Janet Mills is a liberal fiend.

The newly inaugurated Democratic governor is raising taxes, seizing guns, importing illegal immigrants, providing welfare to lazy slobs, and legalizing publicly funded abortions for the entire nine months of pregnancy and even afterwards for kids who play violent video games or have the audacity to return home to live with their parents following college.

I know all this is true because I read it in press releases and online comments from assorted Republican and fanatic conservatives, who’d have no reason to fabricate falsehoods about a political opponent, particularly one who’s been in office for about 20 minutes and hasn’t yet had time to find the executive bathroom.

I’ll forego the more obnoxious trolling, but GOP state Chairwoman Dr. Demi Kouzounas had this critique of Mills’ inaugural address – hours before Mills delivered it:

“The so-called ‘new direction’ Janet Mills has promised will be a return to the (former Democratic Gov. John) Baldacci era, with budget and pension shortfalls, economic failures and piles of new debt if Janet Mills cannot resist the worst impulses of the special-interest coalition that has fought for eight years to regain power.”

At least the Maine Heritage Policy Center’s Jacob Posik waited until after Mills gave her speech to condemn it:

“Overall, Mills offered a big government vision that will include tens of millions in new spending and make Maine people more dependent on government and the welfare state.”

Here’s Jason Savage, executive director of the Republican Party:

“I want to call the idea of Democrats spending money as fast as they can, or passing something without knowing what’s in it, unprecedented, but it’s not. It’s straight out of the liberal playbook.”

Now for a bit of reality.

With the exception of signing an order to expand Medicaid (something voters supported by a solid majority in a 2017 referendum), Mills hasn’t actually done anything. She hasn’t even proposed doing much, unless you count putting solar panels on the Blaine House and a “Welcome Home” sign at the entrance to the Maine Turnpike. Neither of those initiatives seem particularly provocative.

Mills has promised not to raise taxes during her first two years in office. She has nominated cabinet members that even GOP critics concede are highly qualified. She said she won’t reignite the controversy that was started by her predecessor over the labor mural. She has yet to endorse any of the more radical pieces of legislation introduced by her Democratic colleagues. She seems intent on correcting the myriad problems plaguing the state Department of Health and Human Services (a sizable portion of which are the responsibility of the previous Republican administration). And she hasn’t launched a single profanity-laced tirade against enemies, real or imagined (also a hallmark of the departed governor).

It’s far too early to say if Mills will become bogged down in the bumbling incompetence that marked Baldacci’s tenure as governor. But even Baldacci managed to blunder through his first few months in office without committing any disastrous mistakes. There’s no reason to think Mills will do worse.

Nor is there any reason to believe she’ll do better. But the possibility is out there, so we ought to be willing to wait until she does something – anything – before yielding to the currently fashionable trend of condemning her to political hell for what appear to be imaginary sins.

I’m stockpiling gratuitous insults for use the moment Mills messes up. Email your best ones to aldiamon@herniahill.net.