Maine Militia fights public perception

Bangor Daily News ^ | 29 Oct 2010 | Abigail Curtis

[smokingfrog]

When Maine Militia State Commander Mack Page read an article about the “armed anti-government movement” of the radical right in a Time magazine cover story in September, he decided that it was time to take action.

Positive action, that is.

Page wants to let people know that the Maine Militia — which he said is adding members by the day — is not a threat to them, but rather a law-abiding group that aims to function sort of like a backup to the Maine National Guard. Though he was vague about the actual numbers of militia members — “somewhere between 1 and 3,500,” he said — there are dozens of core members in Waldo County alone, and chapters are found in 13 of Maine’s 16 counties.

“We take care of the people. We’re not interested in fighting foreign wars,” Page said in an interview in one of the restored train cars on his rail-yard property at the head of the Passagassawaukeag River. “The state of Maine is our charge.”

The Time story, by Barton Gellman, reported, "Scores of armed antigovernment groups ... have formed or been revived during the Obama years, according to law-enforcement agencies and outside watchdogs. A six-month TIME investigation reveals that recruiting, planning, training and explicit calls for a shooting war are on the rise, as are criminal investigations by the FBI and state authorities."

According to Page, the Maine Militia emphasizes self-reliance, tradition, preparedness and community service — not training assault teams to take on military targets with M16 rifles during mock combat episodes, as was described in grim detail in the Time story.

“We’re not looking to do anything aggressive,” said another member, who preferred to be identified only as John.

[Cicero]

I am amazed. Waldo County is liberal. The Bangor Daily News is liberal. Maine is largely liberal. Yet here is a long, fair, and sympathetic article about the Maine militia.

This is the way Maine used to be, before the liberal plague descended on it.

Of course, this is only one article. But it leads me to wonder whether maybe people are starting to wake up and smell the roses.

I’ve spent my summers in Maine for sixty years, and I know a lot of Mainers. The greatest generation, as they have been called, were just that. Extraordinary people.

We’ll see what happens. I saw a ton of Obama stickers around Waldo County back a couple of years ago. Both summer people and permanent residents. But this article really gives me some hope.

[smokingfrog]

The day you see Snowe and Collins get replaced by conservative senators, you’ll know that Maine is on the right track.

I’ve never been to Maine, but have the impression that the Mainers who don’t live in the larger cities are fairly conservative.

[maine yankee]

There are other groups here in Maine. Some more casual. Some more formal.

The big towns and cities are very liberal. The smaller towns and rural areas are very conservative.

Fully one third of our registered voters are not aligned with a party.

Take a look at the guy who will most likely be our next Governor.