Like you, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the governor’s latest tirade. Trying to find the right words to describe what I’m feeling.

I wish I could say it’s just LePage being LePage. He is just telling it like it is, right? Much like what we’ve seen on a national level with a new “Trump-ism” just about every day, this isn’t a joking matter anymore.

It’s easy to let our complacency get the best of us, because the repetition of controversy has made so many people numb to these kind of headlines. I would know, having recently been in a dust-up myself with the York County Republican Chair over my personal life and inciting hate to find a new candidate to run against me.

It’s easy to just say let it go. It’s easy to brush it off as something not worthy of time and energy. It’s easy to say just ignore it and focus on the important issues.

It’s frankly harder to do what is necessary to stand up for civility, respect and strong governmental standards.

For our state’s top elected official to call a lawmaker (or anyone, for that matter) and leave a horrendously profane and threatening message is unfathomable. I can’t repeat what he said since it’s so nasty, but you’ve probably heard the audio clip by now.

I’m pretty sure if you or I made the kind of comments the governor has, we would be out of a job without question in the private sector. I know if I said any of things the governor has said to one of my colleagues here at the Journal, for instance, I would be shown the door quicker than Trump’s coined reality show phrase, “you’re fired.”

No matter what side of the aisle you hail from. Whether you have voted for the governor before or not. Whether you agree with him on policy or not. The recent actions of the governor demonstrate his lack of temperament to lead our state. He clearly doesn’t respect the office he holds.

Both the institution of government and the position of governor should be a positive representation of our state. Instead, we’ve been thrown into one manufactured crisis after another followed by a slew of negative national headlines casting our state and Mainers in an unusual bad light. How many times do we have to be at this place of overlooking the governor’s actions and words before the Legislature takes official action?

Frankly, I don’t think the governor should resign. He won’t, anyway. We should have started the investigation into impeachment when we had the chance. I was proud to join a handful of my colleagues to vote to start the impeachment proceedings this past session. Sadly, there wasn’t enough of us to make it count. Another example why elections matter.

Now it looks like there won’t even be enough pressure to call a special session of the Legislature and do our due diligence as an equal branch of government to reign in the executive branch. Leaders on both sides of the aisle and from both chambers must all agree to call a special session.

It’s all down to the House Republican leader, Ken Fredette. He and he alone now stands between taking action and continuing to give our governor a get out of jail free card.

We must do our jobs and act. The governor is a complete distraction from the important work of running our state. He has simply come unhinged, and is unfit to hold office. At some point, we have to expect more from individuals who hold public office and restore the public’s faith in the system.

Imagine an era where Democrats and Republicans are grappling with real issues and putting forth solutions to solve them? Even if we disagree on how we get to the end result, that is the debate I would like to get to, not constantly having to deal with an out-of-control bully who is clearly abusing his position.

Assuming nothing will happen once again, I’m not sitting on the sidelines. I am re-introducing my bill to establish a recall process not just for the governor, but for all state elected officials. Establishing a recall process for any elected official, the governor included, is the best way to get the public to hold government more accountable without disrupting the important work taking place.

It gives the public more power, especially when other elected officials fail to hold each other and each branch of government to task. It’s times like these that really make you wish you had more tools of accountability at your disposal.

Rep. Justin Chenette is a Maine state legislator serving House District 15 and digital advertising executive for the Journal Tribune.