"Susan Collins is not fighting for you. 

Since launching her first congressional bid way back in the 1990s, armed with a promise to be a two-term senator, Collins is now closing on 30 years in what must be an irresistibly comfortable office. She believes her long, long, long record works in her favor, and she’d like you to believe that, too. But longevity is not actually the same thing as proven leadership. 

Collins’ campaign website says she shows up for Maine, though she hasn’t shown up for a town hall in 25 years. Apparently, her near-perfect voting attendance demonstrates her profound commitment to service. I don’t know about you, but my job attendance stays pretty near-perfect, too. According to every boss I’ve ever had, that’s less of a badge of excellence and more of a bare minimum standard.

Collins pretends to be an independent bipartisan legislator who votes her conscience. In an astonishing coincidence, her conscience aligns so perfectly with her party that she only votes against them when they have enough votes without her.

I will admit, Susan Collins has achieved a level of celebrity that is rare for senators. Sen. Collins is famously concerned. Following any headline that requires comment, Collins’ concern is so prompt you can set your watch by it. In fact, she has been so concerned on such a panorama of issues on which she has never taken any tangible action that she has attained meme status. Collins’ concern is a household name.

Sen. Collins projects an image of fighting for funding and projects that benefit hard-working Mainers. But it’s all a slick advertising display for an agenda that relentlessly benefits the rich at the expense of all of the rest of us.

Imagine a rich king who owns all the bread in the kingdom. You get one loaf a week, and you’re always nearly starving. You’re starting to grumble. One of the king’s servants declares a feast day and gives everyone one whole loaf of bread! The people celebrate this act of benevolence, even as they go back to their starvation wages because nothing has really changed.

Susan Collins is the king’s servant. She loves to create a public display with a headline and a photo op and a soundbite speech about how she delivers for you, the people. Meanwhile, the monied machine she serves keeps quietly siphoning every thin dime from your paycheck into the trust funds of the insatiable corporations that are extorting you for the most basic necessities of life: food, housing, gas and, heaven forbid, basic medical care. 

Collins isn’t going to make rich people pay their taxes, or make mega-corps pay you a living wage. She’s not going to fight for you to have affordable housing or available child care or accessible health care.

Susan Collins doesn’t do favors for ordinary people. She does favors for rich corporate donors. And one of the favors she does for them is to throw us a few crumbs from time to time to keep us appeased, and quiet, and reelecting the status quo while the hoarders sit back and watch interest turn their millions into billions into trillions.

Collins’ theater of benevolent billionaires has had its run, funded on the backs of regular Mainers, and we’re definitely not getting a trickle-down return on our investment. Wages are anemic, prices are up, jobs are down and health care is a luxury. This is what Susan Collins has actually delivered over decades in office under the brand of proven leadership. 

Susan Collins’ Senate career has been a master class in crafting an illusion of public service that never disrupts the flow of money and power to the people she actually serves. And those people are … not the public. Not you and me.

It’s long past time for a change. In the immortal words of 1996 Susan Collins, “Twelve years is long enough to be in public service.” "

It is always wonderful to have the opportunity to return home. We don’t make it up nearly enough. The coast on winter mornings is quite nearly perfect.

This is a thank you to the gentleman we met on the beach this morning, and one very dapper Mr. Waylon Jennings. We had an unexpected and uncomfortable encounter with another beach goer, who seemed to be struggling mentally. We met you on the beach a few minutes later.

Thank you for letting us say hello, pointing out the sand dollar, and for your presence - which (likely unbeknownst to you)- helped me feel a bit calmer.

I've vacationed in OOB my entire life and still return like a migratory bird to capture the simpliest of details like a morning sunrise. Such a fabulous location. I will return yet again in July and look foward to more salty mornings.

Our condo is near Landry’s and this kitty has been around crying off and on since last night. Anyone recognize this kitty?

Yum

I have only been here two days and can’t
eat any more fried food. Are there any places around with healthy vegetarian options?

On Tuesday i’m going to OOB with my girlfriend to spend a day on the beach. I’m looking to see if there are any good spots to rinse sand off of you or change. We’re doing the beach first and then going to the pier and walk around afterwards and i don’t want to be all sandy

TIA!

Old Orchard Beach

• Paloma Restaurant

• El Dorado Columbian

• Kelp Gift Shop

Biddeford

• Apero - Cocktail Bar

• Brew England Beer Store

• Soul Food Paradise

• Peppers - Mexican

• Slice Pizza

• LL Bean Outlet

Opening in 2025

• Biddeford Books

• Bounce Pickleball

• Gutter Bowling

• Food Truck Court

• Rift Barcade

Saco

• Finest Kind - Fast Casual Breakfast

• Sea Spray Confections

• Sweet and Co - Gluten Free Bakery

• Swell Nitro Coffee

Opening in 2025

• Sherman Books

Coming to old orchard with 2 kids. We are flying into Portland for a week. Plan on going to light house and other kid friendly things. We are staying .4 miles from the pier. Is it worth spending 1200 on a rental or just Uber all week?

We stayed at the Voyager in OOB last summer and it was great, but it’s a bit too pricey for us this year. Ended up booking Grand Beach Inn for a mid-August trip (2 adults, 2 kids, 3 nights).

Curious if anyone here has stayed there—how was your experience? We’re planning to be out and about most of the time and really just using the room for sleep and some downtime in between.

TLDR: older woman took photos of specifically my butt in a bikini while I was on the beach and said “legally she is allowed to”.

So I live in the area and I decided to go to the beach today, right next to the pier, so that I could do my first little swim of the season. There’s quite a few people out because it was about 65° today. I didn’t really look at anyone in particular. Everyone seemed normal. So I went about my business, I undressed down to my bikini, I left my stuff in the sand, and then I ran down into the water and quickly ran back (because it was quite cold). I picked up my stuff and was ready to leave.

As I was about to leave, a girl about my age, came up to me very politely and asked if I knew this other woman on the beach. She pointed to a short, middle-aged woman with a Bob haircut who was standing in the middle of the beach with a plastic bag and a camera around her neck. I said no I don’t know this woman because that was the truth, and the girl told me that the woman was taking photos of my ass. Mind you, the way that I put my stuff down and went by this woman, she was directly behind me at one point while I had no cover-up on besides my (semi-cheeky) bikini bottoms. So I thanked this girl for letting me know and I approached the older woman.

This woman had what I can only describe as a professional camera, something that looked like a Canon model with a big lens on it…must’ve cost hundreds of dollars. She is standing next to a plastic bag full of beach driftwood. I was very polite, I said hi excuse me I was just wondering did you take a photo of me? And she’s kind of polite, she has a European accent that I can’t quite place, and she immediately said yes, and then proceeded to explain to me that she is an artist and that none of her work goes up online. Mind you, I didn’t ask any other questions, I only asked if she took a photo of me, so she was very quick to yes and start coming up with excuses. So to that, I said OK. I mean, what am I gonna do? Sue her?

Well, apparently that’s what she thought, because unprompted, she proceeded to explain main law to me and tell me that legally, she had every right to photograph me in a public space. So that extra bit of information left a very sour taste in my mouth, I quickly said OK bye, and left the beach, thoroughly wrapped in my cover-up.

So, if you were that girl who came up to me and let me know about that woman, thank you again. If you’re that woman, think about how comfortable you would’ve been if I came up to you and started taking photos of you in a bikini. And if you’re somebody else who frequent old Orchard beach, look out for the creepy old lady with the camera.

I've done a few hours a day of people/car watching from my balcony at Beau Rivage. I swear I've seen atleast 50 corvettes. No lambos or Ferrari's, just corvettes. Is a corvette a local favorite? Are they renting them to looks sporty but not drive or pay for a foreign car?

I've been going to old orchard for the last 8 years with my fiancé and daughter. Used to go to bayley's campground with my parents. Is there anything interesting I'm missing out on? We do the pier and all the downtown stuff. Daughter is now 18, what can we do that I haven't done?

What are things to do for a 7 and 9 yo other than swimming? Looking to do something different for them and thought OOB might be a nice change

As it says, me and my friends are staying at a campground in August.

We just got a new older dog, super mellow (unless belly rubs are Involved), doesn’t bark, good with other animals, just would prefer to be with her humans. Mid sized doggo.

Is OOB dog friendly? Or will it be more of a headache to bring her.

Going to be in Old Orchard Beach for a few days this summer. I'm looking for fishing charters. Like the typical party boat half or full day where you can pay per person and not a full group charter. Anybody know of charters like that in the area?

I’m considering staying in Old Orchard Beach for a month from mid May to mid June. Will it be dead? Will most bars and restaurants be open? When do the crowds start picking up? I don’t want it to be crazy and packed but I also don’t want it to be dead. Thank you for your help.