The RECORD

Table of Contents

1. What Great Nation?
2. Quotations for the Day
3. Pro-Baldacci Press Completely Ignores Story Surrounding Castro Photos
4. Main Street Bangor Looking Tackier by the Minute

WHAT GREAT NATION?

"What great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?"

(Deuteronomy 4:8)

QUOTATIONS FOR THE DAY

"Those judges who can prevent crime, and do not, in effect encourage it."

(Cato the Elder)

"We want a state of things in which crime will not pay."

(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

"Every crime destroys more Edens than our own."

(Hawthorne)

PRO-BALDACCI PRESS COMPLETELY IGNORES STORY SURROUNDING CASTRO PHOTOS

Despite tremendous interest among the public, the Pro-Baldacci media is studiously ignoring the story surrounding the release of photos from the Governor's Office showing the Governor and John Richardson alongside Fidel Castro. Not a single sentence has appeared in any of the major dailies about the photos -- and with good reason. The photos are indisputable evidence of the character of the Governor and the men who surround him. The newspapers won't touch the story, since there is no way to refute what the photos have to say. To even mention their existence is to tarnish the Governor's rapidly fading reputation. So instead, one paper ran as a front page story what they would like to have the public think is more important news, a toboggan race in Camden, the start of the indoor football season, the unusually warm weather in the month of January.

The story of the Cuban photos is after all a story about loyalty and disloyalty, faith and faithlessness. The papers made a half-hearted attempt at explanation last week, when they opined that a trip to Cuba is the same as a trip to China. It is not. As bad as China is, it still has diplomatic relations with the U.S., and is not on the terrorist watch list. Nor is the head of the Chinese government an outspoken and bitter enemy of the U.S.; and therein lies the difference. To appear by Castro's side is to take a stand with Castro against all those who have died under Castro's rule -- and the Cuban dissidents whom the Governor failed to meet during his trip will be the first ones to tell you this. To negotiate a trade deal with Cuba or to receive heating oil from Hugo Chavez is to do the bidding of a dictator. But to do both in the same week goes far, far beyond suspicion; and only the most naive people would think there is nothing nefarious afoot.

As bad as all this is, there was a worse aspect to the story, something which guaranteed that the papers would hide the truth from the people of Maine; and that was that the Teamsters were the first to suggest the oil deal to the Governor's Office. Worse, the Governor's Office knew from the Teamsters themselves, through the Venezuelan ambassador, that the purpose of the deal was to drive a wedge between the American people and their government. Not only is this a Maine story, it is a national story. And all the public hears from the mainstream media is silence.

It is sad indeed, when a small online newspaper has to do the work that should be done by the major dailies. It is one thing to advance a partisan agenda under the guise of news. It is quite another to turn and look the other way because a story is too big, and says too much about what is really going on in our state. -- by Fritz Spencer

MAIN STREET BANGOR LOOKING TACKIER BY THE MINUTE

The RECORD reported a short while back on the convenience store manager who stole almost twenty-four thousand dollars from his business and poured it down the slots at the one armed-bandit parlor in Bangor. But that is not the only change that the predatory gambling industry has brought to Bangor. Another is the flood of bad checks that have gone to local businesses along Main Street, and another is the rapid transformation of that area into a seedy-looking slice of urban America.

The Hollywood Slots sign is a real eyesore, as is the sight of the packed parking lot every day. Activity at the little outpost of Las Vegas in the heart of Maine starts early in the morning, a little after sunrise, as a security guard makes the rounds under a sickly yellow light. Later, the "customers" flood through the doors to sit in front of the one-armed bandits in a semi-comatose state as they pump money into the slots. Contrary to expectations, Hollywood Slots has also started offering video poker, making it more like a casino than a Racino.

But where are the horses? A quarter of a mile away, since the owners never really envisioned having the Racino at the racetrack anyway, which was merely window-dressing for the public. And if the horses ever arrive, they will have to cross Main Street, since Hollywood Slots plans to move into a new $70 million facility across the street, after two inns and two houses have been razed to make room for it.

But not to worry -- the people of Maine are rapidly reaching the breaking point after the shenanigans of the Baldacci administration. It seems not too many Mainers these days are looking forward to seeing "The Way Life Should Be" turned into a two-bit knockoff of Las Vegas.

And that may mean goodbye casinos, as voters are given a chance to put Maine back on the right track by outlawing slots all together. There is currently support in the Maine legislature for amending a referendum question on a proposed casino in Washington County to completely ban slot machines in Maine. When it comes, it won't be a minute too soon.