In his April 22 column, “On murals galore, Objectivism and solemnity,” M.D. Harmon describes the mural removed from the Labor Department as “a piece of Stakhanovite agitprop.”

That’s a fine, orotund phrase, and I’m sure that Mr. Harmon is very proud of it. It got me thinking, though — and not just about over-the-top rhetoric, of the sort that gets condemned on the Press Herald’s editorial page if it comes from liberals.

Aleksey Stakhanov was a Soviet miner and a hero of Soviet labor, whose supposed achievements were later exposed as lies. Perhaps Mr. Harmon believes that the events depicted on the mural are lies as well.

That seems unlikely: It’s pretty easy to check that Frances Perkins was actually from Maine, that women worked in industry during World War II, that strikes for better working conditions actually happened in Maine in the 20th century.

Mr. Harmon’s not a dumb guy (although his denial of global warming demonstrates an evolved capacity for ignoring information that doesn’t suit his agenda). It’s more likely that this rhetoric is just a tactic, part of the ongoing right-wing campaign to erase a part of Maine’s history, that part which involves organized labor and its accomplishments. I’m not sure when Rosie the Riveter became subversive, but if labor-bashing is an integral part of support for business, it’s obviously necessary to deny that organized labor has a proud history in the state.

On the same editorial page, the Press Herald supported a simplification in the system of reporting of terrorist threats. Perhaps Mr. Harmon needs to develop an equivalent warning system for the activities of those Stakhanovite union members and their supporters. That way, when unions are portrayed in a positive light, he and his conservative friends will be better equipped to mobilize against the subversives.

 

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