The short answer to why Sen. Susan Collins must go is that Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell must go and she is one of their chief enablers. In order to restore the democratic rule of law, it is absolutely imperative that we replace the tyrant Trump and the obstructionist McConnell with elected officials who will […]
Forecaster opinion
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Here’s Something: Windham councilor no dope for opposing pot
The Windham town councilor who resigned last week while the board was debating an ordinance governing retail marijuana stores was right to quit in protest. Some have argued that Rebecca Cummings should have stayed on the board, and in the proverbial political fight, rather than resigning, but I applaud her act. It brought widespread attention […]
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Posted inForecaster Opinion
Mainewhile: Solutions require accurate, honest communication
There is a book from my childhood that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. “The Judge: An Untrue Tale,” by Harve Semach (author) and Margot Zemach (author, illustrator), is the story of a town in the midst of a crisis. One by one, townsfolk rush in to warn the judge of “a terrible thing” […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Over Easy: It’s all in a name
Does it matter what we call ourselves? What descriptive words we use to carve out our identities? Am I a different person if described as a Mainer rather than a Phippsburgher? Several years ago I helped an editor of a weekly newspaper in Wiscasset come up with a descriptive single word that didn’t sound like […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Letter: Limbaugh made farce of GOP, conservatism
Is John Balentine trying for irony or absurdity when he bemoans the lack of decency and empathy in America while simultaneously lauding Rush Limbaugh? (“Rush to judgment reveals society’s sad state,” Feb. 12) Until Donald Trump arrived on the scene, Rush Limbaugh was the divider-in chief, attacking anyone and anything that threatened the power and […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
The Universal Notebook: And the Oscar goes to … institutional sexism
For many years I hardly ever went to the movies. As a teenager I went to the Star Theater in Westbrook for social reasons. As an adult in the age of DVD, I found it rather pointless to sit in the dark with a bunch of strangers just to see a movie I could watch […]
Posted inAmerican Journal, Forecaster Opinion, Lakes Region Weekly
Here’s Something: Who’d want to be a millionaire under Sanders?
Socialist Bernie Sanders’ electoral wins in Nevada, New Hampshire, and perhaps Iowa, have left me thinking, who’d want to be a millionaire, let alone billionaire, in Sanders’ America? Not even Regis Philbin, the former host of the “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” game show, I dare say. Sanders has long scapegoated “millionaires and billionaires” […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Life Unwound: How do we know who we are?
I’ve always known I’m French: my dad from bilingual Lewiston; mom from bilingual Westbrook. My grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles spoke English except when French kept their secrets from us. My great-grandfather, Pierre, spoke only Québécois. I once asked my mother why they named me Susan Jeanne. She said, “We wanted a name that could […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Letter: Balentine favors regulation only if it suits him personally
After the regular criticisms against most if not all regulation in his weekly column “Here’s Something,” Balentine has just admitted that he favors at least one regulation: against drones. (“Drone surveillance law needed in Maine,” Feb. 5) Did Balentine misspeak? Did the underworld just freeze over? Or did he just admit that he supports regulation […]
Posted inForecaster Opinion
Letter: Trump re-election would mean end of Affordable Care Act
While Trump made lots of false or misleading statements during his State of the Union speech, perhaps the most egregious was his promise to protect people with pre-existing conditions from losing health insurance coverage. The Trump administration supports the efforts begun by 18 Republican governors in 2018 to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act […]