Cross posted at Dirigo Blue
Most of you know that then candidate for Maine governor Paul LePage promised to tell President Obama to go to hell; less known is that LePage had previously [told Obama to "Get out of my state." http://www.youtube.com/...
This morning it was learned that now-Gov. Paul LePage would not be attending the traditional observances of Martin Luther King Day in Maine: the 30th Annual MLK Celebration Dinner in Portland on Sunday night, and the MLK Breakfast sponsored by the Bangor NAACP and the University of Maine on Monday morning.
But when LePage was asked about why he wasn't attending the event in Portland, he said (the video can be found here at the WGME-TV website here - there are no plans to post it to YouTube):
Tell `em to kiss my butt. (giggles) Ahh, I got Dan all upset. You know, this is not about - you know, if they want me to play the race card, come to dinner and my son will talk to them.
Ann and Paul LePage have an adopted son, Devon Raymond who was born in Jamaica. As Susan Sharon reports at MPBN, Devon Raymond was never adopted by the Lepages:
LePage often refers to 25-year-old Devon Raymond of Jamaica as his "adopted son." And although the governor and his wife are putting Raymond through college, and Raymond has attended LePage family gatherings with the LePage's other children on a regular basis since the age of 17, Raymond has not been formally adopted. He is also not a U.S. citizen.
Dan Demeritt, who was all smiles in the video above, sent along this explanation of why Gov. LePage has declined to attend these two traditional events:
As for this weekend, the Governor has personal commitments on Sunday and he is attending the funeral of a state trooper on Monday. Over the last several years, Paul LePage has attended many MLK events as Mayor of Waterville:
The Muskie Community Center in Waterville has held Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. breakfasts for the past twenty years according to Carmen Bedard. Bedard helps organize events at the Center including the annual MLK breakfast.
According to the Center’s records, Governor LePage, then Mayor of Waterville, attended numerous MLK breakfasts. "Mayor LePage gave the welcome address in 2004, 2005, 2006," says Bedard. "He also gave the welcome in 2008, and it looks like he’s attended most, if not all the breakfasts in the past eight years on the MLK holiday."
All this could very well be true, but it demonstrates once again that these guys are not ready for prime time. Obviously, no one, not even a sitting governor, has much control over when funerals are planned. It's important to remember that there are only two Federal holidays that honor a specific person: Martin Luther King Day and Presidents Day (I list Presidents Day since it is the combined Washington and Lincoln birthdays).
Observing Martin Luther King day is a big deal, and as Governor, Paul LePage represents all the people of Maine. It is expected that he makes time in his personal life to perform the duties required of him as Governor, especially since he's not even two weeks into his administration.
Update: Bruce Bourgoine was able to find some video: