McCain put his country first

I was saddened to hear of John McCain’s death. He had been ill for 13 months with that horrible disease called cancer, which invades many parts of one’s body. For McCain, it was his brain, the same cancer Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden’s young son, Beau, had.

I didn’t always agree with his policies. He was Republican, and I was a registered Democrat, but I didn’t always vote party line. When McCain ran for president, I voted for him. He had sacrificed so much for his beloved country that I felt he deserved this high office.

He spent 5½ years in a Vietnam prison and was tortured almost daily. They hurt McCain so bad that he couldn’t comb his hair or put his jacket on from the day he left that prison to the day he died.

I have one thing in common with this great man, which I am so proud of: He always stayed true to himself, as I do. Not the most popular sometimes, that’s for sure, but at the end of the day, we tried to make the right decision for what we believed.

McCain crossed party lines time after time, doing what he thought was the right thing to do. You see very little of that any more down in Washington. McCain was a true patriot and hero in every sense of the words. A proud American who always put his country first.

Rest in peace, now free of constant pain forever more.

Estelle J. Bowden

Bucksport

Nation being led with hatefulness

President Donald Trump’s supporters, loss of American values, respect and fairness, voting for autocrats, electing partisan puppets and allowing un-American bigotry, prejudice and racism to infect our current policies are deplorable. Being lied to repeatedly, being conned and being bullied every time someone disagrees with the president are so old and utterly deplorable.

Mark Twain said diapers and politicians need to be changed often and for the same reason. The stink in Washington, D.C., and some golf courses require an emergency change.

Republican marching orders now include being crude, lying extensively, employing evasive tactics like using the courts to to avoid implementing policy they do not agree with and siding with an egomaniac president without regard to how bad his policy decisions are. Demographics will soon cause massive losses for Republicans because they have sided with white supremacy, corporate greed and an utterly deplorable excuse for a president.

Democrats have lots of issues as well and would be well served if they develop a real strategy that stays near the middle left. Midterm elections could change this tide of despicable characters. Our republic is being led by hatefulness versus intelligence. This vile deplorable representation has us divided, segmented and wary. There are many ways to get things done and one way that is really not necessary is being a jerk.

Dennis St. Jean

Chelsea

Police ‘toys’

In 1992, I read in the BDN about Katherine Hegarty, who had fired shots at fishermen on her property. They called police, who found Hegarty in her camp, apparently drunk and with a gun. An officer killed her. After a task for review, the police issued new policies to minimize the use of force.

Now with the ink drying on BDN articles about homeless mentally ill people, the state police blew up the home of an armed apparently mentally ill man. A concerned neighbor was specific about the man’s health. Surely this was a case of “boys with their toys” as the police deployed a bomb-carrying robot.

Should the man recover enough to be sent home — ooops, no home left. He’ll no doubt also have bills to pay for the clearing up his home’s debris, destroyed appliances and moldy clothing.

I suppose two years from now police will have a robot that deploys tear gas. Or a new drone to carry tear gas through a window.

Yes, cops have a tough job, but you have to wonder.

Leslie Woods

Montville

Share the road safely

Respect goes both ways with motorcycles and bicyclists and motor vehicles. I have witnessed motorcyclists and bicyclists endanger others sharing the road.

Being on a motorcycle makes you very vulnerable as is, but weaving, going into the oncoming lane to “chat” with your buddy, riding double wide, riding on the yellow line, tailgating the vehicle in front of you can both jeopardize your safety as well as the safety of others around you.

I have seen bicyclists sit at stop signs with the other cars waiting and then proceed through the intersection before the vehicle they were waiting behind. Bicyclists should have to place some form of identification (i.e. number) or something on their bicycles so that they too can be identified if they are to be treated like a vehicle. If you are planning to follow the rules while bicycling, this should not upset you.

Let’s all share the road safely.

Andrea Moran

Verona Island

Negative political ad

There is a particularly odious political ad running on TV that presupposes that the elections are over, that Brett Kavanaugh cast the deciding vote on the Supreme Court, that Sen. Susan Collins voted for Kavanaugh, that coverage for pre-existing conditions are lost, and that virtually all the left’s liberal causes are lost.

Fact is that the election has not taken place yet, Kavanaugh has not been put on the Supreme Court yet, Collins has not voted for Kavanaugh yet (although I dearly hope and pray that the last two instances take place), and nothing has happened regarding pre-existing conditions. Before spending money on negative ads, advocacy groups will have studied the electorate: does this mean that they consider the average Maine voter dumb enough to be fooled by this gross perfidy?

While the general run of most negative political ads are both vile and despicable by nature, this one goes beyond the pale and constitutes a blatant insult to every Mainer and should be taken down.

William D. Duddy

Dedham