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September 29, 2010
The revolution takes another hit; Tea Party candidate says bad words
How do you know when your state's politics are officially boring? When something like this counts as a MAJOR. SCANDAL.
News of the punch comment comes on the heels of a video posted online Tuesday showing LePage telling a crowd that, if elected, they can expect to see newspaper headlines declaring “Governor LePage tells Obama to go to hell.”Normally, I wouldn't post about local politics [this was written for the AOSHQ crowd], but this seems to be scandalous enough to attract the attention of national media. Equally horrifying? This same candidate told a reporter to "stop the bullshit" when he was asked a question about his wife's taxes.In an interview with The Associated Press, LePage said he regretted his choice of words but wasn't backing down in his criticism of the Obama administration for what he describes as free-spending, antibusiness policies.
“Am I politically correct all the time? No. Maybe it's time to have people say bluntly what's going on,” LePage said Wednesday. “The fact of the matter is that I haven't learned how to speak out of both sides of my mouth yet.”
Sorry folks...the revolution was fun while it lasted, but all good things must come to an end.
Seriously, though, there's a reason LePage is getting hit on stuff like this. The Dems who have been running this state for years can't defend their record so they (along with a willing press) are playing up the 'temperament' argument and asking whether LePage is emotionally stable enough to be governor.
The only problem with this argument? The Dems and the press made it an issue during the last election, and it hasn't exactly worked out that well. Americans were assured that Barack Obama had a "first-class temperament." As it turns out, the president is a bit thin-skinned and unable to take criticism.
What the media doesn't seem to realize about this election year is that the political silly season is over. Voters aren't looking for someone who can play the part of elected official. They're looking for people who share their beliefs and who have the willingness to lead and limit the intrusion of government into our lives.
Even if those individuals sometimes say naughty words.
Obligatory: If you've got a few bucks lying around and want to hurt some blue-state Democrats, you know what to do.
Cross posted at Ace of Spades HQ
Posted by slublog at 09:41 PM | Comments (79) | TrackBack
September 26, 2010
Priorities
This election year, I know more about the Maine GOP candidate's wife's taxes than about Libby Mitchell's legislative record or Eliot Cutler's business background.
Not a great year for Maine's statewide news media.
Posted by slublog at 01:11 AM | Comments (47) | TrackBack
September 22, 2010
Maine: State of the Race
Only a few weeks to go until ballot-castin' time.
Judging from the trend line of these polls, Paul LePage is going to be Maine's next governor. Only one thing to say, really.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Posted by slublog at 06:18 PM | Comments (126) | TrackBack
September 10, 2010
Nine Years On
It may seem strange, but my most vivid memory of September 11, 2001 is the blue sky and the crisp, cool air. It really was a perfect day on the East Coast. I was a graduate student at the time, and I remember noting the beauty of the day while driving to my teaching assistant job that morning.
My radio was tuned to the "Bob and Sheri" show. Shortly before 9 a.m., Sheri reported that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I thought at the time that it was a terrible accident. Then the second plane hit, and everything changed.
Well, not everything. As I've noted before, the attacks didn't change everyone.
I went to my office and checked the news online, only to find most of the news sites inaccessible. Traffic was too high. So I went downstairs to the history department, where a television was set up. On the television screen, the news was showing video of the burning towers. There were about a dozen of us in the room. One of the people in that room was a faculty member in the history department. As he watched the news, his only comment was this:I will never forget the smirk on that professor's face, and it has since represented, to me, the senseless anger of some liberals during the Bush administration. When I heard his words, I was torn between bewilderment and anger. I did not understand how someone could express such stupid, mindless hatred while watching news reports about the deaths of thousands of his fellow citizens. Was the Florida recount that traumatic? That was my first glimpse of how ugly Bush Derangement Syndrome could be, and why I scoff at those who say George W. Bush squandered our unity after the attacks."I wonder if the president is crying to his daddy?"
He smiled after saying this, as though he'd said something clever. I wanted to punch the son of a bitch in the face.
The year of the attacks, I was a graduate student who had been married three years. Nine years later, I'm a father of two daughters who were born after the horrible events of that day. I watched the attacks of September 11 as they happened. My daughters will read about them in the history books, books I hope are not written by the likes of the smirking professor I wanted to hit that day.
When my girls ask me what it was like during and after the attacks of September 11, I'm going to point them to two pieces of writing. The first is Alan Jackson's remembrance of that day in song. The second is Allahpundit's Twitter feed of his memories.
In July of 2002, I visited New York City. During the visit, the group I was with visited lower Manhattan and the site where the World Trade Center once stood. As I looked through the fence that surrounded Ground Zero, I was struck by the size of the hole that had been torn into the heart of Manhattan. Ground Zero was huge, and the buildings surrounding it bore the scars of that day's violence.
I was overwhelmed, and I cried.
When I talk to my girls about that day, I realize everything I share with them will be history. I hope, however, that I will be able to convey what that day meant, and how it affected me, and the country.
Posted by slublog at 10:24 PM | Comments (143) | TrackBack