As I contemplate next year’s Maine Democratic Party primary for Senate, involving the two leading candidates — Gov. Janet Mills and Graham Platner — the highly quotable phrase attributed to legendary baseball player Yogi Berra comes to mind: “It’s like déjà vu all over again.” In 1968, I was a graduate student at Columbia University […]

Graham Platner is my friend. His mother runs a local restaurant. His father was lawyer for me and my neighbors until he retired, handling title searches, divorces, wills and bankruptcies. He was the closest thing to Atticus Finch we had in Ellsworth. When I needed new chain on my mooring last June, I asked Graham for […]

Matt Dunlap learned long ago, as a varsity athlete and a captain at Mount Desert Island High School, to be a team player. Years later, Matt remains a team player. Whether it’s defending fellow Democrats who come under attack or voting against Republican spending bills and tax breaks for millionaires, he can be relied upon to support […]

Sen. Susan Collins called the government shutdown “entirely unnecessary.” I agree. If Republicans hadn’t cut Americans’ health insurance subsidies and safety nets, Democrats wouldn’t have to keep rejecting the stopgap funding bill.  Even Sen. Collins voted against the so-called “big, beautiful bill” due, as she said, to “the harmful impact it will have on Medicaid, affecting […]

I appreciated the Maine Sunday Telegram’s Editorial Board position in “A lot done to ease SNAP fear in Maine. A lot more to do.” (Our View, Nov. 2). As stated, the current crisis “has shed valuable light on the precarity of day-to-day life for so many of us.” In my own case, I discovered, despite my Maine […]

I’m grieved to hear that Congressman Jared Golden won’t be running for reelection. He has been a giant who fought the systemic ineptitude, corruption and outright dysfunction in Washington, D.C.  I’ll miss him. Congressman Golden couldn’t be bullied. He couldn’t be led by the nose. He couldn’t be pushed from behind. Having seen military service in […]

I recently traveled to Texas for business and the current political climate was the topic of many side conversations. After dinner one night, a colleague said, “You know, I try to remember that despite our differences, we’re all just people.” We had been treated graciously by everyone we encountered and we reciprocated in kind. I stated […]