Don’t stack the deck

During the Sears Island debacle, Gov. King quoted one of Kenney Rogers’ ballads, “You got to know when to hold ’em and know when to fold ’em …” He added that one time you always want to fold is when you see the game is rigged. The message of the similes is that one ought not to play with a dealer who has stacked the deck. I think all of us Maine folk would agree with that observation. To carry this simile one step further, a politician should not try to stack the deck while playing with the people who have elected you either.

A legislative panel recently approved the nomination of Mary Dolan to the Land Use Regulation Commission. Gov. King’s nomination of Dolan to LURC appears to be a clumsy attempt to further pack (stack) the commission with pro-clear-cutting members.

When Dolan came before the legislative panel, which is also stacked, certain members demanded that she state her position on the clear-cutting referendum before they would act. Two days later, presumably after checking with Gov. King, Dolan told the panel what they wanted to hear. She said that not only was she opposed to the clear-cutting referendum, she also was opposed to those people who are trying to establish a park up in the North Woods! The stated position of the nominee is that she opposes regulations that she may have to enforce as a LURC commissioner. The possibility of that situation occurring alone should have been sufficient grounds for an unbiased panel to have passed over the nominee for confirmation to such a position.

It would be naive to suggest that Gov. King did not understand Dolan’s position on these matters before he nominated her. It would also be naive to suggest that he was not trying to “stack” LURC with one more pro-clear-cutter. Even Dolan must have been astonished when the governor told her to state her position on the issue. Tactics like this can only add to the deep distrust that the people have for the King administration.

Gov. King’s nomination of Dolan at this time makes one wonder about the political astuteness of his administration. Ostensibly King is trying to persuade the majority of the people in this state to compromise with the Maine Council on Sustainable Forest Management’s alternative solution to the clear-cut problem. But unless I missed my guess, after King laid the queen of spades on the table, it is my bet that most Maine voters are going to be asking for a new dealer and a sealed deck of cards before they play this game any more. Gov. King should have followed his own advice and folded on the Nolan nomination. Paul Hanson Old Town