Luckily it’s a great paper, having recently hired a former New England Journalist of the Year as well as a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer to cover the Portland area. I’m all for that!

This weekend they had an interesting story about St. Croix Island, in the St. Croix river between Maine and New Brunswick, that was settled by the French in 1604 – three years before Popham Colony and Jamestown Settlement.

Check out, “An island prison: Rugged St. Croix Island brought ghastly death to early settlers“.

Apparently the judge, who coincidentally was appointed by GW Bush in 2003, looks likely to support LePage’s position that the removal was a political statement. This rankled Edgar Allen Beem, opinion columnist for the Forecaster, and one of the protest’s organizers:

“If the governor can legally remove any work of art he doesn’t like from public view, does he also have the power to remove any book from the state library?” Beem asked while addressing the demonstrators. “Based on the state’s argument, we have to assume he does.”

Bam.

See, I don’t watch Jersey Shore and wouldn’t know “The Situation” if I fell over him, but this Paul LePage mural malarkey is almost as bad as reality television.

First there was a free speech claim made last week: “Federal lawsuit seeks return of mural to Labor Department“.

Then Republican state senators took a swipe at him in the press: “LePage rhetoric interferes with goals, say GOP senators“.

AND now the federal Department of Labor is getting in on the action: “US Labor Department demands refund in Maine mural dispute“.

See? Reality TV at it’s worst.

I’m glued!

What’s next?!?

Well his lackies have now clarified his remarks: “Paul LePage clarifies disputed comment on health care reform.”

Apparently the law to which he was referring was:

… the introduction of a possible constitutional amendment to allow any provision of federal law or rule to be repealed if at least 35 states object to its implementation.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Because he’s not a moron.

See, apparently the new Maine government is joining legal fight against the Affordable Care Act (a/k/a “Obamacare”).

Here’s the quote regarding our new Tea Party Governor:

LePage also said he recently learned that if 35 states join the lawsuit, the law “dies, automatically.”

Not true, according to outgoing Attorney General Janet Mills.

“That’s not the law,” she said. “A congressional act does not get voided or overturned simply because a certain number of state officials join some lawsuit. I don’t know what he’s talking about.”

Ha!

Doesn’t that sound like a “fact” that you’d see in some email forward sent from the same person who sends out weekly computer virus warnings or cell phone marketing scams?

And now he’s our governor.

Thanks everyone who voted for Mitchell, Moody or Scott!

“We need someone who can bring people together. It’s going to be almost impossible to get through what we are facing if it’s all going to be partisan,” King said. “He’s a really smart guy. He has thought about these issues as deeply as anyone I have ever encountered in Maine.”

Don’t forget to vote on Tuesday. (Unless you’re voting for LePage).

University of Southern Maine’s Free Press also endorsed him today: “Eliot Cutler for Governor“.

I have a good Cutler story from last week. I was leaving my class at USM on Thursday night, and I saw Cutler and his wife in the parking garage. I accosted them, told him that I was interested in voting for him, but had concerns about his education platform (I had recently read a blurb about his wanting to increase classroom sizes). He shifted into politician-mode about some mailer from the MEA about teacher layoffs, which I quickly brushed aside – I just wanted to know the facts of his platform.

He went into his prepared remarks about 11.3 students for every teacher and Maine having the second-highest student-teacher ratio, and by increasing it to 13.5 it’d save something like $140 million.

I said that I’d look into it some more, but that I was still 90% sure I’d vote for him.

And then he did something classy.

He said, “Josh, if you don’t vote for me, please email me and let me know why.”

Now shoot, will I really email him if I don’t vote for him? Will he really read it if I really mail him? Will he care why?

But still, I thought it was classy.

Quite honestly I’m going to vote after my Tuesday night USM class, at around 7 pm, and I’ll see where bat-shit crazy Tea Partier Paul LePage is in the standings, and then vote accordingly.

I’m all for independents, but not if elect a nutball (cough) George W. Bush (cough).

Anyway, I ended by saying how I was attending Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity this weekend, and I was contemplating wearing a Cutler tee shirt. His wife thought that was a good idea.

So even if I don’t vote for him, I think I’ll wear a shirt.

Unfortunately the story gained only minimal national attention, most notably on “The Colbert Report”, and in James Poniewozik’s blog at Time Magazine (see Stephen Colbert Picks Up Apology and Poniewozik on the Press Herald).

We can add the print edition of Time Magazine to that list now.

This week Poniewozik has an article about Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity and Colbert’s competing March to Keep Fear Alive, and he uses the Press Herald apology to illustrate the media’s fright of that fringe element, the loud 15 Percenters.

Check out: “The 15% Solution.”

Key quote:

The very idea that in the U.S. today you have to hold a protest to promote rational discourse is absurd. It’s funny because it’s true.

Poniewozik has become one of my favorite writers in the young generation of Time Magazine writers, I’m glad he’s picked up this story.

Anyway, I think we’re nearing the end of the cycle for the apology story. While I would have liked a few more headlines, maybe a march on the Press Herald’s offices in One City Center or Richard L. Connor as Keith Olbermann’s “Worst Person in the World”, the coverage that the story did receive was quality.

And sane.

After a week of not seeing anything, I gave up hope.

And then Stephen Colbert talked about it on “The Colbert Report” on Monday!

The clip starts at 1:27:

The joke about ducks flying south and grandparents flying south is awesome:

Go Colbert!