We all – we Americans – want money, connections and good lawyers. We don’t always like it when the other guy has those things, though, especially when the “other guy” is I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.Libby has money; his court-ordered $250,000 fine for obstructing justice will barely scratch him. He has connections in the White House […]

President George W. Bush is oft-criticized nowadays for lacking savvy, but the embattled executive displayed shrewd judgment in selecting Kennebunkport for his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.The world’s eyes would have trained on whatever rugged promontory, secluded mountainside retreat, or dusty cattle ranch chosen as the place to meet with Putin, who personally requested […]

Talk about mixed messages.In one recent breath, selectmen in Strong signed a petition declaring the small town’s airspace off-limits to the controversial low-level flights requested by Air National Guard squadrons in Massachusetts and Vermont.In a following breath, the same panel elected to donate $25 to a memorial fund established for Sgt. Richard Parker, a Maine […]

Leland Faulkner of Auburn, a performance artist and filmmaker, recently decried the Twin Cities’ “cultural schizophrenia” in an op-ed published June 3. His comment stemmed from Auburn’s attempt to cut funding for L/A Arts programs within the school system.The funding was restored, but Faulkner’s phrase resonated. It was reminiscent of the notorious (and now 39-year-old) […]

“Even if this never leads to one criminal prosecution in Maine, it should highlight the fact that there are sexual predators on the Internet that are as prevalent as our children are.”– Assistant Attorney General Carlos Diaz, Capital News Service, June 27. Mr. Diaz is absolutely correct.Maine’s attorney general is trolling the records of MySpace.com, […]

It’s easy to make an example of Walter Noble.One of Maine’s most notorious driving scofflaws has now been sentenced to prison for his recent roadway misbehavior. Drunken driving. Driving on a revoked license. Just driving, period, after losing the privilege in 1968.Noble, we’ve pointed out, is beyond rehabilitation. His record of infractions is longer than […]

The Federal Communications Commission’s “localism” hearing today in Portland, the first after a three-year hiatus, illustrates how the agency has been a sleeping giant during an 11-year upheaval in the American media landscape.In 1996, when Congress deregulated telecommunications, the FCC became overseers of seismic activity inside the industry, yet waves of mergers, acquisitions and innovations […]

A graceful jackknife, ending in a belly-flop.This about sums the legislative session, in which lawmakers leapt from a precipice of voter near-revolt, negotiated several twists and turns in their plunge, yet hit the proverbial water with an abrupt, and painful, slap.In the beginning, Gov. John Baldacci led a ferocious charge toward reducing government spending and […]

The future of Museum L-A starts tonight.At 6:30 p.m., museum planners and architects contracted by Museum L-A will present concepts for a new facility, a growing necessity for the growing museum because of redevelopment in its current home, the Bates Mill. (The Museum is now housed just above Da Vinci’s restaurant.)As ties to L-A’s past […]

Sigh. They’re back.The insufferable Westboro Baptist Church is threatening a protest at the funeral of Sgt. Richard Parker, the Phillips soldier killed in Iraq on June 13. His funeral is today at Mt. Abram High School in Salem Township, and supporters of this Kansas-based church of intolerance say they’ll be there.It’s a tired refrain. They […]