One offshoot of the popular Swedish writer Stieg Larsson’s Girl with the Dragon Tatoo series is the surge in interest in Scandinavian detective mysteries. Though Larsson is not my favorite author, readers have an appetite for something more because only three of his books have been published. A dispute over his estate and the ownership of his unpublished material may take years to resolve.
What follows are, in my opinion, some of the best contemporary and some older but not dated European – not all Scandinavian - detective mysteries.
HENNING MANKELL, the Kurt Wallander series. Mankell is still alive and writing but just published the last book in this series, The Troubled Man. Mankell locates these books in an actual small town in a rural area of southeastern Sweden. He is skilled at writing about the changes being brought to his country by both immigration and growth and the inevitable backlash from hate groups in what is considered a tolerant, open society. Wallander is cast as an anti-hero, deeply flawed in the conduct of his personal life, charmingly aware of his failings, and consumed by his work at which he is highly successful. Also recommended are the 6 episodes of the Public Television/WGBH-produced “Mystery” series starring and directed by Kenneth Branagh. Because the novels are complex, they were simplified for television. Read some of the books before watching the series which is available on DVD.
MAJ SJOWALL and PER WAHLOO. Their Martin Beck series was written in the 1960’s yet there is little to date these Scandinavian books. Considered by some to be among the best detective novels ever penned. The website www.Scandinavianbooks.com recommends reading these books in sequence, beginning with Roseanna.
OLEN STEINHAUER. His first series - there are five books - is set in the eastern bloc beginning post-World War II and continuing into the 1980’s. Beginning with The Bridge of Sighs these novels contain frightening sequences. His police officers experience bleak and dangerous situations. Sometimes the greatest danger comes from their colleagues who may be agents working on behalf of the repressive political regime. Steinhauer lived in Romania under a Fulbright Scholarship and knows his subject very well.
MICHAEL DIBDIN, the Aurelio Zen series. These will delight you, scare you, make you laugh and appall you. The Italian bureaucracy is completely exposed with a mix of charm and contempt. Zen is a detective who is assigned to a number of the outer provinces, away from his Venice home base. Dibdin writes intelligently but with sparseness. Zen is witty and smart. He sometimes knowingly plays the boob in order to beguile those around him but he is skillful at verbal zingers. Start at the beginning with Ratking. The books will make you want to travel to every location in Italy memorialized in his books. Dibdin’s death leaves his appreciative readers with only a fixed number of books. They are easily read more than once.
ALAN FURST, The Foreign Correspondent. This book was recommended to me by my sister-in-law who is very knowledgeable about the genre and could probably write a blog of her own on this subject. It is not his only book but as I have read others, it seems to be his best. It is set in Paris in World War II during the time of the Nazi occupation. Another good one is titled Spies of the Balkans.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
OVERHEARD AT THE POST OFFICE April 18, 2011 - "Tourism Training 101"
CARIBOU – Training sessions aimed at providing front line workers with the tools they need to properly prepare and welcome tourists to Aroostook County are being offered at three locations this month.
Anyone who provides services to the general public would benefit from the class, including gas station attendants, taxi drivers, front desk workers at lodging establishments, retail store clerks, convenience store clerks, waiter-waitress-host, bartender and grocery store employees.
The services are offered courtesy of the Maine Woods Tourism Training Initiative and are supported by funds from USDA Rural Development.
Bangor Daily News, April 14, 2011, page B3
AL: Hey, Jesse, glad I ran into you. I may be out of town for a little while.
JESSE: What’s up?
AL: My sister who lives in Aroostook County has invited me up there to enroll in Tourism Training.
JESSE: How are you going to train tourists to do anything?
AL: No, no, you’ve got it all wrong. I am going to be trained about how to welcome tourists.
JESSE: Oh? What’s wrong with the way tourists are treated right now?
AL: I will have to find out specifics when the classes start. But apparently the federal government believes that tourists are not well treated in Aroostook County.
JESSE: Are there any tourists up there?
AL: Actually, I don’t know.
JESSE: Who is paying for this training?
AL: The money is coming from some U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development program.
JESSE: You mean our taxes are paying for this?
AL: Looks like it.
JESSE: Well of all the pork barrel, confounded wastes of money, this sure takes the cake. Wait a minute: is this part of the stimulus money?
AL: Could be. You know how long it takes trends to reach Aroostook County.
JESSE: If it didn’t break my frugal heart so much I could get a real laugh out of this tourism training idea.
AL: It’s more than just the USDA. Have you heard of something called the Maine Woods Tourism Training Initiative?
JESSE: No, no, stop, I can’t take this anymore. Help me, I just filed my tax return.
AL: Relax, Jesse. What with gas prices going up, there won’t be many people who can afford to drive to Aroostook County this summa. But if the people from away do get there, the local folks will know how to welcome them. We are learning from the experts. Who else but the government would know how to train people to take someone else’s money?
Anyone who provides services to the general public would benefit from the class, including gas station attendants, taxi drivers, front desk workers at lodging establishments, retail store clerks, convenience store clerks, waiter-waitress-host, bartender and grocery store employees.
The services are offered courtesy of the Maine Woods Tourism Training Initiative and are supported by funds from USDA Rural Development.
Bangor Daily News, April 14, 2011, page B3
AL: Hey, Jesse, glad I ran into you. I may be out of town for a little while.
JESSE: What’s up?
AL: My sister who lives in Aroostook County has invited me up there to enroll in Tourism Training.
JESSE: How are you going to train tourists to do anything?
AL: No, no, you’ve got it all wrong. I am going to be trained about how to welcome tourists.
JESSE: Oh? What’s wrong with the way tourists are treated right now?
AL: I will have to find out specifics when the classes start. But apparently the federal government believes that tourists are not well treated in Aroostook County.
JESSE: Are there any tourists up there?
AL: Actually, I don’t know.
JESSE: Who is paying for this training?
AL: The money is coming from some U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development program.
JESSE: You mean our taxes are paying for this?
AL: Looks like it.
JESSE: Well of all the pork barrel, confounded wastes of money, this sure takes the cake. Wait a minute: is this part of the stimulus money?
AL: Could be. You know how long it takes trends to reach Aroostook County.
JESSE: If it didn’t break my frugal heart so much I could get a real laugh out of this tourism training idea.
AL: It’s more than just the USDA. Have you heard of something called the Maine Woods Tourism Training Initiative?
JESSE: No, no, stop, I can’t take this anymore. Help me, I just filed my tax return.
AL: Relax, Jesse. What with gas prices going up, there won’t be many people who can afford to drive to Aroostook County this summa. But if the people from away do get there, the local folks will know how to welcome them. We are learning from the experts. Who else but the government would know how to train people to take someone else’s money?
Saturday, March 19, 2011
FINDING WORK IN WASHINGTON
There are reasons to respectfully disagree with the focus of the Portland Press Herald’s dismissive editorial concerning the hiring of former Governor John Baldacci to a previously-non-existent position with the Department of Defense (“Our View: Rep. Wilson grandstands on Baldacci position”, March 18, 2011).
South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson, a Republican member of the House Armed Services Committee, is criticizing the hiring of Governor Baldacci, who was term-limited out of office. The Press Herald’s editorial was all about condemning Rep. Wilson - he’s the hothead who cried out “You lie” during President Obama’s State of the Union Address. He may be an idiot as the editorial took pains to point out. But there was no mention of the substance of the issue which is the job itself.
A question that might be asked is whether this job is the tip of the iceberg. Is it common practice to hire elected officials rotating out of public service – Republicans or Democrats - in temporary federal jobs?
Was the position advertised and were other candidates interviewed?
Was former Governor Baldacci the best candidate for the position and was he uniquely qualified to carry out the job?
Maine’s two Republican Senators support his hiring. Did they provide job references?
Baldacci’s immediate boss and the man who hired him for one year, Clifford L. Stanley, called the former-Governor’s assignment a “deep dive review” of how the military runs its health care and wellness programs. A troubling reality is that a person who works for Secretary Stanley, Jonathan Woodson, is an assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. Could it not be inferred that Woodson should know something about how the military runs its health programs since the word “health” is found in his job title?
Journalists who are “covering” this story – they more accurately seem to be reacting to it – and editorial writers who are opining about it, too, are missing the point: this isn’t about Governor Baldacci’s acceptance of a job or Rep. Wilson’s criticism. Governor Baldacci is a public servant whose reputation is above reproach. Wilson has lost credibility because of his offensive violation of House decorum and other comments. Can’t reporters rise above these givens and get to the real story? Don’t hold your breath.
South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson, a Republican member of the House Armed Services Committee, is criticizing the hiring of Governor Baldacci, who was term-limited out of office. The Press Herald’s editorial was all about condemning Rep. Wilson - he’s the hothead who cried out “You lie” during President Obama’s State of the Union Address. He may be an idiot as the editorial took pains to point out. But there was no mention of the substance of the issue which is the job itself.
A question that might be asked is whether this job is the tip of the iceberg. Is it common practice to hire elected officials rotating out of public service – Republicans or Democrats - in temporary federal jobs?
Was the position advertised and were other candidates interviewed?
Was former Governor Baldacci the best candidate for the position and was he uniquely qualified to carry out the job?
Maine’s two Republican Senators support his hiring. Did they provide job references?
Baldacci’s immediate boss and the man who hired him for one year, Clifford L. Stanley, called the former-Governor’s assignment a “deep dive review” of how the military runs its health care and wellness programs. A troubling reality is that a person who works for Secretary Stanley, Jonathan Woodson, is an assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. Could it not be inferred that Woodson should know something about how the military runs its health programs since the word “health” is found in his job title?
Journalists who are “covering” this story – they more accurately seem to be reacting to it – and editorial writers who are opining about it, too, are missing the point: this isn’t about Governor Baldacci’s acceptance of a job or Rep. Wilson’s criticism. Governor Baldacci is a public servant whose reputation is above reproach. Wilson has lost credibility because of his offensive violation of House decorum and other comments. Can’t reporters rise above these givens and get to the real story? Don’t hold your breath.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Life by Keith Richards
Keith Richards, iconic guitarist for the Rolling Stones, has written a very good book called Life and I recommend that you read it. An indication of the interest in the book is that it has remained on the New York Times Best Seller list for 15 weeks.
The book starts off with a description of Richards’ arrest in Arkansas in 1975 for what he believed would turn into drug possession charges. The car he was driving erratically was packed with drugs hidden inside the door panels. Due to some legal maneuvering, the vehicle was never searched. Richards pleaded guilty to reckless driving and paid a fine of $162. Before Richards left the courtroom, the judge and prosecuting attorney asked for a photograph with the famous guitarist which he gladly provided. He’s that kind of guy.
The book reads very easily. It was put together by a writer who sat through long interviews in which Richards talked about his life. You are reading a transcript of him telling his life story in his own descriptive English words. He is fearless about revealing his feelings and some dramatic events in his life including the loss of a child. This is not some egotist rewriting a legacy with a sanitized version of events.
A charming aspect of the narrative is that the author frequently invites other people to write their recollection of a particular event or incident.
Richards was born in 1943 and raised in a suburb of London called Dartford. The early part of the book includes stories about how he overcame being bullied as a child, how he was exposed to music both listening and playing, his reasons for dropping out of art school and his days hanging about with peers who liked the same music. The language he uses is very entertaining. There isn’t a lot of dirty talk substituted for real words either. This man is self-educated and well read. He knows how to tell a good story.
Mick Jagger comes into his life because they briefly attended the same school and because he often had the 45 records that Richards and others wanted to listen to, American delta blues and rock and roll. Elvis Presley, Bo Diddly and Chuck Berry performed the music they craved to hear. The early Stones borrowed the music of their heroes in their early club performances and relied on their own take on other people’s songs until they got into the rhythm of writing their own tunes and lyrics. I still like the early mono albums.
Rolling Stone Magazine considers Richards the 10th best guitarist of all time. Some of the musicians who rank ahead of him on that list are his musical heroes including Berry and Robert Johnson.
It isn’t easy to take credit for creativity while sounding humble but Richard manages to do this as he explains the collaborative nature of the song development he birthed with Jagger. He confesses to waking up one morning and finding the tune to the song “Satisfaction” on the tape recorder he kept by his bedside.
Richards is the genius who wrote most of the music. Jagger took the tunes and wrote the lyrics. They did work together on both words and music at times. They fed off each other’s creative energy for years. These two who needed each other to reach their best ended up disliking each other personally after working, traveling and living closely together for too long.
Keith Richards conquered his 10-year drug addiction to cocaine and heroin in 1979 after going cold turkey 6 to 8 times during that decade. He lost a few close friends to drugs. His face shows the harsh treatment he put his body through. He still smokes. But he is usually photographed with a smile on his face. He has been married for 27 years and has 4 children and a couple of grand kids.
The album which to me epitomizes the high point of the band’s musical genius is Sticky Fingers, partially recorded at Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1969, just before the group went off to play the free concert in Altamont, California. In case you don’t know or have forgotten, the Hells Angels were hired to maintain the peace at this concert and ended up stabbing a concert-goer while the band performed.
Pianist Jim Dickenson writes in the book that many musicians claim that they were there in Muscle Shoals but that it was Dickenson on piano, Ian Stewart (the sixth Rolling Stone) and the 5 Stones in the recording booth for “Brown Sugar” and “Wild Horses”.
In my opinion, the best song on the Sticky Fingers album - and it wasn’t recorded at Muscle Shoals - is “Can’t you hear me knocking?” The recording displays Richards’ talent and ease at collaborating with other musicians. Rolling Stone Magazine calls it the 25th greatest guitar song of all time. It’s a blues-jazzy wall of sound provided by the saxophone of Bobby Keys and the lead guitar playing of Mick Taylor. But you can hear Richards steadily through the 7 minutes and 14 seconds of this song.
As for Mick Jagger, he’s there for about 2 minutes and 40 seconds singing the lyrics. After that, you hear nothing less than a great bunch of musicians hitting a creative high, handing the music off to each other.
There is much information in the book about notable people of these times including musicians, artists, politicians and ordinary people. This is a man who wants you to know what his life was like, nothing held back, presented with humor, grace and a great deal of self- awareness. Read this book.
The book starts off with a description of Richards’ arrest in Arkansas in 1975 for what he believed would turn into drug possession charges. The car he was driving erratically was packed with drugs hidden inside the door panels. Due to some legal maneuvering, the vehicle was never searched. Richards pleaded guilty to reckless driving and paid a fine of $162. Before Richards left the courtroom, the judge and prosecuting attorney asked for a photograph with the famous guitarist which he gladly provided. He’s that kind of guy.
The book reads very easily. It was put together by a writer who sat through long interviews in which Richards talked about his life. You are reading a transcript of him telling his life story in his own descriptive English words. He is fearless about revealing his feelings and some dramatic events in his life including the loss of a child. This is not some egotist rewriting a legacy with a sanitized version of events.
A charming aspect of the narrative is that the author frequently invites other people to write their recollection of a particular event or incident.
Richards was born in 1943 and raised in a suburb of London called Dartford. The early part of the book includes stories about how he overcame being bullied as a child, how he was exposed to music both listening and playing, his reasons for dropping out of art school and his days hanging about with peers who liked the same music. The language he uses is very entertaining. There isn’t a lot of dirty talk substituted for real words either. This man is self-educated and well read. He knows how to tell a good story.
Mick Jagger comes into his life because they briefly attended the same school and because he often had the 45 records that Richards and others wanted to listen to, American delta blues and rock and roll. Elvis Presley, Bo Diddly and Chuck Berry performed the music they craved to hear. The early Stones borrowed the music of their heroes in their early club performances and relied on their own take on other people’s songs until they got into the rhythm of writing their own tunes and lyrics. I still like the early mono albums.
Rolling Stone Magazine considers Richards the 10th best guitarist of all time. Some of the musicians who rank ahead of him on that list are his musical heroes including Berry and Robert Johnson.
It isn’t easy to take credit for creativity while sounding humble but Richard manages to do this as he explains the collaborative nature of the song development he birthed with Jagger. He confesses to waking up one morning and finding the tune to the song “Satisfaction” on the tape recorder he kept by his bedside.
Richards is the genius who wrote most of the music. Jagger took the tunes and wrote the lyrics. They did work together on both words and music at times. They fed off each other’s creative energy for years. These two who needed each other to reach their best ended up disliking each other personally after working, traveling and living closely together for too long.
Keith Richards conquered his 10-year drug addiction to cocaine and heroin in 1979 after going cold turkey 6 to 8 times during that decade. He lost a few close friends to drugs. His face shows the harsh treatment he put his body through. He still smokes. But he is usually photographed with a smile on his face. He has been married for 27 years and has 4 children and a couple of grand kids.
The album which to me epitomizes the high point of the band’s musical genius is Sticky Fingers, partially recorded at Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1969, just before the group went off to play the free concert in Altamont, California. In case you don’t know or have forgotten, the Hells Angels were hired to maintain the peace at this concert and ended up stabbing a concert-goer while the band performed.
Pianist Jim Dickenson writes in the book that many musicians claim that they were there in Muscle Shoals but that it was Dickenson on piano, Ian Stewart (the sixth Rolling Stone) and the 5 Stones in the recording booth for “Brown Sugar” and “Wild Horses”.
In my opinion, the best song on the Sticky Fingers album - and it wasn’t recorded at Muscle Shoals - is “Can’t you hear me knocking?” The recording displays Richards’ talent and ease at collaborating with other musicians. Rolling Stone Magazine calls it the 25th greatest guitar song of all time. It’s a blues-jazzy wall of sound provided by the saxophone of Bobby Keys and the lead guitar playing of Mick Taylor. But you can hear Richards steadily through the 7 minutes and 14 seconds of this song.
As for Mick Jagger, he’s there for about 2 minutes and 40 seconds singing the lyrics. After that, you hear nothing less than a great bunch of musicians hitting a creative high, handing the music off to each other.
There is much information in the book about notable people of these times including musicians, artists, politicians and ordinary people. This is a man who wants you to know what his life was like, nothing held back, presented with humor, grace and a great deal of self- awareness. Read this book.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
OVERHEARD AT THE POST OFFICE FEBRUARY 16, 2011 - Beach Club
Al: Long time no see, Jesse. What’s up?
Jesse: Well, have you seen the centerfold of the new Chamber of Commerce brochure?
Al: Centerfold! Has the Chamber resorted to naked women to market the Kennebunks?
Jesse: No, no, you idiot. The centerfold is a desirable space for advertising because people naturally turn to it. The current brochure’s centerfold features resorts owned by the same group here in Kennebunkport.
Al: Tell me more.
Jesse: Well, you see, there has been a lot of buying and selling of hotels this past winter. One of the newly purchased places is the Tides Inn at Goose Rocks. It’s now called The Tides Beach Club. It is being advertised with a private beach.
Al: Private Beach! That sounds suspiciously as though the owners believe they own some part of that beach. Wait ‘til the Town and the SOB’s find out. It won’t be private for very long. I can’t wait to hear what the Judge says about that!
Jesse: The Tides Beach Club is advertising beachside services.
Al: What are beachside services? Does this mean a person can get a drink or something to eat down there on the private beach?
Jesse: That isn’t clear.
Al: Where is this private beach exactly?
Jesse: The lot is directly in front of the hotel at Goose Rocks.
Al: Does this mean if I want to go down to the beach, I can’t sit there anymore?
Jesse: You will have to take that up with the owners. Maybe you can get permission. If I were you, I’d change out of the striped shorts and plaid flannel shirt before asking. Or at least tuck in your shirt. Oh, and lose the Red Sox hat or turn it around so the bill points forward.
Al: Well isn’t the Town going to stand up for me and the other residents and stop this beach club from saying they own the beach, just as the Town is arguing with other private beach front owners?
Jesse: We will have to wait and see.
Al: Wait and see! Why would this beach club be treated different than some other beachfront owner? Are they SOB’s?
Jesse: Well, the owners of the Beach Club now own a great deal of land and property in Kennebunkport. They pay a lot of taxes to the Town. The Town doesn’t want to make the owners mad or anything. They might go somewhere else.
Al: Where are the business people going to go and find a beach like the one at Goose Rocks? And where will they find a Town to treat them so special?
Jesse: You have a point there, Al.
Al: If the Town won’t stand up for my rights then there’s only one thing for me to do. I’m going to go down to Goose Rocks right now and fill out a membership form to join that Beach Club.
Jesse: It’s not that kind of Club, Al. You see, the people who go there don’t live here.
Al: You can’t be serious. You mean, to belong to that Club you cannot live in Kennebunkport?
Jesse: You need to spend the night at one of the rented rooms to be a member of that club. You can also use the private beach if you stay at Hidden Pond Cottages.
Al: Hidden Pond? Where is that? Is it stocked?
Jesse: Hidden Pond is owned by the same business people. It’s a group of cottages up near the Clock Farm, off Fishing Pole Lane.
Al: People who like to fish can be secretive about their spots so maybe that’s why they want the pond hidden and the beach private.
But if the only people who can join that Beach Club are tourists I won’t have anything to do with them. I’ll just keep on toting my cooler and portable radio down to the public beach right next to them. It won’t bother me a bit if they want listen to the country music on my radio. On the other hand, if they like to fish, they can’t be all bad.
Jesse: Well, have you seen the centerfold of the new Chamber of Commerce brochure?
Al: Centerfold! Has the Chamber resorted to naked women to market the Kennebunks?
Jesse: No, no, you idiot. The centerfold is a desirable space for advertising because people naturally turn to it. The current brochure’s centerfold features resorts owned by the same group here in Kennebunkport.
Al: Tell me more.
Jesse: Well, you see, there has been a lot of buying and selling of hotels this past winter. One of the newly purchased places is the Tides Inn at Goose Rocks. It’s now called The Tides Beach Club. It is being advertised with a private beach.
Al: Private Beach! That sounds suspiciously as though the owners believe they own some part of that beach. Wait ‘til the Town and the SOB’s find out. It won’t be private for very long. I can’t wait to hear what the Judge says about that!
Jesse: The Tides Beach Club is advertising beachside services.
Al: What are beachside services? Does this mean a person can get a drink or something to eat down there on the private beach?
Jesse: That isn’t clear.
Al: Where is this private beach exactly?
Jesse: The lot is directly in front of the hotel at Goose Rocks.
Al: Does this mean if I want to go down to the beach, I can’t sit there anymore?
Jesse: You will have to take that up with the owners. Maybe you can get permission. If I were you, I’d change out of the striped shorts and plaid flannel shirt before asking. Or at least tuck in your shirt. Oh, and lose the Red Sox hat or turn it around so the bill points forward.
Al: Well isn’t the Town going to stand up for me and the other residents and stop this beach club from saying they own the beach, just as the Town is arguing with other private beach front owners?
Jesse: We will have to wait and see.
Al: Wait and see! Why would this beach club be treated different than some other beachfront owner? Are they SOB’s?
Jesse: Well, the owners of the Beach Club now own a great deal of land and property in Kennebunkport. They pay a lot of taxes to the Town. The Town doesn’t want to make the owners mad or anything. They might go somewhere else.
Al: Where are the business people going to go and find a beach like the one at Goose Rocks? And where will they find a Town to treat them so special?
Jesse: You have a point there, Al.
Al: If the Town won’t stand up for my rights then there’s only one thing for me to do. I’m going to go down to Goose Rocks right now and fill out a membership form to join that Beach Club.
Jesse: It’s not that kind of Club, Al. You see, the people who go there don’t live here.
Al: You can’t be serious. You mean, to belong to that Club you cannot live in Kennebunkport?
Jesse: You need to spend the night at one of the rented rooms to be a member of that club. You can also use the private beach if you stay at Hidden Pond Cottages.
Al: Hidden Pond? Where is that? Is it stocked?
Jesse: Hidden Pond is owned by the same business people. It’s a group of cottages up near the Clock Farm, off Fishing Pole Lane.
Al: People who like to fish can be secretive about their spots so maybe that’s why they want the pond hidden and the beach private.
But if the only people who can join that Beach Club are tourists I won’t have anything to do with them. I’ll just keep on toting my cooler and portable radio down to the public beach right next to them. It won’t bother me a bit if they want listen to the country music on my radio. On the other hand, if they like to fish, they can’t be all bad.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, PALIN STYLE
The commentary concerning the horrific mass murder in Tucson over the past weekend has ranged from thoughtful to thought provoking to downright thoughtless. The most glaring example of the latter came in a message issued by Sarah Palin. Decide for yourself by doing a Google search of her name.
What is unsettling is that Mrs. Palin picked the day of a public memorial gathering where the President spoke about the victims to launch her defense. On a day when many paused and reflected about the lives altered or quieted by this terrible incident, Mrs. Palin decided to come forward with a recorded message. Her words and her tone will be interpreted by many as provocative and will probably spin off additional public commentary focused on her words and the timing of them. The debate will shift to her again.
Some critics have linked the crosshairs images on her website with the actions of the alleged murderer. The images were removed from Palin’s website a few days ago. Crosshairs were superimposed over the photographs of 20 Democratic Congressional candidates for re-election last November, including Congresswoman Giffords, who was nearly assassinated.
There’s no evidence that this website or any other rhetoric can explain the actions of a single individual who is most likely psychotic, according to Charles Krauthammer, a psychiatrist who happens to be a columnist. I agree with him until it is proven otherwise. The crosshairs imagery is offensive on its own.
If someone advised Mrs. Palin to release her message yesterday, that person deserves to be fired or banned from offering opinions in future. If Mrs. Palin decided on her own to release the statement yesterday, then we can conclude she is lacking in both sense and sensibility.
Anyone who exhibits the poor judgment to make a day of reflection about dead and injured victims a day to issue a manifesto, is undeserving of consideration for leadership of anything other than a remote city in Alaska.
What is unsettling is that Mrs. Palin picked the day of a public memorial gathering where the President spoke about the victims to launch her defense. On a day when many paused and reflected about the lives altered or quieted by this terrible incident, Mrs. Palin decided to come forward with a recorded message. Her words and her tone will be interpreted by many as provocative and will probably spin off additional public commentary focused on her words and the timing of them. The debate will shift to her again.
Some critics have linked the crosshairs images on her website with the actions of the alleged murderer. The images were removed from Palin’s website a few days ago. Crosshairs were superimposed over the photographs of 20 Democratic Congressional candidates for re-election last November, including Congresswoman Giffords, who was nearly assassinated.
There’s no evidence that this website or any other rhetoric can explain the actions of a single individual who is most likely psychotic, according to Charles Krauthammer, a psychiatrist who happens to be a columnist. I agree with him until it is proven otherwise. The crosshairs imagery is offensive on its own.
If someone advised Mrs. Palin to release her message yesterday, that person deserves to be fired or banned from offering opinions in future. If Mrs. Palin decided on her own to release the statement yesterday, then we can conclude she is lacking in both sense and sensibility.
Anyone who exhibits the poor judgment to make a day of reflection about dead and injured victims a day to issue a manifesto, is undeserving of consideration for leadership of anything other than a remote city in Alaska.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
MAINE GOVERNOR'S RACE 2010 FINAL COMMENTS
Just a few final remarks about the 2010 election which we can now, thankfully, put behind us.
Voter turnout was huge. The voting percentage in Kennebunkport was 77%.
Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree, both re-elected to Congress, will serve in political “purgatory” as they are now junior members of the minority party. The good news is that they will have lots of time to help individual constituents.
As Eliot Cutler humbly pointed out on election night, before he knew the results of the Governor’s race, whoever was about to be elected was not the first choice of nearly two thirds of Maine voters.
When she knew she’d lost but didn’t know whether Cutler or LePage won, Libby Mitchell showed class in her concession remarks by pledging that Democrats would work with whoever was elected Governor.
Shawn Moody is a natural leader with great political instincts who conducted his campaign with dignity. It was refreshing to watch and listen to him during the debates. He should run for office again.
Maine lost the opportunity to be led by a fine man, Eliot Cutler. We needed the insight, experience and intelligence he would have brought to Augusta. We also lost the people he might’ve attracted to serve in his administration.
Had Angus King endorsed Cutler a week sooner, had the “fortune cookie” flyers come out a week sooner, had the polling results been available earlier which showed that Mitchell was fading and Cutler surging, had any of us who supported Cutler persuaded others to vote for him, the outcome might be different.
The vote confirms that there are indeed “Two Maines”. Cutler took the more affluent (some would say cosmopolitan) coastal towns and large cities, as well as every community on Mount Desert Island. LePage’s strength runs up the west side of the Maine Turnpike and Interstate 95 over to the New Hampshire and up to the Canadian border, the rural Maine.
Not only are there two Maines, there are two York Counties. Cutler carried the large service-center communities of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Old Orchard Beach, Saco, Sanford and incredibly, Biddeford. In many of those communities, however, the votes for LePage and Cutler were very close. LePage carried every rural town in York County and in the end garnered more total votes County-wide.
The results confirm that Maine voters are discriminating because we elected a Republican Governor and two Democratic U.S. Representatives who join two Republican Senators in Washington.
Amazingly, it was only in 1972 that Maine eliminated straight-ticket voting.
An interesting phenomenon was voters in the former manufacturing centers of Biddeford, Sanford, Lewiston and Waterville who historically voted Democratic voted Republican because of their attraction to Paul LePage, a French-Canadian who speaks French. In any other election, Democrats could bank on carrying these towns.
LePage’s Franco-American ancestry no doubt has and will continue to arouse pride in Maine’s dwindling Franco-American population. He made French language robo-calls in strategic locations prior to the June primary and recorded radio ads in French for use during the fall campaign.
About Franco-American pride, some explanation may be needed. People who have moved to Maine in the last 25 years may not realize the extent to which Maine has been populated by Francos. French-Canadians swarmed into the milltowns of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts during the latter part of the 19th century and early 20th century. Those mill buildings which are being converted to condominiums housed the textile looms which were operated by the first and second generation immigrants from Canada. When I was growing up in Kennebunkport in the 1950's, downtown Biddeford served as our shopping center and it contained many speciality stores. It was common to be in a store in downtown Biddeford and hear French spoken. The other side of the presence of French Canadians was the discrimination they faced. My mother, who graduated from teacher's college (Farmington Normal School) in 1933, was not hired for a job in her hometown of Yarmouth because she was a Catholic Franco-American. She moved to New York to take a teaching position. She also remembered as a child, being in church with her mother and hearing the priest warn that the Klu Klux Klan was active in Maine and that Catholics were a target for this group. There are many reasons to celebrate the victory of a politician raised in a Franco-American household. For my grandparents, my mother and aunts and uncles, for all the French-Candadian immigrants who were discriminated against or suffered second-class status, I tip my hat to Paul LePage.
Is LePage the Sarah Palin of Maine? Both were elected Governor with limited political experience after being elected mayor. Let’s hope the resemblance ends there. Waterville has a population of about 16,000, compared with Wasilla, Alaska’s 8,500 residents.
LePage was not my first choice for Governor. But you have to admire his perseverance despite the adverse conditions of his youth. Setting his politics aside, his personal story is transformational and inspirational. His political message resonated with people who are drawn to the so-called Tea Party Movement. If he surrounds himself with good people, he may surprise all of us. I wish him well.
If anyone was driven away from the television by repetitive and scornful political ads, it is now safe to watch your favorite programs. After what we’ve seen the last 2 months, non-political advertising seems delightfully benign, optimistic and naïve.
Voter turnout was huge. The voting percentage in Kennebunkport was 77%.
Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree, both re-elected to Congress, will serve in political “purgatory” as they are now junior members of the minority party. The good news is that they will have lots of time to help individual constituents.
As Eliot Cutler humbly pointed out on election night, before he knew the results of the Governor’s race, whoever was about to be elected was not the first choice of nearly two thirds of Maine voters.
When she knew she’d lost but didn’t know whether Cutler or LePage won, Libby Mitchell showed class in her concession remarks by pledging that Democrats would work with whoever was elected Governor.
Shawn Moody is a natural leader with great political instincts who conducted his campaign with dignity. It was refreshing to watch and listen to him during the debates. He should run for office again.
Maine lost the opportunity to be led by a fine man, Eliot Cutler. We needed the insight, experience and intelligence he would have brought to Augusta. We also lost the people he might’ve attracted to serve in his administration.
Had Angus King endorsed Cutler a week sooner, had the “fortune cookie” flyers come out a week sooner, had the polling results been available earlier which showed that Mitchell was fading and Cutler surging, had any of us who supported Cutler persuaded others to vote for him, the outcome might be different.
The vote confirms that there are indeed “Two Maines”. Cutler took the more affluent (some would say cosmopolitan) coastal towns and large cities, as well as every community on Mount Desert Island. LePage’s strength runs up the west side of the Maine Turnpike and Interstate 95 over to the New Hampshire and up to the Canadian border, the rural Maine.
Not only are there two Maines, there are two York Counties. Cutler carried the large service-center communities of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Old Orchard Beach, Saco, Sanford and incredibly, Biddeford. In many of those communities, however, the votes for LePage and Cutler were very close. LePage carried every rural town in York County and in the end garnered more total votes County-wide.
The results confirm that Maine voters are discriminating because we elected a Republican Governor and two Democratic U.S. Representatives who join two Republican Senators in Washington.
Amazingly, it was only in 1972 that Maine eliminated straight-ticket voting.
An interesting phenomenon was voters in the former manufacturing centers of Biddeford, Sanford, Lewiston and Waterville who historically voted Democratic voted Republican because of their attraction to Paul LePage, a French-Canadian who speaks French. In any other election, Democrats could bank on carrying these towns.
LePage’s Franco-American ancestry no doubt has and will continue to arouse pride in Maine’s dwindling Franco-American population. He made French language robo-calls in strategic locations prior to the June primary and recorded radio ads in French for use during the fall campaign.
About Franco-American pride, some explanation may be needed. People who have moved to Maine in the last 25 years may not realize the extent to which Maine has been populated by Francos. French-Canadians swarmed into the milltowns of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts during the latter part of the 19th century and early 20th century. Those mill buildings which are being converted to condominiums housed the textile looms which were operated by the first and second generation immigrants from Canada. When I was growing up in Kennebunkport in the 1950's, downtown Biddeford served as our shopping center and it contained many speciality stores. It was common to be in a store in downtown Biddeford and hear French spoken. The other side of the presence of French Canadians was the discrimination they faced. My mother, who graduated from teacher's college (Farmington Normal School) in 1933, was not hired for a job in her hometown of Yarmouth because she was a Catholic Franco-American. She moved to New York to take a teaching position. She also remembered as a child, being in church with her mother and hearing the priest warn that the Klu Klux Klan was active in Maine and that Catholics were a target for this group. There are many reasons to celebrate the victory of a politician raised in a Franco-American household. For my grandparents, my mother and aunts and uncles, for all the French-Candadian immigrants who were discriminated against or suffered second-class status, I tip my hat to Paul LePage.
Is LePage the Sarah Palin of Maine? Both were elected Governor with limited political experience after being elected mayor. Let’s hope the resemblance ends there. Waterville has a population of about 16,000, compared with Wasilla, Alaska’s 8,500 residents.
LePage was not my first choice for Governor. But you have to admire his perseverance despite the adverse conditions of his youth. Setting his politics aside, his personal story is transformational and inspirational. His political message resonated with people who are drawn to the so-called Tea Party Movement. If he surrounds himself with good people, he may surprise all of us. I wish him well.
If anyone was driven away from the television by repetitive and scornful political ads, it is now safe to watch your favorite programs. After what we’ve seen the last 2 months, non-political advertising seems delightfully benign, optimistic and naïve.
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