1 week Ago
My wife was up at Saddleback Ski Area doing her very capable work as an instructor in the ski school (we are both in our late 70s and retired health care professionals living here full time in the Rangeley Lakes and Mountains region for the past 21 years, after moving to the Portland area immediately after finishing graduate school in 1974). So I was home alone, forcing myself to listen to President Trump’s inaugural address. It was as full of untruths and empty promises as I expected, perhaps even more so.
It was a speech directed at those who believed the same flow of semi-consciousness during his campaign, and voted accordingly. Allen Wicken lives in Rangeley. At its conclusion, I was so disgusted with his litany of empty promises and untruths, I felt I had to do something at least semi-constructive in response.
So I went downstairs, found my passport, and drove 42 miles to the border crossing at Coburn Gore on Route 27. I needed to apologize to our fine close neighbors to the north. Courtesy of Allen Wicken The very nice border guard asked for my passport, to which I readily complied.
He then, of course, asked what my purpose was for crossing into Canada that afternoon. Without hesitation I explained my need to apologize to someone representing the government of Canada (I figured that his position was about as far up the federal food chain that I would find on very short notice) for the bombastic and incendiary comments regarding Canada-U.S.
relations earlier in the week from our newly sworn in president two hours earlier — Donald Trump. We had a very amicable conversation for about five minutes (I could see that there were no other cars behind me. It was clearly a slow day for travelers to Canada at this crossing).
He understood completely the reason for my expressed need to apologize. Prime Minister Trudeau had earlier announced his impending resignation, and he was concerned about the very real possibility, at that time, of a very conservative politician from a western province replacing him. A car finally appeared behind me.
He returned my passport as I asked him to pass my apology (on behalf of the majority of Americans) up his chain of command, hopefully all the way to Prime Minister Trudeau. He smiled and assured me that he would do the best he could. While driving back to Rangeley, I began to ask myself, “OK, what’s next?” I decided to wait until the end of the new administration’s pivotal first 100 days to see if it was going to be as bad as promised.
Well, I couldn’t wait until April 20. These first 70-plus days have clearly been worse insofar as preserving our democracy is concerned. It has been a daily rollout of very disconcerting, and often illegal, government layoffs and other questionable actions.
A massive layoff of key researchers and staff at the Department of Health and Human Services, including the important National Institutes of Health, and the announcement of the entire federal heating assistance staff in Maine compelled me to share some of my thoughts today. As of this writing, I plan to add my presence to the “Hands Off! Maine Fights Back” demonstration near the State House in Augusta on April 5. Beyond that, I plan on doing what I can to help elect thoughtful candidates to represent me (and who do not demonstrate self-serving fealty to our current president).
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