Sen. Susan Collins tweeted Wednesday about her appreciation for Maine nurses, who are "among the many heroes who are working on the front lines in Maine and throughout the country to combat the COVID-19 pandemic." She said that she "spoke with several groups of Maine nurses about what we can do on the federal level to assist their tireless efforts." That's true, the Maine Nurses Union tweeted, but also said Collins "made no commitments to follow through on the requests we made of her." Which makes her tweet even more self-serving.
Meanwhile, the regular far-right crazies in Maine have been doing the "in" thing, rallying to "reopen" Maine. Here's an interesting thing about those far-right crazies, though: They're Republican politicians who Collins has donated to in the past. One is state Rep. Chris Johansen from the 145th legislative district. According to Maine politics writer Nathan Bernard, Johansen received a max donation from Collins’ Dirigo PAC for his reelection campaign in 2018. And this guy, too: "Larry Lockman, a former State Representative and current candidate for State Senate, received an endorsement from Collins and a max donation from her PAC in 2014."
Let's make sure her time is up. Please give $1 to help Democrats in each of these crucial Senate races, but especially the one in Maine!
These two were in on the organizing and promotion of the anti-quarantine rally in Augusta on Monday, a rally Collins has yet to comment on. That rally, not surprisingly, "was attended by a wide range of extremists including QAnon conspiracy theorists, who believe there is a network of Satan-worshiping pedophiles who rule the world." Asked about the potential harm the rally could have done, and whether Johansen or other get infected or even die as a result, he said "it would still be worth it." How very Republican of him. And by extension, Collins.
Lockman, though, he's the one who's a real piece of work, Bernard reports, as he’s "known for his belief that men should be able to rape women if abortion is legal.” Lockman said in 1990: “If a woman has (the right to abortion), why shouldn't a man be free to use his superior strength to force himself on a woman?” That was justifiable, Lockman said, because "at least the rapist’s pursuit of sexual freedom doesn't (in most cases) result in anyone's death." Note that this was reported in 2014, when Collins gave him an endorsement.
And he went on serving in the legislature, with Collins' endorsement, until he went full-on white nationalist in 2018, when she finally decided she couldn't back him anymore. So that's something, I guess. But he had been dropping pearls of wisdom like saying he was fighting "the pervasive influence of militant, politically-organized homosexuals," and that the "homosexual rights movement is engaged in a covert scheme to use federal crime-control funds to transform Maine's public schools into gay-activist indoctrination centers." But good to see Collins has some line somewhere. One that seems to have appeared in proximity to a reelection campaign.
Maine has the oldest population in the nation. Kaiser Family Foundation says nearly 60% of seniors in the state are at high risk of serious illness if they get infected, and overall, the Maine CDC warned that 49.4% of Maine adults are at risk based on age and preexisting medical conditions. So far, the state has not be overwhelmed with cases: 907 confirmed, 39 deaths as of this writing. The state's Democratic Gov. Janet Mills imposed a stay-at-home order on March 31, which has undoubtedly helped save Mainers' lives.
So that's a summary of where Susan Collins has put her support. Not behind the nurses. Not behind the responsible state leaders who have done the tough job of deciding to bring the state to a halt to save it.