Paul LePage, the governor of Maine, is currently serving his second term in Augusta. Throughout his time in office, he has been at the center of many comments, thoughts, and opinions widely considered negative and unjust. For the next couple of minutes, I would like to break down three of these events and explain why Paul LePage is not in the wrong, and should not be the target of these unfavorable remarks.

When Paul LePage Asked Chellie Pingree to Resign (Early 2017)

Chellie Pingree is Maine’s only democratic representative on Capitol Hill. When asked, she said she would not be attending the Inauguration due to strong disagreements with Trump’s opinions and his attitude. Paul LePage came forth saying that if Chellie Pingree does as she says, he believes she should resign because she would be ignoring her constitutional duties by not accepting the presidential election results. While I don’t necessarily agree with his reasoning of why she should resign, I do believe he is making a good point. The people on Capitol Hill, whether we like it or not, are the ones responsible for ensuring that our country runs as smoothly as possible. To many, these influencers and lawmakers are role models. Is the impression you would want to leave, if you were Chellie Pingree, that it is okay to disrespect the President of the United States instead of doing your best to accept that it happened, and work closely with him to change America for the better? No. LePage was spot on when he mentioned President Obama in his argument. Many Republicans were scared to death when Obama took office--both the first and second times--, but there was significantly less discourse about it. Now, two months after the election, it is time to move forward and work towards a better America. Pingree, however, is only harboring childish rhetoric. LePage’s response to Pingree was perfect and it needed to be said. If Obama can be cordial about Trump taking office, at least in the public eye, Pingree should be too.

When LePage Attacked the “D-Monies” of New England (Early 2016)

Early in 2016, LePage made national headlines for stating comments that out-of-state drug dealers were coming into Maine to sell their heroin--and impregnating some of Maine’s white women at the same time. He approached the argument by giving these dealers names such as “D-Money”, and other street names. People took these nicknames as racist attacks against drug dealers, implying that they are of a certain ethnicity or color. While many people will not agree with me, or LePage, he has a non-racially charged point. I am not a druggie, nor a drug dealer, but I knew people that were involved in some fashion with these types of people. Regardless of race, there is an intense heroin problem in Maine stimulated by drug dealers coming from more southern sates. For those that don’t know, heroin has become an increasingly larger issue, especially in southern Maine, over the past couple of years--even to the point that "safe needle deposit boxes" needed to be placed on trash cans in Portland. I closely associate LePage to Trump, in the sense that he will say what needs to be said, whether it seems inconsiderate or not. Remember how I said he said younger white women? Well, whether it is exclusive or not, Maine is approximately 95% white, so he wasn’t off base. Maine, in its democratic bubble, needs a governor that isn’t afraid to say the truth, and LePage did just that in this incident.

When LePage Got Questioned by the N.A.A.C.P for No Reason (2012)

After recently being elected to his first term, LePage decided to not be in attendance at some Martin Luther King Jr. Day events, due to scheduling conflicts. The N.A.A.C.P. (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) jumped on this and ran with it saying that they felt slighted and that his decision to not attend showed that he was not going to pay attention to their interests. His response was simple, yet worked in the way it needed to. He said they could, “kiss my butt” (NYTimes). I stand with LePage wholly on this. Like honestly, did the nation decide to all become pre-schoolers at once? "Oh, he didn’t have time to come see me so I need to be sad and hurt." This is politics people, not kindergarten! I get it, he has made some controversial comments. One such being the fact that he told some fisherman he would tell “President Obama to go to hell” (NYTimes). So, naturally, it would be okay for the N.A.A.C.P. to initially worry about what his policies would look like. However, he has a black adopted son, so it would be absurd to automatically assume he is racist. Secondly, they weren’t arguing that he was acting corrupt, they were mad that he did not come to a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration. Please America, climb out of the hole we seem to be in, it's time to start a new era of understanding, and leave the ignorance in 2016.

Sources:

http://stateandcapitol.bangordailynews.com/2017/01...

http://www.pressherald.com/2016/01/07/lepage-accus...

https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/...

https://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/14/mai...