Editor’s note: This column really is written by Jim Carignan. Because the Sun Journal inadvertently ran Carignan’s byline with a column by Chris Potholm in the Feb. 8 edition, we’re presenting this response to the error.

Chris Potholm is a bright, witty and often insightful writer of “”Delights of Democracy”” for this paper. I am delighted to share with him and other worthy contributors the “”Inside Maine”” column that appears every Sunday in this paper.

He is also a good neighbor of mine, and we sometimes enjoy walks together. He is always welcome on my front porch, but his voice is generally out of sync with “”The Front Porch.””

Given the mistaken attribution of Chris’ words to my authorship this past weekend, the editors kindly offered me space to correct the mistake. I am pleased to have the opportunity to address some of the points made in that article in the way they would have been handled on the real “”Front Porch.”” Due to limited space, I will be uncharacteristically brief and more direct than I like.

1. What is bashing for some is none other than strong dissent for others. It is essential to the effective functioning of our democracy. Indeed, it is one of the “”Delights of Democracy.”” During election years, it is spirited. We need to guard against efforts to belittle dissent. It is an old ploy to suggest it is unpatriotic or disrespectful. Quite the opposite. It is an essential ingredient of patriotism. Some would say it is our duty to dissent!

2. The volume of the dissent about President Bush’s leadership approaches that of the Nixon years for good reason. They share a common fault. They both have mislead the American people in a serious and fundamental matter. They both deserve a modicum of shrillness in the voice of the critics.

3. The Patriot Act, passed in the wave of patriotic enthusiasm immediately after Sept. 11, is seriously flawed. It represents a significant intrusion into civil liberties. We hold American citizens in jail without charges and without access to an attorney for more than a year. That is not the American way. Critics come form both sides of the aisle. I do not want my civil liberties under the discretional control of John Ashcroft. Respect the Constitutional rights we fought hard to achieve.

4. It is worth mentioning that the Department of Homeland Security represents the largest expansion of government in recent history – all this from the party that campaigns under the mantra of smaller government. The efficiency and effectiveness of the department has been questioned, and it deserves watching. It is not achieving its goals.

5. The Afghan War drags on. More than 10,000 “”coalition”” troops are there, and they have trouble maintaining order in the capitol, not to mention the countryside. We are understaffed in that war, and the long impossible war of the former Soviet Union keeps cropping up in commentary about our efforts there. The end of that war – the capture of Osama bin Laden – continues to evade us. What is the exit strategy there?

6. Saddam was a gigantically bad guy. What is missed is that he was contained, his regime was imploding and the inspections along with the porous sanctions had worked to dismantle his weapons of mass destruction. He was tottering, and it was not necessary to launch a major war to bring him down. All of the justification for the war that was advanced has been proven wrong thus far. The administration totally mislead the American people. There should be serious consequences for that. I believe there will be. “”Bring it on,”” please!

7. The Democratic contenders for the nomination are very interesting. The campaign has been lively, generally issue oriented, and it has caught the imagination of the American people. Bush’s poll numbers have dropped dramatically as the candidates have challenged his actions. Put simply, the “”dwarfs”” have grown up. John Kerry will beat Mr. Bush in November, continuing the tradition of single Bush terms The energized support Kerry and others are receiving in the primaries and caucuses (Maine had the largest turnout ever) is a measure of how profoundly dissatisfied a significant number of Americans are with the cynical policies of Mr. Bush. Kerry is not perfect, but he offers real hope for a change from this radically wrong direction we have taken under Mr. Bush.

8. Speaking of cynicism, the State of the Union speech was a classic example of the work of Karl Rove and others. Steroids in sports are regrettable and something should be done, but they are not a major national policy issue. The environment is, however, and Mr. Bush arrogantly did not even mention it – opting for steroids in sports! Even Bush supporters have been critical of that speech – and rightly so. It was hardly rhetoric that soared. Actually, it soured!

9. National security is important. We are now alienated and distrusted by more nations in the world than we were in 2000. The international community sees us as a bully. The Bush administration has successfully galvanized our enemies, including the Radical Islamists, into a unified force against us. He created a battlefield for them in Iraq, and American lives are lost every day unnecessarily. Our forces face an average of 23 attacks a day. Bottom line: America is less secure than we were when Mr. Bush took office!.

10. National security will be important in the election, and the people will realize that this massive expenditure of human and financial resources has compromised our security. When it is added to the massive deficits, trade imbalances, tax cuts for the wealthy and enduring joblessness in the economy, one can understand why Mr. Bush will not be reelected.

Ah, the “”Delights of Democracy”” on “”The Front Porch.””

Jim Carignan is a retired educator who lives in Harpswell. His e-mail address is [email protected].