Baldacci and BRAC

In listening to the candidates for governor on “Voice of the Voter” on WLBZ Tuesday night, and in seeing Gov. Baldacci’s campaign advertisements, it is clear the governor is either totally ignorant of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process, or he lacks regard for honest communication.

He said at least three times in the debate, as he says in his ads, that he has fought the Bush administration’s attempts to close bases in Maine. Surely the governor must know that BRAC is a nonpartisan commission that provides the administration with a list of bases to be closed or realigned, and the administration’s only option is to accept or reject the list in its entirety.

The president and his administration have no say in which bases go on the list, and no authority to edit the list. It seems to me that if Baldacci wants to show his disagreement with the administration he should be able to find legitimate issues to criticize. I would ask him if he has not bothered to learn the details of BRAC, or if he does understand it and just chooses to be dishonest in his representation.

Either way it speaks poorly of his ability to lead this great state.

Lynn E. Briggs

Presque Isle