This is not a post-election think piece. Lord knows we have enough of those already. It is not a To-Do List for the Brokenhearted. It’s not an assessment of blame, a hope-in-a-dark-place mantra, or a rallying cry. This is just a statement of fact — a fact I believe sits at the heart of Tuesday’s election outcome — followed […]
The Bowdoinham Democratic caucus was a great place to be on Sunday. Excellent turnout and engaging discussions about the issues, all buoyed by the general ebullience that comes from having a choice between two strong candidates. This was my first caucus. If I learned one thing from the experience, it was this: be sure you’re […]
David Cohen, a storied activist and leader on campaigns for social and economic justice, passed away at the end of last year. Between 2005 and 2007, David and I worked together at Experience Corps in Washington, DC. We shared an office for a brief time. At one point, I recall showing him the keyboard shortcuts […]
Watching a tragedy unfold from the other side of the world can at once be deeply moving and terribly frustrating. It can be hard to know what to do, how to react. Even if the events have no tangible, concrete effect on your day-to-day life, the urge to express empathy with the victims can be […]
Maine was recently ranked 49th among US states for “quality and availability of broadband internet access.” At least we’re ahead of Montana. I thought this 20-page overview of the problem and 10 recommendations for addressing it (PDF) did a good job of cutting to the quick. It’s penned by the CEO of Biddeford-based GWI. Take […]
UPDATE: Apparently the governor has been asking himself this very same question: “I’m considering running for Mike Michaud’s seat if you want to know the truth because it can’t be any worse in Washington than it is here,” LePage said. “Everything’s on the table. Retirement, Social Security, running for Congress, maybe going back to Marden’s […]
Our last crowdsourced endeavor was a real success — with dozens of people contributing over 80 examples of points of interaction between citizens and government — so why not push our luck and try another? With the election behind us, it’s time to focus on how government functions, and how that functioning can be improved […]
The notion that a third political party could emerge in American politics — occupying some kind of radical center that combines the “best” positions of both parties while dispensing with their posturing and gamesmanship — is the chimera of modern political conjecture. Looking for this party’s arrival on the horizon is like squinting into the […]