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Susan Collins steadfast in her oath

On the front page of the Feb. 16 BDN: “Maine GOP could vote to censure Sen Collins.” Censure is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a judgment involving condemnation” and “an official reprimand.”

Sen. Susan Collins is now in her fifth term as our senator, an honor that has made the history books. She is in Maine regularly to meet with constituents. She is sincere and trustworthy and welcoming. In her offices, the staff are there for us and document our needs and requests. She helps so many people in so many ways.

I respect that Collins is willing to support an issue even though it might be considered an unpopular decision for the party. She is not a puppet. To have allowed the insurrection of the Capitol Building to go on for hours is inexcusable. Collins voted based on her oath to uphold the constitution and represents all Mainers, not just Republican Mainers. She is not one to make hasty decisions.

There were likely more than seven Republicans at the trial who may have been fearful of voting guilty. They already had their lives endangered once on Jan. 6 and perhaps feared reprisal. Some reportedly may have been concerned that their families could be put in danger. Collins was not swayed by such concerns. She remained steadfast to the oath she took. So perhaps GOP Chair Demi Kouzounas and the others need to have walked in her shoes on Jan. 6 before making such a hasty move to consider censure.

Pat Martin

Bangor

Resources for Maine’s future

In this time of COVID-19, Maine’s businesses and industries have a great need for skilled workers and there is an untapped resource available to them through veterans and currently serving guard members and reservists. Those who have served or are currently serving bring many positive attributes to any work environment. They are well trained, disciplined and work collaboratively in a team environment.

Further education and training for these individuals may be acquired in any one of Maine’s community colleges or universities. It may not be necessary to start at the beginning of any educational program. Through a review of a resume and military training by the educational institution, an individual may find she or he could be awarded advanced standing in their educational program of choice curtailing many expenses and completion time. Through this letter, I ask those who have served or are currently serving to do a self-assessment of interest and then make an inquiry at the institution of their choice to fully understand the options that exist for them in the pursuit of education and training.

If not pursued, it is an opportunity missed for business and industry and the veteran or currently serving warrior, to say nothing of Maine’s economy.

William Cassidy

Chair

Maine Community College System Board

Standish

Decide for yourselves

Electronic voting machines and ballot tabulating machines have been in use for a number of years. My first impression when feeding my ballot into this unit was, “If someone can program this to tabulate ballots, they can program it to tabulate them as they please.”

We have heard many accusations regarding wrongful tabulations this past election, leading to questions about accuracy, with Marc Elias, longtime election law specialist leading the defense of the results.

Now, the 22nd Congressional District in New York had a close race between Republican Claudia Tenney and Democrat Anthony Brindisi that went to the courts. The state judge, a Democrat, ordered that Tenney be certified as the winner. Elias, lawyer for Brindisi, suggested the machines erred in tabulating votes to the detriment of Brindisi. These are machines made by Dominion Voting Systems, the same company involved in other results that Elias defended. Now, they apparently are not correctly tabulating when a Democrat lost the race.

Hypocrisy? Corruption? Fraud? People in this country need to look deeper and decide for themselves.

Larry Davenport

Fort Fairfield