How many Mainers are reveling in their Governor’s insolent public condemnation of a President being as transparent as possible about his leadership intentions with respect to gender identity? Our state may be a geographic outlier, but it doesn’t need to be far out of step with a clear polling majority of the American public. What does she hope to accomplish by trading in marginal decisiveness? Maine needs to get in step with the national mood, and its November election results indicated clear movement in that direction before fundamental shortcomings of the incumbent federal administration became fully apparent. The public at large wants to reunite the states, not foment divisiveness when so many important issues and practices need to be addressed. There are times to buck the other crowd judiciously for political reasons, but not when the times and overwhelming sentiment are conducive to common-sense collaboration. That is particularly true in light of noteworthy differences between Maine’s two Congressional districts. Let’s stop looking for the controversy of a special-interest fight and get down to real business. Phil Osifer