To the Editor:

What have they done with our mayor? Someone else pretending to be Robert Macdonald delivered a politically correct inaugural address. It wasn’t the Robert Macdonald I voted for.

During the election campaign, my candidate boldly and perhaps courageously said what he was thinking. And, whether I agreed or disagreed, I was comforted in knowing who he was. Long ago, I tired of politicians who carefully offended no one, who deftly worded their responses to questions to ensure the answers contained no substance.

It’s impossible to get a straight and honest answer out of them—even if you hold them down and twist their arms. Unfortunately, since they don’t offend most voters, these politicians are elected, reelected and able to remain effective agents for their lobbyists while they continue to create more societal problems than they solve.

All right, perhaps the real Macdonald isn’t bound, gagged and held against his will in a dark Lewiston cellar, but I’m confident the real Macdonald didn’t write that inaugural address. The real author praised everyone, offended no one, was so politically correct, encouraged cooperation and painted such a pleasant image of Lewiston that we could easily be convinced that we need only step back, just wait, and everything will be better. The real author had to be a politician, the kind we are accustomed to.

We aren’t expected to tailor our own clothes or harvest our own corn, but if we are the mayor, the words should be ours; if they are not, perhaps the speech writer should have been a candidate. If a politician or anyone else isn’t especially adept at putting thoughts into words, it is understandable if they are helped. Even Stephen King has reviewers and editors. But the final words chosen, the ones that appear above his name, should be embraced as his own.

I could have overlooked the saccharine wording of the inaugural address and except for a few words I could have read it, put it down and moved on to something else. The few disturbing words were in a single statement, as sweetly worded as its neighbors and which I found so very wrong. I was compelled to take pen-to-paper, so to speak.

The offensive words were: “We also have an outstanding school system … ”

Dick Sabine

Lewiston