Forget LePage and his comments about black dealers. All his staff should just quit

At this point I really have to wonder about the folks working with Gov. Paul LePage. I’ve blogged quite extensively about his “white girls” comment, about his faux apology for that comment, and about the ramifications of his horrid rhetoric. In the process, I’ve accepted that our governor has gone round the bend at least a bit in his thinking.

What I can’t accept is that there are professionals willing to receive salaries to support his conduct. They’re like enablers.

LePage declared on WVOM that the legislature forced him to make outrageous statements about “black dealers and what they are coming and doing to our state.” I’m guessing LePage is referring to the men with the funny names that he said were “impregnating white girls” — those comments he said weren’t about race. Is our governor justifying the racism that he said didn’t exist in his discourse?

Does that mean the statement about loading up and shooting drug dealers was intended to target black people — just as my son thought?

Winter State House file photo. (Troy R. Bennett | BDN)

Winter State House file photo. (Troy R. Bennett | BDN)

What the hell is wrong with this picture?

How can anyone in good conscience in America in 2016 accept a salary to perpetuate such horrible conduct?

With the disclosure of each outrageous statement, I keep waiting to read about resignations from his inner circle, but none come. How can this man still have a job? How can anyone supporting this man still have a job?

And spare me the whining about the Good Will-Hinckley/Mark Eves situation and how it’s a big reason to impeach or censure LePage. That debacle can’t hold a candle to the problematic thinking inherent in LePage’s dangerous rhetoric. Both parties have cronyism and territory issues, but neither party should tolerate racist speech implied or otherwise.

Neither party should tolerate casual comments about vigilantism.

Neither party should support the kind of nihilistic thinking that must be going on in our governor’s head to enable him to say such awful things.

Neither party should tolerate the embarrassing stain LePage is putting on our state for the entire country and world to see.

Disagreeing about the merits of conservative policies versus the merits of liberal policies or whose cronyism is worse — that’s normal politics in this day and age.

Hate speech is hate speech, though, and there can be no room for it in our politics.

 

The original version of the post had 2015 instead of 2016.  My bad — I’m still adjusting to the new year and hope to have a handle on it by the end of February!

Patricia Callahan

About Patricia Callahan

Trish is a writer who lives in Augusta. She has worked professionally in education and social services.