Just saw a bald eagle swoop down to grab roadkill off the side of the highway. Feels like a metaphor for something.
Ben Gaines
@gaines-law.com
Alleged lawyer, Brunswick, ME. Personal views only. Roll Tide.
🚨 Hancock County numbers are in 🚨 22 of the 23 delegates are JACKSON SLATE SUPPORTERS! When working people organize, we win.
I wrote a paper about this in 2010, for the Richmond Journal of Law and Public Interest. Basically, low-paying, part-time legislatures serve to enshrine conflicts of interest as a best practice. We should raise pay by 10x.
The General Assembly's Structural Conflicts of Interest
Virginia is not a state saddled with a reputation of ethically challenged legislators, but our part-time citizen legislature is structurally conducive to conflicts of interest. This reality was brough...
scholarship.richmond.edu
Kevin Wilson@kwilsonhfx.bsky.social · 3mo agoThe fact that if I ran for local office and won, I would have to take a pay cut to manage a $1.3 billion budget and make decisions that directly impact the well-being of half a million people is kind of insane. Unpopular but true: we under-pay our often disappointing politicians.
Republican New Hampshire Senate candidate John Sununu says he supports a work requirement for seniors on Medicare: "I certainly support a work requirement for able-bodied Medicare recipients."
oh do news reporters know what it's like to be a public school teacher now
I get polled a lot: Graham Platner's dirty laundry edition. Wait for it.
Ben Gaines@gaines-law.com · 9mo agoI get polled a lot. #mepolitics
"We're fighting to win the war" We are a week in and absolutely nobody has any idea what the political aim we're attempting to achieve is. Win what? Literally what are we fighting to achieve at the moment. I have absolutely no idea atm if we are close to winning because I have no idea what we want
Dagger John@thesloopjohnm.bsky.social · 5mo agoOne thing that’s always been wild to me is there inability to recognize who the bad guy is. Jessup, Patrick Bateman, Jordan Belfort. These guys consistently idolize the obvious villain.
The entire Democratic strategy debate — "moderate" or move left? fight or compromise? — is based on a misreading of data. Voters don't think Dems are too progressive; they think Dems are weak. The actual math on what to do about this isn't even close! New: www.gelliottmorris.com/p/new-poll-d...
Support for this group is vital to keeping our neighbors safe in Maine. We are already seeing families unable to make rent after missing work for fear of being snatched off the street. This is only going to get worse, and the groups on the ground doing this work in Maine do not have enough help.
Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 7mo agoA friend with Project HOME in Maine is asking for urgent help. With ICE descending on neighborhoods, people are afraid to go to work—cutting off income and putting families at immediate risk of eviction. This is a solidarity fund: 100% of donations go straight to rent.
And here's a fund for impacted families facing eviction in Maine:
Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 7mo agoA friend with Project HOME in Maine is asking for urgent help. With ICE descending on neighborhoods, people are afraid to go to work—cutting off income and putting families at immediate risk of eviction. This is a solidarity fund: 100% of donations go straight to rent.
Let’s do this one more time. This is a really legitimate effort to keep our immigrant neighbors, in their homes during this time when they can’t go to work for fear of getting picked up by ICE. If you can donate, fabulous. Please consider sending this to some of your friends as well. #MePolitics
Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 7mo agoA friend with Project HOME in Maine is asking for urgent help. With ICE descending on neighborhoods, people are afraid to go to work—cutting off income and putting families at immediate risk of eviction. This is a solidarity fund: 100% of donations go straight to rent.
The terror that ICE and CBP have inflicted on the children of the Twin Cities is, by itself, a crime of scandalous proportions that will forever stain this country's moral fabric, and all those responsible should never know another day of peace. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Do you need ICE to murder Mainers before you stop this voting for this madness @senangusking.bsky.social? And @golden.house.gov, you've done a lot of shitty things over last 8 years. Your vote to fund the murderers is your legacy Abolish ICE and get them the fuck out of Maine
I don't have the words for how intense it is to live in the Portland area right now. Thankfully, I get paid to ask questions, listen to people, and pass their words along. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/22/m...
Maine officials denounce ‘secret arrests’ in latest ICE operation - The Boston Globe
Officials from Lewiston to Portland expressed a common frustration that they are contending with as the administration remains steadfast in its determination to carry out its immigration agenda.
bostonglobe.com
‘Terrible things are happening outside… Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared. Women return… to find their families gone.’ Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
ICE detains five-year-old Minnesota boy arriving home, say school officials
Superintendent says Liam Ramos and his father were taken into custody while in their driveway and sent to Texas
theguardian.com
Got another one! (This one's from Shenna.) #mepolitics
Ben Gaines@gaines-law.com · 9mo agoI get polled a lot. #mepolitics
WSJ investigation: In the past 6 months ICE agents have fired at vehicles 13 times, leading to: * 8 people shot * 5 of which were U.S. citizens * 2 died * no victims drew a weapon The playbook: Agents box in a vehicle, block attempts to flee, then fire www.wsj.com/us-news/vide...
Videos Show How ICE Vehicle Stops Can Escalate to Shootings
A WSJ visual investigation found that the Minneapolis ICE killing is one of 13 incidents where federal immigration agents have used deadly force against civilians in vehicles since July.
wsj.com
Trying to convince my dad and uncle, both IU grads, that this might be for real.
was sitting in the waiting room of the doctor’s office earlier today mindlessly scrolling through pictures of the dogs competing in this year’s Puppy Bowl (as one does) but then I got to LOBSTER ROLL and an audible “oh my GOD” slipped out
January 3, 1990: Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega surrenders to U.S. forces, 10 days after taking refuge in the Vatican’s diplomatic mission.
