At the Portland Press Herald, it's bombs away!

From top, Maine Gov. Paul LePage, 1st District U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree and Donald Sussman. (Courtesy photos)

The Portland Press Herald and Gov. Paul LePage don’t get along. Everyone knows that.

Asked what he’d like to do while sitting in an F-35 Lightning II fighter jet simulator at Pratt & Whitney yesterday, LePage’s said he’d like to blow up the newspaper.

LePage was at the jet engine manufacturer’s facility in North Berwick as part of Employee Appreciation Day.

Everyone knew it was a joke.

But the Pingree Press Herald, er Portland Press Herald called the FBI.

Gimme a break.

Reporters at the paper made light of it, sending LePage the paper’s coordinates.

But the PPH, which sometimes reports like it’s on PCP, called LePage’s likely opponents in the next election.

Gimme another break.

But here’s one fact the Press Herald left out in its story.

The newspaper is owned by Donald Sussman, a major donor to Democratic candidates and husband of 1st District U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat. LePage has clashed often with Pingree.

Since 1992, Sussman has donated in excess of $7 million to political candidates, according to wikipedia.com.

Now picture this: You’re the editor at the Press Herald when your reporter calls.

“Hey, boss, the gov just said he wanted to blow up the Press Herald.”

Is there any shred of logic that says the editor’s first thought would be to get the heck out of the building? It might be blown up.

Or call the FBI?

Of course not.

So what happens?

The editor calls his boss, the executive editor, who’s calls his boss, Sussman, who’s going to call his boss, the real boss; you guys know who I mean: that’s right, the wife, Chellie.

And what do you think the politician and her husband, the donor to Democratic candidates, say rubbing their hands together?

Nail him, of course. Then they  tell the reporter doing the story to get comments from the FBI and LePage’s likely opponents in the next election.

Newspapers lie, LePage has often said.

Well, in this case, the Press Herald didn’t lie. It just constructed, massaged and mangled the story to its purposes.

For example, in the Bangor Daily News story, no reporter called the FBI. That’s preposterous. They didn’t go get a comment from LePage’s opponents.

The Press Herald tried to make this a viable story and a viable threat to the newspaper’s building. Wrong and lacking journalistic ethics on both counts.

If it weren’t a viable threat, why would they waste the FBI agent’s time, time they could be spending on real viable threats instead of wasting it on a newspaper’s politicized caprice.

Ever since traditional newspapers’ earnings started plunging, many have been bought by millionaires who acquire them like another trinket, an extension of their vast egos, the same way millionaires acquire sports teams.

The Press Herald, unfortunately, may have been one of those acquisitions.

The nicest thing I can say about the article?

They didn’t call Homeland Security.

Such restraint.

LePage made a joke. It was a good joke.

However, Press Herald Publisher Lisa DeSisto saw fit to chide the governor.

“That kind of a joke is irresponsible in this day and age, especially when it comes from the leader of our state,” she said in the Press Herald article.

I’ve felt for a long time that anyone who uses the phrase “this day and age” should be hung up by their ear lobes.

By the way, Press Herald, that was just a joke. No need to bother the feds.