by Jonathan Reisman

I have been trying to stay busy amidst the sadness and empty quiet in my house, the nationwide university based and derived insurrectionist anti-Semitic protests supporting Hamas, the growing howls and hate speech from leftists calling for my silencing, and the gnawing fear that the Biden administration is stumbling towards World War III. I was thinking globally but acting locally at the Sunrise County Economic Council (SCEC) summit in Cobscook on Oct. 24, asking some pointed questions about the leftward drift of an organization allegedly promoting our prosperity that has embraced crony capitalism and climate alarmism.

My column on the SCEC generated a critical letter to the editor from one Joe Lendvai of Bath, Maine.  The LTE was published in the MVNO, but not the Calais Advertiser. I am glad that the MVNO published his largely evidence free letter accusing me of errors, insults, and misinformation (that’s the standard charge the left levels (actually projects) against conservative views that they disagree with and wish to suppress); the First Amendment (which the left doesn’t really believe in any more) applies most importantly to speech we disagree with. A little internet research revealed that the letter’s author is a universal health care advocate who had previously chastised Senator Collins for failing to repudiate and challenge Donald Trump in the Ellsworth American. I don't really know what prompted Lendvai to write to the MVNO, but I believe that supporters of the SCEC and/or their keynote speaker are the most likely suspects. He could also just be a leftist lone wolf. I didn’t get any answers at the SCEC summit, but at least I was not de-platformed into the Washington County jail. Is allegedly triggering leftists, crony capitalists, and climate alarmists with “misinformation” an insurrection level offense?

In other correspondence news, the New York Post published a recent op-ed by Tabia Lee, “I was a DEI Director- DEI drives campus antisemitism”. Since I had testified to the UMS Board of Trustees that DEI ideology taught that Jews were “oppressors” (which was met with stony silence), I forwarded the link under the title of “suggested reading” to the UMS Chancellor, UM President, Provost, Dean of Students, and UMM Campus Director, all of whom have promoted equity and social justice without ever offering a definition of same. Here is some of what Tabia Lee had to say:

“The blatant antisemitism on college campuses has shocked millions of Americans over the past week and a half. But not me. I saw antisemitism on a weekly basis in my two years as a faculty “diversity, equity, and inclusion” director. In fact, I can safely say that toxic DEI ideology deliberately stokes hatred toward Israel and the Jewish people…This outpouring of anti-Semitic hatred is the direct result of DEI’s insistence that Jews are oppressors. What started with rhetorical attacks has morphed into defending and calling for violent attacks…Administrators and lawmakers need to get toxic DEI out of higher education. If they don’t, there will be no true diversity and inclusion on campus, but there will be even more shocking hatred toward Jews.”

I have not received a response from any of them, and I do not expect to.

I continue to get letters, e-mails, and grocery store statements of support, prayers, and care, and I am grateful. Thank you all, friends, critics, colleagues, and compassionate community members.