Proof they really will give anyone an Op-Ed column

Re: "Lost in the Green Trees," Portland Daily Sun, 03/05/2013.

Normally a Green Party-bashing editorial like this one would prompt me to write a thorough, point-by-point rebuttal. But since these are the usual nonsensical ramblings of Portland Daily Sun columnist, Bob Higgins, I will keep my response brief.

I have no idea what the point of this editorial is supposed to be.

I mean I get that Higgins does not agree with our efforts to legalize marijuana in Portland. That much is clear. The rest, however, is just an aimless rant devoid of facts, references or any clearly articulated argument. It is not even clear Higgins really understands the intent of our referendum which his own paper reported on earlier this week. Even if he could not be bothered to contact the city clerk's office or one of the Portland Green Party members to get the facts straight, he could have at least read the article published by his colleagues in The Portland Daily Sun. This is journalism at its laziest.

But it gets worse. I do not get the impression Higgins even knows what the Green Party is. For instance, he writes:

"You [the Green Party] supported a guy for President [sic] that in his youth was part of a group of people who called themselves the 'Choom Gang,' some pretty heavy smokers. You got played, strung along by someone who kept promising to pay for all his 'fronts' until you were broke."

Ummm... No we didn't.

Most Greens I know supported either Cynthia McKinney or Ralph Nader in 2008, and Jill Stein in 2012. We did not vote for Barack Obama or any other member of his "Choom Gang." Higgins does not even understand the difference between Greens and Democrats. I also have no clue what he is referring to in the preceding paragraph, where Higgins claims Greens "squawked like a collection of wet cats," when "The Governor" (LePage...?) implemented the Affordable Care Act. (LePage had nothing to do with the drafting or implementation of the ACA.) Higgins seems to be attempting to accuse us of hypocrisy, but it is entirely unclear in regards to what.

Half the problem is Higgins is just a really lousy writer. I can only assume The Daily Sun hired him out of a sheer desperation to fill up blank space. Sometime last year he referred to George Orwell's Animal Farm as a "tome." Given that my copy of Animal Farm is under 100 pages, I am left to conclude Higgins either A) does not actually understand the meaning of the word "tome," or B) made reference to a book that he has, in fact, never read. Much as I dislike the overrated Bill Nemitz, at least the man knows how to write properly.

I will close with Higgins' own words:

"I'll never understand Bob Higgins. I have tried on multiple occasions, but there just seems to be a logical disconnect [with his writing] that I can't manage to hop over."