I recently wrote about the “amendment” of an Ottawa mural that had dared to reference police impunity. Biz didn’t like it, and so the change was made. At least it survived in some form, unlike (as I noted) the Diego Rivera mural in the Rockefeller Center.

The latest vandal is the benighted Republican (I know, tautological) governor of Maine, Paul LePage. He’s after a mural currently housed in that state’s Department of Labor, and he also wants to change the names of conference rooms in the building memorializing labour icons like Cesar Chavez.

According to LePage spokesman Dan Demeritt, the administration felt the mural and the conference room monikers showed “one-sided decor” not in keeping with the department’s pro-business goals.

“The message from state agencies needs to be balanced*,” said Demeritt, adding that the mural had sparked complaints from “some business owners” who complained it was hostile to business.

As for the conference rooms, the aptly-named spokesman said they could be called “after mountains, counties or something.”

In other news, satire has been officially declared dead after a lengthy illness.

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* One assumes in the foxy sense.