Freyne Land

Spent the day at the Mary Fanny on Hospital Hill for my fourth R-CHOP chemotherapy session. So far so good. Lots of reading and chit-chat. More familiar faces, too. Does everybody get cancer nowadays or is it just starting to seem that way?

And, by the way, good veins make it all go in smoother and they all say there are great veins in Freyne Land!

The shot at right is of Brent the Nurse taking a little blood sample at the start. That's the site the oncology nurse used to inject the wonder drugs via IV over a five hour period.

When I got home to watch the news, I learned actor and former U.S. Senator (they go together, don't  they?), Fred Thompson of Tennessee came out of the closet today as having cancer for the past three years - a slow growing form of lymphoma (mine is fast-growing....fast shrinking, too, if you get the right chemo). Freddie Boy, 64, let the word out via the Redstate Blog.

Facts About My Cancer

By Fred Thompson

Wehave all seen the courageous battle that Elizabeth and John Edwards arefighting, and there are so many others. Fortunately, there are anincreasing number of good stories because of the medical advances thathave been made. I have friends in politics, some in Congress, somerunning for President, and others who have successfully dealt withcancer. It is certainly no respecter of persons and totallynon-partisan. That point was driven home to me about 2 1/2 years agowhen, shortly after a routine physical, I was diagnosed with what thedoctors call an indolent lymphoma. Of the 30-plus kinds of lymphomathis is a "good" kind, if there is such a thing.

I have had no illness from it, or even any symptoms. My lifeexpectancy should not be affected. I am in remission, and it is verytreatable with drugs if treatment is needed in the future--and with nodebilitating side effects.

I am one of the lucky ones....

P.S. Before hitting FAHC for chemo this morn' I hit Speeder & Earl's on Pine Street for a little coffee-chemo with a certain Democrat who just might be the only guy with a chance of making the 2008 governor's race truly interesting AND close!

I'll have something posted in the a.m. so do check back.

Do you think they'll ever make coffee illegal?

"I agree with what she said in her statement there. It is a highly divisive issue. Vermonters have problems that they want to have solved that are closer to home, and I commend her for the stand she has taken on this!"

Whoa: "Commend her for the stand she has taken!"

Words of praise for Democratic House Speaker Gaye Symington of Jericho last night on VPR's "Switchboard," hosted by veteran Vermont journalist Bob Kinzel.

Words of praise from a unusual source - Rob Roper, partisan chairman of the Vermont Republican Party and a staunch George W. Bush supporter and defender.

And what Symington, the Democratic Speaker, said in her somewhat convoluted statement to Kinzel earlier in the day was back up her decision to keep J.R.H. 15 - the resolution calling on Congress to investigate President George W. Liar to find if he has committed impeachable offenses - out of play in the people's House under Montpeculiar's golden dome.

SYMINGTON: "I feel that the job of the Vermont state legislature is tofocus on issues that we directly have an influence on: property taxes,health care, our energy future as a state, the state hospital, roadsand bridges, broadband, economic development. We have huge and complex issues that face the state and we really need to work together to solvethem."

And they've made such progress, eh?

At 11:30 this morning, Symington and Senate Leader Peter Shumlin, a fellow Democrat, are scheduled to meet for all of "five minutes" with Vermont citizen leaders of the grassroots movement to impeach George WMD Bush. (Lord knows the high crimes and misdemeanors are countless, eh?)

In addition to making the case the legislature simply "does not have the time" to deal with the Bush Impeachment Resolution that passed almost 40 Vermont towns on Town Meeting Day, Speaker Gaye also argued on VPR that if Vermont's legislature passed the resolution and Congress actually addressed it, the nation's legislative branch would grind to a halt, focusing on just one issue.

SYMINGTON: "If instead Congress focuses on impeachment, that becomes the issue in and of itself and all of the others get lost. That’s not where I think the priority should be for our Congress."

Having lived through "Watergate" and the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon, I assure you, the rest of Congress, outside of the Judiciary Committees continued to function just fine and produce some landmark legislation.

Someone else who lived through Watergate is Pulitzer-Prize-winning cartoonist Garry Trudeau. And would you believe this week's Doonesbury series, Monday-thru-Saturday, is all about the Vermont impeachment battle!

At some point, the Vermont Legislature's Democratic leadership might want to consider removing their heads from the sand, eh?

Thanks, Garry!

So it was a "pinch me, is it real?" kind of morning.

Did Republican Kurt Wright really get elected president of the city council of what has to be one of the most left-wing cities in the United States of America?

The smallest largest city of any state in America. And the hometown for Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, the famous Howard Dean, and the only socialist in the U.S. Senate - Bernie Sanders!

Went online to the websites of our two local TV stations that actually cover local news. Figured, heck, it's 2007, I can watch the reports they broadcast last night at 11 o'clock, right? (Fell asleep a little after 10.)

Well, here's what I got when I clicked for the story on WPTZ - the Plattsburgh, New York station (with a Colchester bureau). Reporter Mia Moran's report was available to one-and-all online.

It is the online age, folks. I've accepted it, how about you?

My heart may be back in the 19th Century, but the Freyne Brain has accepted life in  this online 21st Century. It's called communication.

Once upon a time the printing press had an enormous impact, too. And there once was a world without TV and cell phones, as well..

So it was a bit of a surprise to get this screen when we clicked for Reporter Kate Duffy's story on the WCAX - "Vermont's Own" - website. No QuickTime and no Real Player available at the station that claims to be #1?
 

After all, this is Ch. 3 - the station with the fleet of color-coordinated vans and longtime ties to the Republican Party, as evidenced by the generosity of its late, great owner Stuart "Red" Martin (and some would argue its political slant in news coverage).

C'mon guys. This Internet thing has been around awhile. Trust me, Macintosh is a whole lot more than fruit one picks from a tree each fall. And I'm not the only one who has one of these Mac computers, either. It's not just Democrats and Progressives and Independents.

Rumor has it, Republicans actually own Macs, too!

A whole lot of media outlets from TV and radio to print are "struggling" with the new Internet Age. How to make money off that online audience?

Certainly having your "award-winning" news reports available to Vermont Apple Computer users wouldn't hurt, eh, Marsillyiss?

It is, after all, 2007.

Here's a picture showing four of the Burlington City Council's five Democrats, plus one Independent, raising their hands to vote for Republican City Councilor Kurt Wright (Ward 4), over Progressive Tim Ashe (Ward 3), in Monday night's election of a new city council president.

From left to right with hands raised are: Democrats Ed Adrian (Ward 1), Joan Shannon (Ward 5), Bill Keogh (Ward 5), Independent Barbara Perry (Ward 6), and Democrat Andy Montroll (Ward 6).

Democrat Russ Ellis (Ward 4), seated second from the left, broke ranks with fellow Ds and voted for the Prog candidate.

Add to those five the three Republican city councilor votes (including his own), and you get eight votes and an 8-6 victory for Kurt Wright. You also get the first GOP city council president in Beautiful Burlap in 20 fricken' years!

There's President Wright (on the right) being congratulated by the only non-Sanderista to hold the mayor's office since Bernie Sanders' upset victory way back in 1981 - Peter Brownell. Ol' Pedro the sailboat skipper upset Prog Peter Clavelle in 1993.

In his second term, Mayor Clavelle, you may recall, had approved health insurance benefits for same-sex partners of city employees - a very "radical" idea at that time. After his '93 defeat, Mayor Moonie went to Grenada for awhile, but came back and won his old job back in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003.

In fact, who do we bump into before the big city council meeting?

You got it - Ol' Mayor Moonie (at right caught on Main Street), who was fresh home from a little international development consulting work in Uganda, he told me.

He did not attend Kwik Stop Kurt's ascension to city council president.

More on this historic happening in the political history of the People's Republic in "Inside Track" on Wednesday.

Hey, if you live long enough, you'll see it all, eh?

Political grudges never die in the People's Republic of Burlington, Vermont.

Twenty-six years ago it was a screaming leftist/progressive/Independent named Bernie Sanders narrowly defeating an incumbent Old Guard Democrat - Mayor Gordie Paquette - in the three-way 1981 mayor's race.

And to this day, 26 years later, Democrats, at least inside Burlington's City Hall, appear unable to forget.

They'd rather have a Republican who thinks highly of George "WMD" Bush and the job he's done as their next council president, instead of someone who voted for Bernie Sanders over Richie Rich Tarrant and thinks Mr. Bush deserves impeachment.

According to leaders of both the five-seat City Council Democrat Caucus and the four-seat Progressive Party caucus, Republican City Councilor and State Rep. Kurt Wright (right), will be elected president of the 14-seat Burlington City Council Monday night over Progressive City Councilor Tim Ashe. According to Democratic and Progressive sources, the vote for Kwik Stop Kurt will be 8-6.

Wright will replace Democrat Ian Carleton, the state party chairman, who resigned for personal reasons. Sources say the New North End Republican will get the votes of four Democrats, three Republicans and one Independent.

Democratic City Councilor and State Rep Bill Keogh told "Freyne Land" the council Demos met on Sunday and none were interested in seeking the president’s post. Keogh said Wright, despite being a Republican, "knows the process and will be fair in running the meetings." Keogh said he’d like to think Wright "will not invoke his personal agenda."

Ashe, the Prog presidential candidate, responded to our email inquiry acknowledging that unless the Democrats'  "soul-searching finds a soul," Wright will win 8-6.

Progressive Mayor Bob KIss (at left at "No Idling" presser earlier today outside City Hall), told yours truly he will work with whoever is elected council president, but would prefer someone other than Wright, with whom he served six years in the Vermont House before becoming mayor:

"Kurt and I often don’t agree, but I think we do kind of bring, ah, ideas and information to the battle and we come up with solutions. So, I’ll work with whatever the council decides tonight.

"Obviously, I would prefer different leadership, but I think we can work effectively together."

Kwik Stop Kurt - who we first met in 1979 when he started working the counter at Kerry's Kwik Stop on St. Paul Street (Utica Club beer cost 69 cents-a-quart), did not respond to our voice mail request for an interview this morning.

Back then, he'd always have The Jack Barry Show on the store radio. That was the hot morning radio talk show of it's day in Burlington. Kurt became a regular caller. Only person I've ever seen ring up and bag a grocery order, make change and talk on a radio show simultaneously!

Wish the late, great "Be sure and tell 'em Barry brought you!" Jack Barry were here to see this, eh?

[Probably rolling over in his grave.]

Congratulations, President-elect Wright!

That's what Al Salzman calls his recent "Different Drummer" cartoon and commentary. Al, a Franklin County artist, actor and educator who I've known for more than 20 years, sent me a copy - said he was inspired by some of yours truly's recent writing on the Vermont Statehouse goings-on.

"I've tried so hard not to step on his toes," thinks Democratic House Speaker Gaye Symington to herself .

"I've had her dancing to my tune all the time," thinks Republican Gov. Jim Douglas.

Cute, eh?

In his sidebar comment, Mr. Salzman writes: "Speaker Symington doesn't ever want to step on Douglas' toes and Jimmy is loving it!

...Speaker Symington's less than aggressive opposition to the Governor's agenda makes one wonder if her Republican roots are beginning to sprout."

Speaking of Speaker Gaye's GOP roots, (Tuxedo Park, not unlike those of that Howard Dean fella on Park Avenue, eh?), the pro-impeachment folks are meeting with her on Wednesday at the Statehouse. Sources tell "Freyne Land" the Speaker is expecting Senate Boss Peter Shumlin to sit in.

Shummy publicly says he supports the resolution calling for the impeachment of George W. Bush and would pass it in the Senate in a second, if only Gaye agreed to have her heavily Democratic House adopt it, too.

Gaye insists the House is too busy.

Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, Madame Speaker.

And potential big doings in the Queen City of Burlington today.

Over the weekend Ch. 3 and the Freeps finally reported the story that was in "Inside Track" two weeks ago - that Republican City Councilor and GOP activist - State Rep. Kurt Wright - is, with Democrat support, in line to be elected the new president of the Burlington City Council tonight.

Progressive Councilor Tim Ashe, a 30ish up-and-comer, looks like he'll have to wait for another time, eh?   

Our initial report - that a Republican was the favorite in the hometown of not only U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, but Govs. Phil Hoff, Madeleine Kunin and Howard Dean, too, got a lot of feathers ruffled in Democrat Land. Many folks simply could not believe four out of five Democratic Party city councilors would support a guy for council prez who's been such a staunch supporter/defender of George "WMD" Bush and Dick Cheney. (Ruth Dwyer for Governor twice, too. Remember Ruth Dwyer?)

Should be an interesting show tonight. City Hall's Contois Auditorium at 7 o'clock. And, as always, admission is free-of-charge!

P.S. Prog Mayor Bob Kiss, the tall, silent type, is holding an 11 a.m. presser in front of City Hall to promote a campaign against car/truck engine idling. We'll see where he stands on the big council presidency race. Do check back.

A little suprise this Easter morning when I woke before sunrise with Easter thoughts, not of bunnies or chocolate or resurrection, but of "revolution."

Must be the Freyne genes, eh?

Thank you, Uncle Peter. I won't forget you. Even though I never met you, you've always been there when I needed the courage to do what had to be done. Know what I mean?

And thank you, William Butler Yeats, for the following:

Easter 1916

I HAVE met them at close of day
Coming with vivid faces
From counter or desk among grey
Eighteenth-century houses.

I have passed with a nod of the head
Or polite meaningless words,
Or have lingered awhile and said
Polite meaningless words,

And thought before I had done
Of a mocking tale or a gibe
To please a companion
Around the fire at the club,
Being certain that they and I
But lived where motley is worn:

All changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.

Too long a sacrifice
Can make a stone of the heart.
O when may it suffice?

That is Heaven's part, our part
To murmur name upon name,
As a mother names her child
When sleep at last has come
On limbs that had run wild.

What is it but nightfall?

No, no, not night but death;
Was it needless death after all?

For England may keep faith
For all that is done and said.

We know their dream; enough
To know they dreamed and are dead;

And what if excess of love
Bewildered them till they died?

I write it out in a verse -
MacDonagh and MacBride
And Connolly and Pearse
Now and in time to be,
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly:

A terrible beauty is born.

Went downtown after 11 this morning. To read a New York Times held in my own two hands - the old-fashioned way. Brought along the paycheck just in case the bank was open. A slim chance, indeed, thought I. Big religious holiday weekend. The banks probably closed by 3 p.m. Friday afternoon?

I was delightfully wrong. The Merchants' on College Street was open. In fact, business had been a little slow, Teller Mark said. A lot of folks may have thought they were closed for Easter.

In my younger days, growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, I swear the banks would have been shut tight. A lot was different back then: we did not eat meat on Fridays, fasted during Lent and the Roman Catholic priesthood was not the synonym for pedophilia it is today. Heck, I'd have been in church all week doing my altar-boy thing from Holy Thursday evening's "Last Supper," through Friday afternoon's Good Friday "Crucifixion" and on to Sunday morning's "Resurrection."

Pretty powerful stuff for a kid. Kids today, needless to say, follow a different script, eh?

For the hometown folk, the big chatter this Holy Saturday morning was about what was across the top of the Freeps' front page. City Attorney Joe McNeil, a 62-year-old hometown, married Irish Catholic lad, had admitted a couple months back to John Briggs, the Freeps city hall scribe (and no spring chicken himself),  that he had had an "excessively close"  relationship with a very attractive female attorney half-his-age.

Here's how Briggsie wrote it in today's edition:

Mayor Bob Kiss accepted the resignation "with regret," but said it was "in the best interests of the city."

In a letter to Kiss, McNeil faulted himself for developing a relationship with zoning consultant Owiso Makuku as they worked together since late 2004 to rewrite the city's comprehensive zoning ordinance. During most of that period, McNeil, who hired Makuku, approved her hourly pay vouchers.

The relationship, he said in his resignation letter, "created concerns over the appearance of a conflict and caused the necessity for an independent audit."

"I very much regret that my lapse in judgment caused problems for the city," his letter said. "I recognize that I am solely responsible for this and I do apologize."

So, as luck would have it, who do I bump into on the busy Church Street Marketplace, but Mr. Briggs, 61, himself (on the left with WCAX-TV crime reporter Brian Joyce, 60,  who appeared 10 minutes later). Haven't seen John in ages actually. He was curious to know why Seven Days hadn't jumped on the story.

I hadn't "jumped" on it because it seemed to the old Irish-Catholic boy in me like a case of another old Irish-Catholic boy, determined to publicly transmit a very up close and personal message to the wife of all these years:

"Hey, Honey, I'm getting some!!!"

Certainly McNeil, a St, Mike's and Notre Dame Law graduate, had a financial interest in keeping the City of Burlap's city-attorney contract all these years (37) .

BUT, history cannot overlook the very special contribution Big Joe made to his beloved hometown of Burlington, Vermont by being the diplomatic bridge between Mayor Bernie Sanders and the smug, Old Guard Burlington establishment, whose ass Ol' Bernardo had just kicked in the March 1981 mayoral election. Those were tense times and McNeil's shuttle diplomacy was invaluable.

Thanks, Joe.

Joyceman wanted to know why I haven't written about the latest Arbitron TV news ratings which are out and naturally, he said, have Ch. 3 in the No. 1 spot.

True enough, I used to mention the ratings in "Inside Track" all the time. But when the local TV news scene shriveled down from three local TV news operations to two, with one headquartered in Vermont (WCAX) and one headquartered in Plattsburgh, New York (WPTZ), I lost interest.

It'd be like covering Major League Baseball if there were just two teams: the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

WCAX-TV News, by the way, still hasn't filled Montpelier bureau-chief Anson Tebbetts's spot.

Surprising, eh?

No brown bags  at Democratic House Speaker Gaye Symington’s regular Friday noon-time “Brown Bag Lunch” with the Statehouse fourth estate. No lunch either, as usual.

And the fewest number of reporters we’ve seen this session - just four, including yours truly, AP, the Freeps and the Rutland Herald/Times Argus bureau which each provided a warm body in Speaker Gaye’s office.

Usual suspects who were missing were reps from Vermont Public Radio, WCAX-TV and WPTZ-TV.

Hey, it’s not like she’s the governor, ferchrissakes, right?

It’s clear that Professor Symington views her mythical “Brown-Baggers” as an opportunity to update her class of note-taking reporters on where various items of legislative action are in the legislative process House-wise. Awfully nice of her. Such a Good Government Queen, eh?

Yours truly shut up for the housekeeping-type Q and A, instead taking a “big picture” “from-the-outside-looking-in” perspective. I noted that on the day before, we reporters had received Republican Gov. Jim Douglas’ "message," as we do every Thursday - a message  that “all you people over here in the Legislature want to do is raise taxes!!!"

That’s the message Ol’ Scissorhands sends out every week, week after week, I noted. (And nobody does it better, eh?]

“He’s correct, isn’t he?” this reporter asked the Speaker who is allergic to "politics."

SYMINGTON: "What we are focusing on is addressing, in a real way, where Vermont is going, where Vermonters are headed, and what it’s going to take to have this be a prospersous state in the future. And I think that the kind of...that...my counter would be - I think that the proposals the Governor puts forward either ignore huge issues or takes a very short-sighted approach and do not serve the interest of the state in the long run.

"On proposal after proposal, what we are talking about is, in the long run, what’s the right thing to do to save money whether it’s through weatherization and energy conservation or promoting long-term stable contracts for renewable energy, or whether it’s by encouraging Vermonters to change their driving habits and making it available to the public, transit resources that allow them to do that. And I think we’re looking at what kinds of measures do we have to take now, and they’re not earth-shattering here, to build a more prosperous future.”

Got that? All over the map with the ultimate promise of a "prosperous future."

Pretty exciting, eh?

Look. In politics, it helps to be concise and focused. Trust me. Fewer words the better. Easier for the voters to remember. Duh!

Do you ever get the impression, that while they may both have second-floor offices under the golden dome, Gaye Symington, seen afterwards [right] connecting with Senate Boss Peter Shumlin in the cafeteria, and Gov. Jim Douglas are on different planets when it comes to politics?

The back-and-forth on more specfic matters continued for another 20 minutes or so. We learned among other things that Madame Speaker is, at 5’ 10 1/2”, the shortest member of her family, that she finds Professor Frank Bryan’s argument for a four-year gubernatorial term “compelling,” AND that she knew before the Democrats’ unsuccessful veto-override vote Thursday, that newly appointed Democratic Rep. Jon Anderson of Montpelier was voting “No” on the override and with the side of the damn Republican Governor who appointed him. Anderson had minimal support among Montpeculiar Ds and was not one of the top-three they recommended to Douglas to fill Francis Brooks' seat. (Francis was elected Sergeant at Arms.)

Maybe it was the Easter spirit, the Peter Rabbit inside of me that made me do it, but before things wrapped up, I felt like giving the House Speaker one last bite at the chocolate. Pitched Gaye a big, fat softball. However, she didn't see it as a big, fat softball. In fact, she got a wee bit defensive.

FREYNE: What’s the one thing, if there is one thing, that you would like the taxpayers of Vermont to know right now - out of this? Is there a message? What’s your message today? You’re all over the map, as usual, but is there a message?

SYMINGTON: You ask me that every week and I give you the same answer every week. You don’t like the answer, but I give you the same answer.

"The answer is that our focus is [on] what decisions do we need to make today that build a more prosperous state in the future. That we’re thinking long term and we’re willing to take some risks, and we’re willing to stand up even though, that what we do may be subject to , you know, the governor’s , ah, spin.  We’re going to stand up and say this is the right thing to do, to create a more prosperous state in the future. To make sure as folks decide, as their kids are raising kids that they have good jobs, that they have affordable health care, that they have stable reliable energy, and that’s the work we’re up to and you see it in the bills we pass. You see it in every bill we pass. See it in education that there aren’t easy answers, but we’re willing to take some controversial first steps.

"You see it in energy and health care building on last years' first steps. We’re taking second steps.

"You see it in the budget and the kinds of choices that we make that within this box , smaller than we all wish it would be, and that doesn’t satisfy all the needs of the state, we’re going to say where do we need to be devoting our resources so that we’re not growing our corrections budget at the rate of 10 percent-a-year, so that we’re not, you know, building unsustainable future, or taking resources away from the promises we made when we established programs like Catamount [Health].

"That’s what we’re about."

Jim "Agenda of Affordability" Douglas has to be chuckling if he read the above. Some message, eh?

Ten words or less, Madame Speaker, a message that’ll ring in the ears of the commoners is what’s required in this business...and, yes,  it is a business.

In fact, the talk in the building today was pretty clear - Vermont Democrats simply do not have a candidate on the radar screen to beat Gentleman Jim Douglas in 2008.

Potential challengers like Sens. Peter Shumlin, Jim Condos and Doug Racine aren't quite that stupid.

The talk is the Ds are searching for a sacrificial lamb for the 2008 gubernatorial.

Hey, anybody see 2006 Lite-Gov Candidate Matt Dunne lately?

That, mes amis, is yet to be determined. It's not 9 a.m. yet, and I'm still in Big Bad Burlington. Some hot and heavy floor debates on budgetary matters may lie ahead in the Vermont House. And Democrat Speaker Gaye Symington, who lost a biggie yesterday when her team failed to override Gov. Scissorhands' veto of the budget-adjustment bill, is expected to conduct one of her "Brown-Bag Lunches" with the Statehouse press corps around noon. Should be interesting. I already hear my stomach growling.

Here's a shot we took yesterday of two powerful Democrat "backbenchers" at work. Democratic Majority Leader Carolyn Partridge (seated left) and Rep. Floyd Nease (seated right), the Democratic Whip.

"Whip?"

Didn't Howard Dean have that job twentysome years ago?

Rep. Partridge is engaged in a quick one-on-one with Rep. Alice Emmons, chair of the Institutions Committee. Rep. Nease is having a little pow-wow with Judiciary Committee Chair Bill Lippert. Face time like this is important. For "leadership," it's all about keeping tabs on what the hell is really going on among the lower ranks. Catch the brushfires early.

The same principles apply in the "upper" body - the Vermont Senate where the Democrats also rule the roost (for all the good it does them). The most obvious difference there is that a male, rather than a female, is the Top Dog. Has a different style too.

Here's how Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin,  Speaker Gaye's opposite number, frequently looks at the world. Took this shot  from behind the distinguished senate leader, as I poked my own head into Putney Pete's rather small office. (The guy who had it before him, Peter Welch, has an office on Capitol Hill now.)

Left-to-right, that's Sen. Claire Ayer (Addison), vice-chair of  the Finance Committee; Sen. Ginny Lyons (Chittenden), chair of Environment; Sen. Susan Bartlett (Lamoille), chair of Appropriations; Sen. Jeanette White (Windham), chair of Government Operations; and Sen. Ann Cummings (Washington), chair of Finance.

Shummy and his Rockettes!

No, no, no! I am not going to go there.

Rather the actual thought was how fortunate I've been in my 57-year lifetime, to personally witness the birth, growth and success of what we used to call "Women's Lib."  Six powerful senators and five of them are female. The only question is, will I also live to see a woman president?

Also, some might notice who's missing from this pow-wow in the office of the senate's most powerful Democrat?

That would be the former Democratic Lite-Gov and unsuccessful, gubernatorial candidate (2002) - Sen. Doug Racine, chair of Health and Welfare.

No shortage of off-the-record Statehouse chatter of late about how much Racine loathes Shumlin. That the gap between them is deep and wide. Not exactly good buds or on the same page, are they, eh?