Letters

Published
February 13, 2020

Letter to the editor: Self-described ‘moderates’ still fall in line with toxic GOP agenda

Sen. Susan Collins again claims to be a moderate Republican by voting to hear witnesses in the impeachment trial. But she toed the party line and voted to acquit with the thinnest justification: that President Trump had “learned from this case.” Yes, he learned that he can act with ever-greater impunity. Even if you grant […]
Published
February 12, 2020

Letter to the editor: Land for Maine’s Future bill has a dark side

I was one of 54 people who testified against the Land for Maine’s Future bill (L.D. 911) last June because there was and still remains a dark side, buried in the legislation’s fine print: Section 5, 1.A. states: “Hunting, fishing, trapping and public access may not be prohibited on land acquired with bond proceeds, except […]
Published
February 12, 2020

Letter to the editor: Memories of polio epidemic prompt ‘No on 1’ vote

I was a student nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston in the 1950s, during the polio epidemic. I volunteered for the inhalation (polio) ward. It was sad to see young adults, helpless in the iron lungs (negative-pressure ventilators or mechanical respirators to help people breathe). The iron lung held the whole body inside, except […]
Published
February 12, 2020

Letter to the editor: Vote ‘no’ on 1 – vaccines are a public health issue, not a partisan one

Looking around Portland in the last few weeks, I’ve noticed a lot of signs demanding “Reject Big Pharma,” which confused me, as I was unaware of any measure on the ballot that was looking to tackle large pharmaceutical companies. And there isn’t any. “Reject Big Pharma” signs are at best misleading, and at worst an […]
Published
February 12, 2020

Letter to the editor: Coverage of Irish election incomplete, misleading

The AP report mistakenly implied that 'the IRA was solely responsible for the death toll in Northern Ireland during The Troubles.'

Published
February 12, 2020

Letter to the editor: Imagine what foreign spies have recorded about Trump

Has it occurred to anyone how lax the security is around our clueless president? He was apparently unaware of the recordings made by Lev Parnas (an associate of the president’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani), including the one in which the president instructed his aides to “get rid of” the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, […]
Published
February 12, 2020

Letter to the editor: Protect at-risk students, educators by voting ‘no’ on 1

As a retired educator of many years, including principal of two elementary schools in Maine, I witnessed firsthand what it meant to allow parents to refuse to have their children immunized against certain communicable diseases, claiming religious and philosophical differences. School nurses all over Maine have dealt with this issue for years, since it is […]
Published
February 11, 2020

Letter to the editor: Description of Collins as ‘moderate’ should be qualified

Old habits die hard, but I think the Press Herald should examine its knee-jerk use of the word “moderate” every time it mentions Sen. Susan Collins. In the same way that the press would never call a suspect a “murderer” until there was proof – it’s always “alleged murderer” – a responsible paper would call […]
Published
February 11, 2020

Letter to the editor: ICE deserves support, not detraction

It is stunning to see the amount of misinformation and confusion surrounding the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Portland. It led to a protest last Oct. 14 in which protesters were chanting “Shut it down” and “Abolish ICE.” More recently, a letter writer (Mary Dunn) totally mischaracterized ICE’s role and its performance […]
Published
February 11, 2020

Letter to the editor: Collins’ impeachment rationale signals her time in Senate needs to end

When President Trump lashed out at the National Prayer Breakfast, it undercut the senator's statement that the impeachment was a learning experience for him.

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Letters