In his March 9 Maine Sunday Telegram op-ed (“Unlike Joshua Chamberlain, Gov. Mills chose the wrong hill to die on“), Charles Todorich lambasted Gov. Mills for her reply to President Trump’s threats to our state. I believe that Mr. Todorich, in envisioning our governor’s “hill,” has confused the background and the foreground. The issue that was, and is, at hand is not high school athletics, but principles of law and democracy in the face of authoritarian despotism.

As we recently turned our clocks back, my thoughts turned to previous hills that were bravely stood upon. The struggles for the abolition of slavery, for desegregation, and for voting rights all involved perilous hills where life was lost and blood spilled. I would like to think that Mr. Todorich, in his wisdom, would have found these hills worthy of his own support.

The social issues of our country have evolved significantly and will continue to do so. What was once unthinkable is now codified in our laws and, I would hope, in our hearts. And as for freedom and equality, the framers of our Declaration of Independence pledged their lives. Wasn’t that a marvelous hill?

Mark Krogman
South Portland