Pride cometh before the fall

Our government is broken. Kaput. FUBAR! Why would I say that? Because those who get elected to do our bidding, irrespective of party, once they set up residence in the 23 square miles surrounded by reality (better known as Washington, DC), seem intent only on lining their own pockets, taxpayers be damned. If you argue its always been that way, read your history. David McCullough might be a good place to start. While corruption isn't new, there was a time when men left their homes, and vocations, to serve their term (or terms), contribute their skills and time to the commons, and came back home. That used to be the model, before our current crooks in office, turned public service into a personal ATM card.

A case in point is the indictment of Alaska Republican Senator, Ted Stevens, on seven felony counts. This is a serious blow to a minority party that is one the ropes. It also highlights how the machinations in DC are devoid of reality.

For a party potentially awaiting a November bloodbath, I hear an awful lot of clucking coming from their AM/FM radio mouthpieces. Just today, Rush Limbaugh was talking about the indictment with the same victim mentality he derides in others. Limbaugh was trotting out one of the right-wing’s tired canards, the one where all charges of wrongdoing of a good ‘ole conservative is the deceptive work of the “driveby” liberal media. Limbaugh posited that if it was a Democrat, like some Senator from one of the southern states (I’m sorry, I was driving and didn’t write it down and Mr. Limbaugh charges for access to his archived programs), this would be ignored, or downplayed.

I’m sure that other conservative commentators will be picking up this mantra, rallying around Stevens, or at least, excusing the inexcusable.

If anyone happened to be paying attention, Stevens was no political neophyte. The 84-year-old, serving his seventh term, was considered the king of Appropriations, legendary for ensuring spending earmarks for his state. His procurement of pork made him immensely popular at home—it also underscores some of the issues that some of us have with the GOP—it says one thing about fiscal responsibility, but goes out and does something entirely contrary, undermining any platform they might have to stand on when it comes to fiscal credibility. All you really need to know about Mr. Stevens, you can learn by a Google search for, “Ted Stevens” and “bridge to nowhere.” I’m linking to the excellent Washington Post article on the subject.
While many in Washington think their role is to deliver pork back to their home districts. An interesting article by Pat Toomey in the Wall Street Journal seems to contradict that idea, at least when it comes to the sentiments of the American taxpayer.

Toomey’s organization, the Club for Growth recently conducted a nationwide poll showing that voters are fed up with Washington's out-of-control spending.

Here are the particulars of the poll, from the article:

The poll was conducted in late June, surveying 800 voters. It’s margin of error was plus or minus 3.46%. Likely voters were asked the following question: "All things being equal, for whom would you be more likely to vote for the U.S. Congress: 1) A candidate who wants to cut overall federal spending, even if that includes cutting some money that would come to your district or 2) A candidate who wants to increase overall spending on federal programs, as long as more federal spending and projects come to your district?"

The results were unambiguous. Fifty-four percent of general election voters chose the frugal candidate, compared with only 29% who chose the profligate candidate. Republicans overwhelming favor less federal spending, 72% to 17%, with independents close behind at 61%. Only Democrats prefer more federal spending, but only by a plurality. Thirty-six percent of Democrats chose the more fiscally conservative candidate, with 42% choosing the alternative.

It seems pretty clear to me. Americans are sick-and-tired of politics as usual. While I have my own reservations about Mr. Obama, and his qualifications for being our next president, the hubris coming from the right will do little to change many Americans perceptions about the Republican Party.

A little humility would go a long way towards getting their flawed candidate elected in November. Instead, they continue to throw stones, while living in their own glass domiciles.

Maine's power set

I found an interesting list over at politickerme.com of Maine's 50 most powerful for 2008. While lists like these will always be subjective, and while I might quibble with many of the choices, I think there were some interesting selections.

Any list of Maine's movers and shakers has to have the Cianbro Corporations's Peter Vigue (#6). For private sector leaders, he would be at the top of my list.

I was glad to see former governor, Angus King (#3), on the list. From the list's synopsis, "King has laid low over the past few years since leaving office, but that is changing. With his usual brilliant timing, the former governor is on a crusade to bring wind power to Maine where he serves as a principal of Independence Wind. He serves on numerous boards, has friend in high places and is one of the first folks aspiring politicians call."

Arguably, King was one of the state's better leaders, and unlike the current governor, attempted to move the state forward, not back to the neolithic era.

Of course, there will always be those names that elicit the reaction of "who?" from readers glancing at their name/profile. All told, I knew most of the 50.

Columnist Al Diamon (#43) made the list, which was a good choice, although at 43, five places below right-wing loonie, Mike Heath (#38), I thought he could have been a bit higher.

Diamon's been at it for a long time, and arguably, there are few in the state that grasp Maine's political world like Diamon. You can find his columns in several media outlets. He also has the Media Mutt column on the Down East website. One of his recent columns of Maine's media is a worthy rendering of the past year's bloodletting at many of the state's newspapers, and how it affects the news that Mainers receive. His take is accurate, in my opinion, about the demise of many media organs in the state.

In my book, Diamon is must-reading for anyone that still cares about politics and media, in Maine.

Speaking of the media, several other reporters/editors made the list, including Mal Leary (#27), whose been covering the statehouse since the building went up. Scott Fish (#41), the editor of the busy conservative web forum, As Maine Goes, also ended up on the list.

Agree, or disagree, lists like these are always fun, and worthy of some consideration.

Scratching my itch for news

I’ve scrapped my subscriptions to both morning dailies that cover where I live, in central Maine. That’s a big deal for several reasons: 1) I’m in my 40s, and am part of the demographic that still reads newspapers; 2) I’ve been reading a daily newspaper since I was seven-years-old.

The first of my newspapers to go was the Lewiston Sun Journal, with the introduction of its inane B-Section. Developed to attract readership from those that will probably never read their daily paper—20 and 30-somethings—it prompted me to cancel the local daily that I’d been reading the longest.

While the S-J is the paper most likely to have the news and information about Lisbon and Durham, where I now live, as well as the skinny on Central Maine matters, my cancellation forced me to go back to the Portland Press Herald. Since we’ve lived in Durham, we’ve subscribed to this paper semi-consistently over the past decade, primarily during the time our son attended high school at Greely. Since the S-J doesn’t carry sports results from southern Maine, if we wanted to read about our son’s hockey and baseball results, we were forced to subscribe to Maine’s largest daily. Personally, I also preferred their Maine Sunday Telegram, to the S-J’s lame Sunday paper.

When my wife and I agreed to deep-six our S-J subscription, a year ago, we re-upped with the Press Herald, as morning coffee without a newspaper was a tough habit to break. Going into our subscription, we knew the pitfalls of the paper. No fan of Jeannine Guttman for many reasons, and aware that the paper was struggling to deal with ad revenue (which equaled less content to read) tanking, we tried to adapt, just to have a morning newspaper, fish wrap, or not.

When the paper announced its first wave of cuts, and the Monday edition looked more like a newsletter, than a newspaper, we were finished with the morning edition of the paper. We still receive the Maine Sunday Telegram—Christ, when you’ve grown up with a newspaper, Sunday just ain’t Sunday without a paper to read, albeit one that is getting skinnier each week.

I think we’ll continue to keep the paper, if for nothing else than to read what lame explanations Guttman can continue to come up with to justify her still having a job, piloting this sinking ship of a newspaper, in name only.

This morning, “Gutty” was again regaling us with her typical solipsistic drivel that’s become her MST M.O.. I almost missed her column, as the Insight section, which used to be a stand-alone, now is combined with the Business Sunday section.

Madame Ed. was getting all giddy because Pew’s Project for Excellence in Journalism’s (which doesn’t’ seem to be yielding a whole hell of a lot of excellence nationwide) readership survey revealed that things aren’t as bad as Guttman expected them to be. Readers are “hanging in there.” Maybe you should bake them some brownies.

I don’t want to devote any more time to Guttman, so I’ll wrap up my thoughts about newspapers in Maine. Actually, I wrote a blog post on the subject in March, so I’ll just link back to that one.
[Note: If you care to keep up with news from the good ship PPH, check out Pressing the Herald blog.]

In lieu of a local daily, what am I doing to get my news? Here are a few news sites (with two being print-based) that are my go-to substitutes for the daily newspaper.

The Wall Street Journal: The Journal has a great offer for subscribers linking the Online Journal, with the print edition, all for $99/year.

The Journal still practices journalism, with a stable of writers that can still write an article that reads like the news articles I grew up with. The Journal isn’t just for day traders, or business leaders, although, anyone who wants to stay current on the important issues of the day should be a regular reader.

The Bollard: Longtime local journalist, Chris Busby, has shephered The Bollard moving its content from web-only, to quarterly print edition, to monthly periodical. A recent article on the cruise ship industry, and its affect on Portland, by Maine author, Colin Woodard, was an example of the quality content Busby is churning out. Liz Peavey continues to write for The Bollard, with her unique travel-based articles that she’s known for. If you haven’t picked up the print edition, look for it when you make a trip into Portland.

The Lisbon Reporter/The Rumford Reporter: I lump these two online news sites together, because TRR came first, and first clued readers to the trail of trouble that leads from Rumford, to Lisbon.

A small group of local news gadflies took over the former River Valley Reporter, and made it a must read for anyone wanting some actual news from the River Valley, instead of the tired, pro-crony tripe that the Sun-Journal had been serving up for far too long.

If you follow the news trail, you’ll see that former Rumford town manager, Steve Eldridge, landed a cush job in the Town of Lisbon, and not too long ago, former River Valley Growth Council Director, Rosie Bradley, also showed up as director of economic and community development. There were other issues plaguing the government of the town, also. Since the Brunswick Times-Record cleaned house, and dumped former reporter, Michael Reagan, no news coverage of any merit was forthcoming.

Until the launch of The Lisbon Reporter that is. Now, the citizens of the town can access content online that gives them a sense of some of shenanigans that are being perpetuated by those elected to carry out their wishes.

Both sites provide news, and should be regular destinations for anyone that cares about either community, or cares to consider that similar malfeasance might be happening in their own communities. Maybe we’ll start to see many other similar sites popping up all over the state, shining some disinfecting light on small town power-tripping.

The Daily Bulldog: Bobbie and Woody Hanstein have launched their own local media beachhead in Franklin County. Bobbie, a veteran reporter at first, the Lewiston Sun Journal, and then as editor for the Franklin Journal, won several awards for her local and regional reporting. Bobbie, who heads up the editorial side, brings a strong local orientation to the news stories that end up online at their site.

For a few months, TDB was publishing a monthly print version, but costs proved prohibitive, so they are online-only.

Solid news reporting, and you’ll occasionally find an article from yours truly, usually a business-related article for the site.

Newspapers will continue to list, and probably sink at some point, unless they learn to adapt, and recognize that readers want content that is rooted in journalism.

The internet has leveled the playing field and opened opportunities up to the masses to be the media.

The bliss of Shagg Pond

After months of burning the candle at both ends, I finally had a few days (Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday) for some much needed rest and relaxation.

A dear childhood friend of my wife invited us to her family camp on Shagg Pond, in Woodstock, located in northeast Oxford County. This camp, which will be 100 years old next year, is a place that gives you the sense that you are turning back the clock to a time before being harried was a way of life.

[Shagg Pond, with Bald Mountain in the background, shrouded in fog]

[Another shot of an idyllic Maine pond]

One of the best things about the location of the camp, besides the idyllic pond, scenic vistas, and great people just hanging out, was being cut off from cell phone service, the internet (s), and other intrusions that diminish the experience.

[Camp Altamerteva, on Shagg Pond]

One of the best parts of the long weekend was my wife's friend's son, George. Eight-years-old and still wide-eyed about the world, George was my guide to enjoying my surroundings. Never have I seen a child derive so much enjoyment from the wonders of a rural pond. From sharing his passion for catching frogs with me, to the joy of returning the favor by taking him on his first-ever hike of Bald Mountain, George helped me to put aside political partisanship, the worries of the world, and the cynicism that pervades our daily existence. It's been quite a long time since I enjoyed being in the presence of a youngster, but George's enthusiasm for life was contagious.

[George showing off his catch]

I'm back to the day-to-day grind of work, following the joke of a presidential race we've been given, and yes, blogging. With my return, I'm going to try to keep my memories of the past long weekend alive, and appreciate the little things, like George helped me reconnect with.

Local news

I've been meaning to put up a link to The Lisbon Reporter. An email from a friend requesting that I do so got it done.

At some point I want to get up a future post about sites like the new one in Lisbon, as well as the fine job informing the public in Rumford and the River Valley being done by The Rumford Reporter. My full-length book, picking up where Moxietown left off, will have an entire chapter devoted to local news. Moxie Matters: Life's Beginnings in a Small Maine Town will have material about the history of newspapers in Lisbon Falls (the late John Gould got his start as a local newspaperman). In my opinion, The Lisbon Reporter is carrying forward that spirit, and the great work done by Norm Fournier, during the glory days of the old Lisbon Post (1970s and 1980s).

In an era when daily newspapers in Maine are irrelevant, or quickly moving in that direction, keeping apprised about local politics, corruption (seemingly intertwined in too many communities), and the people that make local communities unique has fallen to dedicated people determined to maintain the spirit of community journalism.

A tip of the hat to the good folks at The Lisbon Reporter (and The Rumford Reporter). Keep on being the news. We're enjoying over here, on the other side of the river.