The House and Senate reluctantly passed it. President Barack Obama reluctantly signed it. Tea party cheerleaders on talk radio and cable TV took a victory lap, but they didn’t really like it.

Someday, right-wing ideologues are going to choke on their hatred of Michelle Obama.

One of the most interesting policy ideas to come out of last year’s gubernatorial campaign was put forward by Paul LePage. It was the creation of an optional fifth year of high school, which would let a student earn a high school diploma and an associate degree at the same time.

The Legislature did the right thing this year when it made Maine one of the first states in the nation to outlaw the drug marketed as “bath salts.”

Gov. LePage had a chance to clear the air with the city of Portland and the struggling groundfishing industry Thursday, putting to rest allegations that the he had ordered a member of his administration to stop cooperating with the state’s biggest city and job creator for political reasons.

We don’t need to wait until Aug. 2 to find out what effect a failure to agree on raising the debt ceiling will have — it’s already happening.

Bilateral trade agreements are languishing in Washington, a symptom of what is looking more like a dysfunctional government all the time.

Gov. Paul LePage and Portland officials are meeting in Augusta today to clear the air over anti-Portland comments attributed to the governor by a former member of his cabinet.

At a moment when the president of the United States could have, and should have, stepped up to his responsibilities as leader of the greatest nation on Earth — on a day when the American people and the world looked to him for reassurance and vision — Barack Obama chose to indulge himself in yet another round of petty, cynical partisanship.