Not all of the recent protests have been against Donald Trump. For instance there was this one in Portland, Maine.

Courtesy of WGME: 

As rallies continue worldwide against the president's immigration ban, one group gathered in Portland to show its support for Donald Trump's executive order. 

William Hall of Gray says he organized the rally at Monument Square in Portland in response to rallies against the president's ban. 

Hall and several other people at Saturday's gathering say they don't agree with everything Trump does or says, but they do think the ban on immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries entering the U.S. is the right call right now. 

"We need to do better background checks on immigrants coming into this country," said Hall. "We have borders for a reason. Having open borders is like having a home without walls, plain and simple."

"Hall and several other people."

That is just precious.

And apparently this is only one of a number of poorly attended pro-Trump rallies that sprung up around the country.

But remember, this is all fake news. Only the mighty Donald Trump has access to the "TRUTH!"

Is everybody ready for another primary? No? Well too bad we're having one. Update!

On the docket this evening are three states, Kansas, Louisiana, and Nebraska, for the Democrats. And four, Kansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Maine, for the Republicans.

Fivethirtyeight is giving Hillary Clinton 99% odds that she will take Louisiana. However Sanders has a much stronger shot in both Kansas and Nebraska.

As for the Republicans well it looks like almost a clean sweep for Trump, except it appears that Cruz has captured Kansas due to his ties with the evangelicals.

I see the Trump supporters are ready for the primaries.

Comparisons between Trump fans raising their right hands & a certain Euro leader will surely follow (Pix: @WPJenna) pic.twitter.com/dzuhsNkFca

— West Wing Reports (@WestWingReport) March 5, 2016

I think we will know more of the numbers in about an hour for the states that still have polls open and I will post them here as they come in.

Update: Bernie wins Kansas.

Update 2: Ted Cruise wins Maine. That's two more states for the booger-man.

Update 3: Bernie wins Nebraska. The only state left for the Dems is Louisiana.

Update 4: As predicted Hillary wins Louisiana.

Update 5:  Now it's been announced that Trump has won Louisiana.

Sarah Palin uses her Down syndrome child to cover for a heartless attack on poor folks in Maine.

Courtesy of Hypocritical Hattie's Facebook page:  

Get Off Your Butt To Make a Buck 

Good things come from the beautiful state of Maine. (I met the nicest lady visiting Trig's school yesterday for our "Lunch With a Loved One" reading event, all the way up here from Maine to visit grandkids, representing her state so graciously!) Good stuff from the Pine Tree State, including some tough love to restore work ethic.

Well isn't that sweet? Mom came to visit at Trig's school.

Well it would be if she then did not use at an opportunity to link to a Nancy French written post over at Brancy's blog, which cheers Maine Governor Paul LaPage's decision to require food stamp recipients without children to get a job or lose benefits.

In the post French applauds the fact that LaPage managed to kick 80 percent of the people off of the program, claiming that they must not have needed the help in the first place.

However what they seemed to have missed was the fact that charitable organizations in Maine have been working overtime in order to fill the gap.

Courtesy of the Portland Press Herald:  

The growth of Good Shepherd and other charitable organizations shows how far government efforts are falling short, and the transformation of emergency interventions into permanent institutions is proof that Maine’s weak response to hunger is making the problem worse. 

How big is the problem? 

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there are approximately 206,000 Mainers who experience food insecurity, the term for those who don’t have enough money to reliably get their hands on an adequate supply of safe, nutritious food. 

That number includes 24 percent of Maine’s children and 23 percent of its seniors. Maine ranks 12th in the nation for this measure of hunger, and first – or worst – in New England. 

But while the problem grows, the state’s response has been to pull back, using government policy to reduce the number of people who receive aid through entirely federally funded programs, leaving money in Washington that could be helping people here and putting more pressure on individuals who support charities and whose consciences won’t permit them to turn their backs.

“We’re no longer for emergencies. We’re a regular supplier of people’s food,” said Kristen Miale, Good Shepherd’s president, in a recent interview with the Maine Sunday Telegram. “Food banking isn’t the solution to hunger.”

I guess the folks behind the Good Shepherd understand the concept of being a good Christian.

What a shame that not all of those hiding behind that label recognize the responsibility.

Teabagger governor of Maine claims that Stephen King is no longer paying his taxes. Man was that a bad idea!

Idiot says what?

Courtesy of Salon:  

Bestselling author Stephen King is firing back against Maine Gov. Paul LePage after the ultraconservative Republican suggested that King had moved out of Maine and no longer paid taxes in the state, demanding that the governor “man up and apologize” for his false claims. 

During his radio address this week, LePage touted his effort to repeal Maine’s income tax, asserting that it was a drag on the state’s economy and had prompted people to move elsewhere. 

“[R]emember who introduced the income tax here in Maine,” LePage said. “Well, today former Governor Ken Curtis lives in Florida where there is zero income tax. Stephen King and Roxanne Quimby have moved away, as well.” 

King, a longtime (and current) resident of Bangor, didn’t take kindly to LePage’s dig.

Governor Paul LePage implied that I don't pay my taxes. I do. Every cent. I think he needs to man up and apologize.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 20, 2015

But King wasn't done there and followed up with this:  

"Governor LePage is full of the stuff that makes the grass grow green. Tabby and I pay every cent of our Maine state income taxes, and are glad to do it. We feel, as Governor LePage apparently does not, that much is owed from those to whom much has been given. We see our taxes as a way of paying back the state that has given us so much. State taxes pay for state services. There's just no way aRound it. Governor LePage needs to remember there ain't no free lunch."

Yeah you know the last person you want to get into a fight with is a man who makes his living with words. 

And LePage might have been well served to remember that King has eagerly taken on both the Republican party and the NRA in years past.

Besides why would anybody want to piss off a man who quite literally gives people nightmares?

Kaci Hickox never had Ebola and would very kindly like to ask everybody to stop calling her "The Ebola Nurse"-now!

Courtesy of the Guardian:

 I never had Ebola. I never had symptoms of Ebola. I tested negative for Ebola the first night I stayed in New Jersey governor Chris Christie’s private prison in Newark. I am now past the incubation period – meaning that I will not develop symptoms of Ebola. 

I never had Ebola, so please stop calling me “the Ebola Nurse” – now!

Hickox goes on to call out both New Jersey's Chris Christie and the Governor of her state of Maine, Paul LePage:

This is what did happen: I was quarantined against my will by overzealous politicians after I volunteered to go and treat people affected by Ebola in west Africa. My liberty, my interests and consequently my civil rights were ignored because some ambitious governors saw an opportunity to use an age-old political tactic: fear. Christie and my governor in Maine, Paul LePage, decided to disregard medical science and the constitution in hopes of advancing their careers. They bet that, by multiplying the existing fear and misinformation about Ebola – a disease most Americans know little about – they could ultimately manipulate everyone and proclaim themselves the protectors of the people by “protecting” the public from a disease that hasn’t killed a single American. Politicians who tell lies such as “she is obviously ill” and mistreat citizens by telling them to “sit down and shut up” will hopefully never make it to the White House.

Oh, I REALLY like this nurse!

Hickox goes into quite a lot of detail about the importance of having medical professionals willing to travel overseas to places dealing with infectious diseases, and how the response by a handful of politicians here at home endangers that process.

She summed up with this: 

I want to live in a country that understands Ebola. I want to live in a world that cares about those dying from this terrible disease in West Africa. Nobody should’ve had to watch me ride my bicycle out in the open as politicians fed the public false fears and misinformation. I want to live in an America that reaches out to aid workers as they return from West Africa and says, “We loved and stood by you when you were fighting this disease. We will love and stand by you now.” 

We can define compassion, instead of being ruled by fear and fear-mongers.

Wow! I think I may have a new hero. 

Republican in Maine says he has the guts to be a Senator because he beat his wife and then refused to confess. Sounds like a campaign slogan to me.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

A conservative Portland, Maine Senate candidate claims that experience he acquired while spending a decade fighting domestic abuse charges informs his “pro-family” agenda. 

During a press conference on Tuesday, Erick Bennett, who is challenging incumbent Susan Collins, addressed his conviction for domestic violence against his now ex-wife. He fought the Class D assault conviction all the way to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, which ruled that “sufficient evidence does exist in the record to support his conviction.” 

Bennett claims he was “railroaded” by the justice system. “All that needs to be done is you have to repeat what you wrote down in the police report and that allows the victim to be viewed as a credible witness,” he said. “So basically, if someone writes something down, it doesn’t have to be true. All they have to do is repeat that on the stand. That’s grounds for anyone to be convicted of domestic violence.” 

He went on to claim that the time he spent in jail for his conviction speaks to “how much guts and integrity [he] has.” 

“The fact that I have been jailed repeatedly for not agreeing to admit to something I didn’t do should speak to the fact of how much guts and integrity I have,” he told the Bangor Daily News.

Okay this idiot does realize that just because he refused to admit to a crime does not prove he was not guilty of said crime doesn't he? I mean prisons are bulging at the seams with convicts who will swear on a stack of Bibles they were set up despite eyewitness reports and forensic evidence proving their guilt. 

On the other hand this guy might be the perfect GOP candidate. Not only does he support the war on women he is even willing to give them a beating with his own two hands.

Hell if the Republicans had their way this would simply be a case of a man treating his wife to a little discipline for stepping out of line, and that he had the right to treat his property any way he saw fit.

I certainly hope that Maine has better sense than to give this sick POS the time of day.

Maine gubernatorial candidate decides to face speculation about his sexuality head on and diffuse it: “Yes, I am. But why should it matter?”

Mike Michaud's op-ed is courtesy of Bangor Daily News: 

When I entered the race for governor, I did so because I love the state of Maine and am tired of seeing it dragged in the wrong direction. There was never any question that it would be a tough race, but I know I have the vision, the experience and the commitment to lead Maine forward. 

Once I jumped to an early lead in the polls, I knew it was only a matter of time before individuals and organizations intent on re-creating the uncertainty that led to our current governor’s election three years ago would start their attacks. Already my opponents have tried to blatantly distort my support for a woman’s right to choose and my tireless commitment to our nation’s veterans. 

So I wasn’t surprised to learn about the whisper campaigns, insinuations and push-polls some of the people opposed to my candidacy have been using to raise questions about my personal life. They want people to question whether I am gay. 

Allow me to save them the trouble with a simple, honest answer: “Yes, I am. But why should it matter?” 

That may seem like a big announcement to some people. For me, it’s just a part of who I am, as much as being a third-generation millworker or a lifelong Mainer. One thing I do know is that it has nothing to do with my ability to lead the state of Maine.

“Yes, I am. But why should it matter?” Okay I find this to be all kinds of awesome.

And the fact that Michaud can do this and remain a viable candidate for governor is attributable to the important work accomplished by the LGBT community.

Just ten years ago this would have signaled the end of his candidacy but now it may actually benefit him.

We are getting closer and closer to the day when nobody gives a damn about your sexuality and instead focuses on your character and experience.

Maine politician who posted a picture of the President labeled with "shoot the ni**er" quits.

Courtesy of Portland Press Herald:  

The Sabattus man who posted a Facebook message calling for President Obama to be shot and referring to him with a racial slur stepped down from three town committees Thursday rather than face removal by the town's selectmen. 

The selectmen were scheduled to meet Thursday night to consider removing David Marsters from the committees, but Marsters emailed his resignations Thursday morning .

"I deeply regret what I posted and do apologize for my actions," he said in the email. 

Although he resigned from the committees, Marsters said he plans to continue his campaign for election as a selectman this fall. 

After town officials canceled Thursday's meeting, Town Manager Andrew Gilmore issued a statement thanking Marsters for "sparing the town and community further spectacle." 

Marsters' post drew widespread attention to the small town outside Lewiston, and was expected to draw angry residents to the meeting Thursday. The chairman of the selectmen had asked the police chief to attend to make sure the meeting did not get out of hand.

Yeah I think this guy is done.

Don't you?

Conservative candidate in Maine posts "shoot the ni**er" on his Facebook page in response to misinformation he received about Obamacare. Seems surprised when Secret Service shows up to pay him a visit.

Courtesy of Raw Story:

A conservative candidate for Maine town selectman received a visit from the Secret Service after he posted a photo of President Barack Obama on Facebook that was labelled “Shoot the ni**er.” 

According to the Bangor Daily News, David Marsters of Sabattus, ME has taken the post down, but remains defiant in the face up the uproar sparked by his remarks. 

“(The Secret Service) didn’t see no pictures of Obama with bullet holes in his head,” Marsters told the Daily News. “It’s not a threatening statement, in my opinion. People take it out of context as a threat.” 

“I didn’t say I was going to shoot the president, or kill — Shoot the ni**er. Shoot the ni**er. — that’s what I said,” he continued. “I’m pissed off at the system, OK? We’re about to lose our benefits because of this asshole.” 

Marsters has convinced himself that the Affordable Care Act — also known as “Obamacare” — is going to take away his ill wife’s spousal benefits. In an interview with Daily News reporter Douglas Mcintire, the retired police officer said perhaps he should have chosen his words more carefully, but that he believes the remark was not racist because he insists that he would have said the same thing about former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) had he been elected president. 

“I would say, ‘Shoot the ni**er,’ because white people are ni**ers, too,” he insisted, claiming that in his native Massachusetts, the racially charged epithet is applied equally to whites and African-Americans. 

The would-be selectman insists that Obama is not a native citizen of the U.S. and therefore not a “legal president.” He believes that like-minded citizens of Sabattus will elect him in spite of his controversial statements.

"White people are ni**ers too?" Really?

Even if that convuluted thinking were true, how would that excuse the posting of a picture of the President with the words "shoot the ni**er" on it? Somehow I think that even if this were a picture of a white President this idiot might have had the opportunity to meet the Secret Service face to face.

Clearly this guy has bought into the entire birther meme and does not believe that the President is legitimate. That plus his obvious racism, means in his mind the President is somebody that he can threaten with impunity.

Hopefully the good people of Sabattus, Maine recognize that this hateful POS is unfit to represent their town and will give him the big heave-ho.

“People who hate Ted Nugent hate freedom." So sayeth Ted Nugent. Sounds legit.

Yesterday Captain Poopy-pants gave an interview to Maine radio station WGAN.

Here is just a sampling of the ensuing lunacy: 

Rocker Ted Nugent launched a volley of invective at local protesters and the New Haven Register during an interview Saturday with a Maine radio station. 

Anyone anticipating some wild remarks from the Motor City Madman was not disappointed by his interview on WGAN. 

Nugent’s planned Tuesday concert at Toad’s Place in New Haven has drawn protests from area residents who took issue with Nugent’s recent comments on race in America. There has been a petition drive calling for the cancellation of the show, and protests are expected outside Toad’s during the show. 

In the radio station interview, Nugent alluded to New Haven Register editorial writers and their supporters as “subhuman numb-nuts.” A recent Register editorial denounced Nugent’s statements on race and called for Toad’s to cancel the show. 

When asked about the “idiots” in Connecticut who think he “shouldn’t play rock and roll,” Nugent told the conservative host: “You and I stand on the line of reason” and must not be silenced. 

“People who hate Ted Nugent hate freedom,” he said, and promised to continue to speak what he sees as the truth.

But wait, there's more:

Of the Trayvon Martin case, Nugent said, “Trayvon got justice.” He went on to say that Martin was a “gangsta wannabe” who had a “bloodthirst,” as evidenced by the fact that he was supposedly eager to “get into fights with people.” 

You know just when you think you cannot despise another human being more than you already do. 

What a piece of human garbage! I hope that everybody in New Haven boycotts this racist, treasonous bastard's show, and that the only people who show up are protestors waiting for the opportunity to spit on him.

Maine news team, working for a Fox News affiliate, quits on air to protect their journalistic integrity.

Courtesy of the New York Daily News: 

Cindy Michaels, 46, and Tony Consiglio, 28, shocked their colleagues at ABC’s Bangor, Maine, affiliate WVII with their sudden resignation. The announcement appeared relatively cordial on camera. 

“Some recent developments have come to our attention,” said Consiglio, “and departing together is the best alternative we can take.” 

But off camera, the co-anchors elaborated, citing alleged disrespect from superiors and pressure to do biased journalism, reported Bangor Daily News. 

“I just wanted to know that I was doing the best job I could and was being honest and ethical as a journalist, and I thought there were times when I wasn’t able to do that,” said Consiglio, who was also the show’s executive producer. 

Michaels, also the station’s news director, criticized upper management, with whom she had clear differences. 

“It’s a culmination of ongoing occurrences that took place the last several years and basically involved upper management practices that we both strongly disagreed with,” said Michaels. 

Consiglio started at the station as a sports reporter in 2006. Michaels had been at the station for six years and worked in the Bangor market for 15 years. But the alleged pressure to do shoddy journalism – after a combined 12 ½ years – was too much to take, they said. 

“It’s a little complicated,” Michaels continued, “but we were expected to do somewhat unbalanced news, politically, in general.” 

Neither anchor specified what political stances the management allegedly wanted them to espouse.

While the news team was careful to parse their words, the reason for their frustration was not especially difficult for observers to figure out. This from Raw Story: 

While neither of the former anchors would go on record to detail how they were being pressured to slant the news, some bloggers have speculated that Fox affiliate WFVX had been moving to emulate conservative bias at Fox News. 

The WFVX 10 p.m. newscast is simulcasted on talk radio station WNZS-AM 1340, which also airs shows hosted by conservative personalities Laura Ingraham, Bill Bennett, Mike Gallagher and Michael Medved.

I think it can be assumed, with much confidence, that the two journalists realized that in order to continue working for this Fox News affiliate they would have to walk away from every rule of journalism they have ever learned.

Sadly that has apparently NEVER been a problem for the likes of Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Greta Van Susteren, or the other dispensers of propaganda currently employed by Roger Ailes.

So good for Cindy Michaels and Tony Cosiglio. Hopefully they will not be the LAST TRUE journalists to exercise their right to not spew lies and disinformation on behalf of the Republican party.

Maine's outgoing GOP party chairman freaked out to discover that Maine has black voters.

Courtesy of TPM:  

Maine's outgoing Republican Party chairman plans to investigate claims that "dozens of black people" unfamiliar to local officials voted in rural Maine towns, the Bangor Daily News reports. 

“In some parts of the state, there were dozens of black people who came in to vote,” Charlie Webster said in an interview. “Nobody in town knew them.” 

Webster plans to send thousands of postcards with a picture of the state capitol to registered voters. He is interested in the postcards that are returned as undeliverable in his investigation of voter fraud. 

You know the guy has a point. I visited my sister who lives in Maine once a few years ago and I don't think they even ALLOW black people into the state.

Clearly the Obama campaign parachuted black folks in over Bangor JUST to steal the election away from that good Caucasian candidate Mitt "a whiter shade of pale" Romney. It must have been several plane loads of them too, because Obama won Maine by over 100,000 votes.

Later Mr. Webster tried to clarify. But I think he just made it worse:

 “I regret saying the word black because it wasn’t like I was singling out black,” Webster said. “The reason I said it, ‘cause I don’t know where you live, but where I come from in rural Maine, it’s a small percentage of the population. I think we’re the whitest state in the country. So if you go to the polls and see people who are black, it’s unusual. And when you see a lot of people who are black, like six or eight or ten people, you think, ‘Wow, where do they live?’ That was my point.”

Yeah, he DIDN'T mean that the black people did not have the right to vote, he just meant that he has no fucking idea where all of these non-white people are hiding themselves.

You know it's almost like they don't live in the same neighborhood he does, or don't go to the same parties he attends, or that they avoid his racist ass like the plague.

Whatever, the fact remains that he does not know them, so HOW is it that they are allowed to vote? Definitely needs investigating.

I'm confused, WHY do we think the Republicans are racist again?

Louisiana removes obstacle to interracial marriage, as Maine votes against same sex marriage.

It looks like we are finally seeing the last of the southern segregationists being pushed into the 21st century.

A Louisiana justice of the peace who drew criticism for refusing to marry an interracial couple has resigned, the secretary of state's office said Tuesday.

Okay, not exactly "pushed into the 21st century" as "pushed out of the 21st century's damn way"!

Bardwell, speaking to CNN affiliate WBRZ, said he was advised "that I needed to step down because they was going to take me to court, and I was going to lose."

"I would probably do the same thing again," he said. "I found out I can't be a justice of the peace and have a conscience."

You just know this guy has a rebel flag hanging over his bed don't you?

And realizing how incredibly long it takes to change the attitudes of the deeply prejudicial makes this vote to repeal gay marriage in Maine terribly disheartening.

It is such a shame that even today there are just so many people motivated by ignorance and prejudice willing to use their vote, or official positions, to suppress the rights of anybody who does not fit into their narrow definition of "normal".

I have spent time in both Jerry Prevo's mega-church here in Anchorage, and at teabagger rallies downtown, and if THAT is the definition of "normal" for these people then I am going to race into the arms of the "abnormal" every single time.