To the editor:
“Fathers, do not nag your children lest they lose heart,” is a Biblical quote that I loved hearing as a child. It didn’t apply to Dad; he was the gentlest parent to his seven daughters and three sons, but I loved the notion that he was also answerable to a higher power. As an adult, I’ve broadened my interpretation of that passage. Today it should be lived by all people who have control over others. It certainly should apply to elected officials, who are sworn to be responsible. Ross and I had a combined 20 years in the legislature and did constituent services for 50. We know that dysfunction is not normal. Instead of doing the job they were elected to do, fixing problems, officials moan and groan. The dissonance came to The Valley at a hearing held to hear from the elderly about their issues. The same process is used all over the state to gather information from the citizenry. An hour and a half into the hearing, we had been talked to, lectured to, and harangued by the governor and legislators on a myriad of issues. The major sin of the elderly is that they are major consumers of pensions, health care, and possibly food; that is all welfare, don’t you know.
I observed the audience sinking in their chairs under the tongue-lashing. They were the survivors of our communities. Many had raised large, healthy, well-educated families with little money. I respectfully stated that the talking points should be made in Augusta without forgetting the faces of our people. Some individuals then reminded the governor that all the food, heat, gas, and utilities that he and his family get at the Blaine House come from our hard-earned tax dollars. Welfare! The contentious non-hearing adjourned abruptly.
Every day the voices of the workers, negotiators and problem-solvers are being drowned by the dissonant cacophony of some of our elected officials. The people of our beautiful state have to suffer the humiliation of being nagged to death by this administration.
Judy Ayotte Paradis
Frenchville
