I just read Paul Krugman’s Feb. 26 New York Times opinion piece, “The Mystery of White Rural Rage.” I know, that makes me an “effete intellectual snob,” to quote Spiro Agnew. The gist of Krugman’s column is that rural America has big challenges but turning to “hucksters” like Donald Trump will not help them. Trump has never helped anyone except himself and he never will. He is not redeemable, the people of Maine are. Krugman ends his piece claiming that he has no answer. I call BS.
He knows why Trump’s hucksterism works and he knows what is needed to offset it. Leaders like Gov. Mills are lazy and risk-averse. They know what needs to be done but are afraid to put their neck on the line. Education is the only way out but that sounds elitist. Oooo, we can’t be labeled an elitist, liberal, progressive, socialist, etc. So, let’s do nothing….
Metaphorically, it is all in The Wizard of Oz. The man behind the curtain is a huckster from the Kansas State Fair and the Woodsman, the Lion and the Scarecrow (the people of Maine) point it out. He sheepishly admits it, something Trump would never do. The Wicked Witch is Stephen Miller. As he is melting under the cleansing water of the Allagash he/she whines “what a world, what a world.”
We need to face up to the challenges and understand that Trump and his minions have never been the answer.
Bruce Baker
Fryeburg
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