The downing of a U.S. Chinook helicopter last weekend in Iraq is a gut-check for the nation and for President Bush. The comparisons to the “Black Hawk Down” battle in Somalia in October 1993 are unavoidable, from the enemies’ tactic (shoot for the tail rotor), to the celebrations of the natives on the ground, to […]

Have you ever daydreamed about life on the road? If you are like countless Americans who have sat through reruns of “B.J. and the Bear” or “Smokey and the Bandit” and dreamed of such a romantic life, consider the following.“LOADS: Loved Ones And Drivers Support,” an Internet site, which offers support and much more to […]

The message from Maine voters was clear Tuesday: No casino.But what killed the casino was not just opposition to gambling, but a bad bill – deeply flawed, ambiguous and confusing. We’re not convinced that the tally would have been the same if voters had been asked only the big question – “Do you support a […]

Memo to Shaq O’Neal and Kobe Bryant:My wife suggested I sleep on this. Which is why the salutation doesn’t read, “Memo to Two Festering Boils on the Buttocks of My Patience.”I hear you two are feuding again. California burning down around you, Kobe being tried for rape, and you find time to snipe at each […]

Leaders in the United States Senate committed a disservice to the country Monday.In an attempt to provide political cover to vulnerable members of both parties facing re-election in 2004, no recorded vote was taken on the Iraqi Supplemental Spending Bill, which will cost U.S. taxpayers $87.5 billion.The massive spending legislation was passed by a voice […]

Lord knows that Howard Dean deserves to be attacked. The Democratic front-runner has said – if not in so many words – that his first act as president would be to run to Paris to apologize for the fact that the United States toppled Saddam Hussein. His second act would be to raise taxes. But […]

High voter turnout is a hallmark of democracy, especially in Maine.The state led the nation in the percentage of voting-age adults casting ballots for president in 1992 and 1996 and came in second place in 2000, with a turnout just more than 67 percent. Maine’s high water mark came in 1992 when a whopping 72 […]

A not-so-startling report from the Center for Public Integrity only increases our skepticism in the way money is being spent to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan.The Washington nonprofit released a report last week that tracked the political contributions of the 70 companies and individuals and the amount of work they have been hired to do in […]

The deficit next year may top $500 billion. There are $25 trillion in unfunded liabilities in Social Security, Medicare and other federal retirement programs. So what do Republicans in Washington offer up as their next big domestic idea? More tax cuts, of course! This time to the tune of $140 billion in corporate tax reductions […]

An ethics complaint against Auburn Rep. Deborah Simpson has been dropped, and rightly so.Simpson came under fire after appearing in a television advertisement favoring the construction of a casino in Maine. Voters will decide Tuesday whether to allow the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes to build a $650 million resort casino.The casino is a bad deal […]