Tag Archives: Troy Jackson

It’s time for Maine Legislature to get to work

“The powers of this government shall be divided into 3 distinct departments, the legislative, executive and judicial.” That is Article III, Section 1 of the Maine Constitution. Take a look at the order of the departments. As the pandemic has unfolded, we have seen plenty from the executive branch. Gov. Janet Mills has exercised her […]

What Pope Francis, President Trump and Senate President Troy Jackson have in common

There is a wisp of commonality between Pope Francis, President Donald Trump, and Maine Senate President Troy Jackson. Whether this is a ray of hope or a natural sign of the end times is an open question. The Pope’s Easter message to members of Popular Movements made headlines worldwide for its apparent embrace of a […]

Boycotts don’t resolve political disputes

Well, I agree with Maine Democratic Senate President Troy Jackson on at least one thing. Actually, that is not fair. In 2013, I worked closely with then-Assistant Senate Majority Leader Jackson to temporarily make the names of concealed weapon permit holders confidential. So there are two things we agree on. But I digress. This week […]

Republicans face test of character with Mills’ nominations

They say that “the true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.” I’ll propose a corollary: the true test of a political party’s character is what it does in the minority. There was plenty to be said over the battle between the Republican U.S. Senate and President Barack […]

Forget campaign 2018, let’s just watch TV

Adam Cote. Janet Mills. Mark Eves. Betsy Sweet. Jim Boyle. Patrick Eisenhart. To quote Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker in 2008’s The Dark Knight: “And here. We. Go.” That line was one of the final ones uttered in the now-iconic performance. Ledger’s chaotic character wanted one ferry full of Gotham citizens to blow up […]