Guns, pot — what next?
Maine has permit-free concealed weapons with a new silencer law, and now we may let people legally smoke marijuana.
What kind of insanity is that? Please think before you sign any citizen referendum petition.
Doris M. Russell
Castine
Offensive ad
I recently watched an ad on WABI TV5 and was outraged and offended by the content of this ad. A woman was stating that when she worked at an abortion clinic she was required to sell the fetal body parts for money as part of her job. That is outrageous, patently untrue and disgustingly offensive, not to mention an affront to every woman who watches it.
I can’t believe a television station I watch everyday would air an ad so offensive and insulting to me and all women. When I contacted the station by phone, a man I spoke to was quite defensive and said it was not their policy to verify the truth of an ad. So I asked him if I were to run an ad espousing lies about a particular religious group or race of people, would they air that? He said “no.”
Regardless of your opinion about a controversial issue, I feel our media should not be airing ads espousing blatant lies about an important issue.
Rebecca Richardson
Bar Harbor
Prison reform
I attended the Oct. 26 public hearing on the Department of Corrections’ proposed prisoner disciplinary policies with my professor and a fellow student from the University of Southern Maine. Although my own comment was brief, I was given a great hope for the future of penal reform in Maine. The issue of prisoner’s First Amendment rights, while important, touched on the impact of social isolation on recidivism. If Maine citizens and the state government expect offenders to reintegrate themselves into our society, our governmental institutions and communities should meet them halfway.
I’m not arguing for prisons to behave as a holiday getaway for offenders, nor for Maine families to open their homes up to violent felons. I simply recognize the positive impact of social and educational outreach in combating recidivism. It provides a substantive approach to humanize and engage prisoners who one day will be walking the same streets as you and I do now.
It’s easy for our elected representatives to only see offenders in the realm of the court system — just as it’s easy for the average Mainer to imagine offenders whisked away to another world separated from our own. Such an ignorant and dismissive approach to criminal justice will not solve the high rate of recidivism nor erase the financial burden or human cost on Maine families.
Matthew Raymond
Augusta
Sanctuary cities failure
The U.S. Senate voted to kill a bill that would punish sanctuary cities by withholding law enforcement grants to those cities. The Stop Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act would have withheld funds to the 340 “sanctuary cities” that will not honor detainers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Detainers are requests to hold illegal aliens until ICE can take custody of them.
The vote was 54 to 45, with 60 votes needed to advance the bill for further discussion and a floor vote. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins voted in favor of the bill, but U.S. Sen. Angus King, who caucuses with the Democrats, voted against it.
This bill is a response to the July 1 killing of Kate Steinle in San Francisco by Francisco Sanchez, a seven-time convicted felon, five-time deported criminal illegal alien who was released from jail, ignoring a request by ICE to take him into custody.
A section of the bill would have protected law enforcement officials from being sued for complying with detainer requests from ICE. Is this where we are in this country, when special protection has to be given law to enforcement officers who are just doing the jobs that they took oaths to do: to enforce our laws and protect our fellow citizens from criminals?
And Angus King finds that objectionable.
Bob Casimiro
Bridgton
Lift ban on oil exports
The suggestion in the Oct. 20 OpEd, “For the sake of Maine’s environment, keep the ban on crude oil exports,” that removing the U.S. oil export ban would harm the environment is incorrect and belies a misunderstanding for how international oil markets function. Removing the export ban would not impact global consumption of oil, which is expected to grow to 104 million barrels per day in 2040, nor would it increase the global carbon footprint because U.S. oil would displace production from other countries, such as Iran and Russia.
From an environmental standpoint, it is better to produce oil here, where the industry adheres to robust safety and environmental standards. As President Barack Obama’s senior science advisor John Holdren put it: “If you’re going to be using oil and gas, it’s better to produce it here than somewhere else. We have by far the strongest environmental and safety oversight of any country.”
Lifting the ban on oil exports would also boost Maine’s economy. According to Harvard Business School and the Brookings Institution, allowing exports would help lower U.S. gasoline prices. This means relief at the pump for all American drivers and reduced fuel costs for Maine’s vibrant maritime and fishing industries. Congress and the president should work together to remove the outdated restriction on oil exports.
George Baker
Executive director
Producers for American Crude Oil Exports
Washington, D.C.
Money’s fatal attraction
Concerning the political process, it is only fair and just that the rich and powerful are not in complete control of that process. If there is to be a for, of and by the people, the rich and powerful must not be in control of that process.
While money can buy many things, there are certain things it cannot buy, with true justice and wisdom being a couple of examples. True wisdom is spiritual in nature.
While money in and of itself is not evil, the love of it is the root of all evil. There is a certain fatal attraction between money and those who have chosen to love it.
Irvin Dube
Madawaska