10 Comments
User's avatar
Jan van Eck's avatar

What puzzles me is that the Maine Municipal Association would continue to insure the police department after having to pay out the settlement of $62.5K for the crass stupidity of the policemen. Has the insurer increased the deductible on the policy to say $100,000 to adequately reflect the clear risk of insuring dunderheads?

Expand full comment
Lincoln Millstein's avatar

The town pays MMA $350,000 a year for services so it's not an unbiased source.

Expand full comment
lin•'s avatar

"[Leonard] Leo told Trotter, “Getting more than one and a half times Maine’s per capita income for harassing and verbally assaulting a young girl and her parents while walking down a public street, and then waiting for them outside their home,” he said. “Nice work if you can get it.”"

That's Leo's lie and he's sticking to it.

$1.6 billion+ tax free for corrupting the US Supreme Court and repurposing the American democratic republic as a clerical corporate fascist state. Nasty work no matter how you cut it.

Expand full comment
Jan van Eck's avatar

"clerical corporate fascist state." Yup, and requiring "Real ID" for a driver's permit is a telling example of that. In the words of Nancy Reqgan, "Just say No."

Expand full comment
lin•'s avatar

No. And No.

The Real ID Act is not a sign of a clerical corporate fascist state. It is not a 'national identification card.' The Real ID Act requires, that to be used for some Federal purposes, regionally issued drivers licenses and identification cards must meet the same security standards.*

Nancy Reagan's 'Just Say No' campaign was a typically frivolous and disingenuous Republican non-solution to a serious problem. **

*In Maine, Real ID compliant driver's licenses have been available since 2019. Real ID is optional for Maine state purposes. Real ID is required for some Federal purposes :

Accessing certain federal facilities; Boarding Federally regulated commercial aircraft; and Entering nuclear power plants.

Real ID compliant drivers licenses are not the only form of ID accepted. Others include:

State-issued Enhanced Driver's Licenses (EDLs)

U.S. passport

U.S. passport card

DHS trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)

U.S. Department of Defense ID, including IDs issued to dependents

Permanent resident card

Border crossing card

An acceptable photo ID issued by a federally recognized, Tribal Nation/Indian Tribe

HSPD-12 PIV card

Foreign government-issued passport

Canadian provincial driver's license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card

Transportation worker identification credential

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766)

U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential

Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC)

https://www.dhs.gov/real-id/about-real-id

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_documents_in_the_United_States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_ID_Act

**Just Say No was another way of shifting responsibility for essential and emergency government services onto individuals. In this case, as with many counterproductive Republican schemes, shifting responsibility onto the most vulnerable individuals. "Just Say No” pushed a narrow-minded policy platform that ignored the complex nuances associated with drug use, abuse, and addiction."

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/takeaway/segments/how-nancy-reagan-shaped-war-drugs

Expand full comment
Jan van Eck's avatar

Wow. Well, I sure hope you feel better after that diatribe. You have at least accomplished one goal: I shall never again post anything on the Quietside Journal. Outbursts like this, I don't need.

Expand full comment
Rick Smith's avatar

For which you must be paid a lot. Selling one's soul can be lucrative!

Expand full comment
lin•'s avatar

Mr. Moneybags (as Leo apparently enjoyed being called by his high school classmates) has found/created a lucrative niche for himself. Not only the $1.6 Billion tax free from Barre Seide.

Leonard Leo’s Nonprofits Funneled Over $100M Into Personal For-Profit Firm

https://accountable.us/leonard-leos-nonprofits-funneled-over-100m-into-personal-for-profit-firm/

Expand full comment
lin•'s avatar

"After the remarks, Smith said he “takes offense” at the suggestion that “we’ve cut people out of the process.”"

Of course he does. The Bar Harbor town council is bent on perpetuating its worst offenses - including acting as a secret society - and taking umbrage when they're called out.

So Smith is Sutherland redux. No surprise.

The only surprise is that counselors who may not be entirely bad sorts on their own are so appalling en masse.

Expand full comment
Charles Richard's avatar

They paved paradise, and put up a … solar-power grid array …

Expand full comment