Unions Decry Maine Gov‘s ’Mean-Spirited‘ Removal of Labor Mural From Gov’t Building
- Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:52am by
Meredith Jessup
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AUGUSTA, Maine (AP/The Blaze) — Maine Gov. Paul LePage has ordered the removal of a 36-foot mural depicting the state’s labor history from the lobby of the Department of Labor headquarters building in Augusta. In addition, the LePage administration is renaming several department conference rooms that carry the names of pro-labor icons such as Cesar Chavez.
LePage spokesman Dan Demeritt said the mural and the conference room names are not in keeping with the department’s pro-business goals and some business owners complained. “The message from state agencies needs to be balanced,” Demeritt told the Sun Journal.
The mural was erected in 2008 with a $60,000 federal grant. It depicts several moments in Maine labor history, including a 1937 shoe mill strike in Auburn and Lewiston and “Rosie the Riveter” and a paper mill workers’ strike in 1986. The idea for the art panels reportedly came from Charley Scontras, a labor historian at the University of Maine.
Judy Taylor, the artist who created the mural, called LePage’s decision to remove the work “terrible,“ adding that her 2007 selection by the Maine Arts Commission represented the ”commission of a lifetime.” Taylor also insisted the artwork was never meant to be political. “There was never any intention to be pro-labor or anti-labor,” she said. “It was a pure depiction of the facts.”
Demeritt said the administration‘s decision was not designed to antagonize organized labor and was not timed to coincide with the groups’ recent budget protests at the state capitol building. Gov. LePage has proposed pension cuts for unionized state workers and teachers and plans to pursue “right-to-work” legislation that has riled union leaders.
Labor advocates claim the decision to remove the mural is “mean-spirited” and a purposeful provocation by the Republican governor.
Mike Tipping, a spokesman for the Maine People’s Alliance, a progressive organization, said LePage had been “elected to create jobs, not to be the state’s interior decorator.”
“The LePage administration is going after Maine workers on a bunch of different fronts,” Tipping said. “I guess ‘Rosie the Riveter’ is just another casualty.”
Additionally, Matt Schlobohm of the Maine AFL-CIO chapter condemned the decision, saying a depiction of history should “rise above” political differences. “To remove a mural that is a historical depiction just seems arbitrary and mean-spirited,” Schlobohm said.
“It’s a very small thing,” Demeritt countered. “I just want to emphasize that we were merely looking to achieve a little aesthetic balance. It’s very minor.”
As for renaming the building’s conference rooms, Demeritt said they could be named “after mountains, counties or something.”
(Images: Judy Tayor)
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Comments (310)
Rumsfeld
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:52amGood for the Gov!!! Cezar Chevez??I don’t even have words.
Report Post »Just in time
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:52amIt is rather drab. But at least it is not filled with all of the hateful, vile, despicable comments as of late.
Report Post »chickenlittle
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 9:55amThe “art” doesn’t depict the vitriol, but according to the history books, it was definitely there at the time… so was the thuggery. Seeing depressing, and, as one poster accurately described it, soviet era “progressive” pro-union artwork is, in itself biased. The walls would better be adorned with something more representative of Maine as a whole. Whenever the government, at whatever level, has gotten into the “granting” of arts funding, it has generated controversy. Since there isn’t any more money, and surely wasn’t in 2007-8, they should stay out of it entirely. What was wrong with the walls before this work was placed? …why the expense in the first place?
Report Post »bloptop
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:50amyou blazers are so ignorant. we’ve had a long union history that goes way beyond democrat or republican lines. we’re talking about history…this is the equivalent of trying to erase some piece of colonial art. whether you agree with unions is irrelevant. this is about trying to eradicate an important part of american history without respecting its significance. think for one second and look beyond petty partisanship..this is american history whether you want to except it or not.
Report Post »momsense
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 4:35amWhat do you unionists think that you’re doing– That was just a piece of pro union propaganda art, You’re trying to destroy a nation, and with this Communist in the White house and his criminal Attorney General, it has a good chance of happening.
Report Post »Rickfromillinois
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 6:54amA one sided and distorted view of history.
Report Post »*PATRIOT*GAMES*
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 8:13ambloptop
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:50am
you blazers are so ignorant. we’ve had a long union history that goes way beyond democrat or republican lines. we’re talking about history…this is the equivalent of trying to erase some piece of colonial art. whether you agree with unions is irrelevant. this is about trying to eradicate an important part of american history without respecting its significance. think for one second and look beyond petty partisanship..this is american history whether you want to except it or not.
It is beyond ridiculous that you accuse others of ignorance in a post so rife with error.
1. Punctuation is an essential element of written English.
Report Post »2. We still have our history with labor unions. Have had connotes past tense, implying that we no longer have our history.
3. Labor unions and progressives have for nearly a century worked hand in hand to institutionalize marxism in America.
4. America. That you fail to capitalize the name of our country betrays either laziness or passive-aggressive tendencies, neither of which are respectability enhancers.
5. It’s hardly colonial art. It is agitprop of the leftist bent, and should never have been commissioned at taxpayer expense. It glorifies communism while appearing innocuous to the casual observer.
6.Excepting it is exactly what’s being done. I realize that you meant accept, which only makes it funnier that you would insult others you deem ignorant.
ProgressiveLiberalMarine
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 8:32amLet me try, but with correct grammar. This is historical art, it may have leaning towards a part of government that could be seen as leftist or progressive, but that’s what happened in those times. The fact that it was paid for by the state is irrelevant, because it wasnt saying what was right or wrong, only what happened. Investment in the arts is important, especially historical art.
Report Post »tommee
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 10:25amReminds me of the Taliban and the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Ten years ago the Taliban leader didn’t agree with the image that the 1500 year old Buddhas were presenting so he had them dynamited out of existence.
Let‘s hope this mentality doesn’t become prevalent in America.
Report Post »P C BE DAMNED
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:19pmPatriot Games
Report Post »I don’t think we will be able to stand such awful treatment of this so called art. Hell we Americans out here have had everything we hold dear and sacred for at least 50 years. I’ll bet you did not raise a word when they took our Ten Commandments out of every public place in America one at a time. Don’t give me that crap about separation of church and State. We know what thats all about. FOOL
Mohawk1773
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 3:36amOh hell, BLOPTOP, has gotten top whopped… I will refrain further.
Report Post »staythecourse
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:46amA “Federal Grant”???? That means MY tax money was used for that mural!
The mural needs to be painted over. It should NEVER have been commissioned in the first place. Although I don’t live in Maine, as a tax payer whose money was used to paint that abomination I also demand that it be taken down! It is communist propaganda.
Report Post »BonnieBlueFlag
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:44amI lived in Maine VERY briefly (one year) and got the heck out as fast as possible. The income tax in that state is OUTRAGEOUS- even more than New York which supposedly has the highest income tax- Maine’s is just sneakier. They charge a similar 8% to New York but that’s only AFTER a lump sum of $2k is taken out. If you do the math, anyone who makes under $200k is paying *at least* 13%- Highest in the country!
Why so high in a state with such abundant natural resources? The secret they don’t print on their brochures is that 90% of the state is on some form of welfare. (Food stamps, MaineCare, govt. daycare, etc.) If you’re stuck in the snow at 3 am and you call a tow truck you can expect to be told to buzz off because he would rather sleep and collect his welfare. It is the same when you try to find someone to hang drywall- nobody wants to jeopardize their welfare benefits.
This will be an interesting clash between the hard-working Mainers and the “others” who are lazy pillheads that outnumber the good folk 2:1. I would have loved to stay in such a beautiful land, but I’m not going to pay an extra $1500 a month in taxes to support 300,000 lay-abouts.
Report Post »bloptop
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:43amyou blazers are so ignorant. we’ve had a long union history that goes way beyond democrat or republican lines. we’re talking about history…this is the equivalent of trying to erase some piece of colonial art. whether you agree with unions is irrelevant. this is about trying to eradicate an important part of american history without respecting its significance. think for one second and look beyond petty partisanship…this is american history whether you want to except it or not.
Report Post »Ledger
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 2:32amYou have to admit, it’s ugly and depressing art. It should go just on those grounds. Something like what Thomas Hart Benton did in Missouri would tell the story of labor history and be uplifting at the same time.
Report Post »DTOM_Jericho
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 3:01amYour avatar says all we need to know about you.
Report Post »sbleve
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 6:01amYour are wrong connecting Colonial Art that was retained by federal $$. Today’s grant dollars of all kinds have created a pigsty of selecting who gets what. This years budget, as proposed, is 1.5 Trillion dollars of no funding – means borrow. All grants of any kind amount to what total of the 2007 budgetary process? Government workers/elected or otherwise should never be given the power to decide good bad or ugly.
Oh? What say you and the Left (no such thing as a communist liberal) belief that Our Constitution is an “old dusty piece of paper”, or is a “living document” subject to change at a whim, or it is written in old confusing language. And since we are in your school of thought, Why did the original writers of the Constitution make the second arm of Congress -SENATE an appointment by the respective States??????????? Why does a Senator to qualify need to be 35 years or older?
The Seventeenth Amendment is a legitimate change, even though it alone allows the old European belief that Centralized Kingdoms work best.
Report Post »SFYMP
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 11:14amCracks me up how people nowadays want to equate modern unions to the beginning of unions. They aren’t even in the same ball park. Any good that was done by unions was already headed into the abyss of corruption by the 1930′s. We haven’t had sweat shops since before WWII. Even unions hire POS trolls to do their dirty work nowadays. If you see a union picket line the odds of them actually being union members is about 10-1. Unions hire scab labor labor! Too funny when the truth HURTS. POW!
Report Post »midcoastmainepatriot
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 9:01pmTotal Moron !!!!!! Maine is old time flinty yankee conservatives that have no interest in any progressive crap or PC new world S#$$. Only the Barney Frank supporters that moved up from Boston/Newton/Harvard are into that !!!!!!!!!! Go back to Massachusettes !!!!!!! We are with Paul Lepage…….OUTLAW UNIONS !!!
Report Post »Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:41amLepage for President~
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:41amAnd without barganing power, too.
Report Post »There go the dues!
There goes the Democratic Party’s Move on dot org, SEIU, Teamsters, NEA, etc.
colonial10
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:41amThat’s what they get for taking the Ten Commandments away. Is not the Ten Commandments history? Hypocrites with double standards.
Report Post »davel155
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 5:34amYou are saying the ACLU is part of the labor unions. WOW!!!!! So the credit union is also a part of the labor union and it all started with the Union Army. ACLU is not the labor unions. WOW!!!!!!! Just WOW.
Report Post »SFYMP
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 10:56amAmazing how many union trolls come out like dave the dummy when it has anything to do with union busting. We are going to have to use their tactics to whoop em and I can’t wait. Stupid union trolls bringing a baseball bat to a gun fight.
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:14pmDave,
What you did is known as setting up a straw man and knocking it over. It’s a common rhetorical sleight of hand which holds no value in logic nor does it count as a valid response. Sorry.
Report Post »P C BE DAMNED
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:14pmdave
I am glad to see you about to loose it. If that works then yes the ACLU is a part of the labor unions. Hell they would join anything against America or God. FOOL
Report Post »pwatkins
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:40amGo Maine. That is some depressing art that I would hate to look at very much.
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:33amsurely Maine is famous for something other than the unions leeching off of it???
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:32amgood job, glad to hear it… another Governor who is representing ALL the people…after all, someone DID complain….. boohoo unions boohoo…your shoe is on the other foot, take the ugly murals home to SEIU
Report Post »vennoye
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:28amWhen you read the article–it seems that grumbling and complaining have become the new American pastime. “We need to get out of this habit. Seems to me that there have been some pretty bad penalties for grumbling and complaining…………… oh, you know, like wandering in the desert for 40 yrs. :-)
Report Post »ConstitutionalPatriot
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 2:36pm‘Ven’ you have it work, it is not an American past time it is a union/progressive past time. Americans just pick up and move the crap out of the way continue working until they have the crap fixed ;)
Report Post »NancyBee
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:20amGosh I hope you’re right…
Report Post »UlyssesP
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:20amSell that horrendous cartoon to some union crybaby if they want so much. SIEU can hang….it in their headquarters.
Report Post »lynnissmart
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 10:23amOr better yet, the spooky dude’s office….
Report Post »PATTY HENRY
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:09amWhat FINA said
Report Post »PATTY HENRY
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:07amUnions did this to themselves! They rolled over and played sucker-sheeple to greedy, oppressive, Marxist/Socialist Union Bosses…none of the good stuff come to the people…it’s all the bosses. What goes on in their heads?? Allowing the UNIONS to know how they voted? Allowing the UNIONS to threaten them!!! Damn Unions should be working FOR the PEOPLE they rep…not bossing them around…but they make that mistake over and over. NOW WE all know…WE the PEOPLE, know…that they only rep about 20% of us and they are corrupt, anti-American and they are the ones who are wrecking this Country from their Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac forced Bank Financing to people who hadn’t saved and earned the right to a home (a privilege…not a right) to the health care that they think they are going to SUCKER us into paying for while they get a PASS.
I don’t think so. COME ON 2012. RUN SARAH RUN!!!
Report Post »thepatriotdave
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:11amTwo thumbs up!
Who do you want to run for POTUS in 2012?
Report Post »http://tinyurl.com/4rv8xsm
davel155
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 5:39amWhat??????? What you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:08pmHey Dave,
Thanks for pointing out precisely what was wrong, why it was wrong, with citations backing up your claim. You know, instead of sneering and throwing ad hominem.
Report Post »P C BE DAMNED
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:11pmGive me Sarah Palin for the President of the United States of America or give me death.
Report Post »kularobin
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:07ami like the govs own labor movement…..positive direction
Report Post »DaytonConserve
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:04amLet’s replace it with the 10 Comandments! As the artist claimed, they were never meant to be political.
Report Post »Dumbsht
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:08amYes
Report Post »ConstitutionalPatriot
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 2:32pmI’m wit cuu . . . ana when I sez‘s I’m wit cuu, I’m wit cuu (one of my favorite Steve Martin lines).
But seriously, the TEN COMMANDMENTS should be in every Public building, including schools. They are what the Constitutions of each of the fifty states, the federal government and the laws are created on.
Report Post »Fina Biscotti
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:03amGood Work – Governor!!!!!
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:02amAs for renaming the building’s conference rooms, Demeritt said they could be named “after mountains, counties or something.”
Report Post »~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“We have the Blue Ridge Conference Room, the Appalachian Trail Conference Room (named in honor of former SC Gov. Mark Sanford), and the Something Conference Room.” I can just hear it now!
CatB
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:35amReally p*ss of the progressives .. Washington, Lincoln, Reagan Rooms… lol!
Report Post »thepatriotdave
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:01amThis is an easy one to think through. If the Unions in this country want to be treated with more respect… they need to start earning it!
Who do you want to run for POTUS in 2012?
Report Post »http://tinyurl.com/4rv8xsm
sbleve
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 5:40amUnions within the United States have morphed into Religions.
Report Post »ItsallaboutJesus
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 7:46amThank you for the link!
Report Post »lel2007
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 8:18amRemember, it’s the communist union bosses that need to be removed. The union members themselves are ordinary people, many if not all had to join a union before being allowed to work.
Report Post »Robert-CA
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:59amit should be replaced with Hilda Solis portrait with the phrase “ Documented or not ”
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:03amI like that!
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:04amAre those cats?
Report Post »Robert-CA
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:17amLOL yep 1 dog & 3 cats all rescue .
Report Post »JRHelgeson
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:57amWow, Maine is waking up?
Report Post »joan k
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:17amYeah let’s hope they vote out the RINOS of Snowe and Collins… Wouldn’t that be sweet?!
Report Post »CatB
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:21amDare to dream … Dare to DREAM!
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:35am@joan k
Report Post »Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:17am
Yeah let’s hope they vote out the RINOS of Snowe and Collins… Wouldn’t that be sweet?!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I would even contribute to their Republican oppositions’ campaign!
Showtime
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:36amJoan K -
Report Post »And I live in Georgia!
Donn Chamberlain
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 4:10amYes we did. Maine like most states have always had people who voted and worked,in 2010 we woke up and busted our tails to take back Augusta. We took the House,Senate and Blaine house. LePage has done alot since he took office,cutting short the festivities the day he was sworn in so he could get to work for the people. Everyday he shows me why im glad I took the time to get involved.
joan k- dumping Snowe in 2012 and Collins in 2014 would be a dream. We need a Governor LePage to step up to the plate. The problem is the Republican establishment is going to fight them every step of the way and some people dont get the fact that they didnt want LePage to win this,this was done by the people of Maine. Some of us have a goal in 2012 to see Snowe,Michaud,and Obama unemployed.
Report Post »EddardStark
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 5:15am@Chamberlain… LePage was elected by 38% of the vote. Not exactly a mandate from the people. He benefitted from the presence of a strong independent in the campaign. He is an absolutely corrupt and moronic hack, if it is not a big deal, as Demeritt insists, than why do it? It was removed because “business” interests allegedly suggested that it was political, yet somehow TheBlaze insists that labor unions are the only corruption in politics. Weren’t the Bush tax cuts supposed to create jobs and endless trickle down prosperity by unleashing the investment capital of the rich? They have been around ten years, where are the jobs? LePage has a similar laissez faire, tax cut plan we’ll see how it goes in Maine, clearly it hasn’t worked for the country.
This blog is fond of throwing around alarmist accusations of state control yet they applaud a politician rewriting history in order to serve a political agenda. They are ugly murals, but they depict the state’s history. That is what the federal money was for, but I guess readers and editors of this blog are only interested in federal money that goes to the glorious history of big business. Let’s hope that they put up some murals commemorating the slums of Lewiston and the mangled limbs of French-Canadian laborers who sacrificed their lives in the name of profits for shareholders.
Report Post »midcoastmainepatriot
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 7:36amHey hes our own little, lovable Chris Christie!!!!!!!! Keep it up Paul !!! We got your back !!!!
Report Post »Taquoshi
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 9:28amTo Edd -
Are the slums of Lewiston the history that you want to celebrate? I’m all for recognizing effort and giving credit where credit is due, but constantly shoving it in someone’s face defeats the purpose. That kind of situation actually sends a message of “Don’t bother, you won’t succeed.”
Yes there have been hard times and difficult struggles in the past. My own corner of the world suffered a major strike in the 50′s and what it ended up doing was moving the industry out of our town and to another state. Right, wrong or otherwise, that’s what happened. Our town recovered, but one wonders. And yes, last night I was in the City Hall auditorium that has the WPA town history murals next to the proscenium arch, listening as union reps were whining and moaning about the school budget. The focus of our murals is encouragement and celebrating our past, including the industry that packed up and left, and not oppression. I couldn’t help but notice the stark, negative quality of the murals that are slated for removal. To me, they projected “Come work in Maine and be oppressed.”
Maybe one of Maine’s museums would be interested in them.
Report Post »Phantom2487
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 11:23amDon’t wallow in victory yet, a liberal judge will most likely stop or reverse the decision.
Report Post »ConstitutionalPatriot
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 2:23pmHey “EDARDSTARK” isn’t it funny that when Clinton won with 38% of the vote it was a mandate, But Paul running against two democrat’s, yes every Mainer knew that “independent” Cutler was a democrat. He was a democrat until 2010, all of a sudden he is an independent, you people are laughable. By the way genius, ( I apologize to all geniuses I offended calling ‘EDDARD’ one of you), Rosie the Riveter wasn’t from Maine. Also I see no lumbermen in the mural, or wooden ship builders, farmers or fishermen. I guess they aren‘t part of Maine’s history.
Hey maybe some welfare checks and union dues statements would be what you want glorified, but us real Mainer’s know our history!
MAINE THE WAY LIFE OUGHT TO BE
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:57amHahahahaha! Good for the governor of Maine!
Report Post »joseph Fawcett
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:05amI agree!! Good for the Gov. I noticed in the artwork how all the workers looked so depressed and down trodden, I wonder if that is a true depiction of history?? The Union workers are not now that is for sure. I hope this country gets rid of the Unions or makes them so weak they become unimportant!
http://www.josephfawcettart.com western artist
Report Post »GONESURFING
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:08amI agree, looks like commie art to me.
Report Post »NancyBee
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:13amI have a really big smile on my face and I’m not going to feel bad about it….good for the Gov.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:15am“$60,000 federal grant” TAXPAYER MONEY! .. this is the cr*p that has to stop ! Sell it to the union and let them put it in one of their buildings … let them pay for the distruption and costs to TAXPAYERS they have been causing. Make sure you charge a hefty commission and profit!
Report Post »CultureWarriors
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:21amAh, poor babies. We‘ve seen how progressives react when they don’t get their way. Like 2 year olds. It‘s funny how someone will call themselves’ a progressive and not even realize it’s a like a great big sign that reads, “look here I’m a childish idiot”.
Report Post »cheezwhiz
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:22am@ CatB
Report Post »Maybe the forthcoming Sore@$$ satan-meetup can auction the “ art” and repay the Maine taxpayers . Then give the leftover money to Trumka, who will then use it to buy gas for buses which transport his thugs around the country ..win win
CatB
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:32am@CHEEZ
I should have mentioned cash up front … not exactly trustworthy or my word is my bond type of people! Show me the money! Funny when the unions decry the “rich” who seems to have more money or TIME to waste on sit-ins and busses and all the other crap ..T-Shirts .. pre-printed signs … astro-turf PAID PROTESTERS.
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/19/all-aboard-the-astroturf-bus/
My old hometown .. caught in the “act” .. even though the paper didn’t want to report it .. the PEOPLE shamed and bugged them into it!
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:33am“The mural was erected in 2008 with a $60,000 federal grant.”
Looks like a waste of $60,000 to me. I’m an artist, and each person’s art is his or her own, but that work looks so dreary — too dreary to be on exhibit in a State Labor Department. Jmo
Report Post »CatB
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:33amGONESURFING
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:08am
I agree, looks like commie art to me.
____________________________________
Pretty crappy art .. that is why the government grant …
Does have that old “Soviet Union” feel to it doesn’t it!
Report Post »godlovinmom
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:50amif ANY union member still thinks the unions work for them…they are just asking for it!…cannot believe how much in the last few months we have learned about the unions…instead of the big fist…they should use the middle finger slogan…thats about the results of the unions!
Report Post »AzDebi
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:55amGood show Gov!
Report Post »RightWrite
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:57amWhen unions conspire to manipulate the government “of the people”, it is an “anti trust” issue against the citizens of the U.S.. Public employees should be prohibited from unionizing to conspire against us.
Report Post »Any union should be prohibited from forced dues and membership, and should be prohibited from any contact or contribution to elections of public officials. This is just common sense!!!!
This whole teachers job protection is Communistic.
Showtime
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 2:21am@CatB ~
Haaaaaaaa hahahahahaaa! Got caught with their britches down!
Report Post »rofl!!!
That’s re the story in the link!
RepubliCorp
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 2:35amGlue it to the dumpster ………The unions will love that!
Report Post »It wasn’t even well done……….. very cold looking thing
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Posted on March 24, 2011 at 2:54amHold the commie unions/thugs accountable for their treason against America!
HEDLEY LAMARR [yells down to gallows]: “Boris. I’ve got a special. When can you work him in?”
Report Post »hangman BORIS: “I couldn’t possibly sneak him in until Monday, sir. I’m booked solid.”
HEDLEY LAMARR: “Monday. Spendid!”
Thatsitivehadenough
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 3:54amWhat a HERO! I love people who take a stand for liberty and freedom.
DOWN WITH COMMUNISM! UP WITH LIBERTY AND FREEDOM OF CHOICE.
Report Post »davel155
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 5:44am@CHEEZWHIZ….. The ACLU is not the labor unions. WOW!!!!!!
Report Post »decendentof56
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 6:01amNo question at all that those posters were politically motivated!
Report Post »Just look at the one where a striking woman shoe-worker is being taken away by a police officer. You can clearly see the signs in the background.
Go LePage!
BehindBlueEyes
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 6:20amFinally Maine is open for business. LePage has his work cut out for him cleaning up the mess liberals created.
Report Post »Still some house cleaning to be done in Maine, they need to vote the 2 RINOs Snowe and Collins out.
beebacksoon
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 6:58amWay to go! Get the unions out of government for good!
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 7:13am@ SHOW ~~~
Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle?
Report Post »VerySeniorCitizen
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 7:30amDoes anyone REALLY believe that when businesses see murals of workers they are intimidated by them?
Let me ask this. Who made these businesses work in the first place?
Sure, someone had to start the businesses, create the idea, make the decision to invest in that business. But that business would NOT have survived and grown if there were no workers to employ to make that business grow.
LePage (and other governors are trying to do exactly what the tea party said they wanted. “Take my country back” to the days of the Robber Barons a hundred years ago, when there were no child labor laws, no weekends off and no safety laws to protect the workers. If these Governors and their financial backers get their way education of our young will be a thing of the past – as will the 8 hour day. When that happens we will become a Third World country – with Dictators! And yes, the Dictators in all 50 States will then begin to ‘eat their own’!
With these conditions back in place those who work to create the money for the corporations will be easily manipulated to work longer for less.
But this strategy will surely backfire. If workers struggle simply to survive then WHO will have the money to spend on those things that businesses create. I don’t care if that business manufactures/imports shoes, automobiles, tractor supplies or toys the general public will not be able to afford to buy these things.
The whole idea of diminishing the workers is a Catch 22 – and anybody who doesn’t know what that means – look it up.
Report Post »DJR
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 7:31amI agree Showtime. I’m a Mainer and I applaud our gov for this. That $60,000 grant money could have gone to a better use not to promote union art. As for the conference room names, I’m for changing them. I don’t think we need to name a room after Cesar Chavez. LePage wants to promote employers and workers alike, not just workers. The union leaders only see it as a dig against them, what’s new?
Report Post »encinom
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 8:16amInstead of jobs another GOP governor is offering symbols of his contempt for the american people. From the comments here, it is apparent that the tea-party enjoys living off the scrapes from the Koch Brothers’ table.
Report Post »ProgressiveLiberalMarine
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 8:24amHold on just a second, this is the same group that was condemning the california school district for trying to not let a kid sing a song about jesus right? Art is art. Wanna sanitize something, gotta sanitize EVERYTHING.
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 8:25amGood. That “art” was little more than touched up Soviet “art” from the 1960′s. Yuck.
Report Post »nothingbuthetruth
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 8:26amLately Maine has really ben impressive with their farming break away from government, getting a waiver from Obamacare and this. Keep it up. the commies have had their way for far too long.
Report Post »IT IS CASEY THE PUNISHER TIME!!!!
dizdamonk
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 9:14amLook at all these blogs… what a bunch of garbage, how can you call this artwork garbage when it accurately displays what people went through… Look up American History!!!!! I bet you guys are the same people who want to take out the bad parts in history books huh?? I also bet that when that mural did go up in 2007 nobody was shouting the is was pro union propaganda…Tip of the day… Think before you speak, ignorant a$$e$
drbage
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 9:18amDidn‘t the governor first earn the ire of the NAACP because he chose to attend one of his children’s sporting events rather than an MLK event? Now he is taking on the unions. Sounds like he is becoming the Down East Chris Christie.
Report Post »sleazyhippo
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 9:42amHolyRGail – some of us are “not just an artist, but an art critic!” President Ronald Reagan said artists should respect each other for artistic portrayals whether or not they agreed with the script! A commission is meant to fulfill an order, so maybe we can criticize Michelangelo’s liberal politics and homosexuality but not his Sistine Chapel Ceiling commission, which was ordered by the Church. Forrest Gump taught us, “Dreary is as dreary does.”
Report Post »TexasCommonSense
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 9:48amPublic employee Labor Unions granting themselves higher pay and better benefits than the people paying their salaries, while leaving tax payers out of the decision process, is mean-spirited, too.
“Right-to-work” legislation may have riled union leaders, but I would be will to be the employees like the thought of not being forced to pay union dues which may be used for causes they do not support.
No one should be forced to pay for someone else’s ideology.
Report Post »TMACK
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 9:58am@dizdamonk: Were you just as upset when nativity scenes and the 10 commandments were being torn out of our statehouses and government buildings?
Tip of the Day: What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Report Post »Arbroath7
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 10:01amThis “art” is a perfect example of union agitprop in the true communist tradition. A union is a social disease.
Report Post »thegrassroots
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 11:04amGood Job, Governor LePage!
Report Post »fertlmind
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 11:12amThey also need to get the $60K back from the grant that spawned that union trash in the first place.
Report Post »Here’s an idea
replace that mural with a huge AMERICAN FLAG
or
a DON”T TREAD ON ME mural
Phantom2487
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 11:21am@VerySeniorCitizen
You had a point then you took it to far, you really think we want to get rid of labor laws all together? Thats one of the few dumbest thoughts I have had the pleasure of seeing in a while. All that‘s needed is the eradication of unions because they add a unnecessary burden on tax payers that’s it, don’t go any farther with your assumptions as so far they have been incorrect.
Report Post »GODSAMERICA
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 12:51pm“The LePage administration is going after Maine workers on a bunch of different fronts,” Tipping said. “I guess ‘Rosie the Riveter’ is just another casualty.”
Typical union thug revisionism. Rosie the Riveter was a tremendous, special and freedom inspiring icon which the union thugs (sorry thugs I don’t mean to insult you by comparing you to the union thugs) have attempted to create into a perversion of a proud icon. Just like everything else they touch, they pervert and attempt to make it into a object of ridicule and into an icon against everything that icon stands for. Go ahead and try it union punks (now I have to apologize to the punks everywhere) because people who believe in truth, honesty, integrity and the American Way will stop you in the end.
Report Post »restorehope
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:11pmThose murals are not an unbiased depiction of history. They seem to be painted with an angry brush that is displaying the frightened, downtrodden worker. The murals‘ style is much like that of Russian artwork of the 40’s, 50‘s and 60’s. To depict Maine’s history as comparable to the tyranny of the Soviet Union in such a subtle way is a progressive trick. If the artist feels cheated at having her murals taken down, she can always ship them to Moscow. They love things like that there. The Maine governor is a patriot.
Report Post »MCGIRV
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 1:47pmHell yeah it’s commie art!
Report Post »Jack007
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 3:17pmI second that emotion Ha Ha Ha ha ha ha….screw the Unions
Report Post »blakdayz
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 3:35pm“Sure, someone had to start the businesses, create the idea, make the decision to invest in that business. But that business would NOT have survived and grown if there were no workers to employ to make that business grow.”
What a line of cr*p. Whether the owner outsourced the jobs or hired temps…its not the workers who ‘grew’ the company. It is the management that pierced new markets, gaining more market share day by day. Not the guy hobbling shoes. Sure he was required – but only in the ‘number of workers to demand’ portion of the ‘growth’ model whoever owned or managed the business came up with. I swear – The proletariat thinks way too highly of themselves.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 4:17pmYeah? Well guess who won this year?
Report Post »ottodiedacktick
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 4:22pmAs far as I’m concerned, these murals are very beautiful, but they must go! It is propaganda. We the people are fighting a war against dark forces on many fronts; the propaganda must go!
Report Post »ottodiedacktick
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 4:26pmThe Puritans wanted all religious artifacts removed from government meeting houses. Communism is their religion; let the GREAT CLEANSING begin!
Report Post »jorge_washington
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 5:59pm“I agree!! Good for the Gov. I noticed in the artwork how all the workers looked so depressed and down trodden, I wonder if that is a true depiction of history?? The Union workers are not now that is for sure. I hope this country gets rid of the Unions or makes them so weak they become unimportant!
”
Yes sir, nothing like good old fashion Republican definition of FREDOM and LIBERTY, if you don’t like it, kill it.
Questioning with boldness.
Report Post »VerySeniorCitizen
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 7:53pmOh my! How awful! The Dept of Labor has a picture of laborers! Not only that but that particular picture INTIMIDATES businessmen?
Gee, I didn’t know that businessmen had such thin skins. Nor did I know that pictures of laborers would be out of place in the Dept of Labor. I guess we learn something new every day!.
I really think we need to get businessmen in Maine who can actually recognize that there are workers available who will assist in the growth of their company and help make the owners richer than they already are.
I weep for the poor businessmen who need such pampering!
Report Post »VerySeniorCitizen
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 8:27pmSo I guess the Governor has NO problem charging the taxpayers for the cost of removal and storage.of this artwork?? I thought the State was broke. Maybe the businessmen who are offended by the mural should offer to pay for it’s removal. What do you think?
Report Post »VerySeniorCitizen
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 8:48pm@PHANTOM22487
Please explain. Exactly where did I go too far??
It was the union workers who got you the 8 hour day, weekends off, vacation time, child labor laws etc.. So don’t the workers deserve any credit or respect?
I don’t believe I would have any respect for an employer who was intimidated by pictures of workers. Why? Because it is the workers who help grow his business to prosperity. Think on this. From the 1940s until Reagan began his union busting programs in the mid 1980s this country prospered and had it’s greatest time of growth that any country had ever seen in such a short time span – and folks grew into middle class.
Now we are returning to the Robber Baron days of the early 1900s – except that – back then – management made about 20 times what the workers made. Today management makes about 400 times what the workers make in salary so it seems a bit obvious that they should want to know that workers are available – and willing to work; so being intimidated by a piece of artwork depicting workers is VERY THIN SKINNED – especially since the mural is actually in the DEPT OF LABOR – where you might actually expect to see workers/laborers to help grow a business.
By the way, since you know how to use a computer, you might just learn how to use spellcheck – or do you not feel that education is important either?
Report Post »VerySeniorCitizen
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 8:54pm@FERTLMIND
OK, suppose he got the $60K back for the artwork (which isn’t going to happen) what would you suggest he do with it? Is that the money you would suggest he use to put up a mural of your flag of choice?? I guess you aren’t financially conservative when it comes to saving taxpayers money.
Report Post »Mohawk1773
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 9:41pm@VerySeniorCitizen — Get a grip! No one is going to bring back wood stoves and fetching the water except the whacko environmentalist and social “progressives” who want to tear apart the energy sources and moral fabric of modern civilization.
This is not art, this is schadenfreude for the union bosses, limousine “liberals”, and other exploiters of poverty. They love to look down on the little people.
Report Post »DisillusionedDaily
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 10:07pmThat looks a lot like the murals that adorn the Russian train and subway stations! It kinda screams out, “WORKER’S OF THE WORLD, UNITE!”
Report Post »VerySeniorCitizen
Posted on March 24, 2011 at 10:32pmMOHAWK – You obviously are not of the original Mohawk tribe from the northeast. If you were you might be aware that Maine ALREADY/STILL uses wood stoves. In a right to work State it has always been difficult to make ends meet, but we do have forests to provide the wood for heat.
And, of course, art is in the eye of the beholder. I like Monet but I don’t like Dali. I like opera but I don’t like rap. C’est la vie!
Report Post »Mohawk1773
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 2:24am@VerySeniorCitizen — In your obtuse subjective world. Many use stoves by choice, I use a wood stove to save on the Public Utility Bill. However, if I were allowed to use my land as I see fit, I could be feeding power back to the PUBLIC UTILITY. Have you not heard of the Green Guerilla’s in Northern California? They break their own environmental regulation laws to create environmentally friendly solutions! Some useful idiots are their own worst enemy. Wood, is a solar and hydro energy source, nimrod. Enjoy!
Art’s suitable purpose is as catharsis not schadenfreude. Did you know that Commissars preferred dank paintings of the masses in Soviet Russia for their very appetite for abject poverty? Since when did you see an ancient depiction that degrades the subject? No, it was about rising from the cave or the tepee, and acknowledging the higher things in culture. Spare me your moral relativism!
And next we will explore your tastes of Monet over Dali… how apropos.
Report Post »VerySeniorCitizen
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 8:10amMOHAWK
Good morning!
You really should keep up with the todays workers and their problems. There are many in Maine (I know I live here) who haven’t seen a job in almost two years – ever since the shoe and fabric manufacturers left for foreign shores – so I turned my flower garden into a veggie garden. Why? Because I KNOW HOW – and I help keep the less fortunate fed. Young people have no choice but to leave the State to find work And it wasn’t because of unions or that wages were too high – this has always been a ‘right to work’ state and wages have always been some of the lowest in the country. So when you suggest that folks use a wood stove – THRU CHOICE, you are WAAAAAAAAAY OUT OF LINE. Oh yes, and in the winter – when the pipes freeze – SNOW is melted for emergency water. And yes, my friend – I’m one of the fortunate ones so – I salvage (glean) from the fields after the harvest, and either deliver to the homeless shelters or can food for some of the less fortunate elderly so they will have something to eat during the leanest months.
You see, MOHAWK, I SURVIVED under Nazi occupation during World War 2 (YES, the REAL ONES) so I learned early how to survive – and I‘ve been told that this little town was fortunate to have me move here because my ’heaven of earth’ is to help others. I wish everyone could feel the same satisfaction!
Your schadenfreude comment simply tells me that you are JUST A TAD selfish! So good luck to you!
Where I live we have no city water, no sewers, no cable TV and, oh yes, we still have only ‘DIAL UP’ internet – that is for those who can even afford a computer. I’m just thinking about my local area – and I can think of only three homes which have a computer.
Report Post »cemerius
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 2:13pmha ha ha I bet the unions think the same way about when some one circumvents the U.S. Constitution? oops soory I forget I am on planet earth sometimes!!
Report Post »USAMama
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 2:46pmI agree, the pics do have a strange, commie look to them. The workers all look sad and oppressed. And of course they depict strikes, thats what unions are best at!
Report Post »USAMama
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 3:42pmVerySeniorCitizen,
Don’t you think your being a TAD dramatic? Obviously nobody wants to go backwards to the days before labor laws. But thankfully we now have laws to protect us from those things. And yes, most would agree there was a time when labor unions did good things and made good changes. But they have outlived their usefulness. We now have these laws and protections in place and in the FREE MARKET if you want good employee’s you have to treat them well. Otherwise, people can just find better work where they will be treated well. No employer who wants to keep their company afloat would treat their employee’s so poorly or they would have none. Do you know where those poor working conditions still exist? In COMMUNIST countries, you know, where the slogan “Workers of the World Unite” came from? Where people don’t have the FREEDOM to get any job they want, in any state.
The only thing labor unions contribute to society now is to make the tax payers poorer and the politicians richer. In America we have become so spoiled that our young kids in many cases will walk out of a job because their boss looks at them cross eyed. People feel “entitled” to a job and think that somehow their boss owes them something for nothing. They think that because they rolled out of bed and showed up one day they should get paid the same as the guy who invested his life to build the company from the ground up. They think that they should get the same vacation and bonus priveledges as the person who has worked for the company for 50 years. And that mentality is given to us from your beloved labor unions. Where all workers are treated equal, even if they do not work equal. Where the young, excited, proactive teacher will be fired before the miserable old lump who takes their job for granted and just shows up everyday marking their calendar for retirement, simply because of seniority. Where someone who works their fingers to the bone to try to better themselves doesn’t get the promotion because the lazy person who does the bare minimum just to maintain their job has been there longer.
So thank you labor, for making our workers lazy, selfish and spoiled.
Report Post »VerySeniorCitizen
Posted on March 25, 2011 at 5:58pmUSAMAMA
WHY are you so insistent that I am ONLY speaking about unions. If you read my posts again you will notice I am speaking about WORKERS who, by the way in this state, have always been some of the hardest working and lowest paid in the nation. That was when work was available – which it isn’t any more.
No State can balance it’s budget on the backs of workers and the unemployed – while Governors make massive giveaways to their corporate donors, raises for favored employees – including LePage’s 22 year old daughter, for whom he created a job at $40K.
Republicans in Washington, DC ran on (and were elected on) a platform of creating jobs. So far they have spent time defunding’ EVERY program they can find which could help workers and their families. NO JOBS bill has even been hinted at. Just reduce any program that could possibly help the workforce in this country.
I CAN ONLY ASSUME – correct me if I’m wrong – that you and your family are fully employed and are able to keep a roof over your children’s heads, food on your table and can see a doctor if necessary. Don’t you think that everybody wants that same opportunity. Workers ARE NOT asking something for nothing and are NOT expecting a handout. They simply want a chance in this time of recession to find work.
But I guess your motto is WHEN A DOG IS ALREADY DOWN – KICK IT!
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