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The idea of spending a billion bucks on a project that would put a huge flagpole in Columbia Falls is foolish! Maine already has a spectacular observation tower and it’s closer to I-95: the Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory showcases a genuine bit of military history at Fort Knox. The mountains of western Maine are visible from that tower. Why spend a bundle in order to see into New Hampshire?
This boondoggle for Columbia Falls would be financed with OPM (Other People’s Money) and I think it is likely to prove the truth of P. T. Barnum’s alleged statement, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
I bet whether the project is built or never finished, somebody is going to make a pile of money. A billion bucks or even a million would help support the veterans homes that had been facing closure. If a wealthy donor wanted to attach his name to a gift, try endowing a professorship at the University of Maine.
Veterans don’t need the world’s tallest flagpole. They need to know they will never die homeless, as many do now. The world’s biggest flag pole? To anyone who would raise so much money for such a foolish project when there is so much need elsewhere I say, “Shame on you! Shame!” That’s bragging and vets don’t brag.
Gerald Metz
Addison