# Martin Luther King Day in Maine



## Peak and Pine (Sep 12, 2007)

Twelve days in office, Paul LePage, Maine's new Republican governor, when asked why he refused to attend, send a representative or a letter of greeting to either of the two NAACP hosted events today, said he had other things to do, would not cater to special interests and if they didn't like it they could _kiss his ass,_ tho to be fair, being a gentleman he used the word _butt_. Maine is lovely this time of year.


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## ZachGranstrom (Mar 11, 2010)




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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

It appears he did have better things to do...

'Kiss my butt' Gov. attends MLK event 







_By: _CNN Political Unit
*(CNN)* - After telling the NAACP to "kiss my butt" and refusing to attend their event in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage attended a different MLK celebration.
LePage appeared at a breakfast in Waterville, Maine Monday sponsored by the Rotary Club and Spectrum Generations that he attended often as mayor of Waterville.

Last Friday LePage refused to attend the NAACP event because it was sponsored by a special interest, a decision for which he was criticized. *The NAACP event included a meeting with black prisoners at the state prison, and the group refused the governor's proposal to meet with all prisoners.*
"I'm not going to be held hostage by special interests," LePage said Friday. "My son happens to be black, so they can do whatever they'd like about it."
LePage has an adopted son from Jamaica.

https://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/17/kiss-my-butt-gov-attends-mlk-event/

He should have chosen his words even more carefully, however.


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## Peak and Pine (Sep 12, 2007)

Your emboldened line and your use of the word_ however_ connotes that perhaps you agree with this ass hole. Whatever. The Governor chose instead to attend a rotary meeting (!) in Waterville, a town with a population of two blacks, one of which is poster of Will Smith in the lobby of the Waterville Bijou. Regarding his mentioning of a a black son (connoting apparently that this gives him a free ticket to diss), this is akin to refusing to speak to a women's group and citing that, after all, he's married to one. And yes, the Black prisoners wanted an audience with just them 'cause...wait for it...it's Marting Luther King Day.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

MLK Day is now officially Blacks Only.

Nice.


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## Peak and Pine (Sep 12, 2007)

In a way yes, since they're the ones who seem to take it most seriously. Sorta like Veterans day is primarily for and about Veterans. And since MLK Day has not yet erupted into a tsunami of $ saving sales or snowy back yard barbecues, it might behoove a few of us Pasties to put them on top for one measly day. Or you can do as my governor has done and tell them to kiss your ass.


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## StevenRocks (May 24, 2005)

Dr. King fought for the rights of all Americans. And he stood for non-violent protest and legislative solutions. If one day off to honor a man who cared enough to give his life so that everyone could be free is too much, then there's nothing else that can be said.


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## Peak and Pine (Sep 12, 2007)

That was good. Thank you.

Now it's Tuesday, MLK Day is over. This thread is the only one that appeared. It drew just eight comments. And four were mine. Maybe next year.


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## Chouan (Nov 11, 2009)

Peak and Pine said:


> That was good. Thank you.
> 
> Now it's Tuesday, MLK Day is over. This thread is the only one that appeared. It drew just eight comments. And four were mine. Maybe next year.


It should be about equality, not about one race only. Perhaps they can include a theme of marital fidelity as well.


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## VictorRomeo (Sep 11, 2009)

Chouan said:


> It should be about equality, not about one race only. Perhaps they can include a theme of marital fidelity as well.


Is that not what St. Valentine's Day was invented for?!

Oh, for the record, imo the bipartisan nature of American politics generates huge quatities of rhetoric from both sides, especially when it comes to peace, liberty and equality.

MLK day truly embodies this spirit, moreso than any other holiday in your calendar. It's sort sad to see such glib, flippant and negative statments about this day... but, like the bipartisan nature of American politics(and posts on AAAC) it's never surprising.

From reading here and other resourses, the motivation behind this Governor's attitude is blatantly obvious.


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

Happy Birthday MLK.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

WouldaShoulda said:


> MLK Day is now officially Blacks Only.
> 
> Nice.





Peak and Pine said:


> In a way yes, since they're the ones who seem to take it most seriously. Sorta like Veterans day is primarily for and about Veterans. And since MLK Day has not yet erupted into a tsunami of $ saving sales or snowy back yard barbecues, it might behoove a few of us Pasties to put them on top for one measly day. Or you can do as my governor has done and tell them to kiss your ass.


An interesting but, misleading comparison. I'm pretty sure that the establishment of MLK Day was intended as an opportunity for all to pause and reflect on the beliefs and values espoused by the Man, and not just as a day of celebration for those of similar color...ideally, a day for coming together and healing. As for Veteran's Day, I don't recall any incidents in which veterans had a fit over others (non-veterans) joining in the celebrations. Bad analogy, methinks(?)! Although he may have inadvertantly backed into the right call in this instance, Kudos to your Governor, Peak.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

StevenRocks said:


> Dr. King fought for the rights of all Americans. And he stood for non-violent protest and legislative solutions. If one day off to honor a man who cared enough to give his life so that everyone could be free is too much, then there's nothing else that can be said.


You said it.

And if the Maine chapter of the NAACP wants to make it a Blacks Only affair, they can kiss my big fat hairy white ass!!

BTW~Why do you suppose the OP omitted a link that more properly explained the event??


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Peak and Pine said:


> ....it might behoove a few of us Pasties to put them on top for one measly day.
> 
> Or you can do as my governor has done and tell them to kiss your ass.


1) That attitude is vile.

2) Done.


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## Peak and Pine (Sep 12, 2007)

eagle2250 said:


> Although he may have inadvertantly backed into the right call in this instance, Kudos to your Governor, Peak.


I'm excusing this based on the fact that you don't live in Maine and may not fully appreciate what you just said.

Maine has only about 10,000 Blacks, sprinkled throughout a land mass the size of the other five new England states put together. On the other hand, we have a very large minority of those with French Canadian ancestry, almost 300,000. The current Governor is a member of that minority. There are many Franco American festivities and festivals throughout the year here, well promoted, well attended, often by whomever is the current governor, none of whom in recent memory have been French, yet none of whom have ever said to the French community _kiss my ass_. Until the flamer who just took office who told the Blacks here to do just that. And this gets your kudos?

Edited to add this from last night's Colbert Report:

"I applaud Gov. LePage. Before Dr. King came along, could anyone have imagined a white politician openly inviting a black person to kiss him? And without pants! That's progress."

It's no fun being the laughing stock of the nation even tho we're not, apparently, to those here who actual find LePage's remark acceptable.


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## StevenRocks (May 24, 2005)

WouldaShoulda said:


> You said it.
> 
> And if the Maine chapter of the NAACP wants to make it a Blacks Only affair, they can kiss my big fat hairy white ass!!
> 
> BTW~Why do you suppose the OP omitted a link that more properly explained the event??


I can't answer those questions, nor do I want to, but a Governor should at least have the tact and good sense to politely disagree with the opposition to the media instead of telling them to kiss his ass. That's just stupid.


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

I don't think Martin Luther King's Day was meant for Blacks,They had white people too back then.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Failed anology alert!!

If the Franco American Festival Association asked the Governor to speak at their event, but their event excluded English speaking persons, I'd tell them to kiss my big fat hairy white ass too!!

There, the anology is fixed and works perfectly now.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

StevenRocks said:


> I can't answer those questions, nor do I want to, but a Governor should at least have the tact and good sense to politely disagree with the opposition to the media instead of telling them to kiss his ass. That's just stupid.


Agreed.

But those Frenchies are so friggin' rude!!


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## Peak and Pine (Sep 12, 2007)

WouldaShoulda said:


> Failed anology alert!!
> 
> If the Franco American Festival Association asked the Governor to speak at their event, but their event excluded English speaking persons, I'd tell them to kiss my big fat hairy white ass too!!
> 
> There, the anology is fixed and works perfectly now.


You are the Right wing gnat who likes to crawl around my Interchange posts with annoying little bites that amount to almost nothing.

To be a member of the VFW you have to have served in hostile territory, so that would exclude you, but should it exclude a governor from speaking there? Or to the DAR, the Boy Scouts or a class of 6th graders, none of which _you_ can join except maybe the last one.


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## PatentLawyerNYC (Sep 21, 2007)

Just so that I'm sure to understand the back-and-forth here, do I understand the report correctly that the NAACP event included a meeting with _only _black prisoners? The use of the word "include" leaves me unsure if visits with other prisoners are also "included." (And the statement that a visit with "all prisoners" was rejected doesn't really answer my question; I can imagine rational bases for rejecting the proposal of visiting every single prisoner.)



WouldaShoulda said:


> It appears he did have better things to do...
> 
> 'Kiss my butt' Gov. attends MLK event
> 
> ...


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

PatentLawyerNYC said:


> Just so that I'm sure to understand the back-and-forth here, do I understand the report correctly that the NAACP event included a meeting with _only _black prisoners? The use of the word "include" leaves me unsure if visits with other prisoners are also "included."


That really is the entire issue to me, and it still isn't entirely clear...

https://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/naacp-leadersays-lepage-liedabout-exchange_2011-01-18.html#

In his now-famous "kiss my butt" television interview last week, LePage said the NAACP had invited him to meet with black prisoners and that he declined, but told the group, "I would be more than happy to go, but I would meet all prisoners - and that wasn't acceptable to them, so tough luck."
That exchange never happened, said Rachel Talbot Ross, state director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and president of the NAACP Portland branch.
The e-mailed invitation, dated June 14 and reviewed by The Portland Press Herald, makes no mention of race and says the candidates' forum is simply at the prison in Warren. It was to take place before all the prisoners, Ross said.
Ross said neither LePage nor anyone from his campaign indicated the governor would go to "meet all prisoners," because he declined the invitation; and she said the NAACP never said that such a session "wasn't acceptable."
Ross said she was baffled by the governor's perception that the forum was for black prisoners only.
Her only communication with the campaign about the event was an e-mail from LePage's campaign scheduler on July 15. The e-mail from scheduler Micki Mullen declined the invitation to the Sept. 24 prison event and an NAACP town hall forum on Oct. 15, citing scheduling conflicts. The e-mail doesn't mention any concern about a segregated prison forum, LePage's desire to "meet all prisoners" or any conversation in which the NAACP turned down LePage's proposal.


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## blairrob (Oct 30, 2010)

PatentLawyerNYC said:


> so that I .. understand the back-and-forth here


 A futile endeavor

:icon_scratch: :crazy: :icon_smile_wink:


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## PatentLawyerNYC (Sep 21, 2007)

blairrob said:


> A futile endeavor
> 
> :icon_scratch: :crazy: :icon_smile_wink:


That hasn't stopped me before!


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## Peak and Pine (Sep 12, 2007)

> A futile endeavor


Not at all. The stuff that you may have just read from Woulda's link has to do with last summer when LePage was campaigning for Governor. The _kiss my ass_ remark has to do with events of this week's MLK Day when he declined all invitations to NAACP events saying he had other things (meaning _better_) to do. He wound up speaking at a Rotary Club, an organization whose purpose I've never been fully able to grasp.


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