The infirmities of aging have been much debated as they apply to recent presidents, but mostly ignored when it comes to the U.S. Senate, where there’s evidence of actual disability. The most prominent example is Diane Feinstein, the California Democrat who made the apparently unwise decision to run for reelection in 2018 to a fifth […]
Doug Rooks
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Douglas Rooks: A president elected by all of us
Majority rule is the basic principal of our representative democracy, and should be applied at all levels.
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Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Douglas Rooks: A world on fire meets Congress
Our leaders are not acting to address the greatest threat to life on Earth.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Douglas Rooks: Get ready for referendum madness
Before Mainers vote on a question, we should make sure it’s legal.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Douglas Rooks: Legislature labors, but Mills controls
Though the legislative session isn’t quite over, it’s not too soon to identify the dominant player. To no one’s surprise, it’s Gov. Janet Mills. At least since the installation of legislative term limits in 1996, governors have generally had their way when it comes to which bills pass and which don’t. Legislative leaders, usually heading […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Douglas Rooks: Paying for college without violating the Constitution
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision, along partisan lines, striking down President Biden’s cancellation of college loan debt elicited an equally partisan reaction from press and politicians, as if the court were simply another political body. It’s an impression the court has unfortunately left itself open to of late. Republicans applauded Biden v. Nebraska’s perceived […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Douglas Rooks: With court ruling, equal representation and democracy win the day
With voting rights under attack, the nation’s highest court took to their defense.
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Douglas Rooks: Democrats AWOL as Republicans take charge of tax policy
Take your favorite program for school nutrition, wellness checks, PFAS water tests, then ask: Would you rather pave a road instead?
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Douglas Rooks: Gov. Mills is stonewalling Maine’s tribes. She should reconsider
tribeOf all the issues that divide Gov. Janet Mills from most members of her own Democratic Party, none is more vexing, or seemingly inexplicable, than her dogged opposition to any substantive alteration of the Land Claims Settlement Act governing Maine’s relationship with its Indian tribes. The 1980 law has had vast and invidious consequences far […]
Posted inOp-Eds, Opinion
Douglas Rooks: Report on Attorney General Aaron Frey falls on deaf ears
A much-anticipated report on the conduct of Attorney General Aaron Frey — who began a romantic relationship with an assistant attorney general he supervised eight months before he publicly disclosed it — was released late last Friday afternoon as the weekly news-and-commentary cycle was ending. It’s a time-honored Washington device to deflect unwelcome attention. In […]