After winning a special election Susan Deschambault was scheduled to be sworn in as the newest elected Democratic state senator in Maine. Instead, when she arrived at the State House with her family in tow, Deschambault was informed that the ceremony would not be taking place after-all. Despite Deschamablt’s 72-mile drive to the state capital, Governor Paul LePage was too busy having an epic hissy-fit over an unrelated matter to play by the rules and attend to his duties. One of LePage’s (likely embarrassed) spokespeople had the exciting task of informing Deschambault that the Governor was “mad about an unrelated vote in the Labor Committee against his nominee for labor representative to the Unemployment Insurance Commission.”
Apparently LePage is taking a page from Trump’s playbook on behaving like a toddler anytime things don’t go his way.
“Bartlett blasted LePage. ‘Once again, the Governor decides to throw a temper tantrum and refuse to do his job because he did not get his way,’ he said in a statement.”
Maine law does grant the Governor the right to wait up to five days before swearing in new senators. No mention of the governor utilizing this privilege was made the day before, when Deschambault was invited to the capital for a nine a.m. ceremony.
Two days later, Governor LePage consented that Deschambault would eventually be sworn into the office she was elected to, when he got around to it. LePage said, while attending a store opening in Swanville”
“She’s going to be sworn in. But it’s not on her schedule. My schedule is a little busier than hers.”
Evidently, a new store being opened ranks higher on LePage’s list of priorities than fulfilling his obligations to the voters of Maine.
This isn’t the first time LePage has let his anger get the better of him. Last year he swore to veto every democratic bill presented to him until his grubby demands for a reduced income tax were met. This is also the same Governor who said that public executions and decapitation were the best solutions to Maine’s drug problem.
While I suppose we are all past the point of being surprised by a Republican refusing to do their jobs, it seems like by now we’d have found a way to put them in time-out until they agree to play by the rules. Yes, even when they don’t get their way.
Featured image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr under Creative Commons license.
