On Aug. 7, a letter to the editor from Sen. Susan Collins’ director of communications reassured Mainers: “In deciding whether to support bills or nominees, Senator Collins has always evaluated them based on merits, not based on who is occupying the Oval Office.” That’s frightening news, especially given her vote on Feb. 17, 2017, to confirm Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross – subject of a damning recent article in Forbes, a magazine not known for left-wing bias.
The news, of course, is not new: The Securities and Exchange Commission fined his investment firm $2.3 million in 2016, after all. Reports that “Ross allegedly skimmed money by serving on corporate boards of his firm’s portfolio companies” and carried out much other dishonesty might have been learned then – at least by someone with the resources of a U.S. senator from Maine at her disposal.
Of course, there’s even more evidence of corruption in the current Oval Office: the investigation of the current occupant’s foundation, his settlement for defrauding students, the emoluments lawsuits (bribes from foreign nations forbidden by the Constitution) currently making it through the courts. Not to mention Russia, where after Helsinki, reasonable Mainers have to wonder about the financial links that could explain threats made by the person “occupying the Oval Office” to NATO and much else. When listening to boasts about Collins’ distance from the party, it’s worthwhile remembering that the current Senate is divided 50-49 (not counting the seat held by Arizona’s ailing senator, John McCain). Her vote could subpoena the current occupant’s tax returns, fulfill her constitutional duty to oversight and alleviate many of her constituents’ reasonable concerns.
We should be grateful to Collins’ communications director nonetheless – since we haven’t been using the Collins Dictionary she provides carefully enough. See under “Moderate”: “Talking a good impartial game, while voting with your party on questions of public corruption when push comes to political shove.”
David Suchoff
Freeport
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