Surprise Update: Maine Department of Labor Removes ‘Anti-Business’ Mural From Walls
- Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:17pm by
Emily Esfahani Smith
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After Maine Governor Paul LePage (R) said that a mural adorning the walls of the Department of Labor was biased against businesses and ordered it to be removed, Maine’s Department of Labor quietly took down mural from its walls this past weekend. The mural was initially put up in 2008. Last week, the unions decried the governor’s “mean-spirited” removal of the murals, as The Blaze reported.
“The mural has been removed and is in storage awaiting relocation to a more appropriate venue,” Gov. Paul LePage’s Press Secretary Adrienne Bennett told The Huffington Post. “Workers and employers need to work together to create opportunity for Maine’s 50,000 unemployed. We understand that not everyone agrees with this decision, but the Maine Department of Labor has to be focused on the job at hand.”
The Sun Journal reports, that “Labor Department employees seemed surprised to see [the] mural replaced by bare walls and spackling. Several popped into the waiting area as news about the sudden removal spread.”
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage has ordered the removal of a 36-foot mural depicting Maine’s labor history from the lobby of the Department of Labor.
Worker advocates described the move as a “mean-spirited” provocation amid the administration’s high-tension standoff with unions.
Acting labor chief Laura Boyett emailed staff Tuesday about the mural’s pending removal, as well as another administration directive to rename several department conference rooms that carry the names of pro-labor icons such as Cesar Chavez.
According to LePage spokesman Dan Demeritt, the administration felt the mural and the conference room monikers showed “one-sided decor” not in keeping with the department’s pro-business goals.
“The message from state agencies needs to be balanced,” said Demeritt, adding that the mural had sparked complaints from “some business owners” who complained it was hostile to business.
Demeritt declined to name the businesses.
The HuffPo observes that the mural will be moved to Portland’s City Hall. According to the local report below, Gov. LePage said that he doesn’t care where the mural goes, as long as it doesn’t go in the Department of Labor. “I think it’s inappropriate to be in the Department of Labor when everyone comes in–employers and employees–and they’re confronted with just one side of the equation.”
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Comments (108)
BurntHills
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:19pmfantastic, let the commies take it away, nothing like having a mural of college commie and UNION PROTESTORS with CLENCHED FISTS staring down at us innocent hardworking taxpaying AMERICANS.
Report Post »phillip taheny II
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:19pmthis is too bad.is it anti business?well maybe.but we need to look at whats coming down the road.this is all about making it easier for businesses to do business.to make us more competitive in the global market.to bring back the jobs that went overseas.first you need to figure out why all the jobs left.1) all the regulations the hinder business,2) business taxes that are much higher than other countries.3) wages that we pay our employees that are much higher than other countries.so to be competitive with these other countries we must what?deregulate,lower taxes,and last and most distasteful strip our employees of their benefits and pay them the same the other countries pay their employees.the first two i fully understand but unless we do all three we will never be competitive in this global market and the jobs will never come back.why would they?
Report Post »murmai
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:18pmyep and after we get done burning the art lets go after the books whhooop whhoooop
Report Post »Therightsofbilly
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 10:24pmI know UR but what AMI
Report Post »Seagal45
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:13pmWho gives a flip about what the Huffpo thinks?
Report Post »338lapua
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:13pmAnother AWESOME idea, this could be given as a “gift” to the whitehouse. Representing the peoples rebellion against tyranny of the government towards its people. In a way, we all are “workers”, business owners(work really hard), employees(do what they are assigned) Christians(building the kingdom),mothers and fathers(building strong families), soldiers(defending and preserving the republic),did I leave anyone out?
Report Post »sleazyhippo
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 2:02pmOoops, you forgot critics, codgers and has-beens.
Report Post »ADNIL
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:12pmGovernor LePage is change Mainers can believe in. Not like the lying worthless scum in Washington. You GO Paul! And don’t mince words, either.
Report Post »RPGZero
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:06pmMore pulling down of these types of things and more re-posting of the 10 Commandments, please.
Report Post »338lapua
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:15pmAnother EXCELLENT suggestion! The ten commandments are the cornerstone of the republic.
Report Post »sleazyhippo
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:27pm((Not like, working in a Bath shipyard to build the world’s best Navy)) – Oh, did I say that?
(Those hard workers prayed every single day. Cornerstone of our country, too. )
Report Post »mrmeowkins
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 11:55pmYou do realize the Department of Labor is not the Department of Religion right? Because if they were put to up the Ten Commandments, it would once again only show one side of the story of America (and coincidentally have nothing to do with the Department of Labor as was the argument for taking down the initial mural).
Report Post »RightUnite
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:56pmWhat a bunch of fools. Times have changed. You morons need to move on also. Good for this Governor.
Report Post »HOPEYCHANGY
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:54pmMaybe Olympia Snowe wants it,….good RINO’s often do.
Report Post »fixer
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:53pmI’m from Maine and I like this Governor
Report Post »RightUnite
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:57pmI’m not from Maine, and I also like this Governor.
Report Post »decendentof56
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:48amMy daughter lives on Mt Desert Is, Maine, and loves LePage!
Report Post »She can’t wait to get Snow and Collins OUT!
roadhog
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:52pmReplace the communist mural with a Lobster.
Report Post »scott2012
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:47pmI’m thinking, What union do these Labor Dept. employees work for?
Report Post »Public sector unions should be illegal. They do not represent the people.
texasfarmer
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:44pmSomeone spoke about making art nondescript, ugly, moving away from the classics.
Report Post »Might have been Marx. Good description of that mess.
RepubliCorp
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:52pmCould they have made it any more drab / dreary?
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:23pmThe Communist Take over of America, 45 Declared Goals (1963)=
#22. continue discrediting American culture by degrading allforms of artistic expression,. Eliminate all good sculptur from buildings, substitute “hapeless, awkward and meaningless”forms.
Report Post »#23. control art critics and directors of art museums. promote ”ugliness, repulsive and meaningless art”
JP4JOY
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:43pmGood for the governor. It’s not an anti-union thing, it‘s getting rid of ugly murals done in a 50’s USSR motiv.
Report Post »decendentof56
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:45amExxxxxxxxxxx..actly!
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:40pmLORD GOD, we are counting on YOU. We are humbling ourselves before YOU, GOD. Help us stand on YOUR side of the line in the sand. In JESUS’ NAME, amen.
Report Post »hannahh
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 10:00pmAmen and Amen!
Report Post »tarpon
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:40pmTook down the commie artwork, they did
Report Post »CatBox
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:38pmGood move. Maybe they will look good in China. A gift
Report Post »marine249
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:37pmrelocation – to a more appropriate venue
to the dump–dump–dump
Report Post »decendentof56
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:43amCute!
Report Post »tarbush
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:34pmPaint them white and donate them to an art school for reuse.
Report Post »Dar3k
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:32pmEvery stupid communist “artwork” looks like this–no emotion, no dimension. That’s on purpose. They don’t want us to think and feel. This mural should never see the light of day—there is no passion, no true art in this thing. Only the loss of our humanity. God forbid.
Report Post »BetterDays
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:27pmI’m thinking it might look good located behind some port-a-potties in Socialistafornia.
Report Post »Even sadder than the commie artwork, some Democrat(s), socialists, progressives and facists think it’s nice.
tasteless, bland, horrid, grey and depressing is what I think.
338lapua
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:52pmHow about a commie art museum. Where the failed ideas of the past can be noted so as not to be repeated. Ned Flanders could open a Leftorium in the gift shop! Yes indeedle-e-doodley.
Report Post »sleazyhippo
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:20pmJust a bunch of fancy-pants elitist State-O-Maine intellectuals, I tell you! Why, I aught a…
Report Post »MommaGrizzly
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:26pmGood. we need to stop worrying about what the far left think and stop being so politically correct.
Report Post »VermontPatriot
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:47pmPC be damned!
Report Post »338lapua
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:48pmThe decor needs to be neutral to all activities which take place in this venue. Time for the adults to do what needs doing, and whatever “labor” thinks, matters only to labor. Business is a conglomeration of capital interests, management and labor. Respect all, or remove all. Tasteful but non confrontational is what a government venue needs to be.
Report Post »Therightsofbilly
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:19pmNo Ten Commandments? Then no commie propaganda either.
Besides, I’m sure that somewhere in the Constitution it says that there must be a “Seperation of unions & state”
.
I just know it’s in there somewhere, isn’t it?
No? well we’ll fix that.
Report Post »decendentof56
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:40amAbsolutely agree, Momma!
Say what you want.
Do NOT apologize, ever!
Tell them to shut up.
Call them Communist.
‘Nazis’!
Racists’
Facists’
Do EXACTLY what they do to us!
Hey, look….It works both ways.
Report Post »beckwill
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:23pmHaaaaahahahaha! It was ugly anyway.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:04pmAuction it and see if it draws the $60,000 the artist was paid. And then give the money to the artist for LESSONS on how to paint a smile.
Report Post »sleazyhippo
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:24pmHoly Er Gail! Oh, some of us art-eests are a bit catty today even though we are doggies! Could you please share some smile murals that you have produced, to show us what real art is? (LOL)
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:23pmthrow the crap away
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:34pmGlue it to the dumpster
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:03pmLine the dumpster with it.
Report Post »sleazyhippo
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:17pmWelcome to the Mural Majority! Oh, ye “artists” and culture queens.
Report Post »IntheKnowOG
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 8:03am“The mural was initially put up in 2008.” Hardly a classic. Notice what year it went up. I told the in laws to vote for this guy and Amen they did. The state of ME has been overrun with Retired NYC socialists sticking their noses into Local politics. Same thing happened in NM. Finally, locals are waking up.
Report Post »TXPilot
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:22pmSounds good to me….we have enough Communist propaganda out there now.
Report Post »Revere1
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:25pmYou’re correct, it was basically communist propaganda. The mural was not “pro-labor”, it was just warmed-over socialism in art form. Socialists always have the same basic message: Things are bad for good people, good for rich people, and we can fix it by giving socialists money and power: http://www.battlefield315.com/2011/03/socialism-explained.html Never mind the fact that socialism has always failed.
Report Post »cheezwhiz
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:31pmSend the mural to Egypt
Report Post »BuckOfama
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:37pmHaHa…….
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:38pmThey could just start the “State is Good, Work is Good, State is Father, State is Mother, Report anyone who is Against the State” recording, loop it over and over. Remember children, you are smarter than your parents, report suspicious behavior. Big brother/Sister IS watching.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:43pmHow about they paint a portrait of Barry Soetoro standing in an unemployment line in the Maine Dept of Labor. He could have that arrogant , jutting jawed, smug look , while picking up his unemployment check.
Report Post »338lapua
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 6:44pmI’m all good with it.
Report Post »tooksdad
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:14pmI live here in central Maine and I think we should use it to fill some of these potholes.
Report Post »sleazyhippo
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:14pmI hate to see any artistic commission destroyed for no reason. (Imagine if somebody decided the Sistine Chapel ceiling was “too gay.”) Thanks to the frugal folk who saved this artwork and did not squander taxpayer investment. (I hope this gets auctioned and makes money for the state- they seem to need some money.) And now that this silly issue has been resolved, let’s all relax, we can ‘live & let live.’ (smile)
Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:16pmTxPilot:
True, there is more than enough propaganda just like that junk.
Darmok:
How soon could we get a continuous loop sign saying to the communists “Communism is soon to be out of business forever in the land of the FREE and Brave!!!”
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:28pmSnow.
Report Post »2012
natstew
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 7:49pmThey should remove the real Communists, Olympia Snow and Susan Colins.
Report Post »Thatsitivehadenough
Posted on March 28, 2011 at 8:14pmWhere‘s it’s more appropriate new home? The Kremlin?
Report Post »True2thereplublic
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 12:31amI say burn the painting…………..
Report Post »decendentof56
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:25amGo LePage!
Report Post »decendentof56
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 4:34am13th….
Report Post »See you picked up on the jaw. Not hard to see, is it?
I’m sure you also notice how the militant, community-organizing side of him comes out, too. The little slang/abrupt ending to words, and how he plays to black crowds in particular. Yes indeed, he can turn on the lingo when he wants to. What was the comment Reid made in regards to that very point? Something to the effect that Obama doesn’t talk (in effect) in EBonics unless he wants to? It’s obvious to Harry, wouldn’t you say?
GONESURFING
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 7:21amGlad they took the commie art down. The state should sell it to some rich Hollywood commie like Sean Penn who could put it up in his house and show all his commie friends like Heugo Chavez, and others. Win, win situation, the state makes money, and some commie is happy with his commie art.
Report Post »jzs
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 1:28pmWhen Hitler and Stalin came to power, they also censored art and removed and destroyed anything they thought offensive. Learning from the best!
Report Post »tifosa
Posted on March 29, 2011 at 6:42pmand they busted unions too.
Report Post »