Collins must take a position on Bannon
After Donald Trump appointed Steve Bannon, a known supporter of the alt-right, as his chief strategist, the White House officer who assists the president with developing, communicating and executing executive decisions, I called Sen. Susan Collins’ office in Bangor to get her position on the Bannon appointment. I was told she doesn’t have a public position, echoing statements made in the media. It is appalling that the senator still has not taken a position.
Collins has made a fine living as a moderate Republican senator. I have supported some of her positions over the years. A position on Bannon, who as chairman of Breitbart News oversaw its move to become the platform of the alt-right, is not a difficult one to make. Bannon is a reprehensible human being whose past support for the alt-right should be enough for Collins to decide whether he is an appropriate appointment as chief strategist.
It is a black-and-white decision that even a moderate Republican senator such as Collins should be able to make in a minute or less. We have a right to know where she stands on this very simple decision.
Peter Templeton
Blue Hill
Reform our prison system
President Barack Obama late in his term has been pardoning nonviolent drug offenders incarcerated in federal prison. I only wish he would continue his efforts after his term ends and ask President-elect Donald Trump to work with him to not only pardon more individuals but for both of them to commit themselves to true prison reform in our country.
In other countries, for example the Netherlands, prisons aim to re-socialize and rehabilitate inmates using a truly individualized basis that can reduce the rate of recidivism. Such an effort would save big money and empty prisons. It also could stop the heinous practice of individuals with untreated severe mental health problems ending up in prisons.
The only problem is that many prisons are privately run, and they will fight for their continued existence, which is unfortunate — not to mention employees of government-run prisons fearing their loss of work. Despite all that resistance, reform is the right thing to do. If there were some way I could get Obama’s ear about this, I would do it. The two men working together toward prison reform would be an unstoppable force.
Philip C. Groce
Union
Trump is a liar
I don’t much care for casual liars, and it’s a trait I find especially unattractive in my elected officials. It seems, however, that we are sending to the White House an individual who has elevated this to an art.
On Aug. 10, Donald Trump opined that President Barack Obama was the “founder” of the Islamic State. When pressed by CNN’s Hugh Hewitt as to whether this comment was meant figuratively, Trump was clear that his accusation was intended to be understood literally. What are we left to conclude? Did Trump believe his words to be true? Did he not understand the difference between figurative and literal speech? Or is he comfortable speaking without regard for the truth?
As concern grew in the following days over his statement, he chastised the press and, presumably, the public at large for being too dull to understand that, although he earlier insisted his words were literal, he was speaking sarcastically.
So when did it become acceptable for anyone, especially someone seeking the highest office in the land, to declare a lie the literal truth? Has this become an acceptable form of discourse? Have we become anesthetized to this type of casual lying, practiced so prominently in certain segments of the media?
How am I to understand Trump’s words? Can I expect him to tell me the truth?
John Wilson
Hampden