Bristol Republican Committee Chairman Earl Inman blasts Democratic candidate for governor Mike Michaud in this edition for his failure to prevent the ongoing scandal at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Inman introduces his letter as an endorsement of Gov. Paul LePage, but spends three-quarters of the letter in sarcastic attacks on the governor’s opponents, Eliot Cutler and Michaud.
We take this opportunity to deliver a biannual warning. As the election season heats up, we expect to receive many letters about politics. We welcome our readers to weigh in on the election and engage in civil debate and discourse on our pages.
We ask writers to focus on the candidate they support, and when they have an important point to make about a difference between this candidate and his or her opponent, to do so in a civil manner. We will not publish simple attack letters.
We include Mr. Inman’s letter this week because, despite its tone, it makes an important point and one we agree with, at least in part.
Mr. Inman points out Michaud’s long service on the U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee and wonders how well Michaud and his fellow committee members were doing their jobs to allow this scandal to take place.
We have been wondering the same thing.
The problems in the VA system were not a secret before the scandal. The department is practically a byword for bureaucratic inefficiency, and has become a reliable punchline for politically savvy comedians like Jon Stewart.
Sadly, as is often the case, a failure of tragic proportions had to occur to make the public pay attention.
Michaud, as the ranking Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee, holds more power to address the problems in the system as almost anyone in the country.
We stop short of blaming Michaud. One man can only accomplish so much, especially in the do-nothing Congress of recent years. However, it is fair to ask why he could not do more to prevent the scandal, and how he plans to address it going forward.
Fortunately, Lincoln County residents will have an opportunity to ask Michaud themselves on Monday, July 7. Michaud will talk about veterans issues and field questions about the topic from 4-5 p.m. at the Newcastle fire station.
We applaud Michaud for his willingness to participate in such a forum, and we applaud his fellow Democrat, Newcastle Rep. Mick Devin, a veteran himself, for his role in organizing the event.
Many politicians go to great lengths to avoid hard questions. We expect Michaud to field a few of these, and it is worthy of note that he is freely volunteering to do so.
This Friday, we will join thousands of our friends and neighbors to celebrate the birthday of our nation. It is important to remember the price for this independence, and the price our soldiers continue to pay to protect it. We owe a great debt to our veterans.
On Monday, we hope a small fraction of Friday’s revelers will fill the fire station to hear from Michaud, and to ensure our leaders know we will hold them accountable to pay this debt.
