By Richard Sawyer

Recently I heard about Mesa Verde shutting down. I always hate seeing

local restaurants closing up, especially after fifteen years of business.

For those who didn’t know it, it was a Mexican joint on Congress St. in

Portland. They had ok food, and eight-dollar pitchers of margaritas.

Then fuel was added to the fire of disappointment over the closing

when the bold statement was painted on the store’s front window:

“Shut down by the new Gestapo in Augusta – Gov. LePage.”

So let me get this straight. LePage has ordained himself the new

furor of Maine and the health inspectors are his new secret police to

beat the populace into submission?

What’s his target?

Those small restaurants of Portland and others around the state?

It’s because those damn restaurants are destroying our food

purity and corrupting the children! Am I right? I knew it! The Governor

is hell bent on trying to exterminate any restaurant that doesn’t meet

his definition of culinary purity. That is why the health inspectors have

become so strict. Think of the children!

Yeah that sounds right. Right?

Of course not.

The owner of Mesa Verde has resorted to the ultimate political

debate tactic that is all the rave these days. Call somebody Hitler or

associate them with Hitler and you can feel like you just won. How can

you top that? Even the comparison to Satan himself doesn’t conjure up

that much emotion. The reality of it though is that it is just a weak ploy

and makes the user of said ploy look petty and of low intelligence.

I am not a fan of Governor LePage by any means. Using the Nazi

card is uncalled for though. Comparing the governor’s bad policies or

the state’s overzealous employees to one of the most heinous groups

in modern history unneeded. It is just counterproductive hyperbole.

No one really knows why the place was shut down except the

owners themselves, but what we do know is that it wasn’t the state, or

in this case, the city. The public records show that Mesa Verde had a

couple health code violations and complaints but nothing that

recommended the place shut down. So obviously it just comes down to

finger pointing and distracting from any real point

.