In amazing detail and as a testament to the power of open government, the Sept. 11 commission presents an exhaustive – and sobering – assessment of how terrorists were able to turn passenger airlines into guided missiles.The commission had a difficult birth. It was opposed by President Bush, had to fight mightily to get access […]

Inattention to details can be costly – and illegal.That’s true in Maine and elsewhere. Three unrelated cases prove the point.In Washington, former national security adviser Sandy Berger is under investigation for mishandling classified documents.In Maine, state Reps. Janet Mills of Farmington and Thomas Saviello of Wilton admitted illegally accepting campaign contributions from lobbyists while the […]

DAYTON, Ohio – A generation ago, analysts Ben Wattenberg and Richard Scammon portrayed a housewife in this southwestern Ohio city as the prototypical swing voter.In the 2004 election, a “totally undecided” Dayton housewife named Deborah Harris could fit the same role.“I feel George Bush is strong, brave and has guts, but I think he went […]

Bangor Daily News, July 16 The short-term health of a significant portion of Maine’s logging industry will shortly be determined by the Department of Homeland Security. The financial importance of the situation requires a swift answer from Secretary Tom Ridge, who should recognize that the national security he is working to improve has little to […]

The Army in Iraq is running out of money. So are the other branches of the military.According to a report from the Government Accountability Office, the U.S. military is running more than $12 billion short on money for operations in Iraq.The Defense Department is scrambling to shift money from other areas to cover the shortfall. […]

The Sept. 11 commission releases its final report today. From information leaked to the press and early drafts, members appear ready to recommend the creation of a cabinet-level intelligence czar.What’s clear from coverage of the panel’s work, and reports from the Select Committee on Intelligence, is that our intelligence system failed.It failed to take advantage […]

There’s good news in the employment numbers for Maine released Monday. Finally, after three years, the state has regained all the jobs lost during the economic downturn of 2001.Of course, the good news is tempered. Normally, it only takes a year to repair the damage done by a relatively short recession. It took three times […]

John Kerry has made his choice. Now America must make its choice – Kerry and Edwards, or Bush and Cheney.Seldom have the choices been more sharply etched. Rarely have feelings run so deep, a sort of premonition that our country’s whole direction for the 21st century will be influenced by the outcome.In the vision of […]

It’s not going to happen. But the media and the Democrats want it to happen, so it will be a topic of intense political conversation – President Bush dumping Dick Cheney from his ticket.It’s not going to happen, because Bush is loyal to a fault, and Cheney is, in any case, popular and valued within […]

Stories like Albert Gagne’s are heartbreaking. They’re also all too common.When Gagne was a young boy in Massachusetts, he was removed from his home by the state. The house was dirty, Gagne and his siblings were abused and in bad shape. They had lice, rags for clothes and had been bitten by rats. Massachusetts plucked […]