Sen. Collins’ support of Sen. Jeff Sessions makes for lively Thanksgiving conversation

Last Friday “Our Senator” Susan Collins strongly supported her fellow Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama for Attorney General. Notwithstanding the decades-old racist comments that cost him a federal judgeship before being elected to the Senate–and, more recently, notwithstanding Sessions’ fervent opposition to immigration policy reforms and to gay marriage, Collins praised him as a hardworking […]

Gov. LePage is an unreconstructed Social Darwinian

In my American history survey course that covers roughly 1877 till the present, I recently discussed Social Darwinism. That was the deliberate misreading of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to apply to human societies, particularly to public policy. Darwin never intended for his scientific observations and in turn sophisticated theories to be applied to 19th-century […]

Governor LePage should abolish the Dept. of Education

Amidst the ongoing controversy over Governor LePage’s refusal to nominate a permanent Commissioner of Education, lest the illustrious William Beardsley be rejected by leftist legislators who don’t appreciate his superb qualifications, let the Governor do what President Ronald Reagan tried to do: simply abolish the entire department. Alas, Reagan wasn’t able to accomplish this and […]

One University Initiative–OUI

I take no credit for this embarrassing discovery. A letter in today’s Sunday Maine Telegram by someone I don’t know who lives in Southern Maine pointed this out. “One University Initiative” was touted most recently in announcing the appointment of a new Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs charged with implementing this vision (and I use […]