Let’s start by saying we don’t like to beat a dead horse. No one will believe us, but we have to say it.
And we mean it. Frankly, we’re growing weary of complaining about Gov. Paul LePage’s rhetorical missteps, verbal pratfalls, misguided attempts at snappy repartee and pathetic excuses for clever quips. We are, in fact, almost as tired of complaining about them as we are of hearing them.
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The governor’s latest stumble into the realm of foot-in-mouth syndrome has created the predictable furor, the unsurprising outrage and the widespread, teeth-gnashing frustration that seem to follow so many of his “did he really say that?” comments.
In case anyone missed the uproar, we are referring to LePage’s recent remarks about the hazard — or, as he sees it, lack of same — posed by bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used in the production of a variety of plastic food and beverage containers. LePage, who has proposed repeal of a Maine law restricting the use of BPA, recently questioned scientific evidence that the chemical is harmful.
“The only thing I’ve heard is if you take a plastic bottle and put it in the microwave and you heat it up, it gives off a chemical similar to estrogen. And, uh, so the worst case is some women might have little beards — but we don’t want to do that.”
As he so often does when he says such things, LePage smiled — smirked? — as he delivered his zinger. And, as he so often does, he hesitated for a moment before saying it, as if weighing his words — and then said it, anyway.
We have no quarrel with the governor’s pursuit of his anti-regulatory agenda or his determination to examine the validity of state laws that may place unnecessary burdens on business.
But he undercuts his position — and he subjects Maine to national ridicule — when he tosses out comments that not only aren’t funny but as often as not inflict insult if not injury on others.
We’ll leave it to the opponents of BPA — they are legion and they are loud — to argue the merits of banning the substance and to document the danger it poses to Mainers’ health and safety. They are perfectly capable of fending for themselves in that fight.
But LePage’s cavalier dismissal of their concerns is a problem that transcends any debate about toxic chemicals. The recurring controversies over statements that serve no purpose and could easily be left unsaid give the governor’s constituents reason to wonder if he’s suited to the job he was elected to do.
Maybe some Mainers — particularly those who voted by a razor-thin margin in last November’s election to send LePage to the governor’s office — are amused by his “straight talk” and earthy sense of humor.
But we know for a fact that many aren’t; we know this because they vociferously express their disgust by every means at their disposal, including online comments and letters to the editor.
LePage has said he doesn’t read newspapers and he doesn’t care about editorials, so maybe he’s not aware of the ruckus he stirs up when he shoots off his mouth as he did on the BPA issue.
Maybe our complaints fall into the category of preaching to the choir. Maybe we’re wasting our breath, so to speak.
We would like nothing better than to stop complaining because, as we said, we’re tired of complaining.
And we’ll stop — just as soon as Le Page stops sayings things that cry out for a complaint.
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