Outrage Update II

 

Jon Reisman

King Responds
Senator Angus King voted to confirm eco-terrorist and tree spiking apologist Tracy Stone-Manning as director of the Bureau of Land Management, where the former Earth Firster will oversee the stewardship of millions of acres of public land. King also chose to vigorously defend Ms. Manning in committee, and to belittle the concerns of those who opposed her.  On Oct 1, I wrote the following the Senator King:

Subject: Voting for an Eco-Terrorist is a Betrayal
Your vote and committee defense for eco-terrorist Tracy Stone-Manning is an insult and betrayal of Maine's Forest Products Industry workers. I challenge you to come to mill towns in the 2nd CD and explain your vote for an eco-terrorist tree spiker apologist.
The environmental left and the climate alarmists must be very proud of their Senator. Congratulations on betraying your constituents who live North of Brunswick.

On Oct. 22, Maine’s most popular politician sent this non-response:
Thank you for sharing your thoughts about the nomination of Tracy Stone-Manning to serve as the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). As a former governor, I believe that leaders should have latitude in picking their advisors. As a current member of the Senate, I take the role of advise and consent very seriously and look forward to confirming a new leader of BLM who is strongly committed to the Department of Interior’s mandate.
I am approaching President Biden’s nominees the same way I have every other administration’s—with an open mind and with a desire to learn about their experience and skill set. While BLM does not oversee the management of any area in Maine, their work is critical across the western United States and the agency has not had a Senate-confirmed leader since 2017. I supported Ms. Stone-Manning’s nomination in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and on an initial procedural vote to bring the nomination to the floor. As you may know, Ms. Stone-Manning’s nomination was recently confirmed by the Senate in a vote of 50 to 45, and I again supported her nomination.
Thanks again for your message and please be in touch on other matters before the Senate in the future.

In contrast, on Oct. 2 I sent the following to Senator Collins:
Thank you for voting against the BLM director nomination of eco-terrorist and tree spiking apologist Tracy Stone-Manning.  Your vote affirmed your many years of support for Maine's loggers, Forest Products Industry workers and the rural Maine economy.
Ms. Manning's activism in the Pacific Northwest more than 30 years set the stage for the spotted owl listing, which is the precedent for abusing the ESA to destroy rural economies that Maine's lobster industry is now grappling with.  Your vote, although unsuccessful in preventing her confirmation, was an important message to your constituents that you will not betray them for the environmental left.

Two weeks later, I got a phone call from a Collins staffer thanking me for my note.

Educrats “Apologize,” FOAA’s go out
The National School Boards Association, which likened Critical Race Theory concerned parents to domestic terrorists in a White House (Susan Rice?) coordinated assault, “apologized” (but not to the parents) and withdrew their letter. My guess is the left wing Educrats realized they had stepped on a rake and are desperately following a CYA strategy (see Susan Rice again), but it is too little, too late. They may be able to commit enough voter fraud to save Terry McCaulliffe in Virginia, but even if they do, the evil Marxist proclivities of the teachers unions and the Democrats who serve them have been exposed. The declining legacy media will protect their fellow travelers, but there is too much media and communications diversity to successfully censor the deplorables who are now woke to how much the left despises them and holds them in contempt.

For my part, I issued the following Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) documents request to Maine’s Education Commissioner and Superintendents in Bangor, Orono, Portland, South Portland, Scarborough, Freeport, Kittery, Lewiston, Waterville and Augusta:

FOAA Request on Panorama Education and NASB communications
This is a FOAA request for all documents and e-mails in the following areas, subjects and time frames:
1. Contracts, Purchase orders and/or communications with Panorama Education from December 1, 2017 through October 2021;
2. Communications to and from the National Association of School Boards from July 1 2021 through October 2021.
 Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

I will keep you updated.

Jon Reisman is an associate professor of economics and public policy at the University of Maine at Machias. His views are his own. Mr. Reisman welcomes comments as letters to the editor here, or to him directly via email at [email protected].

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