Town leaders from Buckfield, Greene, Leeds and Turner did a good thing Wednesday during a meeting with Gov. John Baldacci: They stood up for open government.

Well done.

The governor, if only temporarily, did not.

At the beginning of a meeting in Augusta with town and SAD 52 leaders, Baldacci asked a reporter from the Sun Journal to leave. A quorum of public officials from Leeds and Turner was present. Under state law, such a gathering, even with the governor, can’t be held away from public scrutiny.

The governor should have known better. After the selectmen balked at closing the meeting, the governor relented and tried to right the wrong. But it was too late. The reporter was gone. A member of the governor’s staff later called the newspaper to apologize.

The meeting continued. According to those who attended, the governor discussed regionalization and taxes. Important topics that the public needs to understand.

Open government is a serious issue and the governor should know that. His leadership is vital if freedom of access laws are to be effective. Whenever and wherever possible, government business should be conducted in public. That can’t be forgotten or put aside when it’s inconvenient.

It takes a lot of courage to stand up to a governor, even when he’s wrong. Selectmen from the SAD 52 area deserve the thanks of a grateful public for showing leadership, knowing the law and doing the right thing.


Betrayal


Women in the U.S. military are under attack in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the assault is not limited to a determined enemy or hostile environment.

Servicewomen are falling prey to cruelty and violence at the hands of their own comrades. On this, we feel a special level of contempt – one based on betrayal and failed leadership.

There have been more than 100 reports of sexual misconduct during operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait in which U.S. soldiers have reported being raped or sexually assaulted.

Sen. Susan Collins, during a Armed Services subcommittee meeting Wednesday in Washington, went on the offensive against the Pentagon for its apparent negligence in investigating sexual assaults, punishing the attackers and helping the victims to recover physically and emotionally.

“No war comes without costs, but the cost should be borne out of conflict with the enemy, and not because of egregious violations by some of our own troops,” Collins said. “What does it say about us … when our women soldiers sometimes have more to fear from some of their fellow soldiers than from the enemy?”

From the Navy’s Tailhook scandal to more than 50 rapes reported at the Air Force Academy in the last decade, the military has a staggering history of slow reactions to sexual predators in its ranks.

It’s time that military leaders discover their outrage. This type of betrayal cannot be allowed.
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