I registered to vote in 1961, just before entering the service.  My Dad was a World War II vet and a very proud Republican.  My grandfather was a Republican Representative to legislature here in Maine and he died standing at attention while saluting the American Flag as he led the Fourth of July parade here in our hometown. 

As you may have guessed, I registered as a Republican. 

Aside from the clear adherence to free enterprise, independence and self-sufficiency and the absolute and uncompromised allegiance to the flag and to the United States of America, I was expected to cultivate and sustain a deep respect for my fellow human beings, for women in particular, and to avoid crude behavior or language. 

It seems kind of corny today, given the fashionable deployment of such behavior and language and, in some ever-widening circles, equally old-fashioned to show any deference to women. 

It’s hard to believe none of that matters much anymore and I’m glad my parents and grandparents are no longer with us and that they died before political discourse and constructive dialogue faded in favor of obscenities, ridicule and mindless obstructionism, before, that is, Trump became president and LePage became governor, and I became a Democrat. 

Now, with Joe Biden in the White House and Janet Mills in the Governor’s, I am nearly relieved enough and hopeful enough that our country and our state can recover their dignity and standing, that I would welcome them back but with LePage and Trump both back in the running, I’ll wait a while. 

Phil Crossman lives on Vinalhaven