Credentialing is important. In my profession, when applying for a medical license or hospital privileges, a thorough background check is routinely performed. This is essential to protect the public from practitioners who are unfit to practice. On the applications there is a question: “Have you resigned from an institution while under investigation?” If the answer […]

So, a former lawyer from Maine thinks we’re a bunch of hicks who try to subvert democracy (“Letter: Maine’s laughable attempts to ‘save’ democracy,” Nov. 15). It’s what we do when faced with a candidate who promises to fight the enemy within (i.e., Democrats). There’s never been a time when filling a cabinet created so […]

Gloria Burnell’s letter of Nov. 11, “Abortion account fell short,” is profoundly inaccurate. Ms. Burnell writes “… abortion had always been illegal.” The history of the United States, however, belies that. Historian Leslie Reagan, who has written authoritatively about the subject, points out that abortion was openly a part of life in the 19th century. […]

President-elect Trump has made known his intent to carry out mass deportation once in office. Is there a need? None I know of. It appears as straight racism and hatred to me. If such a need exists, Trump should do the country the honor of sending his plan to Congress where it can be properly […]

More than 4 million Americans currently hold a security clearance. Every one of them had a background check that was conducted by the FBI. During my 30 years of federal government service, I also held a security clearance, so I’m familiar with background checks, with the procedures for handling classified information, and with the importance […]

Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith was the first U.S. Senator to speak up against the rhetoric and tactics of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, in her 1950 “Declaration of Conscience” speech on the Senate floor. She will go down in history for it. As of now, Maine Sen. Susan Collins will be remembered for saying that Donald […]

Sen. Susan Collins supports sanctioning the International Criminal Court if its prosecutor continues to pursue arrest warrants against Israeli officials. When ICC prosecutor Karim Khan requested arrest warrants for Hamas and Israeli leaders, he alleged that Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war against the civilian population in Gaza. Khan said that the […]

As a 91-year-old homeless veteran living at the Bread of Life Ministries veterans homeless shelter at Augusta, I’d like to say a word or two concerning the “Homeless Veterans Mobile Stand Down” that was held Oct. 30 at Mill Park in Augusta. On behalf of my homeless brothers, and the staff of Bread of Life, […]