All Authors >

AL DIAMON

Latest Articles

Pregnant pause

Maine Republicans on abortion
The Maine Republican Party has a death wish. Over giving birth.

By: AL DIAMON | January 26, 2011

What's missing?

LePage's nominees
After an intense investigation into the backgrounds of Republican Governor Paul LePage's nominees for top administration posts, I've discovered an astonishing lack of diversity.

By: AL DIAMON | January 19, 2011

Little things

On shrinking legislatures
In the midst of the new Republican majority's mania to reduce the size and cost of state government, I offer some advice and a warning.

By: AL DIAMON | January 12, 2011

Sub Rosa

Rosa Scarcelli's Senate run
Rosa Scarcelli is running for the US Senate in 2012. Her husband is still running away from what he did in the 2010 gubernatorial race.

By: AL DIAMON | January 05, 2011

LePage's brutal honesty
If Paul LePage's wife asked him, "Do these pants make my butt look big?" he'd probably answer, "Yeah, you look like you've got twin entrants in a giant pumpkin contest dragging around behind you."

By: AL DIAMON | December 29, 2010

I never promised you a rose garden

Baldacci's failures
Some readers have suggested that last week's column was unfair to outgoing Democratic Governor John Baldacci. They're correct.

By: AL DIAMON | December 29, 2010

Walking on broken glass

A (very) short list of Baldacci's successes
There must be some kind of law that kicks in whenever a prominent politician leaves office, requiring every columnist and pundit to blather on at length about the triumphs and tragedies of that esteemed figure's checkered career.

By: AL DIAMON | December 15, 2010

From carpenter to king

LePage has been surprisingly polite
In the wake of last month's election, I expected Republican governor-elect Paul LePage to provide me with an inexhaustible supply of column material.

By: AL DIAMON | December 08, 2010

The stain

The Nutting case
"If the diaper fits, you must acquit." According to press accounts from 2003, that was the wording on a sign carried at a State House rally by a supporter of Republican state Representative Robert Nutting of Oakland.

By: AL DIAMON | December 01, 2010

In a perfect world: Ranked-choice voting

Make that "fraud"
My unbiased analysis of the 2010 Maine gubernatorial election reveals that most voters didn't want any of the candidates to win. The proof? A sizable majority voted against each of them.

By: AL DIAMON | November 24, 2010

Conducting tests on Maine Republicans

Highly experimental
Here at the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Effects of Sarcasm and Derision on Political Philosophies, we've been conducting a comprehensive battery of tests to determine whether newly elected Maine Republicans really mean that stuff they've been saying about reducing the size and cost of state government.

By: AL DIAMON | November 16, 2010

Know what you're doing

Governors: listen to your legislators
Any idiot can be governor. I'm not saying Republican Governor-elect Paul LePage is such an idiot. But if it turns out he is, it's comforting to know that it won't make much difference.

By: AL DIAMON | November 11, 2010

The Gaggie Awards are back

Winners and fools
The Gaggie Awards are back. Not by popular demand. (But that's never stopped state Representative John Martin.)

By: AL DIAMON | November 04, 2010

Celebrity gossip

Candidates in their final, desperate moments
In the final days of a tight gubernatorial race, the campaigns tend to get desperate, then frantic, then crazy. That progression leads to increasingly wacky attacks on the opposition, few of which turn out to be true, although many of them ought to be.

By: AL DIAMON | October 27, 2010

Vote for casinos in Maine

Hit the jackpot
If you're opposed to casinos in Maine, there's one way to make certain the state won't be overrun with noxious gambling emporiums sucking up every dollar of disposable income we have left: vote in favor of every single one of them.

By: AL DIAMON | October 20, 2010

Be careful what you say about Libby Mitchell

Old and in the way
You can get in a lot of trouble if you use the words "Libby Mitchell" and "old" in the same sentence.

By: AL DIAMON | October 13, 2010

LePage and Pingree steal each other's material

Look like twins
Democratic US Representative Chellie Pingree does this hilarious imitation of Republican gubernatorial candidate Paul LePage.

By: AL DIAMON | October 07, 2010

Over before it started

Cancel the campaigns
It's finished. The gubernatorial candidates can cancel all remaining campaign appearances.

By: AL DIAMON | September 29, 2010

Cannibal council

Behaving badly
Getting a stern lecture on political decorum from the likes of me would be similar to being scolded by Hannibal Lecter for indulging in cannibalism. Both reprimands would carry a strong odor of hypocrisy.

By: AL DIAMON | September 22, 2010

Cleaning house

Board overhaul
Maine’s government contains more than 300 boards and commissions — ranging from the influential, such as the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) and the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC), to the obscure, such as one that oversees landscape architects and another that makes sure cosmetologists don’t spread cooties.

By: AL DIAMON | September 16, 2010

My new excuse

Whatever Colgan does, it's not his fault
Charlie Colgan isn't to blame for all the mistakes made by . . . uh . . . Charlie Colgan.

By: AL DIAMON | September 08, 2010

<< first ...< prev 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | next >... last >>

7 of 16 (results 311)