About a month ago I wrote a blog asserting that, unless some new major scandal erupted causing Graham Platner to leave the race, Maine voters would be faced in November with two bad US Senate choices—but for different reasons. Monday’s apparently credible rape allegation has proven the tipping point for his top Democratic supporters, who …
Tag: Susan Collins
Collins v. Platner: hold your nose and vote for him?
Unless some new major scandal leads the Democratic establishment to replace Graham Platner on the ballot in the next 30 days, the choice for U. S. Senate from Maine is between Democrat Graham Platner,44, and Republican Susan Collins, 77. Yet again, voters in November will be presented with two bad choices, but for quite different …
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News of RBG death hits hard
News of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death Friday hit hard, but it did not come as a surprise. She had been diagnosed with cancer five times since 1999 and fought back fiercely. When she succumbed, at the age of 87, she left hundreds of millions of people indebted to her for her lifelong battle for …
Downer Days for Democrats and Independents
If you believe in the U. S. Constitution, the dignity of the Presidency, the value of science, the importance of truth, civility and commitment to oaths to which one has sworn, this week has been a nightmare for you. and for me. Donald J. Trump has been acquitted in his impeachment trial, the State of …
Headlines to look for in 2020
2020 vision gives us clarity to see the world around us. 2020 hindsight is a way of understanding where we got it wrong in the past. Today, my New Year's gift to you is a list of headlines I hope to see in 2020. Some are the triumph of hope over experience. Some are aspirational …
Kavanaugh nomination taps primordial feelings
The U.S. Supreme Court cafeteria on Friday was surprisingly quiet, as if noontime eaters were subdued by the Brett Kavanaugh nomination drama playing out at the Senate Judiciary Committee. Outside on the steps of the august building, hundreds of protesters listened to speeches by women senators urging Kavanaugh be rejected. The peaceful but passionate demonstrators …
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Can bipartisanship keep Trump at bay?
Donald Trump has left the White House. For 17 days. For a vacation in New Jersey. Is it safe to come out? Initially, I thought so. After Senators John McCain, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski stood tall to defeat a miserable "skinny" bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, I was encouraged that bipartisan efforts …
Who is Bruce Poliquin, and why we should care
U.S. Sen. Angus King (Ind.) says the House-passed health care bill, "the most ill-conceived, damaging and downright cruel piece of legislation that I have ever seen," will cost Maine people their health insurance. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is concerned about its impact on older and rural Americans, of which Maine has a disproportionate share. …
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Training our sights on gun excess
It has been nearly a century since the New York Times published an editorial on its front page. It didn't do so during the Great Depression, the Holocaust or the Vietnam War. Today, in the wake of the lethal San Bernardino terrorist attack, the Times called for an end to the sale of certain kinds of weapons …
Snowe departure hollows out center
Republican Senator Olympia Snowe has announced she won’t run for reelection, and, as disappointing as that is, who can blame her? A thoughtful moderate, a person who can work across the aisle for the good of the country, she will not run for a fourth term. Congress is no longer working on issues, she said. …
Marjorie Arons-Barron 