The story of how Maine's teabagging Governor, Paul LePage, is removing pro-labor murals from the Maine Department of Labor made the rounds over the past few days. Even Rachel did a piece on it. The guy is trying to destroy the state's image -- and doing a good job of it.
There's one writer who always captures what is going on in the state: Bill Nemitz from the Portland Press Herald. His latest column on the latest LePage controversy over the labor murals is just brilliant:
We won't waste valuable space this morning trying to discern what was going on in LePage's head when he ordered the removal of a mural and the names of meeting rooms -- all commemorating Maine's deep and rich labor history -- from the headquarters of the Maine Department of Labor.The column includes photos of the murals. One of the panels being removed honors Frances Perkins, the first female cabinet secretary whose parents were born in Maine -- and a major figure in the effort to protect workers:
Searching for rational thought inside this guy's noggin, after all, is like wandering through an abandoned coal mine without a headlamp.
Besides, it's the things LePage clearly didn't think about that make this latest assault on Maine's sensibilities so stunning.
In fact, coming just a few days before Friday's 100th anniversary of The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in New York City -- 146 young women perished that day in what Frances Perkins later called "the birth of the New Deal" -- it's an insult to those who over the last century fought, and sometimes died, for the workplace rights we all take for granted today.LePage probably doesn't even know who Perkins is.
With LePage, the situation in Maine is only going to get worse, probably a lot worse.
Hat tip, Betsy Parsons.
