Three artists, an attorney and two citizen art lovers are still hoping for a jury trial in their suit against the state of Maine for denying them what they are describing as their First Amendment rights to look at a mural. (And we are not making this up.) The mural broadly reinterprets and glorifies the state’s union history while vilifying Maine employers. Current Republican governor Paul Lepage claimed the mural was offensive to business and had it removed and stored in a “climate controlled undisclosed location” in March as all holy union hell was being unleashed in Wisconsin. And before any dust could settle, the Daily Kos was calling the Lepage Administration the “American Taliban”, the mural had its own Facebook page (in exile) and Maine moderate Republicans were cowering in the glare of unchained union wrath. 
The Maine Mural Affair could slip into the annals of Leftist trivia if it were not for the decidedly unfunny downside of Governor Lepage’s poorly considered actions. According to the Wall Street Journal, the mural flap may just have cost Maine workers their right to work free of forced unionization, and it’s doubtful a depiction of that injustice will be added to the “workers’ mural” any time soon. A number of Maine congressional Republicans were clearly stunned at the mural backlash, even going so far as to issue cloying statements at the time reasserting their appreciation and support of unions. And soon after the mural protests were set off, the GOP majority in the Maine legislature abandoned a Right to Work push that until then had the momentum to pass, along with legislation that would have freed Maine state workers from “fair share” requirements. http://bangordailynews.com/2011/07/16/politics/fight-over-labor-mural-removal-by-gov-lepage-not-over-yet/ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303365804576430192201626146.html https://www.facebook.com/mainelabormural
