Freyne Land

Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas is "Mr. Get Out With the People" this week, bouncing back and forth over hill and dale with a busy schedule of public appearances.

Yesterday he popped by Lake Champlain Chocolates in Burlington. Just around the corner from yours truly's hacienda and I've never been inside.

Wow!

The Guv signed two bills that I confess I've never heard of:

H.229 – An Act Relating to Corrections and Clarifications to the Health Care Affordability Act of 2006 and Related Legislation, and

H.531 – An Act Relating to Ensuring Success in Health Care Reform.  Go here for details.

Our governor, I learned, prefers the dark chocolate [which is the big seller at LCC].

Sorry, I prefer the lighter milk chocolate.

Guess that explains it, eh?

And I just discovered LCC has quite the website going! Bet you didn't know Flag Day {June 14} is an occasion for giving chocolate?

Today the Middlebury Marvel will be in photo-op heaven, sitting behind the wheel of one of them snowplow rigs at the VTrans Snowplow Roadeo in Barre over the noon hour.  Other tough duty today includes:

4:30 p.m. Vermont Small Business Administration Person of the Year Award Celebration, Waterfront Park, Burlington

6:30 p.m. Vermont Association of Middle Level Educators Scholar Leader Awards Banquet, Norwich University, Northfield

Hey, did you catch him on VPR's Switchboard last night with Bob Kinzel?

KINZEL: It seemed in this first year of the biennium that there was more tension between your office and the Legislature than your previous four years. First of all, is that true? ...And if it is true, why did it happen?

DOUGLAS: I think there was a little more tension, Bob. I think that’s a fair observation. I might suggest that the old saw about not seeing sausages and laws being made, perhaps was more pronounced in its validity this year than in some others...

I think it’s fair to say, frankly, that the Legislature this term is farther from the mainstream than the Legislatures I’ve dealt with in the past. It’s not just a heavily Democratic majority, but a very liberal majority and I don’t think in some respects that it reflects the values of most Vermonters. So there’s been a collision of some ideological perspectives that we’ve had to work through, but in many key areas we did.

KINZEL: And you know their criticism of you is that they do all the heavy lifting. They do all the work on the legislation and then at the very end you come in and say maybe ‘yes,’ maybe ‘no.’

DOUGLAS: I guess I don’t understand that. I’ve put together some very comprehensive proposals at the beginning of the session and throughout the course of the Legislature my administration officials, cabinet and staff were in those legislative committees working alongside legislators and their staff trying to fashion these bills. So, it’s easy to have a throwaway line, I guess, but I don’t think it has any basis in fact.

Meanwhile, WGOP, er, WCAX-TV News ran a report of Democratic House Speaker Gaye Symington's appearance Tuesday morning in Essex Junction - part of her "listening" tour of the state. Small turnout. About a dozen and half looked like House members.

The Ch. 3 News report featured a woman identified as Kathy Finnie of Essex Junction giving Speaker Gaye some grief:

"I just hope the legislature can come together on issues that touch everyday Vermonters as opposed to global warming."

The WGOP report neglected to mention Ms. Finnie is the wife of a loyal member of GOP Gov. Jim Douglas' cabinet [left]- Secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development Kevin Dorn. [The relationship was noted in Reporter Nancy Remsen's story in this morning's Burlington Free Press.]

The TV-News report also featured this exchange between Ch. 3 Reporter Kristin Carlson and da' Speaker:

CARLSON: There's been some speculation since you are going around the statewith these hearings that you are running for higher office - possiblyGovernor. Are you running for Governor next year?

SYMINGTON: My focus is on the legislature - that is not what this isabout. All of this is about listening to Vermonters and helping themunderstand what the legislature is up to.

Speaker Symington's next tour stop will be Randolph High School at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Should be a couple Douglas Administration spouses who can attend and give her some grief?

That's how the Seattle-native behind the counter at Uncommon Grounds described it. Cloudy, rainy, damp. Never been to Seattle. Nice of Seattle to come here, eh?

Hey, bet you didn't know Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders took to ribbon-cutting with as much ease and comfort as Republican Gov. Jim Douglas, now did ya?

This shot was off WCAX's coverage of last week's official grand-opening of the new Missisquoi Bay Bridge.

They say that it's all in the wrist and the eyes and the smile.

That's Democratic Sen. State Sen. Dick "Red Corvette" Mazza to Ol' Bernardo's right and Gov. Scissorhands is two down to his left.

"Inside Track" day here at the keyboard. A few irons in the fire for Wednesday's edition of Seven Days.

Busy day for the Guv on the road today. Crisscrossing the state to hold two bill-signings and two proclamation-signings ["Correctional Employees Week" and "Make-A-Wish Day"]. Not bad for a guy who didn't have time to sign the historic gender-equity bill last week, eh?

Hey, didn't Leslie Wright's front-page piece in the Freeps this morning about the old days of the upscale men-only Ethan Allen Club on College Street bring back some memories?

Jeezum crow. I remember passing it every morning back in the early 1980s about 5:45 a.m., walking up the hill to do the morning drive time news at 1390 WDOT-AM with Big John spinning the records, yes, records!

Things change, in fact, they're always changing, aren't they?

Thank god.

******************************************************

***UPDATE***

4 p.m.

Got the Ol "Track" done and sent in to Pamster, excuse me, co-editor Pamela Polston.   And Thomas Naylor from Second Vermont Republic called to tell us he'll be a guest on Bill O'Reilly tonight.

Cool.

A lot of interest sparked, said Naylor, by the Sunday Associated Press story moved by John Curran, the guy who replaced Chris Graff at the A.P.'s helm in Montpeculiar. Ran a lot of places, obviously, but not in The Burlington Free Press. It's also available on the organization's website.

Didn't have a picture of Naylor, but I did have this one of veteran Vermont journalist Steve Longchamp and his dog Barkley. Took it Sunday on Church Street. That's Steve on the left.

Just kidding.

This August, Mr. Longchamp the Photojournalist will mark his 24th year of being the guy behind the camera, holding it in all kinds of situations for Ch. 3.

Like yours truly, he's been spending a little time this year on Hospital Hill. Steve's bouncing back from a triple-bypass.

Looking good, too, eh?

I mean Steve, not the dog.

My neighborhood has a way with flowers and this is the time of year. Nothing like a good windowbox, eh?

I'm out the door in a minute for the Fanny Allen and the latest step on the "Cancer, You Ain't Winning"  Trail - an MRI. The freshest high-tech pictures of where it's at. I'm getting used to the drill. Only clear liquids since 6:30 a.m. and when you get there they have you sit still for 45 minutes before you get in the big tube that performs the Magnetic Resonance Imaging. The pictures will determine if two more R-CHOP chemo treatments would be useful.

It's been an enlightening trip so far, eh?

Ah, life!

Speaking of enlightening, did you catch the story in the Times Argus about the Community College of Vermont graduation? And who was their celebrity graduation speaker?

Yep, the highly-regarded veteran bureau chief of the Associated Press bureau in Vermont - Chris Graff.  The guy the A.P. unceremoniously dumped last year in the wake of the Judge Cashman/Fox News Hoopla for apparently getting a tough story right.

C'est la vie.

Hey, Christopher never would have written the book DATELINE VERMONT had it not happened. And for that, Vermonters will be forever thankful.

***CORRECTION & UPDATE***

4 p.m.

It wasn't an MRI, it was a CAT Scan [Computed Axial Tomography], also called CT Scan.

Sorry.

They've been around since the 70s. Invented in England by Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield [right] with research funds generated by the profits EMI made off the Beatles music. That's right, the Beatles. In fact, they were first known as "EMI Scanners."

Godfrey won a Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1979. He was neither trained as a doctor or a biologist, but rather as an electrical engineer. He grew up in a small villiage in Nottinghamshire. From his autobiography submitted to the Nobel Committee:

In a village there are few distractions and no pressures to join in at a ball game or go to the cinema, and I was free to follow the trail of any interesting idea that came my way. I constructed electrical recording machines; I made hazardous investigations of the principles of flight, launching myself from the tops of haystacks with a home-made glider; I almost blew myself up during exciting experiments using water-filled tar barrels and acetylene to see how high they could be waterjet propelled. It may now be a trick of the memory but I am sure that on one occasion I managed to get one to an altitude of 1000 feet!

During this time I was learning the hard way many fundamentals in reasoning. This was all at the expense of my schooling at Magnus Grammar School in Newark, where they tried hard to educate me but where I responded only to physics and mathematics with any ease and moderate enthusiasm.

Thanks, Godfrey.

Spent an hour downing these two Banana Smoothie's that contain the goods in the Men's Radiology Waiting Room (good thing I brought a New York Times, all they had were Sports Illustrateds). Looks like the drugs, er, smoothies are made in Canada.

Shocking!

Bet I won't be charged Canadian prices.

Shocking!

The unionized Verizon workers' protest on the waterfront against the company's proposed sale to FairPoint Communications Inc. got the media attention in Vermont's media capital of Burlington on Saturday.

But here's a shot of the political demonstration that didn't get press coverage. About 70 folks participated plus one pro-Bush Middle East Policy protester who trailed along at the end protesting the protest. They rallied on the top block of the Church Street Marketplace and marched a loop through downtown Burlap, including right past the front door of the state's largest newspaper. Maybe next time, they could try entering the building?

Organizers of Vermont's "Impeach Bush" movement also partook, including South Burlington Attorney James Marc Leas [right], speaking to the bunch. Even when Iraq cools down, he said, the region will remain a hot spot until Israel treats the Palestinians the way it would like to be treated.

We're told two-thirds of our congressional delegation - U.S. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch returned from their recess-week Middle East fact-finding tour Saturday. St. Patrick stayed down in Washington, but we're told Peter came all the way back to the land of no billboards.

They did a conference call with interested reporters last Wednesday, but have not been running for the microphones since getting back.

Very touch subject, eh?

And, don't know about you, but I'm a Bob Schieffer fan. Always try to catch his commentaries at the end of Face the Nation. Great one this morning:

Is it me or have we just come through one of the weirdest weeks ever?

For the record, it was the week a U.S. Government border guard ignored a worldwide warning to detain that guy with possibly contagious TB and instead waved him through security "because he didn't look sick."

With all the talk about improving border security maybe we should start by instructing government employees to read the directions.

It was the week that Barack Obama launched his religious outreach web site and we learned that he not only embodies Judeo-Christian values but also "the basic ideals and values of most Hindus."

Glad to hear it, but was that an issue?   More.

And be sure to catch the two profiles in the Sunday Rutland Herald/Times Argus.

One on Vermont's First Lady - Dorothy Douglas by TA Editor Sue Allen. Amazing Sweet Sue was able to get her to open up about intimate details of the sexual hanky-panky at the National Governors' Association gatherings.

Just kidding!

The other on Dan DeWalt, the Newfane woodworker, musician and selectman who got the "Impeach Bush" train moving back in 2006. Dan Barlow is the writer.

Finally, I've never been a Michael Kinsley fan, the old "...and from the Left" Guy on CNN's Crossfire, but he hit the bullseye Saturday in his latest forTime Magazine:

When this president first ran for national office, he campaigned on a platform of criticizing his predecessor for engaging in military action (in Kosovo and Somalia) without an exit strategy. He mocked the notion of trying to establish democracy in distant lands. He denounced the use of American soldiers for "nation-building." In 2000, if you were looking for a way to express your disapproval of the policies and prejudices that later got us into Iraq, your obvious answer would have been to vote for George W. Bush.

Check and mate.

According to the e-mailed official ”Public Appearance Schedule of Governor Jim Douglas,” the Republican Governor of Vermont is supposed to be in Los Angeles, California, as I write this at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday (6:30 PDT), delivering the “Keynote Speech” at the National Notary Association’s 29th Annual Conference.

Cool.

Given our curiosity and the accessibility to information provided by the Web, I went to the website of the organization, the National Notary Association, to learn more about a group that would want the current Republican Governor of Vermont to give its 2007 “Keynote” conference speech.

Couldn’t find a mention of Gov. Scissorhands, excuse me, Gov. Douglas of Vermont ANYWHERE.

What I did learn, however, was that Gov. Jimbo's 6:30 p.m.  listed appearance (Pacific Time) would put his entrance at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel smack dab in the middle of the 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. “Reception,” (i.e. cocktail hour?), which is followed, by a three-hour banquet.

The Notary Association describes its Saturday Night as:

An evening of elegance is planned for our Conference grande finale with fine dining, entertainment, and an inspirational and compelling speech delivered by Judge Marilyn Milian, the spunky firebrand who presides over The People’s Court. The evening concludes with the presentation of the coveted Notary of the Year and Special Honorees Awards.

What happened to Jim Douglas, governor of Vermont?

What did they do to him?

Not even a mention of the "Keynote Speaker's" name???

Stay tuned.

***UPDATE***

Sunday evening: Now we see a screen on the organization's main page that has a picture of Gov. Scissorhands and identifies him as the "Keynote Speaker" for the conference's Saturday night extravaganza in Los Angeles that is now over.

Didn't see it there before the above post, noting the absence of any acknowledgement of Gov. Jimbo despite his "Official" Vermont Public Appearance Schedule listing him as the "Keynote Speaker" Saturday night in Los Angeles.

Damage control?

After all, Vermont's Gov. Douglas was not mentioned on the "Official" National Notary Association conference program for Saturday night.

Very interesting.

Not "Clinton."

How about "Moyers," as in, Bill Moyers, who's back on PBS - and Vermont Public Television - with a Friday night program as only Bill Moyers does it [and available online!], called Bill Moyers' Journal. 

The topic: "congressional ethics," or the lack thereof.

And when it comes to buying Congress - a better return on investment than Wall Street - "No one," notes Moyers, "is better at it than the drug industry." And to hit home his point, Bill turns to a familiar face in Vermont - Independent United States Sen. Bernie Sanders.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (Senate floor, May 2, 2007): Since 1998, the pharmaceutical industry has spent over $900 million on lobbying activities; $900 million since 1998. That is more than any other industry in the United States of America. It is hard to believe, but there are now over 1,200 prescription drug lobbyists right here in America, many of them right here on Capitol Hill. That amounts to more than two lobbyists for every member of the House and the Senate. They have us all well covered.

BILL MOYERS: Money well spent.

Look at what happened just last month when the drug companies fought an effort by Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota to lower the prices we pay for our medication.

SEN. BYRON DORGAN (D- ND; Senate floor, May 1, 2007): The fact is, the American consumers are charged the highest prices for prescription drugs anywhere in the world.

BILL MOYERS: So Dorgan proposed to let Americans import drugs from abroad, where they are often sold at far lower prices — like the cholesterol drug, Lipitor.

SEN. DORGAN: FDA-approved medicine produced in an FDA-approved plant in Ireland and then sent to Canada and the United States. The difference? Well no difference — same plastic in the bottle, same medicine inside — except the price. The Canadian pays $1.83 per tablet, and the American pays $3.57--96% more. The American consumer is told: Guess what, we have a special deal for you, you get to pay 96% more for the same medicine.

BILL MOYERS: It's no wonder 80% of Americans in one Harris Poll favored allowing drugs to be imported from abroad.

But 80% of the public can't compete in the Senate with the Washington drug cartel. In the end, industry won and Dorgan's proposal for cheaper drugs was buried.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (interview): As powerful as the oil companies are, as powerful as the banks are, as powerful as corporate America, in general, is, in influencing legislation, the pharmaceutical industry stands as a world unto itself. They never lose.

BILL MOYERS: For Senator Bernie Sanders, the issue goes to the very heart of the political process.

SEN. SANDERS: It's not just the need to lower the cost of prescription drugs. It's really a question as to whether or not the United States Congress can, in fact, represent ordinary Americans, and stand up to extraordinarily well funded, powerful, special interests. And so far, for the last many years, we have been failing that test.

BILL MOYERS: Many new members of Congress agree with him.

*************************

*VIETNAM FLASHBACK*

Bill Moyers was President Lyndon Baines Johnson's press secretary. And he shared with viewers the audio of a phone conversation LBJ had in May of 1964 with McGeorge Bundy, National Security Adviser. Here's a snippet, but do check the whole thing out.

"Reality." What a concept!

LBJ;  I would tell you...the more that I stayed awake last night thinking of this...and the more that I think of it...I don't know what in the hell...we...looks like to me that we're getting into another Korea. It just worries the hell out of me. I don't see what we can ever hope to get out of there with...once we're committed.....and I just thought about ordering...ordering those kids in there...and what in the hell am I ordering them out there for? It's damn easy to get into a war, but it's...going to be harder to ever extricate yourself if you get in...

BILL MOYERS: That was May, 1964. 260 Americans had been killed in Vietnam by then. Eleven years and two presidents later, when U.S. forces pulled out, 58,209 Americans had died and an estimated three million Vietnamese.

When will we ever learn?

When will we ever learn?

This was downtown Burlington in front of city hall about 5 p.m. this evening. The 2007 Discover Jazz Fest now in its 24th year. Runs through next Sunday June 10.  Ah, the fruits of socialism at the ballot box!  New England's Little Havana, eh?

It wasn't just Bernie, himself, aka Mayor Bernie Sanders, elected by 10 votes in a stunning March 1981 upset of incumbent Gordie Paquette  (the old bread-truck driver), it was all the people who strode through the doors Bernie opened in the 1980s. All the "new" things, like the notion of fighting for and establishing a "Waterfront for the People," a Mayor's Council on the Arts, and one on Youth (hey, didn't he marry the boss of that one?), a Community and Economic Development Office, noise control on Budweiser Hill, excuse me, in the student ghetto, and much more, including recognizing and respecting the homeless, starting a shelter, getting government grants etc.

Some would say it's become an industry in itself, eh?

Caught Tina and Jamie on the next block across from the Church Street Tavern.

Declined to give last names, though Jamie, 35,  said he was a "black sheep" in a certain Burlington "Pearl Street restaurant family."

Tina, 28,  said she graduated Lamoille Valley Union High School, and has "lived up and down the East Coast."

Said they got all their stuff stolen from a Burlington campsite about a month ago.

When I asked where the campsite was, all I could get was "towards North Union [Street]."

Tina said they were currently crashing "at a friend's house."

Jamie said they were trying to raise some cash for "a tent and some food." Had collected "about 10 bucks" in two hours.

The cops, they said, had spoken to them. Burlington's "Finest" laid out the ground rules. Were "very friendly."

"We have to stay nine feet from the buildings," said Tina.

"We can't ask for money," she said, "and can't be putting the sign right in people's faces."

Cool.

"The world's going to crap," said Jamie.

"It's a spiritual thing," said Tina. "You've got to open your heart."

The only person to toss some change into their hat in the 15 minutes I hung around, was a gentleman traveling via motorized wheelchair.

Happy Jazz Fest!

The phone lines were buzzing this morning with chat about Democratic House Speaker Gaye Symington's political trip to Brattleboro to "listen," and apparently talk a little bit, too:

Symington gets an earful from locals
By NICOLE ORNE, Reformer Staff

Friday, June 1
BRATTLEBORO -- House Speaker Gaye Symington's "listening tour" to Brattleboro Thursday resembled a serious debate much more than a casual conversation.

The room was crowded, with about 35 residents of the area in attendance. The questions tended to take the format of complaints or demands, forcing the Jericho Democrat to defend her legislation and Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, to come to her aid.

"I think your analysis is correct, but your conclusion is dead wrong," Shumlin told a resident at one point.

"This is a legislature that is willing to tackle complex issues," Symington said. "When you tackle issues that complex, especially when you have a governor who's not willing to tackle it in that same way, you're not going to walk away saying, 'Oh, that's done.' And yet we tackle them anyway." -  more.

Interesting.

The early CW on the chances of Democrats overriding GOP Gov. Jim Douglas'  veto of their Global Warming Bill - "The Vermont Energy Efficiency and Affordability Act"  - was between none and next to none. H. 520 passed the House on an 85-61 vote. A two-thirds vote is required to take Gov. Jimbo's veto and park it where the moon don't shine.

Contrary to the CW, however, a few veteran Montpeculiar insiders took a very different approach. They suggested Democratic leaders actually should be able to override with no sweat. It's not just a matter of getting people to change their previous vote from "nay" to "aye," it's also about getting a few people to "stay home"  that day - that day being July 11.

This morning, House Natural Resources Chairman Robert Dostis [left] and Rep. Tony Klein, a committee member, were the guests on The Mark Johnson Show on WDEV. Johnson asked Chairman Dostis how he could possibly override?

"Well," replied the Chairman, "You need two-thirds of who is there."

Hint. Hint.

You think you can "realistically pull this off?" asked Marko.

"I would never count us out," replied Dostis. "Too important a piece of legislation."

Hint. Hint.

In addition, he noted, "People who previously opposed the bill are now supporting it." When they learn the facts, he said,  "They see it's a good bill."

Interesting. And soon things got even more interesting when Mark the Host took the next call and I - and the guests - instantly recognized the familiar South-Boston accent that's echoed up and down the Statehouse halls since the 1980s.

Gerry Morris, aka "Morris the Cat," is one of the top hired-gun business lobbyists under the golden dome. Mr. Morris [pictured below, right],  represents Entergy Vermont Yankee among other distinguished business clients, including Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc., Pfizer Inc, and  Vermont State Colleges.

MORRIS: Well, you both know Vermont Yankee does not pay a property tax which is why we pay less in property taxes now than we did in 2002. You both know that, right?

DOSTIS: Yeah. And that’s why I have to keep talking about money into the Education Fund and money into the General Fund, so it is a difference, but the bottom line is, call it what you want, it’s still basically a property tax, but it’s not based on fair-market-value.