Freedom Studies

by Jonathan Reisman

Laws are like sausages. It’s better not to see them being made. –Attributed, likely apocryphally, to Otto von Bismarck 

Regardless of the source, the verity of the observation was evident in Washington and Augusta last week. Close observance of the sausage-making process is not for those with a weak Constitution, and it does make me wonder occasionally about the wisdom of promoting transparency ... you are likely to see some things that you can't unsee but wish you could.

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Energy in the Executive

by Jonathan Reisman

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Campus Follies

by Jonathan Reisman

Higher Education in America is in for some change. The change process is not pretty or pleasant, but it is necessary because American higher education is the source of quite a bit of the toxic ideology and idiocy that has poisoned America in recent years, including identity/oppression politics, critical race theory, equity, and climate alarmism. DEI divas and defenders were created and trained on America’s campuses. 

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Daffodils, Equity, and Forsythia Sage

by Jonathan Reisman

Forty Mays ago, my late wife Ernie and I moved into a largely unfinished house on Cathance Lake in Cooper. May is lovely — cool, bugless mornings, full of sunrise concerts from songbirds, ravens, and woodpeckers, with loon warbles and serenades in the evening.

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Equity Limbo

by Jonathan Reisman

“Equity” is promoted across Maine State Government and the University of Maine System as part of broad Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts and within specific policy initiatives like the Climate Action Plan, which has a significant and significantly funded equity component. What equity does not have is a definition. Promoting an undefined policy goal is pure policy malpractice. Determining what equity actually is and what Maine State Government is doing to promote it has turned into a strange dance called the equity limbo. 

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What Could Go Wrong?

by Jonathan Reisman

I spent most of a mid-April afternoon waiting to testify on LD 1494, a “Resolve, Directing the Office of Procurement Services to Study Adapting the Procurement Process to the State Climate Action Plan.” The resolve didn’t get a lot of attention from the Soros-bought-and-paid-for (SBAPF) Maine legacy media, and I’m pretty sure that the majority of the committee is happy about that. 

Here is the LD 1494 summary:

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Federalism and Freedom

by Jonathan Reisman

Federalism is the balance and sharing of powers between the national government and the states. Federalism is a means of protecting against the tyranny of majorities and of allowing for a diverse electorate and political cultures. Maine can be Maine rather than California, Massachusetts, or New Hampshire. The Electoral College, the U.S. Senate, and the 10th Amendment are all elements of Federalism designed to protect freedom.

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Two Generations of Thespians had Roles in Machias ACT’s Steel Magnolias

Last weekend, a local family collaboration took center stage as two generations of talented women came together for the first time in Machias Arts Council Theatre’s (Machias ACT) production of the beloved classic Steel Magnolias.

Set in a small-town beauty salon in Louisiana, Steel Magnolias -- in a 1987 script by Robert Harling -- is a touching and humorous story about friendship, resilience, and the unbreakable bonds between women. 

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White Rabbits and Jabberwocky in Augusta

by Jonathan Reisman

This Maine political season of partisan budgets and censures, gubernatorial and presidential petulance, DEI deflection, and narrative nonsense from Maine’s Soros bought-and-sold legacy media have brought Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass into clear metaphorical focus.

My first white rabbit sighting came with apologies to Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane:

 

White Rabbit in Augusta

 

Budgets can make you larger,

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Spring?

by Jonathan Reisman

I am more than ready for Spring, so the fresh, wet, white blanket that I observed at sunrise several days after spring had allegedly sprung was worth at least a question mark, but the preceding days of melting, initial raking, and garden prep, and baseball dreams were sufficient to somewhat salve the political and policy pounding Governor Mills and her Democratic legislative majorities have been so kindly administering to me, rural Maine, and the 2nd Congressional District.

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