How Governor LePage lost one of his most ardent supporters

So I was going through my blog contacts yesterday  and came across one of the best contacts ever. I can’t say the best because it’s hard to speak comparatively about the many moving exchanges I’ve had with readers. Nonetheless, I hope all my readers will agree that the one I’ve chosen to write about today does stand out.

Before I get to that, though, I have to apologize to a handful of readers, including one with initials JL I think, who contacted me four to six weeks ago — ish. I’m not sure because I was going through my spam a few weeks ago and came across them, then got interrupted. When I went back to answer them yesterday, they were gone.  My bad — so sorry!

Back to one of the best contacts yet.

There it was, the name of one of my harshest critics and an ardent Governor LePage devotee — unavoidable in the line of emails bearing foreign characters and other obvious signs of internet come-ons. I don’t think this reader feels any ill will toward me or anything, but he has made it clear that he thinks I am stupid and this stupidity is its most profound when I write about the governor.

Gov. Paul LePage addresses the audience during a town hall meeting Sept. 29 at Bucksport Middle School. (Ashley L. Conti | BDN)

Gov. Paul LePage addresses the audience during a town hall meeting Sept. 29 at Bucksport Middle School. (Ashley L. Conti | BDN)

Assuming I was about to be assailed by yet another assessment of my intelligence, I braced myself. What a surprise to read:

Hi Trish,  How’s tricks??  Just wanted to express a lot of anger with Lepage.  Yes, I have seen the light.  Any politician that vetoes legislation for Narcan resulting in the deaths of addicted Maine residents should be impeached period.  Please rip Gov. Lepage a new one on this!!!   (Unnamed reader)

I’m not going to name this reader, but I do want to speak to his request. First, thanks for the laugh and the smile! Second, you have a point. While I have ripped into our dear governor for a plethora of things, I may not have been harsh enough on his position on Narcan, specifically.

I thought about doing a post to give LePage a belated berating on your behalf, but your words are so much better than anything I could come up with. There is no better way to express your message than to let readers see it themselves. What more could I say about the importance of a lifesaving tool like Narcan than to show people that LePage’s stance on it cost him one of his dire hard followers?

I’d also like to send out a somewhat dark and twisted thank you to LePage, himself. I recently wrote that I didn’t think he should get nominated for a chivalry award or anything, which is true. Still, in his own way LePage helped me out. I guess you could call it unchivalrous chivalry.

How? The hundeds, if not thousands of words I’ve written criticizing the governor held no sway with my unnamed reader. Not one. However, LePage only needed to use one word to get this reader to see the light:  veto.

One veto out of hundreds of vetoes. Four letters that, when put on a bill expanding access to Narcan, represent an utter disregard for the sanctity of human life. Even one of LePage’s most devoted fans knows how cold that veto was.

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Continuing with the theme of saying big things using very few words, I have to send a shout out to a BDN commenter. I saw a comment on an article about Democratic super delegates and was immediately jealous of Hermon36’s ability to be succint.

I did a post about trying to come to terms with the current presidential campaign cycle, and it took me 687 words to capture my feelings. Hermann36 summed his process up in only 69. He began stating that, while he’s not a fan of “liberal socialists,” he did think Sanders got screwed by the Democratic party.

Then he had a few choice words for Clinton and anyone who thinks she’s the best candidate for Democrats. He went on to say that a Clinton vs. Trump slugfest would be forcing voters to choose between two of the worst candidates in our nation’s history.

Then, he brought it home. Hermon36’s closing words landed like a gymnast nailing the finish on an Olympic floor routine, and in doing so, made me laugh the hardest — again with the dark humor for challenging times:

It’s like deciding if you want to be punched in the face or kicked in the face. Nobody 2016

I’m hoping Hermon36 consolidates the sentiment even further and turns it into a bumper sticker. I’m thinking maybe:  Punched or Kicked? Nobody 2016

I want one.

Patricia Callahan

About Patricia Callahan

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