John Neal's excellent book "Portland Illustrated" gives a fascinating account of the   great fire which leveled much of Portland in 1866. Neal describes how the fire quickly consumed some building materials, leaving other materials intact.  Marble columns proved the weakest, fracturing into large, heavy pieces, and collapsing.

It sometimes happens that the public response to a news story is more fascinating than the news story itself. The recent arson which consumed the "coffee shop" in Vassalboro provoked a typical reaction from the news media. At first, the editorials and letters to the editor tried to lay an accusation covertly. They subtly insinuated that a member of the Religious Right was responsible for the crime. As time went by, the voices grew bolder and more reckless in their accusations. Now we are seeing editorials and letters that are clearly tainted with an anti-Christian bias.

To understand the killing of George Tiller, we must go back to basics.  Peace and harmony are preserved in a society when its citizens obey certain fundamental rules. Departing from Christian standards of right and wrong - as America has  tragically chosen to do - cannot fail to weaken and destabilize society.

My Dear Friends in the State of Maine:

I have just seen my boys Quentin, Kermit, and Archie off to bed after a long day camping in the great wilderness. I had a splendid time teaching them how to paddle a canoe. Archie got wet and didn't seem to enjoy it much at first, but then he took to it like a duck to water. At dinner time we had a grand time frying beefsteak and potatoes in bacon fat over a campfire. Watching the boys learn to live in the woods took me back to my boyhood days in Island Falls where I first learned to hunt and fish. I owe the people of Maine a great debt, since it was there I learned my love of the outdoors.

The decision yesterday to uphold the California ban on homosexual "marriage" was greeted with surprise and joy by those in the pro-family movement, and anger and indignation by the homosexual rights movement and their allies. The decision by the California Supreme Court immediately set off a pre-arranged "spontaneous" demonstration in which hundreds of homosexual activists poured out onto the streets of San Francisco deliberately blocking traffic.

The vote by the Maine Senate yesterday to legalize same sex marriage should come as no surprise. The leadership of the Maine Family Policy Council has maintained from the beginning that the Maine Legislature is deaf to the issue of the sanctity of marriage and the family.  Earlier in the day, more than eleven thousand postcards were delivered from members of the public who are against same sex marriage. The net result of this outpouring of sentiment from the public was to sway the vote of one Senator.

Among those who huddled by their computer monitors yesterday morning, anxiously watching the televised vote, the reaction was mixed. Some chuckled with amused disbelief; others shook their heads in dismay and disgust.

We can all agree that Maine has produced more than a few great orators and statesmen. We can count among their number our own native-born Dorothea Dix, James G. Blaine, Hannibal Hamlin, and Joshua Chamberlain. Sadly, we now live in a far different age. The Senate vote yesterday was no shining display of oratorical skills. It was more like a sensitivity training session than a deliberative assembly.