In his April 4 “Here’s Something” column, Mr. Balentine had a concern about damage done to Mr. Trump and his family (his staff) and our country’s image abroad by the Democrats. Perhaps after 2020 they can all retire together and tend each others bruises and egos.
Mr. Balentine said, “When we elect weak-willed representatives who punt away hard decisions to the people via referendum, that’s when republics start to wobble.” Isn’t that what Mr. LePage did with the marijuana issue? Even if it was a “slight majority”?
My 1983 edition of Websters New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines a Republic as “a state or nation in which the supreme power rests in all the citizens entitled to vote (the electorate) and is exercised by representitives elected directly or indirectly by them and responsible to them.” Citing that, didn’t Mr. LePage shirk his responsibility in not acting on the peoples’ wish to legalize marijuana?
We can’t have true representation if one bureaucrat can refuse to do what the Republic voted him to do, in this case, legalize pot.
And if the governor had acted as the citizens’ agent, perhaps monies would have been raised enough by the state to fix the roadways that Mr. Balentine complained about as well. Just sayin’.
Chris Bove
Westbrook
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