Angus, Demi, and ME
by Jonathan Reisman
Thirty years ago, I had an “Angus King for Governor” sign on the big white pine that towers over my mailbox. It was one of very few in Washington County. Angus kept his promise to get rid of car testing, opposed the salmon listing, and pushed $100 million (more than a million a mile) in improvements to Route 9 that significantly reduced both travel time and white knuckles on the airline. Despite that, the Two Maines problem got significantly worse during his tenure in both the Blaine House and the Senate.
It probably did not help when this future Statler and Waldorf intern dubbed the divide as “the Volvo line.” Today I would probably update that to either the EV line or the Belfast Barrier (Where’s Waldo?). I might have legislation introduced to declare that the 2nd Congressional District is a Constitution sanctuary district where the 1st and 2nd Amendments still apply. The 1st CD, aka Northern Massachusetts, can continue to believe and act otherwise. I hope I will not need a passport to visit York, Cumberland, Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox, Waldo, and parts of Kennebec County. In any event, I never voted for Angus again.
There is a “Demi for Senate” sign under that white pine this year and here is why:
• Climate Alarmism. Angus has driven the climate alarmist train to the detriment of Maine and the country. He has personally profited as an energy policy crony capitalist, from his early days in energy conservation profiteering in the 80s to the appalling wind scam that has scarred our landscape, raised our electric bills, and damaged both the economy and the environment while doing nothing to actually avert or mitigate this so-called climate emergency. Angus remains in the service of the whacked-out environmental left, promoting policies seeking to replace capitalism, freedom, and prosperity and beef with climate communism, authoritarianism, poverty, and bugs. Demi is pretty much exactly the opposite of Angus on energy and climate policy. If you like increasingly expensive and unreliable energy and blather but no mitigation on climate change, vote for Angus.
• Iran Appeasement. Angus was an early supporter of the Iran nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). That deal, engineered by Obama and ended by Trump, was supposed to prevent/delay Iran’s acquisition of nukes and reduce its role as the #1 state supporter of terrorism. The easing of sanctions is what allowed Iran to ramp up their support to Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. Angus is responsible for appeasing Iran and all the evil that has loosed.
When the JCPOA was announced, Angus called a snap town meeting in Portland, after which he declared his support. I am sure there were plenty of skeptical conservatives on the University of Southern Maine campus on short notice. Angus sits on the Armed Services Committee and should have known better. Demi is a vet and most certainly does.
• Supporting Ecoterrorism and Dissing the 2nd CD and Forest Products Industry. In 2021, Angus voted to confirm eco-terrorist and tree-spiking apologist Tracy Stone-Manning as director of the Bureau of Land Management, where the former Earth Firster oversees the stewardship of millions of acres of public land. King also chose to vigorously defend Ms. Manning in committee and to belittle the concerns of those who opposed her. Three years ago I wrote the following to Senator King:
Subject: Voting for an Eco-Terrorist is a Betrayal
Your vote and committee defense for eco-terrorist Tracy Stone-Manning is an insult and betrayal of Maine's Forest Products Industry workers. I challenge you to come to mill towns in the 2nd CD and explain your vote for an eco-terrorist, tree-spiker apologist.
The environmental left and the climate alarmists must be very proud of their Senator. Congratulations on betraying your constituents who live North of Brunswick.
Here is his non-response:
Thank you for sharing your thoughts about the nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning to serve as the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). As a former governor, I believe that leaders should have latitude in picking their advisors. As a current member of the Senate, I take the role of advise and consent very seriously and look forward to confirming a new leader of BLM who is strongly committed to the Department of Interior’s mandate.
I am approaching President Biden’s nominees the same way I have every other administration’s—with an open mind and with a desire to learn about their experience and skill set. While BLM does not oversee the management of any area in Maine, their work is critical across the western United States, and the agency has not had a Senate-confirmed leader since 2017. I supported Ms. Stone-Manning’s nomination in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and on an initial procedural vote to bring the nomination to the floor. As you may know, Ms. Stone-Manning’s nomination was recently confirmed by the Senate in a vote of 50 to 45, and I again supported her nomination.
Thanks again for your message, and please be in touch on other matters before the Senate in the future.
Senator Collins had the good sense to vote against Ms. Manning, and Demi would have too.