal government, debt levels have already gotten too high. So now there are two reasons we need to be sure to collect adequate revenue: not only to properly fund smart public investments but also to reduce deficitsl.
One way to raise the money is to allow tax cuts to expire at the end of the year on income above $250,000 a year. This would only affect 2 percent of American households but would bring in hundreds of billions of dollars in the next decade for debt reduction and to strengthen middle-class support programs.
Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins should help forge a bipartisan budget compromise that includes greater revenue contributions by those best able to afford it.
Peter Diemond
Jeanne Gaudette
Brooksville
Vote Levesque in November
Having served more than eight years on the Presque Isle City Council, I know how important it is that we have a strong Aroostook County voice that understands what our cities and towns face in delivering municipal services. That is why I am supporting Democrat Dan Levesque for Senate District 34 on Election Day.
Levesque’s service on the Ashland Town Council, his work in creating an industrial park in that town, and his efforts to bring millions of reconstruction dollars to Route 11 demonstrate his commitment to Aroostook County. He understands the importance of revenue sharing and how crucial it is in keeping local property taxes stable. He knows that what matters most to people is what happens close to home.
In addition to his public experience, he has managed businesses in the private sector and knows what it takes to create jobs. He is committed to making the natural resources of Aroostook County work for the people of the county, keeping the jobs and incomes here. He understands that when labor and management work together in public or private initiatives,the results are strong and positive.
We need someone serving District 34 who will represent the people of the district and look out for their best interest. We need someone willing to put party differences aside when it comes to legislation that affects the County. We need Levesque, and I urge you to vote for him on Nov. 6.
Calvin F. Hall
Presque Isle
GOP platform hurts women
“Elect us,” say the Republicans, “and we’ll get the government out of your hair by eliminating all those restricting regulations foisted on you by the Democrats.”
And yet their national platform wants to do just the opposite, restricting what women can do to and with their bodies with respect to abortions. And some of their candidates say there shouldn’t be an abortion even if the pregnancy was caused by rape.
With a platform like that, how can any woman (or any man who loves his woman) vote Republican in the national election?
Maynard Clemons
Belfast
Hold elected officials accountable
Our forefathers came to America with dreams of a country governed by the people for the people. What happened?
We now have the 1 percent getting richer and richer, while the majority of the population is getting poorer, finding themselves homeless and unemployed, forced into welfare, food stamps, stripped of their pride and dignity. As a retired state employee, I am experiencing it myself. The people who we the taxpayers elect to represent us in government — local, state and federal — are being bought off and turn their backs to our well-being.
We, the middle- and lower-class citizens are now having programs and benefits cut or eliminated, our taxes raised while the upper 1 percent get tax cuts and laws changed so they can get more money.
Come on, my friends and neighbors, stand up as true citizens and taxpayers; get to know your elected officials. Treat them as your employees because they do indeed work for us. Hold them accountable for their actions. Vote, but then follow up by keeping track of what the candidates you voted for actually do. Let them know what you think.
Loren Snow
Surry
The right to live anywhere
Regarding “None of six Senate candidates are from Maine,” (BDN, Oct. 9) I am at a loss to understand why focusing on the candidates’ state of birth is useful. Is there nothing else to write about the candidates because they are so similar, all being from away?
Is this headline an affirmative action reference showing how liberal Maine is because they
even allow people from away to run for public office? It is time for all Maine natives to stop commenting on people being from away as if we are second-class citizens. Wouldn’t it be fair to say that the only people who are not from away are Indians?
I chose to move to Maine because, as an American, I have the right to live anywhere I want and participate in my community and government. This article is simply a stupid distraction and a vacuous story. All Mainers deserve better.
Beth Dilley
Southwest Harbor
Funny, conventional marriage has already been redefined. sadly the Author didn’t tell us which definition of marriage they found to be the most conventional.
Mr. Clemons, I couldn’t agree more with your letter. However, judging from anti-choice “pro-life” Tennessee Republican Congressman Scott DesJarlais, there is one exception Republicans will support to their anti-abortion stance. Abortion is permissible if it is the Congressman’s mistress who is pregnant and he doesn’t want his wife to find out about it. This is all about the sanctity of the family and the sanctity of marriage, you see.
I think you may be mistaken. People of high standing and connections don’t have unwanted pregnancies. Their women may have female problems that are taken care of by a simple D&C.
Only poor low class women have unwanted pregnancies.
That is the most ignorant comment I have ever heard.
Sorry if I offended you but it’s not ignorant. It’s backed up by historic fact. Pre-Roe v Wade those that were well connected who had a little problem found the right doctor who would perform a D&C in a nice sterile hospital. Google D&C procedure.
It may be ignorant to deny that there is and always has been a double standard.
patom1 is using the phrase “D&C” as a euphemism and making fun of the double standards of the ruling class.
Mr. Mazerall, there is no such thing as a Civil Union in Maine, therefore there are no legal means for same-sex couples to have one. Civil Unions are legally recognized and available in some states but they are not recognized by the federal government.
Rather that repeat what you have heard in the ads and from those who misrepresent facts (ie, lie) you should do some fact checking.
And, contrary to conservative dogma, most if not all civil unions do not provide all legal benefits of marriage.
None of them do. DOMA bars that from ever happening.
But, when have “facts” ever stopped social conservative dogma?
M. Clemons, L. Snow, B. Dilley: good letters.
L. Mazerall; no good reasons given to vote no on 1. Not by you, not by anyone.
People “from away” certainly do have every right to live in Maine. The rest of us, however, have every right to treat them like second-class citizens. People who don’t like that might be better served by choosing a different place to live.
“The rest of us, however, have every right to treat them like second-class citizens.” – Please tell me you are joking. I really, really hope you are being sarcastic. If not, then please, tell me which part of the Constitution allows you to treat your fellow citizens as second class citizens.
What part of the Constitution prohibits me from treating them like second-class citizens?
The 14th Amendment:
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
So, despite your ignorant assertion, you may not use the government to treat your fellow citizens as second class citizens. So, if you do not like the Constitution, then I suggest you move to a different country. I hear Iran is especially nice for people who love laws based on religion.
Also, Maine has laws prohibiting discrimination against people based on sexual orientation.
Despite your irrelevant post, I have every right to treat people as second-class citizens, and to be perfectly honest, I do it on a daily basis. You don’t have any right to be liked, or respected, or even to have your existence acknowledged.
The correct answer to the question that I asked was: “nothing in the US or Maine constitutions prevent you from treating people like second class citizens.”
Oh, so you are not looking to ban same sex marriage, but instead just want to be a jerk to everyone? You’re right. There is no law that can force you to be a decent person. But if you were talking about same sex marriage, then my post was, in fact, relevant. You cannot use the law to deny other people their rights.
I posted a response to Beth Dilley’s whining about the way people from away are treated. What is with the gay obsession? Do you really wonder why we don’t like you people moving here?
Gee, maybe it had something to do with the first letter being about same sex marriage? Or maybe it had something to do with the question about same sex marriage being on the ballot? But you just go on being a jerk to anyone you deem worthy of your scorn. I don’t think that there is anything that could get through to such a bitter sounding person.
I’ll tell you, if nothing else I’ve found someone else worthy of scorn. You don’t seem to be embracing the tolerance that I’m sure you so frequently espouse.
Tolerance of intolerance is an oxymoron.
You’re just angry at everybody, huh?
“I’ll tell you, if nothing else I’ve found someone else worthy of scorn.’ – I’m shaking in my boots!
“You don’t seem to be embracing the tolerance that I’m sure you so frequently espouse.” – I tolerate you just fine, I’m just using my right to free speech to inform you that I think you are a bitter jerk who seems to have nothing better to do than to be a bitter jerk.
You start by calling me ignorant before going on to admit that I was right, and now I’m the jerk? Keep picking fights on the internet. Sooner or later you might find one you can win.
I’m calling you a jerk because in of your comments, you assert that you can and will treat people like “second class citizens”. Am I supposed to think of someone who admits to treating people terribly is some rosy ball of sunshine and rainbows?
I may have been wrong about what you were originally talking about, but with quotes like this:
“I have every right to treat people as second-class citizens, and to be perfectly honest, I do it on a daily basis.”
Yes, you are still the jerk. I don’t proudly declare about how I treat people like garbage every day. Keep being a jerk to people. Sooner or later you might realize that the only one you have to blame for being miserable is yourself.
Well, you weren’t really clear what you were referring to. Also, “second-class citizen” is a phrase commonly used in the SSM arguments.
You asked what part of the Constitution prevents you from treating others as second class citizens. When a clear and concise answer is provided, you call it irrelevant. If whatever answer someone provides is irrelevant, don’t ask the question.
Maybe people should just flag obvious trolls instead of engaging them ?
When you try to answer a question that isn’t asked, it is irrelevant. He might as well have answered “maple tree.” I was right, as he eventually admitted.
Now I’m confused. What does that mean to you, to treat someone like a second-class citizen. How does that play out. Are you saying you do it in such a way as not to abridge their rights? Is it basically that you choose merely to treat some people with scorn, based on where they were born?
Your guess is as good as mine, but from the context of the letter, I took it to mean that raising questions about whether a person from out of state is capable of representing Mainers in Washington constitutes treating them as second-class citizens. Apparently the mere mention that someone is equally offensive to her. It probably means to reject off hand any idea that they have when they go to a town meeting, or join the historical society, or try to otherwise engage themselves in the community.
As for the question of abridging their rights, the point was made (incorrectly) that the Constitution prohibits treating people as second-class citizens. It doesn’t. The “No Irish Need Apply” sign is perfectly Constitutional. Discrimination by individuals does not violate the Constitution, although certain classes are given rights–at our expense–by expansive civil rights legislation. Given the emphasis placed on property rights in American history, one might rightly argue that property rights are more American than the civil rights legislation that curtails them.
I don’t treat all people born elsewhere with scorn. There are a very few who are just like anybody else. There are many more that I just don’t like. They’re different, I don’t have any reason to associate with them, and I don’t. And then there are a great deal more that I do treat with open scorn. I wouldn’t expect to be treated any differently if people like me began moving in en masse to another state until we outnumbered them and started to transform their home into a place that they wouldn’t even recognize.
The 14’th Amendment says what a STATE may or may not do. It does not say what an individual may or may not do.
Good luck with that.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Oh, by the way, if you slap me better make it a good one, I don’t turn the other cheek.
What do you turn, big boy?
He is paraphrasing a quote from Jesus with perhaps you are unfamiliar.
If someone slaps me I turn them into business for the ER. What to you turn?
I do just that. I wouldn’t up and move to Dixmont tomorrow and expect to be treated like one of the boys. If you don’t fit in, you don’t fit in.
Were your parents first cousins?
Maine is open for business, right? Doesn’t look like it. Do you run a business? If so is it patronized by “from aways”?
If people from away were not here you would have a much smaller work force and less people stimulating the local economy.
“It’s nothing but an attack on conventional marriage.” – How? This scare tactic seems to be used all the time, but the opposition never explains how. How will same sex marriage harm your marriage? Can anyone show some sort of proof as to how same sex marriage will bring society’s downfall? Because it seems like Massachusetts is doing just fine, along with New York, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut.
“How could a parent show anything but love for their own child.” – I’m sure that’s a great comfort to the millions of LGBT teens who have been disowned by their parents. Ignoring the problem doesn’t solve anything.
No matter what, the issue is quite simple this November. Do you support freedom and equality for ALL citizens? If you do, then support marriage equality.
Leo Mazerall–There is no attack on your ‘conventional’ marriage–only another expansion of convention. Get used to it.
If you really want to raise a ruckus about attacks on marriage, you should be fighting divorce, not more marriages.
It’s a great thing that Ken Mehlman had his piece on the opposite page today, ”
Conservative values support freedom to marry” (http://bangor-launch.newspackstaging.com/2012/10/15/opinion/conservative-values-support-freedom-to-marry/). “As Ted Olson, solicitor general for President George W. Bush, who has successfully argued some of the most important conservative cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, recently wrote: “The fact that individuals who happen to be gay want to share in this vital social institution is evidence that conservative ideals enjoy widespread acceptance. Conservatives should celebrate this.’ ”
Maynard Clemons: In case you missed Paul Ryan’s statement about the Romney/Ryan ticket: “I am pro-life. I believe that life begins at conception. No abortion except in cases of rape, incest and the life of the mother.” I question that he believes that life begins at conception–what is conceived during a rape or an incestuous act on a woman? Evidently, it is not a life, just an IT. The minds of so–called intelligent people are simply not working right in this instance. Dr. C. Everett Koop stated more than 30 years ago, that in his then 35 years of being a physician, he had never had the life of the mother be an issue, due to modern medical technology.
What garbage. My mother died in childbirth in 1961. My friend’s sister died in childbirth in 1975. It’s absurd to state that there have been no instances where pregnancy has been a threat to a woman’s health for the past 65 years.
Every one of us is going to die sometime. We just don’t know when or how. Some women happen to die in childbirth. Death is part of life. In fact, the day you die is the most important day in your life, because you will spend eternity in a place that will be determined by the type of relationship you have with God at the time of your death. We need to be prepared at all times to meet our Creator, because we have no idea when that moment will come.
As far as abortion’s being available to save the life of the mother, that’s an “issue” that’s completely bogus. An abortionist recently testified before Congress that abortion is NEVER necessary to save the life of the mother. He said that a late-term abortion is prolonged, and usually takes up to 3 days to complete. He said the safest thing for a pregnant woman in danger of her life is to do a Cesarian section, which takes only 20 minutes, and the baby is born without incident. The only purpose for a late term abortion is to murder a baby who is not wanted by its mother.
Are you a woman?
No, but my wife is. And each of the 5 times she gave birth, we prepared ourselves to accept however it went, knowing that it might be possible to have a negative outcome. We put ourselves in God’s hands for all aspects of our lives, hoping that he will find our souls in a favorable state when it becomes our time to die.
That is something you and your wife chose to do.
How sympathetic/empathetic/thoughtful of you. More like dogmatic heartless.
Also, I question your medical expertise. I’d ask for data for your absolute views on any abortion but that would be equally heartless.
Better to be realistic about life than to be caught unawares by its inevitable unexpected events.
“An abortionist recently testified before Congress that abortion is NEVER necessary to save the life of the mother.”
I notice you didn’t bother to document this. I bet you were lied to about that.
Not lied to, made up is more accurate.
My wife read about it last week on Lifesite News.
Oh, you mean the anti-abortion website that totally doesn’t have any bias…
Nice totally made up post.
The truth often hurts those who are unwilling to acknowledge it.
That would explain why you make up so many posts then, wouldn’t it?
“…The report, titled “Deadly Delivery,” notes that the likelihood of a woman’s
dying in childbirth in the U.S. is five times as great as in Greece, four times
as great as in Germany and three times as great as in Spain. Every day in the
U.S., more than two women die of pregnancy-related causes, with the maternal
mortality ratio doubling from 6.6 deaths per 100,000 births in 1987 to 13.3
deaths per 100,000 births in 2006…”
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1971633,00.html
Thanks for the link. The problem is much worse than I thought.
P.S. note the above comment has been edited and the Koop quotation has been removed.
Last November, a 27-year-old woman was admitted to St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. She was 11 weeks pregnant with her fifth child, and she was gravely ill. According to a hospital document, she had “right heart failure,” and her doctors told her that if she continued with the pregnancy, her risk of mortality was “close to 100 percent.”
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126985072
Mr Mazerall- Are all American citizens American citizens or not? Yes they are… and as American citizens ALL American’s are entitled to all the rights and responsibilities identified in the U.S.Constitution. Equality under the supreme law of the land period.
Conventional marriage is a monumental failure all on it’s own with- no help from the gay community- look at the divorce rate. Approximately 50% of all marriages end in divorce. Are you REALLY worried about conventional marriage? Then I suggest you attempt to ban divorce in this country- not prevent fellow American’s from taking part in marriage.
I fail to see how any American citizen (gay or not) getting married affects you or anyone else. Being against same sex marriage and attempting to justify your position by saying ‘it’s an attack on conventional marriage’ is just ridiculous, misleading and frankly silly. Your rights end where someone else’s rights begin.
Same sex couple Americans who want to marry the person they love are not any different than any other American who wants to marry to the person they love. Same sex couples pay taxes, they work, have a family, are someone’s child, someone’s parent, someone’s brother or sister, someone’s best friend and someone who has to follow all the other laws, expectations and obligations which any and all other American citizens have to follow in this country. They just happen to want to marry someone of the same sex.
Same sex couples aren’t demanding you marry someone of the same sex due to their views. Yet you are demanding that they not be able to marry the person they love due to your views. Again- your rights end where someone else’s rights begin.
Being an American citizen enables anyone to all the same AND equal responsibilities and opportunities under the laws of this country. Being an American (gay or not) should be enough to be treated like an American period. Maine can do better and so can you Mr. Mazerall. Try again.
Leo–what do you expect for an attack on your marriage? Believe me it will not effect you one bit.
Maynard Clemons– Right on.
Loren Snow—check on the Republicans and see how they are voting, then you will
Beth Dilley
The problem with people from away that move here is that many are living out a dream of living somewhere that they ……(loooong sigh)……………… just love.
Nothing wrong about that at all !
The problem comes when they can’t or don’t want to acknowledge the fact that they have moved to an area that has a dynamic that is not static.
In orther words, they want everything to stay the same as that first time they visited.
Sorry, that’s not how life works.
Hence the local’s animosity when they start telling us how we should be doing things.
Roxanne Quimby is one of those that have come here to “save” us.
She should go home as well.
NO PARK FOR ME
A person has absolutely NO control over where they are born. This is the most ignorant argument I have ever heard. People move to places for a variety of reasons. What about people that move here that are productive, contributing members of society? Should their birthplace REALLY make a difference on how they are treated?
Spinmasterflex sounds like he is a gene down.
I’ve lived in 10 homes in six states. Does that make me a second class citizen? Do I expect everything to stay the same? Hardly. you can’t go home again. Oh, and I’m not and will not run for office in your paradise. Am I still a second class citizen?
schmidlap, written support of you and in opposition to the “first class” citizens (alleged).
Some of my best friends are from away.
They’ve left their superiority complex behind when the left (fill in the blank).
They also know that they shouldn’t mess with paradise because they realize that Maine is the way it is because of the locals that are in charge of it.
I think you have pointed out the problem. It is not so much that people resent out of staters moving here. It is when they move here because of our way of life, but soon begin wanting some of the things they left behind. They do so not realizing that the absence of what they had before is exactly why Maine life is more peaceful, cleaner, etc. and that imposing their values will only result in making Maine more like their previous residence.
This is viewed as arrogance or a superior attitude and deeply resented by locals.
It seems that there is some truth on both sides of the argument. There are some omissions also. IMO a lot of the naysaying NIMBY’s are those who moved away as children and are now here in retirement. They moved to the various rust belts or big metropolitan centers of the country because there was no work or not enough here. They now come home and seem to have the attitude that if it was good enough for them then that will be good enough for the kids graduating here today.
There are some who come here from away to live some foggy dream of having a little antique or art shop. Be able to live the quaint life with no intrusion from the modern world. They too fight anything that doesn’t blend in with the static to down turn in the local economy.
There are some who never left and struggled to eke out their existance because they couldn’t snag one of the few good paying jobs available in their area. They seem to resent anyone who has made their life look less than what it is. Consequently they have to blame this on someone. People from away seem to fit the bill for them.
Domestic partnerships are not legal. At my employment my insurance as well as my partners are per-taxed, is yours? It’s not a sexual preference either, it is who you are. Unless that is you are saying that you prefer woman, but are intact attracted to men also. If so great job fighting your feelings.
Maybe those that have a “preference” for the opposite sex flip a coin or something … ;)
Preference shmeference. Actually, I hear there is quite an incentive program. For every 15 people someone recruits into the insidious gay ‘lifestyle’ one get’s a pink toaster oven. If you reach the rainbow level you get a lavender Prius with flower decals on it. Of course these days I’m fairly confident that gay people are far too busy manipulating the weather with their glitter covered weather machine to destroy the morals of this country ( just ask Pat Robertson.)
Clearly, I need to get a yes on 1 sign for my lawn. So where do I get one?
Way to completely give away our plans! Did you not see the TOP SECRET on the memo? You are just making it more difficult for me to get my lavender Prius, I’m only, like, 10 conversions away from rainbow level.
Rats!!! I must have missed that memo !! I obviously need to speak to my gay friends about the sharing of their diabolical top secret information. I hope they don’t take back my really cool periwinkle beret they gave me as an honorary member!!
As per Gay Law, subsection D.4.1, you may keep your periwinkle beret IF you do one of the following:
Redecorate a home
Attend a Lady Gaga concert
or Give someone a makeover
Once you have completed the activity of your choice, you must submit proof of completion to the Council. Once they have verified that you did indeed complete your task, your probation will be dismissed and you will be reinstated as an honorary member.
OMG I just shot coffee out my nose….I guess I’ll go with redecorating my house (does heavy construction like adding on a room count?) and who knew you had a council?
Heavy construction can only apply for women (lesbian stereotypes and all). If you are a male, then it needs to lean more towards changing the visual appeal of the room, such as repainting the room or upgrading to better furniture. If there is some artistic element to adding a room, then you should be fine. And yes, every minority group has a council.
Crap Ok…I’m going to Sherman Williams…..now to choose a color….
Remember, when choosing a color, the more obscure the better. For example, colors like teal or cerulean are much more likely to be accepted than plain blue.
Good tip…what is cerulean? and I guess that let’s out black.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerulean
Also:
Black alone for a wall probably wouldn’t cut it, BUT if you do some really tasteful black with white design, I’m sure that would be more than acceptable.
This conversation actually reminded me of an article about how the color of a room can actually affect your mood.
http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/a/colorpsych.htm
SHERWIN Williams!!!! :oP
Leo Mazerall, you demonstrate the same hateful, unintelligent, and emotion driven bigotry as your fellow knuckle draggers.
Congrats on doing nothing but proving yet again that those against gay marriage do so with no demonstrable harm or rational basis to defend their argument.
http://www.romneytaxplan.com/
Romney has released the details of his tax plan! Finally!
It was difficult to pin down the details.
Beth, sorry. You’ll never be anything more than “someone from away” It’s a Maine thing.
Lee Mazerall, explain to me how 2 people who love each other, who are committed to each other, who you don’t know, would harm your marriage. I have asked this of many who oppose SSM and have yet to hear an explanation.
Hold elected officials accountable? You gotta be kidding.