I had often wondered what became of the self-indulgent, tie-dyed flower children until I discovered Edgar Allen Beem living and pontificating “progressive” twaddle. His recent attack on Gov. Paul LePage and Texas Gov. Rick Perry for supporting a Day of Prayer as a “cynical political ploy,” and characterizing the American Family Association as a hate group for its views on homosexuality, is a typical smear campaign by Beem.

The AFA has negative views on gay issues, but it is a strong advocate for family values. Given the “War on Poverty’s” destruction of inner-city families, where single-parent homes are now endemic and gangs become the “family” of choice for disaffected youth, the AFA has a point. Beem is out to get Perry with insinuations of “dogged rumors of his own dalliances surfacing during the primary.” Perry had a tough primary fight with Kay Bailey Hutchinson and an equally tough general election. If either of his opponents had any evidence of “his dalliances” it would have been used against him in those elections.

Beem’s real issue with Perry is the threat he represents to Obama in the 2012 election. Texas under Perry is the only bright light in an otherwise gloomy U. S. economy. Over 47 percent of all private-sector jobs created in the United States since 2009 have been in Texas. What Perry, and equally, LePage understand is “the hope for America” rests in a resurgent free-enterprise system and the creation of good private-sector jobs, something about which Beem knows nothing.

Jim Coull
Cliff Island

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