Maine
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After campaigning for and winning reelection as a results-oriented centrist who brings people together to get things done, Sen. Collins has spent the last two weeks spouting often-false , ultra-partisan talking points and making objectively ludicrous, hyperbole-laden assertions like, "this administration cannot see a foreign terrorist even when he stands right in front of them." Even though the ...
Collins Watch - Mon 6:49 p.m. - 3 clicks 
Greg Sargent breaks some news : Senator Susan Collins, who's emerged as a leading critic of the decision to Mirandize the bomb plot suspect, raised no concerns about his handling while being briefed on Christmas Day about his capture on a private call with a top Homeland Security official, a source familiar with the conversation tells me. [...] When Collins delivered the GOP weekly address in...
Collins Watch - Mon 5:29 p.m.
Congratulations to Sen. Collins for getting it right about former Sen. John Edwards! She may not know much about the Constitution . But when it comes to being ahead of the curve on sex and paternity scandals, she's one for one. ...
Collins Watch - Mon 11:03 a.m. - 3 clicks
One wonders what the folks over at Human Rights Campaign are thinking, tonight, about their endorsement of Sen. Collins' 2008 reelection bid. Are they shocked and dismayed by what the junior senator is saying about "don't ask, don't tell"? They really shouldn't be . ...
Collins Watch - Sun 7:19 p.m. - 2 clicks
Many of you are probably aware that Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) delivered the GOP's weekly address this past weekend. You may also be aware that the subject of her address was to criticize the Obama Administration (duh) for the way they've handled "Underwear Bomber" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. Among other things, she said: The Obama administration appears to have a blind spot when it co...
DailyKos (Maine) - Thu 3:08 p.m. - 3 clicks
Everyone really ought to watch Sen. Collins' unsteady, damaging TV debut as the GOP's civil liberties attack dog. A few more thoughts: 1. Gasping for air is a public-speaking no-no. And it's a pretty good sign you're losing the argument. 2. In the closing minutes, Collins situates herself, quite openly, on the outer fringes of the debate, attacking the Bush administration's civil liberties rec...
Collins Watch - Thu 9:42 a.m. - 7 clicks
As a rule, BDN doesn't directly criticize Saint Susan--I mean Sen. Collins--in its editorials. But you don't need to read too far between the lines here : The U.S. Constitution requires that foreign detainees have the same right to a trial as U.S. natives. The Supreme Court upheld this view more than 100 years ago and several times in recent years has ruled that detainees in the so-called war on...
Collins Watch - Thu 8:09 a.m. - 6 clicks
More debunking here: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy And here (starting at 2:49): Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy ...
Collins Watch - Thu 7:05 a.m. - 6 clicks
H. Cabanne Howard, Executive Secretary of the Maine Committee on Judicial Responsibility and Disability, former member of the Maine Attorney General's Office and current Assistant Professor of Law and Public Policy at the University of Maine School of Law: I'm sorry to see that Senator Collins seems to think that when the government apprehends someone on U.S. soil it calls a "terrorist," the Cons...
Collins Watch - Thu 5:28 a.m. - 4 clicks
It's worth remembering that Sen. Collins recently lost her long-time chief of staff. Have her weekend gaffes about the Constitution, today's apparent retraction and her recent wingnut turn all been products of the shake-up? Without a savvy, exacting advisor to triangulate for her, are we getting a clearer picture of what the junior senator is made of? And what she really thinks? ...
Collins Watch - Wed 1:32 p.m. - 5 clicks
Andrea Mitchell does an abysmal job of getting Sen. Collins to answer her questions here. But clearly, the junior senator isn't used to being interviewed skeptically. Not her finest hour. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy UPDATE: Don't miss the discussion starting at 9:10, where Collins explicitly endorses the Bush administration's ha...
Collins Watch - Wed 1:06 p.m. - 4 clicks
The early reviews aren't good . If we're able to track down the video, we'll post it. Meanwhile, not a peep from the Maine media. Unless Sen. Collins sends out a press release, it's as if it never happened. ...
Collins Watch - Wed 11:06 a.m. - 5 clicks
Disregarding her oath of office, Sen. Collins seemed to call for suspending the Constitution over the weekend, using the platform of the GOP weekly radio address to endorse a reactionary pick-and-choose approach to the rule of law. Or maybe she was just very, very confused . Either way, where are the pointed questions? The condemnations? The MCLU has spoken . But when a sitting US senator c...
Collins Watch - Wed 9:27 a.m. - 5 clicks
Sen. Collins over the weekend said that giving Abdulmutallab access to a lawyer: Undoubtedly prevented the collection of valuable intelligence about future terrorist threats to our country. Collins now : We will never know whether the quality and quantity of information might have been superior had he not been given a lawyer. (Emphasis mine.) Merriam-webster defines "undoubted" as not...
Collins Watch - Wed 8:09 a.m. - 4 clicks
You know you're in trouble when the AP calls your position flat-out wrong : After the Christmas plot, however, the president's critics say the administration should have treated Abdulmutalab as an enemy combatant. The right to a lawyer, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, alleged last week, is reserved for American citizens, not foreign terrorists. Collins is wrong. Immigrants, even those who entered ...
Collins Watch - Wed 7:04 a.m. - 5 clicks
In Sen. Collins' fantasy, the government is allowed to lock up Canadian tourists forever without charging them or giving them access to a lawyer. Just because. ...
Collins Watch - Wed 7:04 a.m. - 4 clicks
That's the upshot of the position Sen. Collins lays out in a deceptive, innumerate op-Ed today complaining about the absence of cost controls in the Senate health care bill. Nowhere in the article does she explain how to cover 30 million Americans without increasing the aggregate total spent on health care in the country. (Maybe because it's impossible?) Instead, she spends the piece pointing ...
Collins Watch - Feb 1 - 2 clicks
Executive Director Shenna Bellows, on the phone: Senators take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. Senator Collins is saying the Constitution doesn't matter. And that's just wrong. And: What Collins is suggesting is that our Constitution should be simply thrown away--that there should be no rule of law, no due process. Because of this, Bellows said, "Senator Collins' suggestions...a...
Collins Watch - Feb 1 - 2 clicks
In the wake of Sen. Collins' ugly radio address, Greenwald does some more intellectual garbage cleanup . I'm stunned--I really am--that we're even having this debate. ...
Collins Watch - Feb 1 - 3 clicks
Sen. Collins, who presided over the Homeland Security Committee during a period in which al-Qaeda flourished and its influence spread around the globe, and who supported a war that diverted resources from the fight against those responsible for the September 11 attacks, thinks the Obama administration has a blind spot when it comes to terrorism? When Collins goes ahead and apologizes for t...
Collins Watch - Feb 1 - 2 clicks
Each week President Obama delivers an address to the American people, and this past Saturday was no different (you can see it here . And each week the Republicans deliver a response, which is often on a different subject than that addressed by the president. This past Saturday, Maine's junior senator, Susan Collins, spoke about what she describes as the "failure" of the administration regardi...
DailyKos (Maine) - Jan 31 - 2 clicks
Gerald journeys into the darkness that was Sen. Collins' radio address, and sets out some basic principles that were uncontroversial across the political spectrum in the age before Fox News. I also recommend the Glenn Greenwald post Gerald links to, which demonstrates how far the GOP (and elements in the Democratic party) have come--and how fast. ...
Collins Watch - Jan 31 - 4 clicks
What does Sen. Collins mean when she says that the FBI's approach in the Abdulmutalib case, "undoubtedly prevented the collection of valuable intelligence about future terrorist threats to our country"? Undoubtedly? What does Collins know that the FBI and the rest of us don't? Someone really ought to pose the question. But set aside the lying--and the poor production values and the even worse ...
Collins Watch - Jan 30 - 4 clicks
Dan Billings takes a look at what might have happened if Pat McGowan had won his close race against Olymia Snowe in 1990. ...
Maine Politics - Jan 30 - 9 clicks
A candidate for governor says something worth listening to. From a Rowe campaign release: Today, Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Rowe announced his opposition to proposed budget cuts to Maine seniors and families and called for a tobacco tax increase. Rowe said, "We need to put Maine people first. The proposed cuts will hurt Maine people and will result in increased future cost...
Maine Politics - Jan 29 - 8 clicks
Part of the stimulus act provided for a website to allow people to track where the money goes. That site, Recovery.gov , shows the various states that have their own versions. Turns out that Maine is one of them . :-) There are already posts from Susan Gendron about how the money will be used for school projects, and a report about the apparent low bidder on a I-295 construction project. This s...
Downeast Politics - Nov 17 - 3 clicks
(picture of MCS) The late great republican Us Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine once said of the republican party back in the 1950’s: “Smears are not only to be expected but fought. Honor is to be earned, not bought.” and… “I don’t want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny [...] ...
White Noise Insanity - Nov 17 - 2 clicks
This is just a bunch of bullshit. If the Bradley Effect was really in play, then in my very white state of Maine on Caucus Day in February of this year, Hillary Clinton would have won over Barack Obama! But that didn’t happen. Nope. Forty five thousand mainly white Democrats came out to vote for [...] ...
White Noise Insanity - Nov 17 - 4 clicks
We (well, I, as Eric is on a plane to Pittsburgh at the moment) sit here (in North Carolina) waiting for the polls to close on Election Day in our home state of Maine (yes, we voted absentee.) While there......
Wampum - Nov 17 - 2 clicks
Brothers & Sisters, You did it! Thanks to the hard work of union members and many others in Maine, TABOR/Question 4 was soundly defeated 60-40 at the polls yesterday as was Question 2/the gutting of the auto excise tax. This is an important victory for Maine workers and our communities. We want to take a moment to thank all of you and your unions for the work that you put into defeating TABOR. The...
Maine AFL-CIO Employee Free Choice Act Blog - Nov 5 - 3 clicks
