Define Irony

As a Gray voter, you must be prepared to run the gauntlet of citizen petitions that invariably guard the exit of New Begin Gym. Over the years, that’s where I signed several petitions, including TABOR (there or Augusta) while spurning hunting bans, Maine Yankee closures, and other nonsense. This year, the pickin’s were thin. I fully expected to find the Gray Dispatch petition booth, but was drop dead stunned to find a competitive booth set up by our Council to convince the public NOT to sign the Gray dispatch petition.

This has got to be a first! With no petition in tow, why was it legitimate for the Council’s booth to be there in the first place? The Town Clerk/Town Manager made Andy Upham take down his original signs because they did violate state law. No matter, any public decision will be based on the merits of the case.

Besides smacking of desperation, the literature the Council was passing out was amusing in its inaccuracy and historic revisionism. Most hilarious of all was the proud proclamation that Portland Press Herald supports the closing of Gray dispatch.

The Portland Press Herald?????

Wasn’t this the same Portland Press Herald that recommended the public reject TABOR-while our Council stumped the state in its support? Our three male councilors were staunch supporters of Chandler Woodcock. Wasn’t this the same Portland Press Herald who endorsed John Baldacci to the exclusion of the only candidate that supported TABOR? Wasn’t this the same Press Herald that has historically endorsed just about every Democrat running at the state and Federal legislative level, and has consistently supported the big government approach to solving Maine’s problems, including a revitalization of a more expansive County government?

And isn’t this the same Press Herald that has repeatedly demonstrated to have NO daily interest in Gray matters. This Council has privately and publicly dismissed the credibility and the objectivity of the Press Herald. But now, in a moment of need, the Council has actually embraced the opinion of this otherwise discredited paper.

We now have a new definition and benchmark of irony.