Cutting a gifted and talented program and not requiring kids to read, write or do basic math flunks the test of what education is supposed to mean and limits a child’s job and career opportunities. That is a form of child abuse.

The practical obstacles are insuperable, and the likely effects would be very unwelcome to its proponents. If an insufficient patriotism is one of the ills of contemporary America, then a national divorce would prescribe arsenic as a cure. It would burn down America to save America, or at least those parts of it considered salvageable.

The Pandora Papers, “an expose of the financial secrets and offshore dealings of dozens of heads of state, public officials and politicians,” writes CNN, could not have come at a better time for congressional “progressives” who are seeking to win over enough Democrats to pass the massive Biden-Pelosi $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill, which is loaded with enough pork to infect the nation with financial trichinosis.

The left is a minority within the Democratic Party. Its champions lost recent primaries in New York, Virginia, Louisiana and Ohio. The radical fringe seems larger than it is because it gets media attention, especially when it flames other Democrats. Only Democratic voters can exact a price for sabotaging the team.

Bad enough a right-wing horde smashes into the citadel of American democracy because they didn’t like the outcome of the election. What’s infinitely worse — what’s flat-out pathetic — is all the alleged conservatives downplaying, blame-shifting — and even lionizing — that act of insurrection.

The budget plan being passed through Congress right now is supposed to help the American people. But cutting Medicare Advantage Health Plan coverage from the 27 million seniors and disabled individuals who depend on Medicare Advantage would do more harm than good, shifting the financial burden back to seniors, most of whom are on a fixed income.

Ultimately, Maine should not be ashamed of its redistricting process, but it should not celebrate it as the pinnacle of democracy and representation either. By entrusting map drawing to politicians and limiting time for public feedback, there is a question as to how well the new district lines truly serve the public interest. As a state that avoids the worst of redistricting, we should continue to ask ourselves how we can do better.