When he originally did this, he was renaming rooms originally named after pillars of organized labor, to be "more business friendly." He said that the mural was "too one-sided." That it didn't tell the story of the job creators. You know, sure it showed the children who were forced to work in factories for pennies a day before child labor laws were put in place... but what about the factory owners who employed them?
Well, now Paul LePage has a different reason for taking down the mural:
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Now, the fact that he's squirming, and laughing at the fact that he's lying to Brian Williams and ostensibly getting away with it is reason enough to be suspicious of this flip flop.
But let's dig a little deeper.
Okay, well not too much deeper. We don't actually have to dig very far at all. Just as far back as this article over on CNN which states that the labor mural paid for out of a FEDERAL ART GRANT.
"Most of the artist's commission of $60,000 was paid from federal money, made available by transferring it to the state's account in the trust fund."
And not only that, the Federal Government bought that public art with a contract, stating in no uncertain terms the placement of where the mural was to be displayed. And taking it down violates that contract.
And so the Federal Government has threatened Paul LePage, that if the art is not put back up, in accordance with the contract, they will demand their money back.
Which, in his new version of reality, is exaclty what Paul LePage is saying HE is doing. In an post-Orwellian game of "I know you are, but what am I?" Paul LePage has taken this very threat and lawsuit against him, and flipped it on its head.
The worst part is that nobody is willing to call him out for being completely full of shit. Brian Williams just lets LePage's bullshit slide.
Even this Bangor Daily News article takes an "even-handed" approach to the subject.
Watching this idiot laugh at himself getting away with lying, I can't help but be reminded of the bumbling idiot leaders of the Soviet Union during its collapse. They, like Paul LePage, lied broadly, and brazenly. They, like Paul LePage, had no legitimacy.
I think it's time the State of Maine, like the former soviet states, had our own nonviolent color revolution.
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