Danby’s satirical cartoons
George Danby’s editorial cartoons are always current and bitingly satirical. Nothing illustrates his news sense and his artistic ability to portray his point as much as his March 13 cartoon.
The subtlety and the power of this drawing showing Donald Trump with the obligatory U.S. flag lapel pin are brilliant. As many of you may already know — the American flag flown upside down is a signal for distress.
Bangor Daily News readers are lucky to have Danby.
Gary Guisinger
Perry
LePage at the tea party
Gov. Paul LePage belongs to the Republican tea party agenda, owned fully by the Koch brothers, one of the wealthiest families in the United States. They provide financial support for the tea party and libertarian organizations. When they pull strings on their puppets, such as our governor, they jump and beg for their mercy. Shame on our governor.
Bill Perreault
Brunswick
Second Amendment key for free society
I read with dismay Steve Perrin’s March 21 BDN letter to the editor about rethinking the right to bear arms. His misunderstanding of the Second Amendment was scary. He states that our right to keep and bear arms was never absolute. Then why is it the Second Amendment, right after the right to free speech and assembly? He maintains we have “professional defenders” in the form of local police, ignoring the fact that these defenders have been shooting innocent civilians because of their race.
What liberals such as Perrin refuse to understand is that our Founding Fathers were keenly aware of every government’s need for power over its citizens. A well-armed militia, therefore, was vital for citizens to protect themselves from their government and its tyrannical instincts. Remember the American Revolution?
The threats to citizens from mass murderers and terrorists have never been more serious. Why, then, are liberals so desperate to disarm Americans? Just study the lives of Joseph Stalin, V.I. Lenin, Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot to find the answer.
Perrin’s sneaky logic is typical of gun haters. He reasons that because we have an army and local police, we don’t need a militia. Therefore, citizens have no need to own guns. The fact that criminals have powerful handguns and automatic rifles is completely lost on liberals. It is sad they can’t comprehend the deep connection between self-protection and freedom.
Peter W. Earl
Fort Fairfield
Bright season ahead for UMaine women’s basketball
Judging by the record, the assessment of the University of Maine women’s basketball team’s postseason fortunes in Pete Warner’s March 22 BDN article seems to be accurate. But this is Maine, and we don’t need national attention. We want good basketball, and that is what the UMaine women have delivered. They have been a joy to watch.
It’s too bad the team couldn’t have played Quinnipiac here on March 18 because it might have been a totally different outcome as on paper they were fairly even. We will surely miss our seniors and congratulate them for an awesome four years.
Here in Millinocket, we watched Sigi Koizar take a good team and make it great. So we are looking forward to a new season as the future looks bright indeed.
Bob and Hope MacDonald
Millinocket
UMaine puts students at risk in winter storms
More than 60 percent of the University of Maine’s 9,300 undergraduate students live off campus, according to UMaine. This doesn’t include graduate students and the many university employees who must commute to the Orono campus daily.
That’s a very high number of lives that the UMaine administration shows a lack of concern for by repeatedly operating under normal conditions during extremely inclement weather. Time and time again, Maine is hit by storms that bring high winds, snow, ice, sleet and low visibility that result in unsafe driving conditions. While local school departments and businesses cancel and emergency personnel urge drivers to stay off the roads, UMaine students and staff are expected to report to campus.
As both a student and employee at UMaine, it’s a very unsettling feeling driving to Orono from Bangor in inclement weather. Even if I don’t feel safe or can’t physically drive in the weather, I’m still expected to be there. Students may miss an exam that they will not be excused from or an assignment that won’t be accepted the next day once the roads are safe for travel. Employees may be reprimanded by their supervisors.
I get that we’re in Maine and I don’t expect UMaine to close every time it snows, but it would be nice to see them value our lives as much as our tuition dollars.
Lance Lajoie
Bangor
Support Marble for state Senate
People all over Maine who do not live in Senate District 10 are saying, “I wish I could vote for Dennis Marble.” I am one of them. That is because over the last 20 years Marble has built a statewide reputation for being persistent, nonpartisan and compassionate. Mainers know him as someone who leads even-handed, civil conversations that address tough challenges. In doing so, he does not alienate those with whom he disagrees. Instead, he welcomes any and all dialogue that will help advance important causes. Greater Bangor has benefited from Marble’s practical leadership, and Augusta is in dire need of it.
At a time when gridlock in the State House seems commonplace and rhetoric grows more combative, we must think critically about the legislators we elect. Progress will be hindered if we continue to elect professional politicians who play into partisan agendas. Working Maine families will continue to lose out if we elect those more loyal to wealthy out-of-state corporations. Many of our current legislators fit that mold, including the incumbent for Senate District 10, Andre Cushing.
But Marble, an independent candidate, is the alternative and the ideal. He will relentlessly take on issues that truly matter to his constituents, and just as he has done for the past two decades, bring people together instead of furthering discord. Marble will do so much good for the many fine towns in District 10, but truly for all of Maine as well.
Autumn Allen
Hermon