Everyone seems to have interpreted the motive behind Gov. Paul LePage’s remarks in Bridgton and condemned him for them for various reasons.

So I will take the opportunity to contribute my opinion. LePage was forced to retract or qualify his remarks the following day. I think the governor did mean to say what he said and he meant no ill will by doing so.

What happened after that is the press engaged in assessing political correctness because the pendulum has swung so far to the left that they attribute bad motives to a speaker without taking the time to determine if the speaker was, in fact, correct. The First Amendment affords each of us the right to free speech, not free speech qualified by political correctness. It is not a return to Jim Crow to tell the truth even if someone is insulted.

Maybe if we started being more honest we might articulate the causes of the real problems in this country and work towards finding solutions. Dr. Phil says it best. You cannot fix what you do not acknowledge.

Finally, racism is defined as the notion that one’s own ethnic stock is superior. I do not think the governor made a racist remark or insulted young female Mainers. He simply said what he believed to be true. His words in no way had anything to do with superiority. He may be wrong or even rude, but that does not make him a racist.

Anne P. Schaad

Fayette

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