You might think there was a vote on whether to impeach Gov. Paul LePage last week, but there wasn’t. There was a vote on whether to have a debate and vote on the merits of appointing a bipartisan committee to investigate allegations of abuse of office and make a recommendation to the full House on impeachment.

Given the national spotlight on our state following the governor’s remarks about “Smoothie” and “Shifty,” and the historic nature of the proceeding, you might think all Democrats would welcome the opportunity for such a debate, but 27 of them did not.

In fact, with Democrats serving as referee because they hold the majority, lawmakers were denied the opportunity not only to cast a vote on whether to investigate, but the right several times to speak at all. It’s like the big game was scheduled for Thursday in Augusta and Democrats didn’t even show up to play. There was no team on the field. They forfeited.

“The votes cast by Democrat members in the House on the Republican motion to indefinitely postpone Portland state Rep. Ben Chipman’s order is an affront to all Democrats. They should have had the backbone to vote down the indefinite postponement and do a straight up or down on whether to investigate the impeachment charges. I am sure the governor and Republicans are popping the corks on champagne bottles tonight celebrating the demise of the Democratic Party,” said state Sen. Linda Valentino, D-Saco, after watching the spectacle unfold on Thursday from the gallery.

The right to dissent is gone, apparently, in the state of Maine. Just ask state Rep. Janice Cooper, D-Yarmouth, who formerly served as assistant counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in the impeachment proceedings against a federal judge. Her attempts on Wednesday to read carefully prepared and eloquent remarks were repeatedly interrupted and she was chastised for having the audacity to put forth a framework on which to proceed and hold the chief executive accountable.

Or ask state Rep. Chris Babbidge, D-Kennebunk, who was prohibited from finishing his floor speech and told to sit down because he said, “I believe that this governor has abused his power and violated public trust, most egregiously since the last election.” Talk about political correctness.

Under the LePage regime, these are fightin words! And lawmakers with sights on 2016 election prefer easy talk about “creating jobs” over an arduous debate about the integrity of state government and upholding the constitution.

Democrats in the House had the opportunity to at least try to establish where the line of corruption of public office should be drawn in Maine, but 27 of them declined and voted instead with the GOP – immediately on the heels of these same House Republicans refusing to vote for a simple resolution “to honor the responsibilities entrusted to us by the people of the state … and commit to move forward together in our work for the people of Maine.”

“The House will be in order” under the current administration means it’s perfectly fine that Thursday’s legislative session began with a prayer by a minister from “a conservative and evangelical” church beseeching lawmakers to forgive those who aren’t perfect, implying clearly Gov. LePage shouldn’t be judged or held to account by lowly lawmakers because that’s God’s job – but that a democratically elected lawmaker shouldn’t say on the House floor that his colleagues’ failure to cast a vote whether or not to investigate serious allegations is a “cop-out.”

Whether you call it political correctness or just an old-fashioned tyranny, on the heels of an embarrassing partisan vote wherein Republicans refused to support a resolution that would “affirm our state’s values and principles,” Democrats – the majority party in the House – didn’t muster the votes to have a serious debate and suppressed reasonable and vigorous speech among their own caucus.

Whether to investigate eight allegations of abuse of office is paramount to our ability to have the kinds of checks and balances that distinguish America from places where strongmen and dictators rule with an iron fist. The proposed investigation included allegations that the governor exercised undue influence on hearing officers, that officials from the executive branch refused to testify before legislative committees, interference in a Human Rights Commission case and intimidation of board members of Goodwill-Hinckley, among others.

Shouldn’t we know what happened before a decision is made whether there was a misdemeanor in office?

People who sign up for political office should have the courage to engage in robust political debates and cast votes of consequence, even when it’s uncomfortable. That’s their job, after all, and citizens were rightfully upset that they made the trip to Augusta to hear a historic debate only to find a procedural maneuver would cut it short and the umpire bending over backwards to rein in opponents of the governor.

Copping out by indefinitely postponing an uncomfortable conversation about impeachment feeds the beast that haunts us.

The loudest bangs of the gavel in the House were telling, and came at the conclusion of Thursday’s spectacle. Bang! Bang! Bang! thwacked the speaker’s gavel in the Maine House of Representatives to silence a frustrated member of the public who yelled from the balcony, “Do your job!”

Cynthia Dill is a civil rights lawyer and former state senator. She can be contacted at:

dillesquire@gmail.com

Twitter: dillesquire