Maine
updated
8:02 a.m.
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.
Jake Tapper , quoting a "senior administration official": "The truth is, not one time in the nearly eight years since (attempted shoe-bomber) Richard Reid was Mirandized has one of these guys offered an alternative view until now," the official said. "It's nothing but politics, pure and simple." Their protests "would be easier to understand if there was one statement" from these Republicans "du...
Collins Watch - Mon 11:24 a.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
Dahlia Lithwick (via Greenwald ): Each time Republicans go to their terrorism crazy-place, they go just a little bit farther than they did the last time, so that things that made us feel safe last year make us feel vulnerable today.... We're terrified when a terror attack happens, and we're also terrified when it's thwarted. We're terrified when we give terrorists trials, and we're terrified ...
Collins Watch - Sat 8:26 a.m.
A.J. Higgins has just posted what he says is his first column in three years at the Capitol Connection Facebook page . Higgins takes a look at the well-funded leadership PACs run by House and Senate leadership candidates, most of whom are running for their own seats as clean elections candidates. There's also this great tidbit: "So when are you guys going to start covering the governor’...
Maine Politics - Fri 12:21 p.m.
Sen. Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) : I think that it is high time that we remembered that we have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution. I think that it is high time that we remembered that the Constitution, as amended, speaks not only of the freedom of speech but also of trial by jury instead of trial by accusation. ...
Collins Watch - Fri 10:27 a.m.
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
There's one more important result of the Williams decision that I didn't mention at Down East (thanks to newly-elected Bowdoinham Selectman Dan Billings for cluing me in). Because there will be no publicly-funded Green candidate in the general, the clean elections fund should now remain solvent throughout the election. According to calculations done by the Ethics Commission staff, even ...
Maine Politics - Wed 7:46 a.m.
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
After a lackluster fundraising performance so far, and despite promising not to, Green Independent gubernatorial candidate Lynne Williams has announced she will switch to private financing for her campaign. See my Down East column for the details and possible repercussions. Full campaign email after the jump. read more ...
Maine Politics - Wed 6:05 a.m.
Sec. of Defense Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were on Capitol Hill today arguing for a repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) . Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) debated Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) about it earlier today - both are members of the House Armed Services Committee: Pwned. ...
DailyKos (Maine) - Tue 2:26 p.m.
Glenn Greenwald : One can only marvel at the consensus outrage generated by the mere notion that we charge people with crimes and give them trials if we want to lock them in a cage for life. Indeed, what was once the most basic and defining American principle--the State must charge someone with a crime and give them a fair trial in order to imprison them--has been magically transformed into Lef...
Collins Watch - Tue 8:47 a.m. - 2 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
Video of the Associated General Contractors' massive thirteen-candidate gubernatorial debate, held January 20th: ...
Maine Politics - Jan 29 - 3 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
MPN statehouse reporter A.J. Higgins is now blogging, sort of. Check out his posts on the new Capitol Connection Facebook page . The post stream is available by RSS here . There's also an intro video: I think my title references may be getting a little too obscure. ...
Maine Politics - Jan 28 - 2 clicks
Over at Down East, you can read my interview with newly-unenrolled Representative Jim Campbell. ...
Maine Politics - Jan 28
...if it turns out to be true ? Mere days from assuming the presidency and closing the door on eight years of Bill Clinton, president-elect George W. Bush assured the nation in a televised address Tuesday that "our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over." read more ...
Downeast Politics - Nov 17
Obama's Executive Orders are being posted over at Whitehouse.gov . So far, we have the following: Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel Every appointee ... shall sign ... the following pledge: read more ...
Downeast Politics - Nov 17 - 2 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
In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Two Towers , Faramir refused to take the One Ring, even to save his city - because it ultimately would not do so. read more ...
Downeast Politics - Nov 17
I was curious as to what the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 actually said, so I went and looked it up on Thomas.loc.gov , where the Library of Congress posts legislative information from Congress. The final version is the one that was "Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate". read more ...
Downeast Politics - Nov 17
I’m sorry, but this is laugh out loud funny. The right wingers (as their party dies as we approach the finish line) are now going after Barack Obama’s letter he wrote to Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke. Apparently, the right wingers are blaming Barack for not doing enough. Some of the wingers, like this one, [...] ...
White Noise Insanity - Nov 17
(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
Someone over on FDL just posted a link to this in the comments. I though it was hysterical (and frightening of course!) and I hope Tom Ryan wins his race this Tuesday: Posted in Election 2008, Election Fraud, Politics, Voting ...
White Noise Insanity - Nov 17
Your post music… Remember the post I did about current republican Oxford County Probate Judge Dana Hanley and how the documents he’s filled out over time show him not living in Oxford County, but rather, it appears he actually lives in Cumberland County in the town of Windham? Well, the drama is gettin’ good. Maybe he [...] ...
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
Ooopsie dooooo. It appears John McCain is MORE connected to Bill Ayers and Rashid Khalidi (a PLO sympathizer) than Barack Obama is. Seems Johnny gave Mr. Khalidi close to $500,000 in the last ten years when Johnny was in charge of the International Republican Institute. Keith Olbermann explains (hat tip to Rutherford Lawson for posting [...] ...
White Noise Insanity - Nov 17
I love it. Apparently the people of Erie, PA despise the Phillies. Had Sarah Palin done her homework like an exceptional executive leader would have or had surrounded herself with people who could look past her looks, she would have known this prior to opening her lipstick coated mouth. Huh. I guess she has surrounded [...] ...
White Noise Insanity - Nov 17
HYSTERICAL. Enjoy! (hat tip to Foothillsmike of FDL for posting this video today) Posted in Election 2008, Integrity, John McCain, Sarah Palin ...
White Noise Insanity - Nov 17
The right wing robots keep spewing their crap! Stop them now!!!! Before it’s too late!!!! (hat tip to Jane Hamsher of FDL for the video) Posted in Barack Obama, Election 2008, Joe Biden, Obama/Biden '08, Politics ...
White Noise Insanity - Nov 17
La loi n° 55-385 du 3 janvier 1955 modifiée par la loi n° 551080 du 7 août 1955 et l'ordonnance n° 80-372 du 15 avril 1960 was put into effect yesterday evening. For those to young to recall, this is......
Wampum - Nov 17 - 2 clicks
I lived for most of three years in the Commune of Ixelles / Elsene. At least one Sunday a month I'd go to Gare Central / Centraalstation and catch a train one stop south to Gare du Midi / Zuidstation,......
Wampum - Nov 17
Today's Cartoon is from Mike Lester of the Rome (Ga.) News Tribune.......
Wampum - Nov 17
Mandatory reading. I learned something from it. Click on her book's gif on the right sidebar.......
Wampum - Nov 17
Riots in France by Adrien Wing, November 3, in blackprof.com. Thoughtful and under two pages. The problem with France by Steve Gilliard, November 6th, in stevegilliard.blogspot.com, both a piece from the Euro version of Boonews and some background pieces (and......
Wampum - Nov 17
This shows the conflict in its social dimension. The cités (aka "HLM", trans. "the projects") are largely abandoned by the French state, anonymous and experienced as "other", not as French neighborhoods, and the CRS/GM/police, also anonymous and experienced as "other",......
Wampum - Nov 17
It took 18 days to collapse (and invert) the Iraq Army defensive perimeter, from the initial movement order to the final investment of central Baghdad. One plan, which I will characterize as "Stay the Course", broadly retains US forces as......
Wampum - Nov 17
As Duncan pointed out late last night (pointing to this TPMCafe post), Corzine won in New Jersey because he actually approached women as key voters, not as a special interest group. In particular, he framed his economic policies in terms......
Wampum - Nov 17
It is now clear that the administration drove us to war in Iraq based on a group of false claims. That was a huge mistake. We have paid for that mistake with thousand lives, more than ten thousand injuries, and......
Wampum - Nov 17
Santorum Exposed, by way of Atrios, reminds us that Rick Santorum is a hypocrite with regard to statutory limits on pain and suffering awards in personal injury actions. They link to this ABC News piece: In recent years many......
Wampum - Nov 17
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
Some years ago, among certain people, it was considered witty to remark that a conservative was a liberal who had been mugged. Google returns 138,000 hits for conservative + liberal + mugged. Lets turn the adage around and ask a......
Wampum - Nov 17
Three years back, a small, insignificant event took place in the blogosphere. The first post on Wampum.......
Wampum - Nov 17
Autism is a pervasive disorder. The National Institute of Mental Health writes: Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), also known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDDs), cause severe and pervasive impairment in thinking, feeling, language, and the ability to relate to others. At......
Wampum - Nov 17
That's the word early this evening from Toulouse where a group of 30+ civilians and an undisclosed number of police were engaged in an exchange of gas grenades and diverse projectiles. For the first time the police are being engaged......
Wampum - Nov 17
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
